hi guys,

i have never owned a manual transmission before. the Z i have on order will be my first manual car. i have driven friend's cars but that was just for fun.
i really wanted to learn how to drive manual comfortably before i get my Z so i dont mess it up. i went into an industrial area and started practicing how to go into 1st from a complete stop on a steep hill.
i was able to go into 1st a few times without rolling back or stalling, but to me it just seemed like i got lucky. i found that it was easier for me to go uphill from a complete stop when i used the e-brake. im not used to using my right foot on both the brakes and gas at the same time.
can you guys give me any tips to help me out?

thank you in advance.

 

No tip other than practice, practice, practice. It is really easy once you get a feel for it.

 

Use your emergency break! Engage it and slowly remove it as you let out the clutch and increase the throttle. It takes some practice and coordination but I 'm sure you'll get it unless you are a total spastic case. This is from a former resident of San Francisco

 

Using the emergency brake may help at first, but it won't be long before you can just take right off with minimal rollback. Like teh215 said...practice, practice, practice...

 

Not to be repetitive but...............................

Practice

practice


practice

 

well you can't really drive uphill on manual without any rollback, unless you use the E-brake everytime. but if you practice, you'll be able to drive normally with very little rollback. just seems normal. what you're doing doesn't seem to be right. brake and gas at the same time? just practice it until you can go up hill with very little rollback that you don't run into the car behind you or something. :P

 

I got the car in March and I still haven't mastered the hill. Sometimes I use the e-brake and let it out as you start moving. None of the hills in my area are really steep, like in San Fran, so I don't really get a chance to practice that much. How bad is it to prevent rolling back on a hill by balancing the clutch and the gas(no brake)? I would imagine that this is pretty rough on the clutch.

 

Yup yup... practice.

I was born and raised in Miami so I'm used to flat flat flat roads. Then went to school in the bay area and lived in LA for a while. I learned to drive a manual in college w/ a friends 15 year old 200k mile car and it is very scary to go up a steep hill from a dead stop if you are not used to it. My first house in LA was on a very steep hill near the beach and I had to go up the hill every day and early on I'd get scared to hell when someone came up behind me when I was waiting to make a left onto the main street.

The most important thing is don't panic! a little bit of rollback is normal before you start going up the hill... no one is going to get right on your bumber so you have a little room to get going. The worst thing that can happen is to panic and then you hit the break after a little rollback and then you have less room for error and some people do this several times so you keep getting closer and closer to the guy behind you and getting more and more nervous. My brother's wife did this about 4 times and ended up backing into a gate in a parking garage that had closed behind her. Very sad heheh.

 

Let's see, i want to learn how to drive stick.... Oh i know, i'll buy a 280 hp brandnew 350Z so i can learn .

Unbelievable

 

I use the ebrake if some jerk pulls his car right up to mine, and eats up any rollback room....

Otherwise its just hitting the right amount of gas with the right around of clutch...

 

 

haha! thats great pete!

the reason for me getting a rental with manual is so i can practice driving stick to where i am comfortable enough to where i dont think i will end up messing up the Z when i get it.

i just got back from practing some more, and i think im pretty comfortable for now. the e-brake method is great, no problems there.
goin uphill from a stop w/o e-brake however, i feel like i got that down too, but its hard to tell since i didnt have the pressure of a car behind me when i was practicing that.

thanks for all your input guys. they helped...for the most part.

 

Usually when i am stopped on a hill and see a car comming from behind i'll roll back a little to let the other driver know i got a manual. They usually give me more room. If they don't then i'll take my sweet sweet time accelerating.

 

I hear you there. Exactly why I won't buy a used Z. I've seen lots of "How do I drive my Z..." posts in here. Clutches aren't covered by warranty. Dunno, maybe I am just picky. I learned when I was 16 on my dad's '84 GTI. One of the "hot hatches" I miss that car actually.

How do you safely pull out from a stop on a steep hill without smacking the **** tailgating you? Same way I learned in my dad's 450hp Stingray. Trust me...with those kind of horses on a steep hill it's touchy. My 1st time I did a 180 in the middle of the road in front of my aunts house. Luckily no traffic and she didnt see! lol

1) Come to a complete stop where you want to be...far enough to see oncoming traffic.

2) Put the car in 1st with clutch depressed

3) Pull handbrake and PUSH AND HOLD THE LOCKING BUTTON

4) When it's safe to go, start giving the car a 'little' more gas than normal, and slowly release the cluch.

5) When you feel the car 'pulling' forward past the threshold of what the hand brake holds, release the handbrake.

After about 3 times...you'll be a pro.

 

I taught my son to drive a manny tranny with the Z................including hills. No damage to the trans.

I don't why some of you guys elevate the Zzzz to the point where only those who have a bunch of experience can drive it.
It has an engine, tranny, & drive train. Whether its a sports car,
truck, sedan, whatever, you push in the clutch, move the gear shift, let out clutch/hit the gas, & go. Its not brain surgery; nor is the Z fundamentally any different than other vechiles. (end of rant)

 

As if it's your money that I'm spending. Let people spend their money however they like. So long as they don't disrupt your life, you have no reason to put them down.

Unbelievable

 

I have never used this ebrake technique, seems like it is more trouble than its worth. Even on VERY steep hills I never find myself rolling back more than 6".

Key to hills is to be quick, give it plenty of gas and just enough clutch not to slip the wheels. but in all honesty,

practice

practice

practice

 

Its really just for getting used to the car in sticky situations where even 1 foot of rollback may cause you to tap into another car.

After a little while with the car, it shouldnt be used much at all.

 

if its a really steep hill i will just use the e-brake. pretty damn easy and difficult to mess up. if its not too steep ill just normally launch.

 

As others have said practice and experience. That's all there is to it.

I am a bit surprised on how far some of you rollback. FWIW IIRC the current test here you fail if you roll back more than 2" I've never used the handbrake method as there's some cars where it's just too difficult ie my old Landy where the handbrake is on the floor and you have to bend down to reach it and my dads ute where it's under the dash and you have to reach forward for it.