Shifting Advice
Don't sweat it. Practice the way these guys told you and you will be fine in a few days.
AWD is much harder to learn manual than FWD or RWD in my opinion.
I also learned to drive stick in my Evo X. What I ended up doing was waiting until it was night (10-11) and drove out to parking garages in a nearby mall. There I practiced going up hills when fully stopped. Once you get that down, you are pretty much set.
AWD is much harder to learn manual than FWD or RWD in my opinion.
I also learned to drive stick in my Evo X. What I ended up doing was waiting until it was night (10-11) and drove out to parking garages in a nearby mall. There I practiced going up hills when fully stopped. Once you get that down, you are pretty much set.
Don't sweat it. Practice the way these guys told you and you will be fine in a few days.
AWD is much harder to learn manual than FWD or RWD in my opinion.
I also learned to drive stick in my Evo X. What I ended up doing was waiting until it was night (10-11) and drove out to parking garages in a nearby mall. There I practiced going up hills when fully stopped. Once you get that down, you are pretty much set.
AWD is much harder to learn manual than FWD or RWD in my opinion.
I also learned to drive stick in my Evo X. What I ended up doing was waiting until it was night (10-11) and drove out to parking garages in a nearby mall. There I practiced going up hills when fully stopped. Once you get that down, you are pretty much set.
Evolving Member
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 133
Likes: 0
From: Los Angeles, CA
I learned on the EVO X as well. This was my first manual.
I tried doing what you did and held the rpms at 2k and slowly released the clutch.
This however ended up in a lot of bogging and violent stalls.
After having my dad yell at me about how im going to destroy my brand new car i took his advice and did what he told me.
This might seem counter intuitive, but it helped me.
Give it a little gas and slowly release the clutch....but dont let it out.
Yes, i am telling you slip your clutch. But dont slip it forever, just a second or 2 where you have grip and you can safely release the clutch.
Sure, you are definitely wearing out your clutch, but while learning, its better to wear out your clutch than to have a complicated thing like your engine violently seize up all the time. Not good for the car.
So to reiterate, give it some gas and have it at like 2k RPM, slowly let out your clutch and slip it (keep it at the friction point) for a second or 2 until you fee it catch and slowly let of clutch+apply more gas.
This helped me a lot, after many tries, you can learn to slip the clutch less and less.
Im at 30k on my odometer and still on stock clutch, so dont worry about damaging it, its a wear and tear item for a reason.
(IF you hold the clutch at the friction point too long, you will start to smell your clutch) This is bad.
Either you are slipping it too long, or you are slipping it at too high RPMs.
Best of luck.
I tried doing what you did and held the rpms at 2k and slowly released the clutch.
This however ended up in a lot of bogging and violent stalls.
After having my dad yell at me about how im going to destroy my brand new car i took his advice and did what he told me.
This might seem counter intuitive, but it helped me.
Give it a little gas and slowly release the clutch....but dont let it out.
Yes, i am telling you slip your clutch. But dont slip it forever, just a second or 2 where you have grip and you can safely release the clutch.
Sure, you are definitely wearing out your clutch, but while learning, its better to wear out your clutch than to have a complicated thing like your engine violently seize up all the time. Not good for the car.
So to reiterate, give it some gas and have it at like 2k RPM, slowly let out your clutch and slip it (keep it at the friction point) for a second or 2 until you fee it catch and slowly let of clutch+apply more gas.
This helped me a lot, after many tries, you can learn to slip the clutch less and less.
Im at 30k on my odometer and still on stock clutch, so dont worry about damaging it, its a wear and tear item for a reason.
(IF you hold the clutch at the friction point too long, you will start to smell your clutch) This is bad.
Either you are slipping it too long, or you are slipping it at too high RPMs.
Best of luck.
Evolved Member
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 701
Likes: 0
From: MN
Question, how close do you guys sit next to the steering wheel? Im use to my auto lancer but when Im in the evo I gotta sit pretty close so I can push the clutch all the way down. Do you guys do this too or is my legs just short lol
Evolved Member
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 1,096
Likes: 1
From: 10,000 frozen lakes
I have been driving manuals since 1970. My first manual car was a 1967 427 Corvette which I traded for a much newer Camaro SS. Cars back then had stiff pressure plates and my Corvette had manual brakes and steering. Imagine how hard it was to coordinate all of that. I picked up the Corvette in a driving thunderstorm. Every time I let the clutch out, the car would skate sideways due to all that torque.
I quickly learned my own version of "traction control". Gently accelerate, giving enough gas to smoothly move away, keeping the revs up enough to prevent stalling. As you accelerate, you gently release the clutch at the same time. Smooth acceleration while smoothly releasing the clutch. Most people are herky-jerky when they start with a manual, which is pretty normal. They stall the car, the car shudders and sometimes chirps the tires. But, after doing it a few times, most people get the hang of it and become a lot smoother.
I taught both of my sisters to drive manual transmissions, first in parking lots, then on hills. I taught them what to do when your car is stopped on a steep hill and you have to do this repeatedly. I never ever had them use the handbrake as it wasn't needed. You have to accelerate more firmly and use more clutch on a steep hill, but not to the point of abusing the clutch.
The biggest problem I see with people today is that they cannot rev match on a downshift, nor can they smoothly engage the gearbox when speed shifting. It is somewhat of an art. My 2007 Honda Civic Si had a transmission as smooth as butter and it was a no brainer to bang off 9k shifts. The Evo has a slightly clunkier transmission, so you have to be more deliberate when rowing through the gears at redline. The main thing si to feel the synchros when shifting fast and be sensitive to when the gears want to grind. Again, it takes practice, lots of it. Unless one does something stupid like downshifting from 3rd to 1st from 6k, the transmission should be able to take the abuse. But again, learn to be smooth and learn to feel the gears engaging.
