[nen294]

I know that there have been many posts on learning to drive stick but i wanted to start a new one where it was just normal explaining. I have a mini cooper with cvt ordered and am supposed to get it very soon and i have been having second thoughts. the car i really wanted was the cooper s and i do not know how to drive stick. No one in my family has stick and none of my friends do also. If I order the car know i will have it in the winter. Could someone please explain to me how stick shift works and how to learn it. Thank you very much

[Spy Car]

Oh boy, this is the kind of post that makes my heart sing.

By all means get the S and learn to drive a manual. The reward for doing so will be so worthwhile. No knock on the CVT, but having the control over the car you get from a manual transmission (an the Getrag 6 in the S is a great one) lifts the driving experience to a whole new level.

[miniyup]

Why not just find a school to teach you ? One or two hours should be enough to get the basics down and you can refine your technique from there.

Excel Driving School in Naperville has stick lessons. I am sending my 16yr old there (just got his DL this past June) for his first hr. in a stick shift car this coming Sunday. The $75 is worth it to avoid the "father/son" brawl (not to mention wear & tear on the car) that would inevitably ensue during the first hour of learning a clutch. After that, I will be happy to help him refine his technique on a '98 Honda Civic in the coming days and weeks.

Good luck.

[NEMINI]

If you don't want to go the driving school route you could always rent a stick shift car for the day and go teach yourself

[miniyup]

Quote: Originally Posted by GMINI03

If you don't want to go the driving school route you could always rent a stick shift car for the day and go teach yourself

Back in the early '80's I used to rent stick Toyota Celica's from National all the time. Try to find a stick shift rental car now - pretty darn hard (nearly impossible) in the USA I think.

But the good news is that once you learn the basics on someone's car, the MCS has easily the easiest to modulate clutch and best shifter setup I have ever seen.

Some videos posted on this site BMW M5 School might be of some help with some of the basic ideas and technique (this link has been posted here before, I know).

[NEMINI]

Quote: Originally Posted by miniyup

Back in the early '80's I used to rent stick Toyota Celica's from National all the time. Try to find a stick shift rental car now - pretty darn hard (nearly impossible) in the USA I think.

But the good news is that once you learn the basics on someone's car, the MCS has easily the easiest to modulate clutch and best shifter setup I have ever seen.

Some videos posted on this site BMW M5 School might be of some help with some of the basic ideas and technique (this link has been posted here before, I know).

Most places don't want to rent them out because it gets expensive replacing burnt clutches all the time lol ... there are places that rent MINI's also, what better way to see if its worth it then to try the real thing? probably cheaper doing the driving school but of course without being in a MINI you won't be all day

[Sejanus]

Best bet would be to go out and learn how to drive a stick and see if you like it before you decide which model you want. If you enjoy driving a manual then you can get an S with confidence, if you don't then you can get a CVT without always wondering if you made the wrong choice.

[bentley/cooper]

Learn to drive the stick asap & get the MCS! Modern stick shifts are an absolute piece of cake to operate compared to the old "leg buster" clutches & "three on the tree" shifters I learned on. Everybody should be required to learn to drive a manual trans. before they receive a drver license in my opinion.

[minimadness12345]

learning stick truely isn't as hard as people with automatics try to lead on. I am only 16 and I can drive stick after driving my dads 89' porsche speedster about 8 times. The amount of time I spent learning all together was probably about an hour over those 8 times. Its defintely worth it. It is so much more fun in my opinion

[stryder]

I've said this in lots of other threads. I know 4 separate people in the last 2 years who didn't know how to drive a stick, and learned on brand new cars, with a few pointers on an older car. One of them was a MINI. No problems, just happy people to report.

Two things people tend not to mention on the learning stick: 1. you positively should learn, just because its a useful skill (sometimes helpful in finding jobs). 2. if you car is a stick, it greatly cuts down on people asking you to borrow your car, since they can't drive it.

Buy the car you want. Regrets suck.

[mikeoconnor1]

Even if you do not get the S, it is a good idea to know how to drive a stick. The MINI has a very easy transmission to learn on. I would reccomend going to a driving school to learn though. A new clutch can cost well over $500 (including labor). Spending the 75 on lessons is a good investment.

[Spy Car]

One little bit of advice when learnig to drive with a manual is to use the hand brake when you are at a full stop and going up hill.

This is probably the most frightening situation for novice drivers (as the car is liable to roll backward until you get well coordinated between using the clutch and moving the right foot from braking to accelerating).

Using the hand brake, you can give the car gas as you ease off the clutch and slowly release the hand brake, this way you won't roll backward. If you live in a flat area, with no hills, you should practice this manuver on a ramp at a parking structure (with no one behind you) until you get the hand of it. This "trick" will help you overcome the one "difficult" part of driving a stick. Eventually, as you get more cordinated it will be unnecessary to use the hand brake for all but the steepest hills.

