Hello everyone, I am now the happy (but a little frustrated) owner of the WRX. Just bought the car on Saturday, but I only started learning stick 3 days before that (my roommate had to drive the car back home.)

I practiced on an 88 Celica, but this car is a bit more difficult. The clutch is a whole lot stiffer and the gears are closer (I even got the short shifter option.) I guess I'm OK with a stick, but I'm a pretty frustrated guy. I don't want to be replacing my clutch so soon!!!

Why is it difficult to start in first gear? I'm jerky, and I still stall. Anyone have any tips for me? I know practice makes perfect but any input would be great. Go ahead and flame me too because I bought a car I can't even drive ;)

ok, there are three pedals. one is called an accelerator, one is a ... oh wait ;)

still waitin' on my rex so i'm not overly familiar with the stick, but have test driven it. anyways, if you want a smooth - nonjerky start, you'll need to slip the clutch. from what i recall, the rex has a low idle, so keep your foot on the gas ( need to for most stick shifts ) and keep the rpms @ 1200-1500 rpms ( guys correct me here plz ), and slowly let the clutch out. as far as if you want to keep the rest of the shifts smooth, good luck on 1-2 shifts ( hardest to shift smooth ), but just push the clutch in and keep the revs where they will be in the next gear - something you'll learn after driving it a while.

oh yeah, if you got a friend thats got a stick shift car, borrow his car and practice so you don't have to fix your rex right away ;)
have fun w/ your car

Don't worry about it, the key thing is to still practice and learn from someone,(your friend).

Use old cars and get the hang of it, then you can drive the new car w/o hurting the clutch.

I dont' even know how to drive manual YET... but hopefully I can learn..

:)

:lol it's okay... i started to learn how to drive stick when i first got my wrx... i was asking the sales man on any pointers on how to drive stick and he figured out that i didn't know... so he took me out on a hill and started to coach me for about 15 mintues on driving stick... i was hella nervious going home... it's been a little over 2 weeks and my friend where surprised that i am doing pretty good at driving stick... you just gatta use your senses... listen to the engine and also your speed and rpm... i think the friction point is one if the most imortant things that should be learned... just practice around your neibhorhood... with your foot on the cluth and in first gear... just slowing let go of it... you dont need to press the gas... if you do it right then your car should be moving like how a automagic goes when in drive and nothing is pressed... don't worry about your clutch too much... i think it's more important to properly learn how to drive stick... also ask your friends alot of questions... that also helped me alot... good luck... im guessing in about 2 weeks you'll get the hang of it...

Sorry to say, but the WRX is not the best car to learn driving a stick...
Maybe you should rent a Toyota or Honda stick for week or so:D

The Subie clutch is a notorious weak point,
and the WRX is worse due to poor off boost power.
Better to be a bit "jerky" than to "slip and burn" IMO.

Those are some good tips everyone, thanks. I've been asking my friends a lot of questions, so I'm learning. I tried my friends Rodeo and that was so much easier than the rex. I get the idea of driving a stick, I just need to develop my left foot after 6 years of no use. I'm sure in a month or so I'll be at the tracks racing funny looking Civics with a bunch of stickers on em.

I found a good link for people learning to drive stick. Covers the basics and gives very good direction regarding the "sweet spot".

http://www.learn2.com/06/0689/0689.asp

The WRX was my first manual car and even though I ordered it (waited 3 months) and had another manual car around ('01 Ford Escort, woo!) I procrastinated and didn't start teaching myself until about 5 days before it was due to arrive. Of course the escort has less low-end torque than the WRX and I think the clutch in that thing is less forgiving. I hope I never have to drive it again. Anyways, I had someone else drive the WRX home, and then I headed straight for a parking lot and practiced for an hour or so. I found the WRX to be much easier to drive than the escort, and I managed to only stall it twice the first week I had it.
Something I thought was helpful was letting the clutch out to the point where the car starts moving a little, to learn at what point the clutch is engaging. Doing this a few times and then next applying some gas and going over the whole stop->start a couple dozen times and I was doing pretty well. The next day I had to drive to work and wasn't too bad until I was on an offramp waiting for a light on like a 25 degree incline :) If I was to teach myself again it would include some hill practice.

I've got 6k+ miles now and it's all pretty much automatic at this point, practice is really the key. And with this car, who doesn't want to practice more?

OK OK OK.

I have a GREAT method for teaching stick and learning the "sweet spot" or the catch point.

