# Huge news for me!



## msjhord (Jan 29, 2017)

First things first -- don't laugh!

I'm 40 years old and, up until this day, I'd never successfully operated a vehicle with a manual transmission.  Second-fifth gear usually went without a hitch, but even then I still had issues if I was nervous, on an incline, or any number of other scenarios were in play.  First -- forget it!  If I got it in and forward without bucks and jumps, fits and starts, or just plain stalling out, it was a miracle from heaven itself.  And given my teachers (who shall remain nameless for now) lacked about as much patience with my inabilities as I did for the whole process, I hung it up.  Fortunately, here in the States, it's relatively easy to find a car that's what we call "automatic."  You put it in drive and go.  They're a little more expensive, and usually not as efficient with fuel.  Nevertheless, the need to learn stopped being so emergent so long as we didn't have a manual in the driveway.

Well, a few months ago, we purchased an early-90's Volvo wagon -- before they started making the Cross Country and InterCooler editions.  And it is, you guessed it, a manual.  Due to work schedules and other conflicts, my husband hasn't had time to give me any one -on-one instruction.  Until today.  And, though I've yet to reach the point where I can pilot it solo, today was a success.  I got us from one end of the county to another (a distance of about 15 miles, overall) and only stalled twice.  Once was in a parking lot.  

But this . . . this.  is.  HUGE!!  HUGE!!!  I'm giddy with delight!  However, I woke this morning with an ache in the right of my neck and shoulder, as well as upper right arm.  It hurts worse now after all the shifting.  So, ibuprofen it is!


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## The Green Shield (Jan 29, 2017)

msjhord said:


> First things first -- don't laugh!
> 
> I'm 40 years old and, up until this day, I'd never successfully operated a vehicle with a manual transmission.  Second-fifth gear usually went without a hitch, but even then I still had issues if I was nervous, on an incline, or any number of other scenarios were in play.  First -- forget it!  If I got it in and forward without bucks and jumps, fits and starts, or just plain stalling out, it was a miracle from heaven itself.  And given my teachers (who shall remain nameless for now) lacked about as much patience with my inabilities as I did for the whole process, I hung it up.  Fortunately, here in the States, it's relatively easy to find a car that's what we call "automatic."  You put it in drive and go.  They're a little more expensive, and usually not as efficient with fuel.  Nevertheless, the need to learn stopped being so emergent so long as we didn't have a manual in the driveway.
> 
> ...


Congratulations!  I've never operated a manual transmission vehicle so I'm jealous.


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## msjhord (Jan 29, 2017)

It's something I've wanted to master for awhile, but just . . . couldn't, for whatever reason.  Maybe it's because I'm 40 and a lot of the insecurities I held onto for so long are just GONE!


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## Bard_Daniel (Jan 29, 2017)

I can't drive at all-- I suck at it. Manual is out of the question for me. Good job though! : D


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## H.Brown (Jan 29, 2017)

Well I also don't drive but congrats and well done mate.


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## Thaumiel (Jan 29, 2017)

Having never seen an automatic in real life, this seems really backward to me. But well done


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## Sam (Jan 29, 2017)

I've been driving tractors, dumpers, and cars, all with manual transmissions, from I was knee high to a grasshopper. 

You'll get the hang of it eventually. Don't ride the clutch if you can avoid it, make sure you press it fully home before changing gears, and for hill-starts use your handbrake until you're confident enough to hold the vehicle with the footbrake. 

Engage the handbrake, put the car in gear, and let the clutch slowly out until you feel the car rising ever so slightly. Release the handbrake and continue letting the clutch out gently until the car holds itself on the hill and doesn't roll backwards. Then, let the clutch out completely and feather the accelerator until you get up enough speed to clutch again and shift to second. 

Hill-starts in second for a beginner are going to be extremely difficult. I wouldn't advise it because you'll need to know how much throttle to give the car so it doesn't cut out. First will be jerky for a few times, but if you feather the accelerator and gently build up speed, you'll master it in no time. 

Well done and keep at it.


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## Kevin (Jan 29, 2017)

Sam said:


> I've been driving tractors, dumpers, and cars, all with manual transmissions, from I was knee high to a grasshopper.
> 
> You'll get the hang of it eventually. Don't ride the clutch if you can avoid it, make sure you press it fully home before changing gears, and for hill-starts use your handbrake until you're confident enough to hold the vehicle with the footbrake.
> 
> ...


the part I struggle with is breaking to a stop, depressing the clutch, popping it out of gear, steering with one knee, _and _holding a coffee. Now if I could manage to hold the cup with my teeth, freeing the hand up for the future shift... Eaa? Now that would be something.


