Whee! First real-world stick shift experience!

[saturnotaku]

And I didn't kill anybody! Up until about three weeks ago I had never driven a car with a manual transmission. That's bad news for someone who just became the auto editor for our publishing company. I got a couple crash lessons from my cousin on her Honda Civic, which was pretty easy to drive. But we never really went out into traffic or on the highway or anything.

Today it was baptism by fire as I received my first stick shift car to review, the Infiniti G35 sedan. Not only would my first drive be in a high-powered sport sedan, the 6-speed transmission sported a short-throw shifter, which can be a nightmare for a n00b like me.

During my breaks at work I drove around my office building and surrounding neighborhood to get a feel for the car, clutch, etc. This car has a lot of power so learning how to manage the throttle was a bit tricky. But then came the ultimate test...driving the 19 miles from my office to my house. In it would be a combination of stop and go and highway driving.

I am pleased to report that I safely made it home while thoroughly enjoying the trip. :D Only time I killed the car was when I opened my garage door and I noticed that I had to move my garbage cans. I didn't have the clutch engaged and the car died with its butt half-out of my garage door. Oh well.

Now all I have to do is make it back to the office tomorrow morning, which will be an even more difficult task because the morning rush is 1000 percent more of a pain than the trip home. :eek:

Edit: Here's what my test car looks like, except mine has a rear spoiler.

http://www.nissannews.com/multimedia/infiniti2003/g35/800px/g3513.jpg

[Sazar]

Originally posted by saturnotaku
And I didn't kill anybody! Up until about three weeks ago I had never driven a car with a manual transmission. That's bad news for someone who just became the auto editor for our publishing company. I got a couple crash lessons from my cousin on her Honda Civic, which was pretty easy to drive. But we never really went out into traffic or on the highway or anything.

Today it was baptism by fire as I received my first stick shift car to review, the Infiniti G35 sedan. Not only would my first drive be in a high-powered sport sedan, the 6-speed transmission sported a short-throw shifter, which can be a nightmare for a n00b like me.

During my breaks at work I drove around my office building and surrounding neighborhood to get a feel for the car, clutch, etc. This car has a lot of power so learning how to manage the throttle was a bit tricky. But then came the ultimate test...driving the 19 miles from my office to my house. In it would be a combination of stop and go and highway driving.

I am pleased to report that I safely made it home while thoroughly enjoying the trip. :D Only time I killed the car was when I opened my garage door and I noticed that I had to move my garbage cans. I didn't have the clutch engaged and the car died with its butt half-out of my garage door. Oh well.

Now all I have to do is make it back to the office tomorrow morning, which will be an even more difficult task because the morning rush is 1000 percent more of a pain than the trip home. :eek:

Edit: Here's what my test car looks like, except mine has a rear spoiler.



did you have the aero kit ?

yah the g-35's are sweet... very smooth engines... I drove the 6MT coupe and it rocks... a lot throatier exchaust note :)

good news is that you did not kill anyone :D

manual's are not that hard... you just need to have confidence..

once you get used to it though... you are unlikely to like many auto's unless they have some seriously good shifting going on :D

[GlowStick]

I do feel that stick shifts make you feel like your going faster.

Example:

Im pritty use to driving my transam with about 325hp.(automatic)

So my frined let me drive his toyota tercel (manual) with about 80hp. anyways i had it floored in second gear, and thought oh man, we must be flying, so i glance down at the speedomoter, and we are going 30.

Teh edn!

[IISquintsII]

Please tell me how to get a job like that!!!! Will someone with a mechanical engineering degree be able to cross over and do that? Who cares about the pay as long as I get to drive all day!!! :drooling:

[sytaylor]

Amazes me why anyone wouldnt want to drive "stick", its way more fun, if a little annoying for long distances. Its the way we learn to drive here the uk, just a shame our roads suck.. little roads that horses and cart used to trot up and down maketh not a road network.

[digitalwanderer]

Stick is the best, once you get the hang of it you'll never want to go back to manual. :)

[sytaylor]

dude, isnt "stick" another way of saying manual.. vs automatic which is standard on US cars?