Start on FLAT ground.

Let the clutch out very SLOWLY with the car in FIRST GEAR. When the clutch is near the catch point, you will notice that the car begins to roll slowly. You can hold the car at this point as you give it a little gas. As you're giving it gas, let off the clutch more (still SLOWLY). Do this a few times and you'll learn where the catch point is for your clutch.

You may stall while doing this. But if done with patience, you will learn exactly where the catch point is.

I too had to have a friend get my WRX home from the dealer...When the dealer let me drive it on our test-drive,
I KILLED the test car's clutch. I mean killed it.

Thing that really helped me was putting the car in first
gear, and letting out the clutch, WITHOUT touching the
gas. You won't stall if you let it out VERY slowly, as the WRX
has enough RPM to get it moving. This way, you learn the
'catch point' (insert technical term here) of he clutch. Practice
that a few times, then try again, using a little gas. This
should help you with getting into first.

After that, it should be easy. Just takes a lot of practice - I
stalled in the middle of a red light a couple times, but thankfully
was able to 'zoom' out of there (at least you can make a quick
getaway after an ugly stall in a WRX)

Happy Driving!

Andy

i was taught just keep it level between your two feet! the less you take off the cluch the more gas you give or for me atleast the faster left comes up the faster the right goes down! just think that theres a stick between the two and a rock in the middle(the brake) keep it equal. if you start to stall just push in the cluch and hopefuly it wont stall on ya. but i do really like the try on friends car, thats what i did and it works great

the old addage "practice makes perfect" comes in great here. practice, practice, and practice some more... then, practice a little more. sleep some, relax, then practice again:) The only way to get it perfect is to keep driving! it'll come to you in time...

One other trick you can do to prevent driver induced feedback (repeated jerking from your foot bouncing on the accelerator due to jerky starts), is to brace the side of your right foot against the transmission tunnel. This way if you mess up and make the car jerk, your foot won't bounce up and down on causing more jerking and bouncing. I taught a friend to drive on an old S-10 and he had a devil of a time with creating a jerky feedback loop until i showed him how to brace his feet and gradually increase the gas rather than stomping and popping the clutch.

That's great, I feel a lot more confident with myself using the stick. On my way home I stopped by my parents to show the new car, drive them around the block. I felt good and my nervousness was gone at the stop lights.

My starts are painfully slow though, I'd just kill myself if a Geo Metro beat me out of the block. Given time I should be able to speed things up and be more natural in my movements.

I'm re-learning how to drive a stick. I learned back when I was 16.. and haven't driven one since.

Another thing that helps.... turn off your radio and drive around just listening to the engine. Eventually you'll get to the point where you have an "ear tachometer" (closely related to the butt accelerometer). The boxer has a very distinctive sound as it revs up.... you can learn how to shift both for fuel economy and for performance that way.

I'm deeply scared about the number of people learning to drive a manual during the run-in period of a WRX :eek: :p !

Simon
(from the land where if you don't pass your test in a manual, you can't drive a manual... the UK)

Rex is my first stick car as well.
The easy way to do it is to press the clutch down, rev the car up to 2k rpm or so. And let the clutch out slowly. Keep the gas at 2k rpm until the clutch is released fully. You will use the clutch a little more, but it is a lot better than stalling the car. Once you get the clutch point down, it will be a piece of cake.

Sorry to say, but the WRX is not the best car to learn driving a stick...

i have to say i agree.... i have been driving manuals since my 1st car.... and i would have to say the WRX is kinda tough... don't worry about driving too slow... most of us have gone through that stage.. :D

but just practice letting go of the clutch slowly.... =)

and if you wear your clutch out early, think of it as "time to upgrade clutch and flywheel" :lol:

turn off your radio first of all. U need to hear the engine.

Remember slow means go. Slow taking off the clutch that is. Its almost like your holding it at a certian spot when you reach the friction point. And once the car start to roll u keep letting the clutch go SLOWLY. The most important thing is getting your foot to remember that friction point and being able to let your foot off the clutch and stop right when it engages. RPM's will go down a little bit and then rise back up. (usually)

To me, this car a real easy stick to drive. ON flat surfaces u dont even have to use the accelorator if u don't mind starting off a bit slowly.