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## msjhord (Jan 29, 2017)

I have a friend with an old Chevy C-10 from, I think it's a 1971 model.  It's what is referred to amongst car folks as a "three-on-the-tree."  Meaning, it's a manual transmission, but the stick isn't in the floor of the car .  . . it's in the steering column.  I can tell you right now, a straight-up zombie apocalypse would have to be going on (or some other life/death situation) for me to try tackling _that_.

To be honest, I wish I lived somewhere like NYC, where having a car wasn't so necessary.  Between gas, upkeep, and insurance, it's a pain at times.  Plus, the food and the arts scene . . . oh boy!  But, yes, I know there are drawbacks.  Cost of living, crime rate, culture shock of moving from the rural south to the big city, etc.  Funny, though -- I've lived here all my life, except for the seven years I lived in another southern state in a metro college town.  But though I am from here, I've never felt like I was _from _here.  Catch my meaning? 

Wow . . . that digressed fast!

Oh, thanks for all the well wishes and pointers.  I appreciate it!


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## Sleepwriter (Jan 29, 2017)

congrats!

the first vehicle I bought was a stick shift.  I couldn't drive it, had my buddy drive it home for me, over the next couple weeks he taught me how to drive it.


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## Phil Istine (Jan 29, 2017)

Well done!  I imagine it must feel very awkward for someone who's never driven manual.  Here, in the UK, manual transmission is the norm and I've only ever had one automatic.  I'm not so keen on them as low-speed manoeuvring feels awkward.
If you drive it well and avoid riding the clutch, you can lengthen the mileage between clutch changes.  I once had a small van that was still on its original clutch after 140,000+ miles when I sold it.  However, I did need to pay for a handbrake cable change at one point, so I suppose it's one or the other.  Handbrake cables tend to be easier and cheaper to change.


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## Kevin (Jan 30, 2017)

My first vehicle was a '79 Chevy short bed, three on the tree. I eventually broke the linkage and it was moved to the floor. I had a Toyota v6 5 speed (manual shift). I don't think I'll ever get a stick again. Can't see why when auto is so much more convenient.


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## bdcharles (Jan 30, 2017)

Excellent stuff. I learned on a manual (stick shift) and my first few cars were that but have driven an automatic for years. 

My grandmother used to tell me horror stories of the war but by far the most terrifying of those was how to "double de-clutch"!


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## Deleted member 56686 (Jan 30, 2017)

After this discussion, I think I'll stick to Automatic. :lol:

Good going, msj


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## Sam (Jan 30, 2017)

mrmustard615 said:


> After this discussion, I think I'll stick to Automatic. :lol:
> 
> Good going, msj



I guess it depends on where you were brought up. 

Here, in both the Republic and Northern Ireland, nobody drives anything other than manual transmission. 

So, like you, I'll stick to what I'm familiar with.


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## Ariel (Jan 30, 2017)

My uncle tried to teach me to drive a stick when I was first learning. Now, he's a massive man (6'5" and 450 lbs) while I clocked in at under 5'4" and weighed all of 110 lbs at fifteen (much different story now). This is relevant because his truck had no power steering and no power brakes.  I couldn't get the thing to stop or turn without gripping the wheel with both arms and standing on the pedals. First thing he does is take me up the steepest hill around and it has a stop sign at the top. So I'm stopped at this sign, gripping the steering wheel with all of my strength, barely able to keep the brake depressed, not able to rest any of my weight on the seat because it was a bench seat and he wouldn't fit in the vehicle without it all the way back, and he's SCREAMING at me telling me to go.

There was a car stopped right behind me, I'm crying, and trying desperately not to roll back into this car.  The street we're trying to turn onto is busy.  I get the guy behind me to pass me, let the truck roll several feet back, hit the gas, kill the truck and end up rolling back into a parking lot halfway down the hill.  He makes me get out and trade places and he drives me home, screaming at me the whole way.  I get out at home, slam the door, and go inside to immediately tell my parents that my uncle was trying to kill me.  Never had another driving lesson with him again.

I can drive a stick now. My dad taught me years later after I had been driving for a while. He was calm and patient, listened when I told him my worries and reassured me.