I quickly learned my own version of "traction control". Gently accelerate, giving enough gas to smoothly move away, keeping the revs up enough to prevent stalling. As you accelerate, you gently release the clutch at the same time. Smooth acceleration while smoothly releasing the clutch. Most people are herky-jerky when they start with a manual, which is pretty normal. They stall the car, the car shudders and sometimes chirps the tires. But, after doing it a few times, most people get the hang of it and become a lot smoother.
I taught both of my sisters to drive manual transmissions, first in parking lots, then on hills. I taught them what to do when your car is stopped on a steep hill and you have to do this repeatedly. I never ever had them use the handbrake as it wasn't needed. You have to accelerate more firmly and use more clutch on a steep hill, but not to the point of abusing the clutch.
The biggest problem I see with people today is that they cannot rev match on a downshift, nor can they smoothly engage the gearbox when speed shifting. It is somewhat of an art. My 2007 Honda Civic Si had a transmission as smooth as butter and it was a no brainer to bang off 9k shifts. The Evo has a slightly clunkier transmission, so you have to be more deliberate when rowing through the gears at redline. The main thing si to feel the synchros when shifting fast and be sensitive to when the gears want to grind. Again, it takes practice, lots of it. Unless one does something stupid like downshifting from 3rd to 1st from 6k, the transmission should be able to take the abuse. But again, learn to be smooth and learn to feel the gears engaging.
I learned how to drive on a manual and have ever since. It takes much longer to build the confidence more so than the actual skill. I have taught a few of my friends and family how to drive manual and what I always have them do is go to a parking lot, hold the rpm's around 2k, while your letting the clutch out stare at your rpm's and concentrate on keeping the needle at the same spot. It'll train the muscles in your legs the clutch-gas ratio. Once you master that you'll be fine, the next step is just the confidence part. Many drives at night with no traffic out will help that. Good luck man!
lol how tall are you dude? I'm 6'2 and sit decently close..you just gotta feel whats comfortable to you
Evolved Member
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 701
Likes: 0
From: MN
Evolved Member
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 701
Likes: 0
From: MN
Evolved Member
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 1,096
Likes: 1
From: 10,000 frozen lakes
Get a comfortable position so that your feet can safely operate the clutch, brake and accelerator pedal. Position the seat so that your arms are slightly bent. I would not get too close to the steering wheel because you can't react as well in an emergency if you need to steer away from a situation. And, I would not drive with my arms fully extended like in a formula car. Since you live in Minnesota, I would be happy to meet up with you and help you out. I have been doing this for 42 years now.
Newbie
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 11
Likes: 0
From: New Haven, CT
Definitely go out to an empty parking lot somewhere and practice starts, which are the hardest part. And I agree with everyone else who suggested to try driving the car without touching the gas pedal - slowly let off the clutch (in 1st) until you feel the car move forward and when the car hits idle speed (you'll get this with practice), you can push the clutch in and out smoothly without any jerkiness.
Once you're comfortable with the engagement point, adds some revs (very little is needed - most people overrev when starting off and drop the clutch too fast) and slowly let out the clutch. You will learn that the "clutching out" part of starting isn't an instantaneous motion. I'd estimate from a normal start I'd working the clutch for almost a full second from when I start moving off the line to when the clutch is out. Also contrary to intuition, the process of releasing the clutch is not linear. You relatively quickly let off the clutch while simultaneously applying a bit of throttle until you hit the engagement point, then sharply slow down your release speed as the clutch grabs while simultaneously applying slightly more gas to keep the revs constant, and then when you're up to idle speed (like 3 mph) you quickly let off the clutch all the way.
For a "good" slow start I like seeing the RPM peak at no higher than 1200-1500 RPM and than decrease down to 1000 RPM when I let off the clutch completely. This is best for fuel economy and best for minimizing clutch wear. If I want to get off the line faster, I will rev to a higher RPM (i.e. 2000) while I let out the clutch, and let it catch at maybe 1500 to prevent the engine from bogging as much. And of course if you want to really shoot off the line, floor the gas and watch the needle bounce off 5500. But that's a topic for another discussion...
Once you're comfortable with the engagement point, adds some revs (very little is needed - most people overrev when starting off and drop the clutch too fast) and slowly let out the clutch. You will learn that the "clutching out" part of starting isn't an instantaneous motion. I'd estimate from a normal start I'd working the clutch for almost a full second from when I start moving off the line to when the clutch is out. Also contrary to intuition, the process of releasing the clutch is not linear. You relatively quickly let off the clutch while simultaneously applying a bit of throttle until you hit the engagement point, then sharply slow down your release speed as the clutch grabs while simultaneously applying slightly more gas to keep the revs constant, and then when you're up to idle speed (like 3 mph) you quickly let off the clutch all the way.
For a "good" slow start I like seeing the RPM peak at no higher than 1200-1500 RPM and than decrease down to 1000 RPM when I let off the clutch completely. This is best for fuel economy and best for minimizing clutch wear. If I want to get off the line faster, I will rev to a higher RPM (i.e. 2000) while I let out the clutch, and let it catch at maybe 1500 to prevent the engine from bogging as much. And of course if you want to really shoot off the line, floor the gas and watch the needle bounce off 5500. But that's a topic for another discussion...