One more bit of advice is to only put in the clutch when you are going to use it. So do not sit at a light with the clutch pressed in, that is what neutral is for. This is a common error and will shorten the life of the clutch.

One you learn to drive with a manual you will never willingly go back. Learning will give you a chance to drive the car the way it was meant to be driven and will be a huge sense of accomplishment.

Good Luck and please keep us up to date with how it all works out.

[Spy Car]

Quote: Originally Posted by Spy Car

One little bit of advice when learnig to drive with a manual is to use the hand brake when you are at a full stop and going up hill.

This is probably the most frightening situation for novice drivers (as the car is liable to roll backward until you get well coordinated between using the clutch and moving the right foot from braking to accelerating).

Using the hand brake, you can give the car gas as you ease off the clutch and slowly release the hand brake, this way you won't roll backward. If you live in a flat area, with no hills, you should practice this manuver on a ramp at a parking structure (with no one behind you) until you get the hand of it. This "trick" will help you overcome the one "difficult" part of driving a stick. Eventually, as you get more cordinated it will be unnecessary to use the hand brake for all but the steepest hills.

One more bit of advice is to only put in the clutch when you are going to use it. So do not sit at a light with the clutch pressed in, that is what neutral is for. So when you are going to stop put in the clutch and shift into neutral. Failing to do this, and leaving the clutch pressed in at stops is a common error and will shorten the life of the clutch.

One you learn to drive with a manual you will never willingly go back. Learning will give you a chance to drive the car the way it was meant to be driven and will be a huge sense of accomplishment.

Good Luck and please keep us up to date with how it all works out.

[soylentrob]

If it helps, I bought my MCS without being able to drive stick. I had only had two brief lessons and no practice when I picked up my car. I managed to drive it home, only stalling 2 or 3 times.

When I was first test driving the MINIs, I tested the CVT and it felt very underpowered to me (granted I was used to the power of a 540i). I asked my brother to test drive the MCS with me in the car so I could get a feel for the difference in acceleration. After that, I knew I would have to go with the S.

It's now been a month and I absolutely LOVE IT. I make up excuses to run errands just so I can drive. Stick is a lot of fun when you get used to it: you get more control over the car and you feel much more connected when you are driving. However, remember that it does require more concentration (especially at first) and both hands. I can't stress that enough. I used to use my cell phone in the car (I know, I know) and now I don't because I need both hands. In the end, I know that was a good thing, but you need to gauge your driving habits and make sure you won't find yourself resenting the extra effort you have to apply to driving.

This is getting long-winded, so I'll post a second message with my advice on driving stick.

-Rob

[soylentrob]

Okay, so if you DO decide to go with the MCS (and I think you should), here are some tips:

First, here's a pretty decent tutorial on driving stick:
http://www1.excite.com/home/info/lea..._689_0,00.html

Second, a friend of mine also bought a stick-shift car with no prior experience. In his case, he was buying a Chevy Camaro, and he told the dealer that he would buy the car if he would teach him how to drive it. The dealer agreed, and he spent the afternoon with my friend teaching him stick. If you can get your motoring advisor to agree to that, then you should be all set. If not, you'll have to learn on your own.

If you don't have any friends who drive stick who are willing to teach you, then you have a few options. One is to go to various dealerships and "test drive" cars until you get comfortable. I don't advocate this because it seems fairly dishonest to me, but I know people who have learned this way. The second option is to suck it up and learn on your car when you get it. That's what I did, and so far no regrets.

As someone else mentioned, you can try to find a car rental agency that rents manual transmission cars. I looked into it and couldn't find any in my area, but you may have better luck.

Lastly, if there is a driving school in your area that teaches stick, that would probably be a good option, if it's not too expensive.

I hope that helps. If you still want more information on the technical aspect of the stick shift, let us know and I'm sure there will be plenty of people happy to explain.

-Rob

[plugot]

Many, many years ago I learned to drive a stick on my Dad's (then) new XK-E. Unlike the excellent 6speed in the MINI, the early E-Types had no synchro in 1st, a hazy syncho in 2nd, and a clutch that could qualify as aerobic exercise. Except for inadvertently burning a couple hundred miles of rubber from a dead stop on a hillside with a Caddy right up my butt, it wasn't too hard. As SpyCar already said, going up hill and not stalling or rolling back is about your only real concern.

A few years back my business partner wanted a 350ZX but he had never driven a stick. I convinced him to get it, not the auto. After a few tries, he got the clutch/accelerator action down pretty well. He never did any clutch or tranny damage to the Z, and now drives a Boxster and an NSX. Don't be intimidated, you'll miss out on some of the MINI's greatest fun factor, as well as the skills to drive anything after you've mastered a stick. It's really not that hard. If you stall, big deal.
Just try to find an empty parking lot and practice 1st gear takeoffs. Once you have that down, the rest is a piece of cake.
Motor On!