Driving with manual transmission - your impressions (May/14/2007 )
Hi friends,
of course, most of you tried driving a car manually..for me, it's just the beginning.. i heard many people complaining about using the clutch and gear 
, is it that difficult, what do you think guys... 
Here in Italy everyone drives with manual transmission. WHen you learn to drive, you learn to do it manually.
At the begininng it could be quite difficult to get used, but It's not so difficult!
You just have to take your time to get familiar with the car, then you'll recognize the right time to change the gear listening at the sound of the engine.
good luck!
honnestly I prefer to drive manually. I spare petrol, I really control the car (for example when you need power to overtake an other car, or when the road is slicy because of snow and ice), It's not so difficult.
At the beginning, you might have some difficulties, and "shake" your passengers, but you will soon bet used to drive manually, and it will be more fluent.
good luck.
well, my father must use automatic drive as he's disabled person. At the beginning, i was thinking that the automatic drive was too much petrol consuming. That is true (12L/100km 
)
but now the increasing amount of diesel-buyers (>70% of the new cars sold in france) has raised the possibility to get diesel-autoimatic cars. So 5.5l/100 and a particle filter so it's quite a clean car. So that raised my interest for automatic drive. that's easier and more comfortable.
But honnestly i like changing gears and that's more active drive i think. But it was a little nightmare at my first tries for driving 
i have started taking lessons in driving
but it was interrupted bcoz another girl had made an accident with the same car.... 
ahmad will take an advantage now,since he admits that girls can't drive cars properly 
i have taken 2 lessons only...
i had troubles in understanding that you can't leave both of your feet
on the clutch and the benzen AT THE SAME TIME !!!!
i can see males around are laughing at my notes....
when i was driving i saw a car comming from the other direction and yelled stop the car !!!!
the trainer said who is driving ???? 
i think it will be exciting
wish you luck
Is it true that only Manual for people in Italy? Why so? I mean... it is just very unique.
Automatic is definitely much easier in comparison with manual. Once you get to drive an auto car, you can feel how easy is it.
There is no need to balance the clutch. But of course, playing with the gear with your left hand is pretty cool (driver seat is on the right).
Is it true that only Manual for people in Italy? Why so? I mean... it is just very unique.
Automatic is definitely much easier in comparison with manual. Once you get to drive an auto car, you can feel how easy is it.
There is no need to balance the clutch. But of course, playing with the gear with your left hand is pretty cool (driver seat is on the right).
It is similar in most european countries, automatic is assumed not to be "sportily" enough, and has a bad reputation (old, lazy, slow drivers; high gas consumption, no real own control etc). At least with the speed and the gas consumption with modern automatic gearboxes it is similar or even better than manual driving (computer controlled gearboxes know better when to change gears and clutch much better than the best driver).
And in modern traffic with its frequent traffic jams, it is much more comfortable & safer, I prefer now cars with automatic gearbox.
There is one bad test in driving lessons here: Start driving at a hill. At the same time you have to: release handbrake (slowly), clutch (slowly), and accelerate (not to fast not to slow; killing the engine is not allowed.
I still hate this. I'm what we Americans call a "gear head." I love driving cars, fixing cars, and modifying cars. That being said, I think that a lot of the bias against automatic transmissions (too slow, less efficient, unreliable) all comes from 30-year old technology. Autos are a lot more efficient and reliable then they used to be, some cars actually get better mileage with them. As far as being more 'in-control' of your car, I'd much rather my fellow drivers pay attention to the road in front of them instead of what gear they're in. I think most people lack control over what's going on around them, not over how their car is shifting.
None of this, of course, answers the original question.
Strawberry, driving a manual isn't that hard, it just takes practice. While you're learning, spend some time on some empty parking lots at night, or driving some backroads. Once mastered, you should be able to shift a manual as smoothly as an automatic. If the car is jerking, racing, or stalling; you're doing something wrong.
Also, try to spend some practice time alone in the car if it's safe to do so. It's a lot easier to learn by concentrating on the feel of the car than by listening to your passenger scream "clutch in! shift! clutch out! darnnit, you stalled again!"
thanx all ,
how mant tries you did, fred?
i hope so, but i can't since my father's car is automatic, and i have to be with my trainer
Once you learn...you'll never go back. Well unless you're not into driving. I love driving and I love having the control and torque that a manual offers.
Oh and by the way, I'm a girl and I'm the best driver I know. I always scare the dealership people because I down-shift to see what a car can really do when I test drive one. My boyfriend always has trouble parallel parking and I always get it on the first try, even if the space is only slightly bigger than the car. :-) Men have better spatial orientation my FOOT!