Also, people tend to go w/ too much gas. dont do that, it isn't neccessary. Just get that friction point and remember SLOW MEANS GO hehe

Get a job at Pizza Hut, it did wonders for me. Hours and hours of practice and you make money. Seriously it just takes time. Once you get good youll be matching the reves on every shift and then people will wonder why your car doesnt feel like a standard.

Another tip to remember is you control the car's movement with your left foot and not your right. In an auto the speed is all about how hard you press on the accelerator. While in a stick you can control the speed of the car with the clutch also. The WRX was my first stick car to. It was kinda hard to learn because the car doesnt have much torque at the low end. I was hella nervous the first week just like you. But remember this the more you drive the more your confidence builds up, dont worry bud your not alone hehehe

Wow, there are quite a few people with the same predicament. That's pretty crazy, but is reasuring. Today was a good day. No stalls, and my starts are getting pretty smooth. My buddy carpooled with me to school today (he doesn't know stick by the way) and he made fun about me getting this car and how my automatic was better and how much work it is to drive it... I just laughed and thought how much fun this car was and when he learns to drive a stick the torture I'll give him. :lol:

When I first learned the stick years ago, the most pressure I get was at a stoplight. So, I learned to watch the lights and anticipate when it's going to turn green. Helped tremendously in launching the car in time.

-Ray

Why the hell would someone get a WRX as their first manual? Don't you practice on beaters? That's like taking a funny car the first time you go to a dragstrip. Poor, poor Rex...that clutch won't last long.
People should spend more time learning to be a good driver than buying cars that outperform them (and then modding them to boot). This is not directed at anyone specifically, just a general rant.

I learned about 2.5 years ago on a '91 Integra (with 190k miles) that I'd just bought, my first halfway sporty car (the previous cars before that had been hand-me-downs, one a Colt Vista that I had to share with my sister, and the other an '84 Plymouth Reliant (that car had serious problems).

The clutch on the Integra was the original, and is still working just fine... so as long as you're a quick learner (and have somebody teach you non-abusive clutch driving techniques) you should be fine.

I don't blame anybody for getting a WRX as their first manual... they realize that they want the maximum performance out of a great car that finally arived on US shores. Though if I were them, I'd probably rent (or borrow) an old manual car for a week or two to learn on. :D

--jeff

Well, I have to agree with the sentiment that the WRX is not the easiest of sticks to drive, compared to a Honda or Toyota or something. But that's because it's a performance car, it has the power to burn the clutch with too much throttle, and it will stall at least as easily as any car due to the low torque at low rpm. However, the tips above are good, use them, and you will slowly get better. Drive more, getting practice, and you will slowly get better. I've been driving stick since I was 17, I'm now 22 and feel I'm fairly competent at it, enough to start playing with double-clutch heel-toe manuevers, though I probably could've started with that sooner had I owned a car that made it worthwhile. But don't even think about that stuff yet, get competent just driving around. Until you basically never stall, anytime, hill or not, don't mess with anything fancy, just concentrate on the point of clutch engagement, and easing off the clutch as you ease onto the gas. Ideally, you shouldn't feel shifts at all, just hear the changes in engine rpm. It takes a lot of practice to nail every shift, but it's very rewarding when you do, even if it's just on the way to work.

I learned to drive stick just for the WRX. I just finally found a car worthy to learn stick on (that and after a test drive in an autmatic :rolleyes: ). Maybe we should come up with a name for our group! Virgin Shifters? :lol:

Here's the tips I found useful:

1) give just a tiny bit of gas to start off. Practice in neutral til you get the feel of giving the gas pedal about 1200-1500 rpm.

2) slip the clutch a little. As you let out the clutch pedal, see-saw in the gas pedal. It's new, it can take a little abuse in the beginning. Much better to do it now than when it's 10 years old.

3) FAST clutch pedal in, SLow and easy clutch pedal out.

4) Although some people think this is bad, once you find the "catch point" of the clutch, you can use it to hold the car in place when on an incline/hill.
Some people think it causes wear on the clutch, of course! So does using the clutch, besides, it's only at idle (800rpm?).

5) Make sure you're in the right gear before letting out the clutch!!! :eek:

6) Practice off-hours...not in rush-hour traffic.

7) Enjoy! Sometimes the best things in life are the ones you really work for. :D You won't regret your decision once you get comfortable. Trust me.

P.S. - I live around mountains. Boy did I have a tough time!

c0z said:"Get a job at Pizza Hut, it did wonders for me. Hours and hours of practice and you make money."