[Sazar]

Originally posted by sytaylor
dude, isnt "stick" another way of saying manual.. vs automatic which is standard on US cars?

its standard on most american cars... but if you see the quality of the driving tests they do here... there is a reason for it lol...

the US probably has some of the lowest standards for giving a driving license to people.. especially in florida (drive @ 20mph on the highway behind an old fogey and you'll know what I mean :D)

I had a 3 part exam in africa... 1 off-road parallel parking/slalom/emergency stop and the whole 9 yards... in fact there are 2 version of parallel parking we had to do... whole thing takes about a half hour...

the 2nd part is on road and takes place AFTER you pass the off-road test... and here you have to do balancing and what not on a proper mountain road...

not the POS park in a space thats 30' by 20' and do a 3 point turn crap they have here :D


manuals are a REAL mans best friend :D and 6 speed close ratios on a twisty road are super :D

[saturnotaku]

Originally posted by digitalwanderer
Stick is the best, once you get the hang of it you'll never want to go back to manual. :)

I think you meant automatic. ;) The next new car I buy (which won't be until at least 2007) will be a stick. I'm having far too much fun not to get one.

I survived the morning commute. The first half was kind of skiddish (still learning the car) and I did kill it once, but I popped it into neutral, started it up and was off within a few seconds. I don't think the guy behind me had time to get pissed off. :) But the second half, I was golden. I was timing my launches in traffic perfectly, but my first to second shifts still need some work. This car has a lot of power and I figure if I can master it (and the Corvette I get in two weeks) I'll be able to drive just about anything. I still would like to enroll in racing school at some point in the near future.

I had a 3 part exam in africa... 1 off-road parallel parking/slalom/emergency stop and the whole 9 yards... in fact there are 2 version of parallel parking we had to do... whole thing takes about a half hour...

the 2nd part is on road and takes place AFTER you pass the off-road test... and here you have to do balancing and what not on a proper mountain road...

There's something like this in West Virginia that I read about. It's a Land Rover driving school where you have to learn about mastering a vehicle in all kinds of situations. It looks really cool and I'm going to see about getting out there on a press trip perhaps next summer.

Please tell me how to get a job like that!!!! Will someone with a mechanical engineering degree be able to cross over and do that? Who cares about the pay as long as I get to drive all day!!!

Three things you'll need to have/keep in mind:

1) A good education with a degree in communications/journalism
2) Oft times it's not what you know, it's who you know
3) Lots of luck

I've wanted to be an auto writer ever since I was in middle school, specifically Car and Driver. During the course of my education, I learned that in order to break into such a specialized journalistic field, especially a magazine, I would need at least 10-15 years of experience as a general assignment reporter and/or regional editor with some freelancing on the side.

About three months back when I was still a general assignment reporter, I learned of an opening in our company's Special Sections division. This department produces primarily advertising features such as home builder showcases, community festival guides and so forth. The company was preparing to launch a brand new home and automotive pull-out section and they needed someone to organize and edit it. Being that part of the job was working with cars I jumped at the chance and received the job (because the head of the department knew me and liked me :D ). As we started rolling out the section, I got in contact with some PR people at different car companies who gave me advice on how to get on their press driving fleets. I've slowly been building up the list and I have just about every company now, save for some of the uber-exotics (Ferrari, et al).

I've already driven and written stories about the Toyota Sienna, HUMMER H2 and Pontiac Vibe.

With a mechanical engineering degree, your best bet would be to hook up with a specific auto maker. Perhaps you can be one of the people that works on designing new car powertrains and will be able to drive prototypes. But in that case, you won't get the sheer variety that auto writers get.

Speaking of auto writers, most of the ones here in the Chicago area are huge tools. They act like these car companies owe them the world. Me, I'm humbled and grateful to be where I am. If I ever get like some of these people I want someone to smack me.

[Sazar]

saturn.. I am starting to despise you :(

j/k :p

[digitalwanderer]

Doh! You're all correct, I meant to say "automatic" and said "manual" instead.

Automatic transmissions are the standard in the US, in fact one of the reasons we bought a Nissan Pathfinder was it was one of the very few SUVs you could still get with a manual transmission. (5-speed, LOVE it! :D )

My Quest is an automatic, but that's kind of nice for what that vehicle is designed for. (It's a "kid-mover" and it's focus seems to be on entertaining the kids and keeping the parents from having to worry/be distracted.) But I really prefer driving the Pathfinder around since it's soo much more fun!

[intercede007]

A bit of the problem with the 1st-2nd change has to do with the gear ratio's.

Generally, 1st gear is sooo small that, by the time you get the shifter into the gate for 2nd gear and release the clutch you've already dropped quite a few revs. To smooth it up a bit, wring 1st gear out a little bit farther. If you really want to get into the meat and potatoes of stick shift driving, blip the throttle a little while you have the clutch engaged are moving between gears. Takes a bit of coordination, but rev-mathing is what it's all about.

