T's and P's to my dumbass self picking up a 6MT Friday with no 6MT experience

[brocurls]

Can't wait for all the stalling, burnt clutch smell, honks, and middle fingers on my 900mi trek home from PCD.

Been "studying" Youtube videos and reading all the previous threads about noob 6mt tips/tricks, but I feel just as unprepared as my last college final 8 years ago.

[CachacoF80]

Originally Posted by brocurls

Can't wait for all the stalling, burnt clutch smell, honks, and middle fingers on my 900mi trek home from PCD.

Been "studying" Youtube videos and reading all the previous threads about noob 6mt tips/tricks, but I feel just as unprepared as my last college final 8 years ago.

Find a friend and borrow a car for 1-2 days!

[Laostuh]

Originally Posted by brocurls

Can't wait for all the stalling, burnt clutch smell, honks, and middle fingers on my 900mi trek home from PCD.

Been "studying" Youtube videos and reading all the previous threads about noob 6mt tips/tricks, but I feel just as unprepared as my last college final 8 years ago.

I'd like to know why you decided to buy a manual on the first place with no experience lol.

[joooiiiiii]

I always tell people to slowly let the clutch go and no gas; once you feel that sweet spot where the clutch begins to grab then that's when you feather the gas until you start to move at least a few mph. once that happens then you can release the clutch slowly. That's usually the hardest part. Good luck! lol

[maniz]

Rent an MT on Turo and practice. Honda MTs are the smoothest. Find a Civic or Accord if you can.

[RustySeatbelt]

Originally Posted by maniz

Rent an MT on Turo and practice. Honda MTs are the smoothest. Find a Civic or Accord if you can.

Do this. And find an empty parking lot, or stretch of empty road. Practice getting going with just clutch let out, then slowly start to add throttle. And don't psyche yourself out over it, it's really not that hard and you'll likely get the hang of it quickly. Congrats on the purchase.

[MrSmartyPants]

I would stick with Efficient mode for a bit too. The throttle is much more forgiving.

[Fast4d]

if my teenage daughter can work a MT so can you.

BMW clutches are easy to engage.

[N1rve]

The F80 is actually a really easy to drive MT car. The dualmass flywheel makes stalling difficult. The easiest way to start to learn to drive MT for me is to basically do gas-less clutch engages. When you're ready to move, just slowly engage the clutch (centimeters, not inches), until the car starts to move. Once the car starts to move, release the clutch all the way and then add gas. Once you're more familiar, when the car starts moving with the clutch, you can add gas while engaging the clutch.

If you're struggling to get up a hill or if you're panicking at a stop sign, worse case scenario, just give it some gas and then dump the clutch so you can get on your merry way. (Not good for the car, but at least people will stop honking at you). Be patient, keep your window down if you need to wave back to people so they don't get annoyed at you if you stall lol.

[chicagoshark]

Go find a car at Carmax with a manual transmission and go "test drive it"

You'll be fine

[NYG]

Once you get it into first, you'll be fine. Unless you have polio, you won't stall out at highway speeds.

[shortseller]

We all been through it. Take comfort in knowing the clutch pad is pretty heavy duty so I wouldn't be to worried. Only thing you really need to understand is parking and starting off when on a decline and even more so on an incline.

[Aaaaaaaaa]

Just hope your trip is as flat as the earth

[ByeFelicia]

Originally Posted by CachacoF80

Find a friend and borrow a car for 1-2 days!

Yep this is all I did too.

The flat earth thing is true haha but in all honesty, you'll be fine.

This was my first MT car as well.

Just try to practice on one car before and I would suggest keeping it in efficient and sport only to allow rev-match before you ease into no nanny sport + as people above has mentioned.

[DMW2315]

Pick up a hitchhiker that's heading your way who knows how to drive 6MT...

What could go wrong?

[ByeFelicia]

Originally Posted by N1rve

The F80 is actually a really easy to drive MT car. The dualmass flywheel makes stalling difficult. The easiest way to start to learn to drive MT for me is to basically do gas-less clutch engages.

After driving some friends manuals and others, Im pretty sure the F80 has an "assisted" clutch engagement as I very very rarely press any throttle starting off. Unless on an incline but just letting off the clutch in this car, the car will start rolling.

In a friends e9 335, I tried the same method as I was used to it to no avail. Had to feather the gas in succession with the clutch in order for it to roll.

[nicknaz]

Rent a MT car and practice on parking lot plus slopes with handbrake.

Don’t stress. Nice work for getting MT

[495evo]

Fly me out to wherever pcd is. Plus 2k on top. I'll coach you all the way back to my home in NY. Than you'll be good going home.

[CachacoF80]

Originally Posted by nicknaz

Rent a MT car and practice on parking lot plus slopes with handbrake.

Don’t stress. Nice work for getting MT

Can you rent a MT here in the US? I don't think I've ever come across one.

[gunsmoker]

Three things:
1- your left heel must absolutely be firmly on the floor while operating the clutch. If it isn't and you are using your hip joint for a reference, you will jerk ant stall. Adjust your seat to be able to fully depress the pedal that way. When depressing the pedal, first put the heel down to the floor and then slide your foot forward.
2- in the above situation, if you need to release and depress again as in stop and go traffic, you have to repeat the whole thing - get your foot off the pedal, put heel down, slide forward. That's because after the first depress and release the heel will move slightly and it won't be in the same position for you to engage the clutch at the same angle.
3- don't be afraid to use more gas. It's not like the car will jump 100ft in an instant.
My teenage son got the hang of 1 quickly but he stalled for a while because he was not doing 2. Also practice these things with the engine off and row through the gears. You should get some practice ahead of time, seriously, orherwise this may go bad and you will regret it. I hope you won't need to start on an incline. If that's inevitable, apply little handbrake then a good amount of gas and release. My wife roared throught a crossroads that way when i was teaching her and she was embarassed and scared of the noise she made and was shocked when she got an attagirl from me. That's ok - roar equals less likelihood of stalling.

[Sedan_Clan]

You can learn to drive a manual well enough to get home with a couple of hours practice. Driving a manual well takes much longer to accomplish.

[Sedan_Clan]

You can learn to drive a manual well enough to get home with a couple of hours practice. Driving a manual well takes much longer to accomplish.