Thats what i'm doing soon! Its good advice!

I only have my temps currently, it took about 3 dats to get it down, about 2 months to master everything.;) I'm trying to get double-clutching and heel and toe shifting down, but those are absolutely pointless when driving legally! When driving...ummm...not legally though...:devil: :devil: :lol: ;)

Oh please explain how double clutching is pointless when driving legally.

JC

Well, I guess its good to use double clutching-its less stressful on the syncro-but can be slightly tiresome at times. :)

It's much smoother is more what I was thinking. Driving a stick is tiresome period.

JC

Oh come on, driving stick is tiresome!?:confused: Well, Ive only been driving for 2 months, so maybe after a few years it will get old. Do you know that you(and 3000 others on here) have the car of my dreams!? I hope you appreciate it... I know I will when I get one when I can afford it!

Yeah-double clutching IS much smoother.

try learning in a 87 chevette. the clutch in that was a b_tch. i have never driven a car with a more finicky clutch. add to the fact that i couldn't go on road until i proved to my father i could go up the one hill in our yard with 5 start/stops and no stalls. it was a fairly steep hill that we used for sledding. that was 10 years ago and i am pretty good at any manual now.

Originally posted by Patrick [Buffalo]
Why the hell would someone get a WRX as their first manual? Don't you practice on beaters?

I had four friends that had sticks that were beaters.

After driving my WRX this was their exact words, "Wow this car is weird don't even bother learning on mine cause driving this will be totally different".

I learned on a Mitsubushi 3000GT VR4. Now thats a heavy clutch!:)

Originally posted by stiguy555
Oh come on, driving stick is tiresome!?:confused: Well, Ive only been driving for 2 months, so maybe after a few years it will get old.



Drive that stick for a while and then drive an auto. Especially in stop-n-go traffic the stick is real boring. Also, this is just my opinion but hold off on getting the WRX anytime soon seems the young ones cannot handle the car that well and end up putting them into curbs or worse. This is way too much car for someone so young and inexperienced.

I'm not getting a WRX, just a 99' RS. That will be when i'm about 20, so I have a few years to get good at driving. By then a RS will be 7-11 thousand, so it should be within range by then.:devil:

I dunno, if I was going to get a WRX, I think I would definitely learn BEFORE I got it rather than when I got it. Why burn out the clutch and risk damage to your brand new $25K car you (or your parents) just bought? Seems irresponsible to get a car you don't know how to drive.

man, let me give you an advice...

screw all that rpm and speed matching gears bull****!!!

it is all in the feel. it does take time but just consentrate on the feel of the car, once you feel the car, you don't need to think about shifting anymore, it all comes naturally.

when at rest, put the car in first, then ease out the clutch, slowly, no gaz, until the car starts to move slightly, then give it a bit of gaz, if it starts to shake, a little more gaz, in the meantime you are still releasing the clutch really slowly until it is all the way out, on the other hand if you give it too much gaz, you'll hear it first!!!

but the easiest way to learn is to floor it and drop the clutch, it is a little hard on the back, but with the rex, it has got to be a pleasure:lol:

good luck to ya

Exactly!!!

All this *****-footing around gets you nowhere in a hurry.

Take the thing by the scruff, give it 4 grand, and let her go in a hurry. :lol:

Seriously, it shouldn't take you long to learn where the clutch discengages. You will need to give it SOME revs though, just so that the 4 paws don't bog down. For normal driving I go for 2.5-3k. If someone is p!ssing me off though, they get a 4.5-5k dumper. Warning: you do this at your peril. Sometimes I'll gentle her off the line then stomp the foot just after take-off to reduce the burden on the clutch. :devil:

i can relate, i've probably been through everything you have. well the clutch on our car is much different from others. my clutch is stiff towards the end so it pops easily so that m aybe y u are jerking. i drove my friends wrx and for some reason his clutch was stiffer than mine and he has more miles. well anyways, just ride the clutch in first gear, once you feel this small jerky feeling let the clutch out all the way, u can pop it and this point and it still won't jerk. just slowly ride the clutch and when u go to second do the same. for some reason after driving my car a few hundred miles, my second and third gear go in differently.

dennis

Here's the best way to learn how to drive that manual.

