Question:

[ohnancydrew]

Can you (proficiently) operate a manual car?

If so, did you learn to drive automatic before manual?
How long did it take for you to catch on and feel comfortable driving a stick shift?????

Comments

[papercrane]

yes. i did learn automatic before stick (about a year before, i think). i basically learned to drive stick (after the initial parking lot disasters) by driving around my neighborhood with my brother sitting in the passenger seat going "red light. green light. red light." over and over again. a couple months later i was okay with driving around on my own but i got stuck on a hill once and had to make the people behind me back up... embarassing. i guess i dunno how long it took me to feel super-comfortable, but about a year after i started really learning i lived in san francisco for a month and never got stuck on a hill! that was two and a half years ago... now i rarely even roll backwards.

[stripling]

I can drive stick... I learned when I bought my second ever car, a little navy VW golf. It took me maybe a month to become fully understood with it, and a few months to be really completely confident and not stall so much.

I learned auto first, yes.

[handstil]

I learned to drive stick shift because my Dad is insane about this idea that you don't really know how to drive until you can comfortably operate a manual transmission.
I think it's fun to drive manual cars now but I'm so freakin glad I don't have one. I need the free hand and foot!

[overtures]

I learned to drive on a manual. I'd driven an automatic a few times, but my family didn't have any automatic cars, so I was sort of forced to. And somehow they're all I've ever owned...I think either way it's hard, but once you get over the anxiety of stalling, you'll be fine. If you do it every day for a month, you'll forget you ever even worried about it.

[girldetective]

I learned to drive on a standard, and there were a few frustrating weeks, but there's something very satisfying about it. Be patient - you WILL get it. It's ok to stall a million times at first. But when you do finally get it? And you're driving on the highway? And you get to keep upshifting until you finally pop it into fifth gear? It's awesome. Speeding up is definitely more fun in a manual car.