I have always driven an automatic transmissiion, but would like to learn to drive a manual transmission (b/c I am thinking about purchasing a 1999.5 A4 1.8TQMS / sunroof? / light silver exterior with onyx leatherette interior).<p> Can anyone recommend any books, videos, web sites re. learning to drive a manual transmission?<p>Thanks.

This is the Click and Clack method of learning to drive a stick and it worked with<br>both my daughters.<p>1. Find a big parking lot<p>2. Take off both shoes, socks are ok<p>3. Let the car idle and do not touch the gas pedal<p>4. Put in the clutch and shift into first gear<p>5. let out the clutch (remember no gas) and get the car moving...yes it can be done<p>6. Practice this several times until you learn where the clutch engages and the feel<p>7. Add some gas, and start driving<p>gramps 99 silver qms

About ten years ago I bought a manual pickup (I had never driven manual). The dealer took me to a parking lot to teach me to drive it. That little experience ended in frustration (at least it wasn't in my truck). So, when I took delivery, my dad drove the truck to my house. After staring at it for several hours, I decided that the only way to learn was to get in and go by myself. Sure, I stalled it out a few times the first couple of weeks (especially on steep hills), but I became a pro in no time. The morals of this story are, you just have to get in and go, take it easy at first, and shifting will soon come naturally. Think back to when you first learned to drive. Did you really feel confident until you actually got your license and went out driving on your own?

yeah, learn on a friend's car, so you screw their's up first when you're learning....and then when you get your new A4, it will be perfect and in great shape...<br>No, kidding aside, I learned in my friend's '88 Toyota Supra Turbo on a trip from NYC to Miami...you learn pretty quick when your buddy is asleep at 4 in the morning, you are coming up to a toll, you have to take money out of your back pocket, you're downshifting, clutch,brake,trying to lower the radio....it's a nightmare! But once I learned, I said that I would never go back to Automatic. I think you have so much control when you drive stick. <br>I went to a dealer this past weekend witht my brother, and he said I drove stick better than the salesguy! That felt pretty good.<br>But now I am debating whether or not to get the Tiptronic or not. It seems really cool and convenient, But it's still not stick! I'll have to see.<br>But I agree, you just have to get in, get shown how to do it, and drive the car. PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT!<br>Happy motoring!(and no STALLING!)<br>Christian

It's all in the clutch...<p>You really have to focus a the spot in the clutch movement where the gear starts to engage. The 'grab piont', find it, get to know it...<p>After a while, find some hills, try to hold the car on an incline. This is a very good exersise...

Awhile after I'd turned sixteen, after I'd been driving for a few weeks with my license, my father took me into a parking lot and said the following:<p>"If you can't get this car moving nicely without the pedal on the right, you'll never be a decent driver."<p>I'd already been driving awhile, and I'd driven manual transmissions but not particularly smoothly.<p>The car was a mid-eighties 911 we'd borrowed from my uncle. Like Gramps below suggests, any car with any [reasonable] amount of horsepower can be driven without touching the gas pedal. Granted, this particular car probably had 30 horsepower hitting the clutch assembly at rough idle, so it didn't exactly take finesse. The car jumped a few times once I started using the gas. I wasn't a subtle student with the gas pedal and probably put more wear on the clutch of that 911 in three hours than my uncle had put on the clutch in the last year. But it was fun, and I became a reasonably skillful young driver quickly. You couldn't coax me out of that 911 at the end of the day with a million dollars... er... with one dollar less than the base price of a new 911. Finally, my uncle stopped by in the passenger seat of a friend's car, got out, and picked up his 911.<p>I drove ten times smoother the next day.<p>Cameron

What significant damage (if any)can I do to the car while learning to become a proficient manual driver (note: I plan on initially learning to drive manual on a rented car).<p>Thanks.

Just take it easy at first. Find a big parking lot or a quiet neighborhood street and practice.<br>Getting started in 1st gear is the hardest part, once you get going, it's a breeze.<br>Just remember...when in doubt, put the clutch down!<br>

So this friend of mine insisted on buying a 318 automatic, and I insisted that he at least got a manual. He was the 1st in the history of the dealership not to be able to drive off the lot on his own :-)<p>We went at night to the local parking lot and like Cameron suggested, initially did pretty much everything without gas. If you learn that, you will be pretty good to begin with. A few hours later I drove the car up to Skyline and he could drive it reasonably well on this hilly road.<p>My local driver school in Switzerland use A4s and A3s as training cars. After about 100,000 km with beginners the clutch still feels better than that of a 50k mile Honda... I don't see a problem with practicing on your own (german) car, while the crappy clutch of a rental may well be a problem.<p>- Stan<br>

It is sometimes difficult to watch everything all the time. When we were practicing on hills, one of my students did a great job of holding the car on a very steep hill. Problem was, the car was in second gear. Not good for the clutch!!!!!!!!!<p><br>gramps 99 silver qms

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The Integra shifter was notchy and sticky compared to the smoothness of the A4's, which I much prefer.

I have a story similar to this. A couple of years ago, a friend of mine decided to buy his first car. He was dead set on an Acura Integra something or other with a manual transmission. The only problem is, he couldn't drive a manual...matter of fact, he couldn't drive period; he had never gotten a driver's license! No, this isn't some high school kid, he was in his early 20's. You see, he had a f***ed up home life, his parents didn't want him to drive so he never got the chance to learn.<p>Long story short, I test-drove his car for him, another friend let him practice driving in an AUTOMATIC Dodge minivan, he went to the DMV and got his license two weeks later ON HIS WAY to pick up his new Acura, and he drove home (about 35 miles from the dealership) himself -- this was the *FIRST TIME* he'd ever driven a manual, AFAIK.<p>He did $2400 damage to his new car later that night trying to parallel park, but that's another story.