Find an empty parking lot, the bigger the better. Sitting at idle, put the car in first gear with the clutch in, and then very slowly, let the clutch out. Don't worry about giving gas or stalling. The first exercise is to just get it rolling without the gas. Let the clutch out until the car starts to roll and then get to the point where you can roll without hitting the gas. I know it seems weird but trust me, this is the important first step. After you can slowly let the clutch out without stalling the car the rest is refinement. After you get it rolling accelerate and shift to second. There's no secret to shifting smoothly. You will start to feel the best shift point with repetitions.

Once you have mastered rolling without the gas, the rest will take care of itself. The key is to be patient and experiment in a no pressure parking lot for a while.

Originally posted by SoLo OnE


I had four friends that had sticks that were beaters.

After driving my WRX this was their exact words, "Wow this car is weird don't even bother learning on mine cause driving this will be totally different".

BS. Sure, every transmission is different, and different clutches feel different, but once you learn how to drive a standard, you can drive any standard. Just takes a little getting used to. Like they say, you are much more likely to get into an accident in an unfamiliar vehicle (esp. motorcycles); you need to adjust first.

rex is my first stick car, and no I am not a teenager. I bought my car with my money with a real job. Don't hate virgin shifters .. lol.
I have the car for about 4 months now, and i didn't even dump the cluth once at a stop light.
It doesn't take that long to get used to driving a stick shift.

Its amazing how cultures differ.

Where i come from, a WRX driver with an slushbox is almost considered to be a total tosser (that is in no way meant to offend anyone by the way). It's a question of 'why have a car like that and get an automatic?' I get the impression that you guys are almost the opposite with trannies, ie, mainly automatic?

I just think its more fun with a manual. You're not just steering the car!

Originally posted by The Fly
It's a question of 'why have a car like that and get an automatic?' I get the impression that you guys are almost the opposite with trannies, ie, mainly automatic?


It seems most people that I've run across view cars as "a way to get from point A to point B". They wouldn't mind having a "performance car" because it would mean that they could merge faster on the freeway...

The rest of the folks (who presumably make up the majority of i-club) enjoy the trip from point A to point B. Cars aren't just a means to an end; they're an end unto themselves. Most of those people are going to try to get a manual (as I did), if at all possible. There are some people who have to compromise (lots of rush-hour commuting across the bridges or congested areas here in the Seattle area would be hell with a manual; SO needs to be able to drive the car too and she refuses to learn stick, etc) . But, as this subject of this thread indicates, people can come to realize that driving can be enjoyable and will force themselves to learn stick before they get a performance car.

At least, there's my $.04126043 AU ;)

--jeff

My only automatic-equipped car was the (snif) SVX - I cant stand driving auto. I gotta say, for those who aren't in the situation yet - don't learn manual in a sports car with a notoriously dodgy driveline. If you're planning on buying a WRX, start working on it MONTHS in advance. Waste a few hundred on a jalopy and shift/grind that thing up - just spend the amount that parts and labor for a WRX clutch would cost.

I dont know why every one says the WRX doesnt have much low end tork. Compared to my 98' SE-R it has plenty. I thought the Subies clutch was great compared to the rubberband feel of my Nissan. I have owned my SE-R since new and I still cant drive it anywhere near smooth. The WRX I took on a test drive was nice and smooth.

You must be joking............I find the WRX is one of the easiest sticks there is too drive.

Try a three on the tree, or this awful VW bus I drove in South Africa, or my 81 VW Scirocco...3000 miles per clutch, and like stirring soup)

Any old muscle car will give the ultimate workout on your legs, and then there are trucks, motorcycles, and any of the exotics.

Then there are racing cars with unsynchroed gears.

I would agree that the REX is not the easiest to get away smoothly, but it is nowhere near the hardest. My wife jumped into the REX, after not having driven stick in a number of years, and declared it easy.

The good news is that you guys are learning on a stick, which is the best. For people who learned auto, and drove auto for a long time, it is tough to learn stick.

This is not to flame anyone, but c'mon, a REX is not a hard stick to learn.

I'll have to agree with the people who say the WRX is an easy stick to drive. I've only stalled twice with my car and I've drivin a stick for a long long time. (One of the times I stalled was because I forgot I was driving a stick. I was driving an automatic for 3 years inbetween my WRX and my Integra.)

I didn't get a chance to read everyone's directions on how to drive a Manual tranny. So I might be repeating a lot of people here. But I hope this helps all you new stick drivers out there. It helped me a lot.

When I bought my Integra in 91, I also had to drive it home from the lot. It was such a tense drive home since I've only driven stick in really old cars. The funniest part was I didn't even know how to start my engine on the dealer's lot.