[sytaylor]

Originally posted by saturnotaku
But the second half, I was golden. I was timing my launches in traffic perfectly, but my first to second shifts still need some work. This car has a lot of power and I figure if I can master it (and the Corvette I get in two weeks) I'll be able to drive just about anything. I still would like to enroll in racing school at some point in the near future.


Thats all the fun of it, rocketing up through the gears to get away from a standing start.. admitedly my 1.2 16v SXi corsa (well hopefully we'll se on monday) isn the most powerful, its no dog either to say its little.

( www.vauxhall.co.uk if you are interested and click the car range menu, and choose crosa, then SXi)

im just happy to be driving again after a 3 month hiatus

edit: Interceede, from what i can gather your talking about double de-clutching (as its known here).. thats old skool :cool2:

[saturnotaku]

This Infiniti is geared really short (is that the right term here? Or is it tall, I can never remember). To maintain a pleasant engine speed, I need to get into 5th gear at speeds of around 45 mph. At 70 in 6th gear, the engine is turning darn close to 2500 rpm which is a lot higher than I expected. Of course that means this engine is still strong enough to do passing maneuvers without downshifting. :D

But I think I'm definitely starting to get the trans timed properly with the engine, especially if I need to slow down but start back up quickly.

[Sazar]

Originally posted by saturnotaku
This Infiniti is geared really short (is that the right term here? Or is it tall, I can never remember). To maintain a pleasant engine speed, I need to get into 5th gear at speeds of around 45 mph. At 70 in 6th gear, the engine is turning darn close to 2500 rpm which is a lot higher than I expected. Of course that means this engine is still strong enough to do passing maneuvers without downshifting. :D

But I think I'm definitely starting to get the trans timed properly with the engine, especially if I need to slow down but start back up quickly.

I believe the area you are looking to be driving that baby is above 3500RPM... ie upshifts...

the coupe I drove was raring to go @ those revs and believe me... 2500 is REALLY sedate for that engine :D

but try out different things and see what you are comfortable with :)

[intercede007]

Originally posted by sytaylor
edit: Interceede, from what i can gather your talking about double de-clutching (as its known here).. thats old skool :cool2:


No.

Double-clutching is engaging the clutch to remove the car from 1st gear, disengaging the clutch, putting the shifter into neutral, engaging the clutch, then putting it into 2nd. That is old school, and if anyone has to do it to their car anymore they either A) need to stop watching The Fast and the Furious and relearn how to operate a manual equipped car; or B) have their transmission rebuilt because the scyncro's aren't doing their jobs.

I am talking about rev-matching. You are practicing the same principle when you get the car rolling in 1st gear. You are matching the power of the motor to the load on the wheels. Quite often, when you get a sloppy shift into 2nd gear, the engine isn't putting out enough power to keep in balace with the load on the transmission. The clutch catches and drags on the motor, making for a jerky shift.

When you rev-match (and this can be done upshifting or downshifting) you lightly blip the throttle while keeping the clutch disengaged to bring the revs of the motor back up, thereby allowing the engine to be smoothly reconnected to the input shaft.

[Phyre]

If I'm not mistaken, intercede, rev-matching can be pretty helpful when starting from a complete stop while on an incline, right?

Phyre

[Sazar]

Originally posted by Phyre
If I'm not mistaken, intercede, rev-matching can be pretty helpful when starting from a complete stop while on an incline, right?

Phyre

yah... some people refer to it as balancing...

[intercede007]

Originally posted by Phyre
If I'm not mistaken, intercede, rev-matching can be pretty helpful when starting from a complete stop while on an incline, right?

Phyre

Depends on the grade.

Personally, I've never had to use any gas to keep a car from rolling backwards on an incline. When you are comfortable with where your clutch engages, you can slowly let the clutch out to the point it begins to grab while keeping your foot on the brake. This way you aren't heating up the clutch with the extra torque from an engine doing more than idling, and the car will still stay put while you move your foot from the brake to the gas. Takes a little practice, but if you find an empty parking lot and practice letting the clutch out slowly and getting the car to roll without any throttle input you can nail the point where the clutch starts to engage.

[Phyre]

I see what you are saying. I guess I was thinking of really, really steep inclines. I like letting my clutch out to the point of staying still just to cause the people behind me to wonder when I'm gonna start rolling into their grill. Once you can get the feel of being stopped and not having to use the brake, it's a fun tool to play around with. It breaks the monotony of sitting in traffic.

