I learned how to drive a standard by stealing my moms Mercury Lynx in the middle of the night. When my dad took me out to drive, he was rather amazed at how quick I caught on. LOL

Every single mile I travel is in a standard, as both my DD and the Mustang are 5 speeds...and I wouldn't have it any other way. The only way I'd want an automatic was an all-out drag car.

The best advice I could give is go somewhere that is NOT busy, preferrably with a hill. You gotta learn the friction point of whatever you're driving. Like 3.8 FTW said, you will eventually find yourself on a hill with someone right on your ***.

It's all about seat time.

 

i learned to drive manual on a tractor at lackland afb but ive come to learn that if you can drive a standard mustang you can drive a freaking standard anything

 

Turns out that not a single company around here rents manual cars . I even tried calling local driving schools for help, but none of them were able to help me. As a last ditch effort, I mentioned my issue to the dealership where the car I want to buy is located. Who knows.. Maybe they will help me out if they know that I am intent on buying it.

 

mustangrn knows this story. So, a lady in our local club wanted a mustang...... She went out and bought a new Roush track pack, but there was one little problem. She didn't know how to drive a stick. She literally had to have someone drive the car home for her and she's been learning with that thing ever since. Not exactly the preferred method to learn a stick, but whatever works. lol

 

if you know some one who can drive it buy the car and have them drive you and the car back and then learn on it.

 

Audi- Hell, I don't live too far away. Go get a GT 500, and I will be glad to offer some free driving lessons. I'll even buy the gas.

 

LOL. And that is a good point 3.8. My sister can drive stick, so I could just have her drive it to a parking lot to do some testing.

 

To make things even better is IF you screw up too bad and **** your new ride up. You can take it back to the dealer and let em fix it under warranty! LOL.

In all seriousnes though. One little piece of advice I can give you is DO NOT let yourself get into the habbit of leaving your left foot "riding" on top of the clutch pedal in between shifts. Yeah I know your only in first gear for a few seconds and all, Its just best not to do it. Your foot setting on the clutch pedal OVER TIME can cause the clutch to fail is why I say this.

And I recomend learning in a V8 too. My '02 GT feels really torquey and I hardly apply any throttle at all starting from a dead stop. These little tricks wont take too long to learn, its not much too it really. Before long you will have the "hill start" mastered and instinctively know what gear you need when taking turns, corners, and down shifts too.

I wish you luck too man. Dont let this scare your from ever doing it. Manual cars are a pain and a blast all at the same time. Have fun with it.

 

Thanks. Do stick Mustangs have a dead pedal? I can't find any clear pics of the drivers footwell to look at..

 

Yes they have a dead pedal.

 

Dealer said he/they would be more than happy to help me learn to drive it

 

congrats man, i hope the deal works out for you!!

 

sweet, thats a dealer who actually wants to make a sale right there.

It's super easy to learn to drive stick, you will have no problems getting the car going every time within ~30mins of driving it, and over a few weeks you will become smoother and smoother to the point you can't even notice you shifted. Just don't get stuck up on thinking about it too much, just go by the feel of the car, apply as little gas a possible and you will be good to go. Remember once you feel the clutch engaging and you are applying a little gas, keep letting the clutch out, don't ride it or hold it half way engaged; you will burn it up real fast.

 

Very good advice here!

 

Thanks. My Audi sold last night, so hopefully I can get that out of here asap. Then it will be time to make a stop at the dealership .

 

nice got rid of the over priced vdubb