I just bought a new '05 350z coupe. I'm taking delivery on it tomorrow. Here's the catch.. I don't really drive stick. I've drove my brothers bmw a couple times (stick), but that's about it. How screwed/stupid am I? Anything else I should know as a new z owner??

 

JUst take it slowly at first and go to an empty parking lot as soon as you get it. Practice, Practice, Practice!

GL!

 

That's what I'm planning on doing. I'm going to feel like an idiot, but I'm going to ask one of their guys to drive the car over to a parking lot for me (which is right down the street). This will give me a couple hours of practice before having to take it back home.

 

Why not test drive a manual on the lot for a few hours, before you get your Z.

 

I tried.. They were only carrying automatics.. They had to bring in the stick from an outside dealership.

 

My first car was a Corvair with a four-on-the-floor. Since then, I’ve never bought a car with a automatic transmission. When I drive a car with an automatic, I can be forgetful coming to a stop, and panic for a second. In other works, a manual feels conformable, and an automatic is, umm, scary. LOL.

The 350Z transmission is very forgiving. Just practice.

 

Thanks for the advice..

 

Just stick to the basics (push in clutch, shift into gear, release clutch/push on gas) & you will do fine.

Your liable to see a bunch of posts here about how "hard" it is to drive a Zzz stick.
Rubbish. If you could shift the Beemer you can shift the Z. Even if you could not shift the BMW well it only means you need more practice.

I taught my son to drive stick on my Zzzz with no danage to his psyche or, more importantly ,to my Brick!

Enjoy the new ride.

 

Manual is the way to go

best thing that could have happened to you. Once you learn how to drive stick you won't be able to drive automatic again on a sportscar ever.

 

Thanks for all the encouragement everyone.. I'm moving from a SUV (Pathfinder) to the Z. I really can't wait... They were trying to push me on an auto, but I just couldn't do it..

 

+1

 

I have wondered whether you can test drive a manual on the lot. If you dont know how to drive one, will they let you? Even though you dont tell them you dont know how to drive a stick, they can tell right away!

I'm planning on getting a stick Z too, also heard the clutch is real steep.

 

When I got the Z, I had only driven stick a little bit as well, it's not too difficult to operate the Z if you know the basics.

Just don't BURN the clutch. You can get the car moving with 1500rpms easily, maybe 1700-2000 on an uphill slope.

 

+1.

 

The easiest way to perfect it is to find a place with a slight incline which will make the Z roll back, make sure thier wont be anything around like a parking garage at night. THen practice going up the incline. Once you got that down with little to no rollback everything else will be cake. Hills are the most challenging.

 

I bought a 280 back in the day with a manual and I'd never driven one before. I had a buddy meet me at the dealership and I was going to drive his Mustang back and have him drive my car home. He shows up with his wife's Fiero that's a manual. Smooth move. So now I have to drive my car the 20 miles from West Covina, CA to Los Angeles. Somehow I did it. After leaving the dealership, I drove around the block several times until I could turn onto the freeway without having to stop at the light and then I drove all the way home in 3rd gear. After getting home I pretty much just drove around the hood until I got the hang of it. Getting stopped at a light on a hill was the only problem I came across. I just put it in gear and gunned it when the light turned green.

To quote Rob Schneider in the Adam Sandler movies, "You can do eet!".

 

I am glad to read this, as I don't drive stick and am planning on getting a '06 MT Grand Touring Roadster asap. A friend took me out in his new Mustang GT convertible. I stalled a few times, but had no problem after 1st. I will likely bring him with me when I pick up the Z just so I don't do something dumb. I have been reading this forum for weeks, and there are a lot of people who have said that the Z is a hard car to start out with, so I am glad to hear this may not be true. Good luck

 

Here's another tip to get you started, on a flat surface (like a parking lot), you can actually get the car to move forward just by letting the clutch out very, VERY slowly. The fuel injection will provide enough gas to move the car forward. Once the car is moving forward, you can gently apply gas (for god sake, don't punch it).

Note, while trying this, if you start to feel the engine go dead, then immediately push in the clutch, and start the process over.

 

try www.standardshift.com theres tons of tips and guides as to how to drive a stick.

 

+1 man. Excellent advise. That's the best way to learn the feel of the clutch IMO.