Can you drive a manual transmission?

I just got a car today. '90 Sabb 9000. 5 speed...

Its been a few years since i last drove manual. my vw bus was a 5 speed too but it was a bitch and a half to drive. this saab is really easy. im a little rusty at it. i stalled a total of 4 times today, but those where all in in the first 5 minutes. i was nervous as shit though because i had to drive it around in philly and then and hour down the highway at rush hour, but i did fine.
its so much fun though. i cant see wanting to drive an automatic car for a while. right now i have my saab(manual), dodge(automatic), and the school bus(automatic)...
by the way im selling a blue dodge caliber '07($13,000) if anyone is interested.

originally i learned to drive manual by watching all the "how to" videos on youtube... works as a good guide going in. then i asked a tow truck driver to ride in with me once around the block in my vw bus. after that it was just practice. its a good skill to have.

My one word of advise. always set the emergency break when parked! today i was coming out of the whole foods store and i was looking at the parking lot. it was a fairly empty parking lot. there was just a lexus and my sabb in the whole thing. the lexus was parked directly next to my car. my car was parked diagonally in a handicapped parking space next to the lexus... the thankfully undamaged lexus... because that is not where i originally parked. i parked on the other side of the lot, straight, and in a non-handicapped spot. i forgot to set the emergency break and the car must of rolled down the parking lot... i was lucky as shit neither car was damaged.


so, anyway, Can you drive manual?

 

yup can drive a tractor with a 13 speed tranny.i just converted my tow truck from an auto to a 5 speed.

 

i didn't know that was possible. was it expensive?

 

I guess its a passion but i enjoy having control over the car. Autos dont offer that. Now what do you mean can you drive a manual? You dont have to know shit about cars to know autos are for the old. Been driving a manual since i was 14. Until im either to slow to react or dead, manual always.

 

nope i plan on learning soon

 

Manual all the way. I cant stand not having a clutch when I drive.

 

ya, it makes driving fun. But I have never had one, only my mom and a few friends.

 

ive never drove a stick on a regular basis but i could if i had to. if i had to choose i woulf pick an automatic one of them auto-stick that some cars have would be awesome. just sometimes its a hassle for if your trying to do talk on the phone or something while ur driving in a stick shift.

i have a question/comment lol your front tire is low in that picture but youve probably already noticed that. and the question is why would you be selling an 07 caliber i wish i could afford to have a vehicle that new.

 

yes its possible, just have to switch transmissions.

now how pretty ya want everything can get time consuming as the steering column would need to be changed out as well if the automatic shifter was on the column,if it was in the floor its no problem..

if its on the column ya have to remove the plate in the floor that covers where the shifter gos but thats no problem..

im pretty sure thats about it.. i aint no mechanic,ive just seen it done,im sure puffed can go into more detail...

if i had to take a wild guess,id say the payments and insurance was getting to expensive,IE: he couldnt afford to keep it.

something ive seen over and over when it comes to new cars,people look at the payment and say, 300 a month,i can make that no problem,then they go get the car insured an thats another 100 bucks a month,then fuel,maintenance etc., an suddenly no problem aint as easy as they thought...

 

converting to a standard is alot easier than converting to an auto.it can be expensive if you have to go buy all the parts.i got lucky and a friend had a truck that was getting scrapped with the right tranny and most of the parts i needed.i know the owners of all the junkyards out here so i got the rest of the parts i needed for free as well.in total i think it cost me about 200.00 for a couple parts that i had to buy.

and when i did mine it was done right.cant tell it was an auto.

 

Its crazy how most of the cars in the states are automatic... in the uk its probably like 1 automatic in every thousand cars.

 

Its a requirement of mine that my car has to be stick. It helps loads in the winter, and it generally gets a couple more MPG's. But yea Ive owned 3 cars so far and all of them have been stick and I learned how to drive stick from my father back when I was 16 and had a permit.

 

stick is a requirement for me too. i get so bored driving an automatic.

the phone thing is really a drag, and i cant smoke a bowl and drive easily either. but its still cool.

 

yup I can drive my manual stick shift on my 1979 VW Vanagon

 

nope I can't.. I think I've tried like once way before I ever got my lisence, but I haven't tried in ages. I should learn though cause you never know what life will bring.

 

i havent learned yet but i will soon.

 

exactly. i was a fool.

 

I learned on a 68 Plymouth station wagon, 318, 3 on the tree. The coolest shifting experience I had was a company car in the early 80s. It was a Dodge Colt with a 2 stick transmission. It had a Low and High ratio shifter as well as the regular 4 speed. So it could be shifted Low-1, High-1, Low-2, High-2 and so on. So most of the time when I wanted to really haul arse I would shift from Low-1 to Low-2 and then grab the other shifter for High-2 then shift it to Low-3, High-3, Low-4 and then finally High-4. If I didn't have the car loaded down with equipment it really moved fast for a 4-banger.


I admit I get very tired of a clutch in heavy traffic. I usually drive automatics now anyway since all I drive are rental cars (I sold all of my cars in 2005).

One bit of advice: When you're first learning to drive with a clutch it's popular to head down to the nearest huge empty parking lot. I suggest a dirt road first. The reason is just that on a hard surface any small bit of clutch mishandling results in the new driver being violently jerked around as if being punished by an angry bucking bronco. A dirt road absorbs some of this and makes the whole thing less intimidating. The best way to learn clutch handling is to just practice getting the vehicle moving. That's what I practice most when I'm teaching anyone to drive. Shifting will come naturally once you get over that weird fear of getting the clutch out smoothly while trying to give enough gas to keep it from dying. So the bulk of learning should be focused on smoothley getting the vehicle moving. Lots of starts and stops.

CF

By the way, have any of you ever used a vertical gate shifter?

 

my car has a race prepped automatic, but it has a manual valve body...so you have to shift it. you dont have a choice. if you put the shifter on third...it starts in third, and youll burn up the trans. it only a three speed. i have the most impractical car in the world, but its really fast so its ok

in case you were wondering its an 86 z28 camaro and it runs high 11s.

 

nothing to be ashamed of,it happens to the best of us.. i remember the 1 and only new vehicle i purchased (89 F-150)wound up bein a hellu long 5 years..

i made it through an vowed never again to buy new and if at all possible pay cash when buying a vehicle.. if i cant afford it,i probably dont need it..

a valuble lesson youve learned. and at such a young age..

good for you..