Add a beat to hell PS2, a wheel/pedal set, GT4 and driving mission 34 to the list.

 

In my opinion, the S2000 is a great car to perfect your stick shift training. The car is very easy to drive. Sure, you don't want to burn up the clutch or whatever, but it is pretty forgiving and simple to get the hang of things with our 6 speed.

 

the first car i ever drove stick on was a ford probe GT Those cars are like $1200 in excellent condition so if you wanted to learn that would be it. or a miata.

but, the S2000 is not a bad car to learn stick on. due to the non-existent torque, taking off from a stoplight might be your biggest issue. You can remedy that problem with an empty parking lot and an hours worth of practice.

 

Rent a car with an MT. That's how I taught my girlfriend. You'll at least cover the basics.

 

beware the mishift on a close ratio 6 speed. Some have blown the engine by redlining in 3rd gear and hitting 2nd gear instead of 4th gear, so be cognizant of that when learning to drive this car. It won't hurt when driving at more leisurely paces, but when you redline it in one gear be careful that you hit the proper gate for the upshift.

 

One thing that doesn't seem to get explained to people who are new to manual transmissions is that the clutch pedal isn't an on-off thing. You ease your foot off instead.

If you're parked on a steep hill and afraid you'll roll back before you can get going, don't be afraid to pull the emergency brake and keep a hand on that while you're getting your feet together. Once the car starts to pull forward, take the e-brake off and drive away.

The most embarassing starts, where the car bucks a lot, are usually caused by too much clutch grab and not enough gas. You can stop bucking the car by putting the clutch in. When you're ready to try again, give it a little more gas and then ease off the clutch a little slower.

Do not drive around with your foot resting on the clutch. When you're done with the clutch, put your foot on the deadpedal on the far left side of the footwell. Resting a foot on the clutch can cause it to slip and burn out faster than it otherwise would have. And you're already going to be hard on the clutch as it is with all the learning

 

I learned how to drive a stick in my 2001 civic OUT OF THE DEALERSHIP PARKING LOT. It was 40 minutes of frustration figuring out why i couldnt get the damn thing to go. Then I realized that the parking brake was on. 3-4 days later I had no problems with it. My sister learned how to drive stick on my s2000 from my dad teaching her, and from what I'm told, she didnt kill it once or grind any gears.

If anything, just find a friend with MT and drive their car around a parking lot. Once you are comfortable with that, practice somewhere where there is a stop sign up a hill. Stopping and going on a hill is the hardest thing to learn.

 

?? the guy wants to learn to drive standard not become a professional driver.

the S is one of the easiest cars i've ever driven. it makes the clutch on my old Jetta feel like it weighs a million pounds. in that sense, you might be best off getting a Jetta or something for $500, beating it to shit and picking up the S later. it'll be a piece of cake to drive after that and you'll have learned how to drive a stick without abusing it.

 

I'd learn on someone else's car first.

 

i would recommend buying a beater to learn off of first. my recommendation would be a del sol, it has similar short throws and is also a 2seater/fun car.