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## Ultraroel (Jan 30, 2017)

Lol what.. In the Netherlands its considered extremely luxurious and even more lazy to drive an automatic gearbox.


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## Sam (Jan 30, 2017)

Damn, that's rough, Ariel. 

Kudos to you for going back to it years later. 

Your story reminds me of the first time I was driving a tractor with a trailer hitched behind (mind you, not a tractor trailer, as Americans call it, but a farm tractor with a trailer behind for loading stones/silage/clay/etcetera into). I was drawing a load of stones from a nearby quarry and had to drive up probably the steepest hill for miles under full load. It was my first time, as I said, and my father was standing beside me in the cab. 

I got halfway up the hill when I realised that the David Brown I was driving didn't have the power to make it in the gear I was in. I had the accelerator floored, but I knew it wasn't enough and that I was going to have to clutch and change gear. The problem, and what I didn't know then, was that the old David Brown had a non-synchronised transmission. In order to shift to a lower gear under full load without any problem, I would have had to double clutch. I didn't double clutch and therefore I missed the shift. Now, I was panicking because I was out of gear and the tractor started to roll back down the hill. So I tried to brake, but the brakes didn't hold on that steep of a hill and especially with a murderous load behind. 

My father was shouting at me to shift into low gear, take my foot off the brake before the engine cut out, and gently let the clutch out. I got very lucky that day, because I just about managed to follow his instructions. Had I held the brakes a couple of seconds longer, the tractor would have conked out and I would never have gotten it started again. We would have went back down the hill like a rollercoaster car going straight down a huge drop after just about making it to the peak a second earlier.


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## Kevin (Jan 30, 2017)




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## Gumby (Jan 30, 2017)

Ariel said:


> My uncle tried to teach me to drive a stick when I was first learning. Now, he's a massive man (6'5" and 450 lbs) while I clocked in at under 5'4" and weighed all of 110 lbs at fifteen (much different story now). This is relevant because his truck had no power steering and no power brakes.  I couldn't get the thing to stop or turn without gripping the wheel with both arms and standing on the pedals. First thing he does is take me up the steepest hill around and it has a stop sign at the top. So I'm stopped at this sign, gripping the steering wheel with all of my strength, barely able to keep the brake depressed, not able to rest any of my weight on the seat because it was a bench seat and he wouldn't fit in the vehicle without it all the way back, and he's SCREAMING at me telling me to go.
> 
> There was a car stopped right behind me, I'm crying, and trying desperately not to roll back into this car.  The street we're trying to turn onto is busy.  I get the guy behind me to pass me, let the truck roll several feet back, hit the gas, kill the truck and end up rolling back into a parking lot halfway down the hill.  He makes me get out and trade places and he drives me home, screaming at me the whole way.  I get out at home, slam the door, and go inside to immediately tell my parents that my uncle was trying to kill me.  Never had another driving lesson with him again.
> 
> I can drive a stick now. My dad taught me years later after I had been driving for a while. He was calm and patient, listened when I told him my worries and reassured me.



Wow. That would give anyone a complex about driving a stick. 

I can drive one, learned years back, but haven't done so for a long time. I prefer an automatic.


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## Ariel (Jan 30, 2017)

Ultraroel said:


> Lol what.. In the Netherlands its considered extremely luxurious and even more lazy to drive an automatic gearbox.


In the US you get a price break on manual transmissions but most dealerships won't have those in stock (and therefore have to pay more to have them "special ordered").  Most people my parents' age can drive a manual but most my age can't.



Sam said:


> Damn, that's rough, Ariel.
> 
> Kudos to you for going back to it years later.
> 
> ...


That sounds terrifying, Sam.


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## Phil Istine (Jan 30, 2017)

Ultraroel said:


> Lol what.. In the Netherlands its considered extremely luxurious and even more lazy to drive an automatic gearbox.



At least there are no hill starts


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## msjhord (Jan 31, 2017)

When my husband tried to teach me the first time, we lived in his home state which was more hilly.  LOTS of incline starts.  LOTS!  Freaked me out, as I am a flatlander by birth.  Plus, I come from the rural south so the traffic was waaaaay different.  

Ariel's right.  Finding a car with a manual transmission on the lot is like a needle in a haystack in this country.  Unless it's a pre-owned car lot dedicated to sports cars, esp. import sports cars.  Or cars pre-1980.  Seems there were a lot more manuals back in the day.


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