After I got home, my dad explained it to me...so I'm passing on what my dad taught me.

1) Understand the internal workings of the engine. I'm not sure how accurate this is or even if it's accurate at all, but it sure makes a whole lot of sense if you try to visualize it even if it isn't true. When you start your car, the motor is working. All the parts are churning and spinning and what have you. Even when the stick is in neutral, the car is still on. Think of the motor as constantly spinning.

2) The clutch is not moving. Maybe it is, but it's not moving as fast as the motor is. When the car is not in gear and the clutch is released, the clutch and the motor are not connected, thus the car is in neutral. When the car is in gear and the clutch is released, the clutch and the motor spin together, thus making the car move. Does this make sense? Think of the clutch and the engine like two plates with teeth. The clutch controls the movement of the car, while the engine supplies the power. In order for the clutch to move, you need to connect it to the engine. This has to be done carefully, otherwise you will stall the car. This part of the directions is very important to understand. Otherwise the rest of the instructions won't make ANY sense...

3) While the car is not moving, push down the clutch and put the car into first gear. Have your other foot on the brake and release the emergency brake. Slowly let up the clutch (VERY SLOWLY) until you start to feel it catch. If you keep an eye on your tachometer, you will see the RPM's start to dip a little. At the VERY moment it starts to catch, stop letting it up. I believe this is called the "friction point". It's when the clutch and the engine start to make contact. As I mentioned before, the engine is constanly moving and the clutch isn't...so when the non moving clutch makes contact with the moving engine, the clutch slows down the engine while it tries to catch up with the rotation of the engine. This happens at the moment of contact. If you are steady enough, you should be able to hold the clutch there without stalling. If you are REALLY slow, you can let go of the brake and the car should start to roll. Once it starts rolling, even without pressing the gas, the car will get to a full roll as you slowly let off the clutch completely. This is the basics of how to use the clutch. Practice this and you will be good at using the clutch and not have to rely heavily on the gas.

4) This part is a matter of opinion, but I think the optimal "normal driving" rpm is somewhere between 2000 and 3000 RPM. 2000RPM is where you start a gear, 3000RPM is where you switch gears. For the WRX driving, this is not true because the power band is over 3000RPM. That's why I say "normal driving". As if you were driving a toyota tercel or something. For the sake of "learning" let's not go over 3000RPM. Follow the directions in step three, but this time, when you let go of the brake, try to get the RPM up to 2000 by pressing the accelorator. As you slowly let off the clutch, push more on the accelorator trying to maintain 2000RPM until you are fully off the clutch. You will notice, the more you let off the clutch, the RPM will drop so you compensate with more gas to keep the RPM at 2000. Do this until you are off the clutch completely. Once you are up to 3000 RPM, switch gears by letting off the gas, pushing the clutch down all the way, switch to the next gear, and start step three all over again. It's important to get a feel for the friction point so you don't have to do it so slowly. You want to try to remember just how far up you let the clutch when it starts to catch so that you can do it quickly when switching gears.

Here's a breakdown of the gears...

1st - Starting gear. I'm not in 1st much. I call it the starting gear because basically, it gets the car rolling. That's about it. It's not much as far as power is concerned. It's like riding a bike...remember the easy gear. The one where you have to pedal like crazy but you move really slow. it's good because it requires less effort. In the same way, the 1st gear gets the car from a standstill to a roll. This is probably the hardest part of the process because you are moving such a large object. Once it's moving, it gets easier.

2nd - Turning gear. This gear is like a transition gear. Like 1st, you don't stay in second very long. I call it the turning gear because that's usually the gear you are when when making turns. (Not from a standing but from rolling)

3rd and 4th - City driving gear. These are the gears you spend the most time in while driving around the city. 30 - 45 mph.

5th - Cruising gear - I also call it the highway driving gear. Even though your car will drive fine in 4th at 50-55mph, you'll burn less gas driving in 5th.

This is the basics of driving a manual transmission. Once you get more comfortable with the clutch and switching gears, then there are lots of other techniques that help improve your driving. PM me after you get good at the basics.

Anyway, if you want some clarity on what I'm trying to say here, PM me. Or if you have some clarity to explain to me what I'm talking about, please let me know. I'm not a tuner nor a mechanic so I'm not 100% on the inner workings of the engine and the clutch. But the illustration serves a purpose.