Please, try to learn on another, older car if possible! Dont shift by MPH, there is a reason why the RPM's are the biggest gauge you have and are right in front of you. Most of us, at least I do, can just tell by sound. Anyways, about your post...as mentioned...your shifts may be occuring too slow, so by the time you shift and get back on the gas, the revs are really low.

I feel the same way.
Evo is not the best car to learn how to use a stick.
Cars like Civic or corolla have a much softer gearbox, it's easier to learn and you will not damage your clutch as much as you're probably doing right now.

you are probably not using the potential of the Evo if you don't know how to shift.
I believe other skills are needed to use the Evo as you should (heel toe, double clutching) but you have to be confortable with normal shifting before to learn those technics

Then to shift properly I agree with previous posts, you have to feel it (with torque & noise). You don't have to look at your speed or your rpm.

o lawd learning stick on an evo...honestly you shouldve brought a beater to learn stick on...clutch installs arent cheap..oh and you will be need a new clutch soon..

i cant believe you bought an evo as your first car and dont even know how to drive stick.... bravo!! but i would have to agree with cdfireman..

haha quote of the day

yep 5th car I have owned and figure I needed to learn stick. Plus I was getting something I wanted and usually if you force yourself to learn something you can pick it up.

And make sure you keep your left heal on the floor when you start off in 1st.

The Evo's shift feel is very notchy compared to a Honda or BMW which tend to have very smooth engagement.

Look at it this way: if you can learn to drive your Evo well; then most other cars should be much easier.

Your next step should be learning to downshift smoothly.



Good luck from another NJ Evo owner .

You just did.

The Evo was my first manual car too. The biggest lesson I learned was not to look at speed or rpm, but to feel the car. At part throttle, there will be a certain point (close to 3k RPMs) when the engine starts to get noisy and feel like pushing it any more is unnecessary. Learn to shift right before that point. Make your shifts quick and smooth, and learn your cars powerband. You can get the car going from a stop with very little gas, no need to rev it high and slip the clutch hard. Learn to modulate the clutch and feel the car (easy in an Evo as it provides great feedback) and you will be fine.

Great advice for the on ramp of I80.

Update; just went for a ride and paid attention to my tach this time. Your advice is ridiculous.

Hey dude! I feel for you, my 05 Evo MR was my first stick and it took me about a week to get accustomed to it! Just know you are learning on a very diffficult platform! My friends have neons and civics and driving their sticks is waaay easier, just hang in there and practice practice practice

Two years ago I was in the same position you were in. Never drove a manual before, bought the Evo, stalled it about three times in the dealer parking lot, and attempted to take it home in rush hour traffic. Like the guy above me said, learning on the Evo is not very easy. I drove my buddies RSX and it was like a toy compared to the Evo. Just do yourself one favor and avoid the really steep hills at first. You'll get used to shifting, just take it slowly at first. Don't worry about what other people say about abusing your car by learning on it. I'm at 30K with 300whp and the stock clutch. Stalling the car or smoking the clutch once or twice will not ruin it.

Unless you wear a size 14, how can you possibly do this?

thanks guys. I have had it a week now and gradually picking up on it. Not smooth during shifting but the stop go I got down haha. And slowly working on shifting. I have a tendancy to always have a heavy foot so I have to learn to shift because it seems I keep hitting 5000 rpms when I am not paying attention before shifting...whoops.

Right now it is at the dealership getting lojack and they gave me a minivan as a loaner

I wanted them to look at 3rd gear today since when even parked and the vehicle is off, it feels kind of rough/sticky shifting into it.

Oh wells, next time they will do that. Maybe the car just feels that way...who knows