Anyone here NOT know how to drive a manual?

[Red_Baron]

Probably a horrible question to ask on a car forum and most likely no one will chime in....but I was just wondering if there are people on here that can't drive a manual?

I haven't driven a manual in years (even back then was never really good at it either) and had the opportunity to try out my friends 964 last night and managed to stall it 3 times in a parking lot. And if anyone was wondering, yes I did give up my masculinity and no longer associate myself with car enthusiasts.

[bga23]

Owned a few manual tranny cars. And I suspect there are quite a few around here who can't though.

[6spdg37s]

i been driving stick since i was like 14

[JustMpwrd]

I'll swallow my pride and take the leap....

I learned how to drive a manual years ago but have never owned a manual car. Despite my fairest notions with my Logitech G25, I probably couldn't drive one unless my life depended on it.

[Poppin Fresh]

I was fairly decent until my accident 6 years ago. I fractured my ankle and tore my achilles tendon in the process. It's just not as strong and it hurts every time I put pressured weight on it.

[Sunggin]

I literally learned about a month ago. I went to the dealership and bought a 6spd and had to drive it home (3hrs away). I was forced to learn it on the spot. Now, I'm somewhat used to it.

[badazzm]

Drove manual for my first 3 cars. Then got an SUV and now an M3 dct. Only car left manual in my family is my dad's viper. When I go visit them, I park the M and take out the viper. Never stalled except once. M3 is my only car and too much traffic in bay area to drive manual.

[kevin///mlee]

I learned how to drive in my dad's E30 M3 when I was 14 years old. I never thought I'd drive a non-stick car after that but here I am with my DCT lol

[kscarrol]

Learned to drive a manual at 14 and drove them exclusively for more than 20 years. Have the DCT now but when we go to North Carolina we have an old Z3 that is stick. Love driving around those mountain roads in that car!

[///Mperative]

I learned to drive stick 10+ years ago on a friend's 1999 VW Golf Cabrio. I've never owned a manual and the only other manual I've driven was an E39 M5. I burned the clutch on it, but it was a rental and the clutch was already mostly gone when I picked it up. So, while I'm capable of driving a manual, I prefer to drive an automatic (or semi-auto).

I'd say that most people in my generation (Millennial) do not know how to drive a manual.

[surlynkid]

i am teaching my 15 year old to drive one now. he hates it. i cannot imagine not knowing how, so he will learn. go rent a car in europe and try to get an auto. not so easy.

it is easy on my 15 year old if i let him use first gear (granny low). first is 5.73:1 i think with ~560 ft-lbs dynoed at the wheels. all he has to do is let off the clutch with no gas and it will go. i make him use second though.

[SamS]

I know several people <30 who cannot. It's not so much lack of desire to learn, as it is lack of cars available to practice with.

I don't miss driving manuals... well, maybe a few times a month, but it's unfortunate that you can't drive a manual when it's "fun" (spirited driving) and not have it go into a pure auto when it's a pain (stop and go traffic).

[dmk08]

Is it really a pain in stop and go traffic? I've been driving stick since I turned 16 in every car that had it available and it's just like second nature. I don't even notice I'm doing it anymore. I drive in Atlanta traffic doesn't get much worse than that.

[SamS]

Originally Posted by dmk08

Is it really a pain in stop and go traffic? I've been driving stick since I turned 16 in every car that had it available and it's just like second nature. I don't even notice I'm doing it anymore. I drive in Atlanta traffic doesn't get much worse than that.

Stop and go traffic for 45+ minutes? That's my commute. Yeah, it's a pain. You may not think it's a pain, but an auto sure is easier

[Ezio]

there are for sure people here and all over who cannot drive a stick. driving a stick is very useful skill you have.

[dsm918]

Grew up on stick. Didn't have a choice. I learned how to drive at 6 on a tractor at a farm And yes, the tractor was a stick.

[r53s65e90]

Most people will post here stating that they can drive a stick one way or the other.

To fully enjoy the M3 the DCT is more than sufficient.

Also, the vast majority of people interested in the M3 will have at some point in time at least tried to drive a stick.

I doubt that there will be anyone posting anything equivalent to the following: "I don't know how to drive a stick, I have never learned how to do it properly"

[jphughan]

My first experience in a manual transmission car was driving my M3 off the lot. That said, while my car was on its way from Germany I read everything I could find about how to drive a manual transmission properly, best practices, things to avoid, etc. I also did research into how a manual transmission actually works, which was not only interesting but gave me an appreciation for WHY the best practices and pitfalls are what they are. I even created a thread here called "Advice for first-time 6MT owner?" that generated a lot of helpful information.

Honestly I wasn't very worried. Before picking up the car I felt like I'd learned about as much about driving stick as one possibly could without actually doing it. So I drove home very carefully and then went out late at night for several nights just going around and around some residential blocks to get a feel for driving stick. I definitely stalled several times in the first few weeks and had some really jerky shifts (my wife wouldn't ride in the car with me at first due to headaches from that), but I got the hang of it pretty quickly. The M3 I'm told is a pretty easy car to learn stick on, although I think the the regular 3 with its CDV is even easier; it's hard NOT to shift smoothly in that.

And now about 1.5 years later it feels totally natural (and awesome), and I've been heel-toeing on the track the last few times I've gone. I've driven DCT M3s a few times and I do admit that they're fun in a different way since there's a higher sense of speed and immediacy when shifts are so fast and you don't have to take your hand off the wheel. But I figure I'm 26 years old, so while I'll have plenty of time to enjoy great DCT cars in the future, 6MT may not be around for much longer, so I'll enjoy it while I can. Plus even though DCT MIGHT be make track and twisty back road driving slightly more fun than 6MT does, 6MT definitely isn't boring there, but it DOES make driving that WOULD otherwise be boring (commuting, casual street driving) a LOT more fun than it would be in DCT. Now of course if I spent lots of time in traffic, that equation would flip. Plus, especially since I'm a newer 6MT driver, I still love the thrill of always chasing those perfectly rev-matched shifts and feeling like a total hero when I get it just right.

[W///]

Learned how to drive on a manual car. A few things:

- Does anyone here not know how to change the oil? If no, aren't you somewhat curious?
- Maybe it's just me, but I essentially learned by just watching my parents drive our 90 VW Passat with 5MT.
- The E9x is a really easy car to drive. First of all, you have a really soft clutch pedal. And you have hill assist. That's almost cheating haha. Try driving a Civic with MT, I thought that's a great learner car.
- If you want a challenge like I had, drive a 993 Turbo. Ridiculously heavy clutch pedal, offset/weird angled pedals, my head on a platter if I screwed up.

I also wonder how many here says they know how to drive manual but end up just riding their clutch half the time? Either way, try them out! It's a ton of fun.

[burakkose]

do countries give driving licence without testing manual transmission driving ability?

[jphughan]

Originally Posted by burakkose

do countries give driving licence without testing manual transmission driving ability?

The US does, and your license isn't even restricted to automatic transmissions if you take the test in an automatic transmission like I've heard some countries do. That said, I took the test in an auto and transitioned to a manual just fine, though I probably put in more effort than the average non-enthusiast would have, and I also avoided areas with fast traffic until I was comfortable. But unfortunately in the US it's absurdly easy overall to get a license and absurdly difficult to lose one, which is partially why we have so many incompetent drivers. In fact many states don't even have routine safety/roadworthiness inspections for vehicles, so you get all kinds of unsafe junker vehicles on the road. All because people here think driving is a right, not a privilege.

[UCBPhD]

I learned to drive stick on an old (even at the time) Ford Ranchero.