Long story short: I’m (24M) American, and I’m visiting my long-distance Romanian boyfriend for the first time soon. In Romania, most cars are manual - including all the ones owned by my boyfriend’s family (I’ll be staying with them). I’ve never driven a manual before. His dad told me he can give me a quick lesson, and that I’m welcome to use their cars if I want; otherwise, I can rent an automatic. I don’t have access to any manual cars here in the U.S. to practice on, so I’m not sure what to do.
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Driving manual is not difficult, but unlike the opposite scenario, it’s not something you can learn with only short instructions.
It does take time to develop the motor skills in order do it without thinking about it. The practice wlll take maybe an afternoon or two if you do nothing else. I’d advise you to do it over more than one day to allow yourself to sleep on it and come back at it
Once you’ve learned it, you’ll never think about it again though.
It’s easy
It’s also a great way to be more connected to your vehicle and what’s happening. You have to be more aware of things, anticipate corners, hills etc.
Automatics have made people lazy and disconnected
My recent automatics have been 8 speeds. Do you drive an 8 speed manual?
4 speed connected to a transfer case with hi/low
That’s why I drive a manual with no power steering, power brakes, ABS or traction control.
Manual windows and no power locking and I find power window wipers make this generation soft too.
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You don’t have an automatic starter do you? Things started going downhill when we stopped manually cranking the engine
Why did you stop? I still manually crank most of my engines. (between lawn mowers and collectables I have a lot of engines without electric start) . I spend a lot of time filing points as we… Even when I have electric start, I find getting moving and popping the clutch works just fine.
It’s definitely something you can learn in just a few lessons, particularly if you are just driving around town here and there. There’s a rhythm and muscle memory to it, and once you get it, it becomes super easy.
I think I traded in my last stick-shift (a Jetta) 13+ years ago, and there are still times when I am driving and my left foot instinctively moves toward an invisible clutch…
Take the lesson, as it’s not hard, but it takes some practice making it seem effortless. With a lesson you’ll learn the basics, and the rest is just practice over a day or two.
If you’re driving automatic correctly, your left foot should be available, and the only thing different with your feet is that your left foot now needs to handle the clutch. This means during (some of the) braking or other times when you want to disengage the drivetrain.
After a little while you get a feel for listening to the RPM, and you begin to shift gear automatically based on the engine sound, or any planned changes in speed/torque.
Oh, and it’s worth noting that most cars are somewhat different when it comes to clutching: Some have the car equivalent of a hair trigger, others are much more lenient. If you’ve gotten used to one car, trying out a different one might be useful.
It’s not hard. It’s just a pain in the ass.
Depends on your definition of ‘difficult’. I can pull a motherboard and replace it, I can hand-edit the Windows registry to do some shit most people aren’t even aware is possible, etc. Are those things difficult? No, because I know how to do them. They are complex and technical and require a fair bit of knowledge and understanding to not screw it up though. Everything is difficult until you learn how to do it, then it’s not. Might be better to ask how hard it is to learn? Cause I can’t drive at all so I’m guessing it’s somewhere between multiplication tables and organic chemistry but that’s probably not helpful. :P
The easiest way to learn manual is to focus on one pedal at a time. Learn how to get the car moving using just the clutch pedal alone.
Seriously, don’t even touch the gas until you can accomplish this. Have someone in the passenger seat to operate the handbrake so that you don’t even have to worry about the brake pedal. Just operate the clutch and nothing else. If you can manage to get going from one pedal without stalling, you’re already 90% of the way there.
The next step is learning when to shift, but that comes naturally with practice. Eventually you’ll become in-tune with the sounds the engine is making, and then knowing when to shift becomes second nature.
Yea, I think this is kind of “the way” to teach manual. It really focuses on getting a feel for a clutch and the non-linearity of friction in it.
I had a friend learn how to drive a manual for a trip to Italy. It took maybe 2 20 minute sessions before she was comfortable with it. When she got there the driving was fine but the honking freaked her out 😂
It’s easy. Just read the manual.
It’s not toooooo hard. But you will need a good little bit to get the feel for it.
And I don’t know how hilly Romania is but the first time your stall out on an incline you will feel embarrassed and likely honked at. And it will be all the harder to recover cause now you’re stressed about it.
Driving manual is not particularly complicated, but it will require you to focus a lot of attention on it at first. Since you also have to cope with with differences in driving regulations, this will put you and your passengers more at risk than necessary.
It takes time (~tens of hours) to build the muscle memory so that it becomes natural. For a vacation in the short term, you should go ahead with your plan to rent an automatic.
I had almost no driving experience. And I learnt driving a manual in 10 lessons (30 min each). So depending on how much time you have, you can think about learning. Do mind that it will be frustrating initially.
Nah, I daily all manuals.
My best recommendation outside of trying a friend’s car, try driving one in a sim racing or racing game! That’ll give you an idea. Games like the long drive or even motortown have clutch simulation. You can even do it with a keyboard, but even a cheap wheel is good to practice with. Even with a 2 pedal wheel, you can bind the brake to the clutch and practice that way.
It’s like riding a bike. My wife was resistant to stick shift… Then her dad got her a used car that was manual. Almost 20 years later it’s all we’ve owned.
It seems difficult at first, until it’s second nature. And I still make little mistakes here or there like staying in a gear for to long. But once you learn it, it’s super easy.
Like others said, it’s all a dance between pulling out the clutch portal and feeding fuel. I suggest learning exactly where the clutch begins to grip. Once you know where they spot is, it’s much easier to feel how to drive.
Best of luck!