Phyre

[saturnotaku]

Originally posted by intercede007
Personally, I've never had to use any gas to keep a car from rolling backwards on an incline. When you are comfortable with where your clutch engages, you can slowly let the clutch out to the point it begins to grab while keeping your foot on the brake. This way you aren't heating up the clutch with the extra torque from an engine doing more than idling, and the car will still stay put while you move your foot from the brake to the gas. Takes a little practice, but if you find an empty parking lot and practice letting the clutch out slowly and getting the car to roll without any throttle input you can nail the point where the clutch starts to engage.

Interesting notion. Unfortunately for me, I'm not that fast a learner and I don't really have the time to practice stuff like that. With me getting a new car practically every week it would be difficult for me to nail this consistently.

I'm just now getting comfortable with moving away without jerking the car around. Perhaps after a few months when I really start to know what I'm doing I can practice this.

I did take the G out for a drive this evening and I'm still getting there. I kept in mind what you said intercede and I was able to execute more smooth 1-2 transitions. I think I've found the point on the throttle where I can do this. With this car I barely have to press on the gas while disengaging the clutch as I bring it out of gear. And when I execute that perfect shift I don't even notice that the car changed gears. :D

I spent most of the drive, though, working on my low-speed maneuvers. What better place than a crowded Best Buy parking lot? Everything went swimmingly. On the way home, I played a bit of chicken with a fellow G owner. Had to move through some slow moving traffic, but when I got up to speed, some of the cars in front of me slowed down. I executed a perfect 6-5-6 shift to get myself back up to speed.

This might not sound like much to you seasoned drivers, but I was pretty darn proud of myself. :D

[intercede007]

Originally posted by saturnotaku
I executed a perfect 6-5-6 shift to get myself back up to speed.

This might not sound like much to you seasoned drivers, but I was pretty darn proud of myself. :D

LOL!!!

Nice work man..took me forever to get comfortable enough to get out into traffic..it sure as heck wasn't less than 24 hours after starting out :eek:

Be careful with those downshifts. You don't want to hop off the clutch too quickly, instead ride the engagement point a little bit to let the engine spin up to speed. Gears do not like to have tons of power put through them all at once..that's why clutches and torque converters have long throws :cool:

Anyways, it's Infiniti's car...I've seen first hand what companies like Motor Trend does to cars they are loaned. We sent off an STi to be tested in Georgia and got it back about $3,000 dollars worth of damage. You're doing great :D

Watch out with that C5 next week though...you've got a toy right now, 350HP puts you right in the thick of the power tools eisle :cool:

You'll love it though..I get to drive one regularly, and they are gems :)

[saturnotaku]

Originally posted by intercede007
Anyways, it's Infiniti's car...I've seen first hand what companies like Motor Trend does to cars they are loaned. We sent off an STi to be tested in Georgia and got it back about $3,000 dollars worth of damage.

Funny you should mention this because I recently talked with the fleet manager in charge of Mitsubishi here in Chicago. They have a Lancer Evolution in their fleet and after less than 10,000 miles he's already had to replace the clutch in that car. He said so many auto writers do burnouts that it's not even funny. I really felt bad for him (and the car). While I would definitely have fun, I would at least make an effort to be gentle.

After the C5 (which I won't be getting until Nov. 17 btw) the next dream car on my list is the Lancer Evo. I can't wait for the chance to try it out. :D

[sytaylor]

Originally posted by intercede007
Depends on the grade.

Personally, I've never had to use any gas to keep a car from rolling backwards on an incline. When you are comfortable with where your clutch engages, you can slowly let the clutch out to the point it begins to grab while keeping your foot on the brake. This way you aren't heating up the clutch with the extra torque from an engine doing more than idling, and the car will still stay put while you move your foot from the brake to the gas. Takes a little practice, but if you find an empty parking lot and practice letting the clutch out slowly and getting the car to roll without any throttle input you can nail the point where the clutch starts to engage.

Now THAT i do know, all these things we learn as standard in the british driving lessons, just have different terminology. Before long shifting becomes more about feeling the car and reacting to it than thinking abotu what you are doing. Like a second nature.. but not quite. Reversing round a corner up a hill is still a behatch though, especially from a busy road.

[saturnotaku]

I was bored tonight so I decided to take a drive to see if I could master this beast once and for all. It was a beautiful night, perfect for just going somewhere, anywhere. I think it was somewhere between Naperville and Bolingbrook where the car and I clicked. After that, I had just about everything working for me. We swung through Bolingbrook, around Aurora, into Oswego and back to Naperville. About a 35-40 mile circuit of driving speeds of anywhere between 30 and 55 mph. I had it goin' on - even did a couple swift downshift/passing maneuvers.

It's so nice now. One word to describe this car - sublime. And thankfully I still have the better part of five days to continue enjoying this vehicle. :D