Use the emergency brake on hills, everything else you're doing sounds right.

In my Ford F-150 pickup with the 300 cubic inch inline six, I barely have to give it any gas at all for a smooth start. On my Ducati motorcycle, I can also get away with not revving past about 1500 rpms for a smooth start. Both have loads of torque.

With my S2000, I have to rev between 2000 and 3000 for a smooth start. I'm still not always smooth, even though I've been driving cars with manual transmissions for about 30 years.

Concentrate on being smooth in all situations and you don't need to really worry about anything else.

(And if you haven't already, come visit the Bay Area S2000 Owner's "Club" on this site.)

 

Ha ha...I understand exactly what you guys are saying about driving cars with more torque.

The first two sticks I ever tried driving were a late-80's Corolla and early-90's Civic. I only spent maybe 30 minutes behind the wheel in each, and I sucked at both. Fast-forward a few years, and I got to spend extensive time driving a friend's V8 Jeep...in that thing, I could let the clutch all the way out (and it didn't even have to be all that slowly or smoothly), and it would happily start moving without giving gas. So, I figured wow, I must've somehow mysteriously gotten better at driving stick in those few years. Then I got the S2000, and it was back to square one, although it was funny at first because I tried the V8 Jeep techniques in it before figuring out that they wouldn't work.

So, if you SF Bay Area folks see a silver S2000 that's sort of slow and tentative off the line, um, make sure you wave and say "hi"!

 

I thought I was going to walk into a wall of flames just for kicks when I clicked on this thread topic. I am impressed. Must be the change in weather!

 

Well Cyber_x, I am going to be right there behind ya come March. I have only attempted to drive a manual once and it was my friend's '91 CRX Si. It was quite a sight to see. I had that car jumping like crazy trying to get it moving from a stop, but once i did get it moving shifting to the rest of the gears wasn't so bad. I think my problem lies in the fack that I keep wanting to just let the clutch up real quick when i start putting on the gas like you would do if you were just driving along shifting to a higher gear. Anyhow, I have alot more practicing to do between now and then. Gonna be interesting how well i adjust to manual after driving automatics for the past 4 years.

 

hey there, got mine s2k 3.5 months ago, 1st time shifter like you.

tooks about a few week to get the hang and now I have this problem that I have to shift ALL THE TIME. Cause I am just insanely loving to shift. say I am at 70km/h, id shift to 3rd to 4th to 5 and to 6th, at 6th the engine may sound kindda weak, then i'd sometime double clutch do wn to 4th or 3rd, then sometime rev to 7.5k down to 2nd : D it's all good. it's an awesome way to practice smooth shifting. I think if u want to learn smooth shifting (and not too worry about replacing clutch wear) then just shift often : D
smooth shifting is like driving an automatic.

for the past few month, I test drove a manual, bmw 330 easy to shift , celica 2001 GT easy to shift low release (@30%), rev 4 easy to shift. but the s2000 is by far the hardest one to handle I think, from a start. I bog here and there still especially in traffic when the pplz in front of me is so slow. I hate driving at about 10km an hour, cause u'd have to be a bit clutched in grrrrr (bad bad for the clutch) also the s2000 have relatively high release i think about (@70% point)

~my token

p.s. sorry for bad grammar on a rush here

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by ShadowS2000
[B] I have only attempted to drive a manual once and it was my friend's '91 CRX Si.

 

A tip to help you become even more proficient. Learn to drive by "ear" and by "feel". ie. Get used to what the engine "sounds" like in relation to what the car "feels" like (what it's doing). Your eyes are better used by looking up at the world around you as opposed to keying in on your tach. The tack will become more useful later when you get better and are driving aggressively. Use the tach to tell you when you are getting close to redline and thus, your shift point in aggressive acceleration conditions. (But you shouldn't be driving like this till you perfect your rudimentary clutch/throttle skills.)

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by xviper
[B]A tip to help you become even more proficient.

 

i too learnt to drive a stick with the S2000...in 6 months time u will be wanting to learn heel+toe shifting, rev matching, burnouts, clutch in/out drifting! buahahaha

 

cyber_x,

To answer your question about driving on flat land, try this:

Just feather off the clutch to get a feel for it's grabbing point and at that moment, gently apply some throttle. This is tricky but the point is so you can feel where it's grabbing instead of just revving up at 2.5 - 3K like you mentioned. It'll save a little more wear on the clutch but that rpm is decent for uphills depending on grade.

Otherwise, around 1.5 - 2k should be sufficient while gently applying throttle. Some people complain that they have to really rev it up and I've found that on some days, all it takes is just a little dab of throttle.

Alot of the finesse has to do with how thick (or thin) the soles of your shoes are. I find that on the days where I wear the heavier "sh*t kickers", I'll be on the throttle more so because it's harder to judge as opposed to wearing nice, thin soled shoes.