Ok im gonna buy a car with it and the only problem I have is how to go from stopped to gaining speeds. Is it as simple as start it up, put in 1st, foot on gas and change gears when necessary? Or is it a little more complicated then that.

And where abouts is the parking break on a 98 z24?

if you've never driven a 5 speed before, find a buddy who's got one and is willing to help teach you. it's easier to actually do it with someone who can help step you through it rather than try reading it and all of a sudden going for it. as for the parking brake, it's on the center console to your right next to the shifter, can't miss it.

so its basicly the "e-brake" on auto cars.

What about hills, ive heard stories lol. I guess if I start slowing down, downshift and floor it?

ok, i paced my girlfriend thru driving stick when she first got her car, and she's a freakin animal when it comes to driving stick now... so I think I can help you.

However, I must stress, that although these guidlines are just that, guidlines, the same principal applies in every car... although getting to know 'your' car is the true hurdle to clear, and nothing is a replacement for experience.

First off put yourself in a place where there is no traffic, that way you can concentrate on learning the motions of clutch, gas, brake, shift, and not on avoiding moving obstacles or pedestrians. Preferably, late at night on an empty neighborhood street devoid of parked cars and lots of stop signs/ turns.

Basically, my driving stick 101 program goes thru the following phases, all very important and reliant upon the previous. No steps can be skipped, as it hinders the performance of the preceeding step.

1) starting from a stop
a. getting to know your engagement point
b. getting moving

6 challenegs
c. hills and inclines

2) shifting
a. regular shifting
b. downshifting
c. speed shifting

3) cornering
a. downshifting to slow before a corner
b. downshifting while in a corner
c. rev matching/ heel toe

4) Launching

here's just the first 2...


1) Starting from a stop
a. getting to know your 'engagement point'

First, get in your car. Adjust your seat so you sit comfortably and can see over the dash. Now, make sure you can push the clutch in all the way to the floor. ( In this tutorial, putting the clutch "in" means to the floor, and letting the clutch "out" means lifting up off the pedal completely.)

Now that we're sitting comfortably, the first step to getting to know your car is finding the clutch's "engagement point". Engagement is where the clutch has no more free play, and starts to engage the flywheel. You should be able to feel this thru the pedal, and also this is the point where the car begins to move forward. Also, your lights will dim slightly and rpms will drop slightly as well.

Without hitting the gas VERY SLOWLY lift your clutch foot up until you start to feel the clutch grab and move the car. Again, rpms will drop slightly and the lights will dim slightly. This is your ENGAGEMENT POINT. MEMORIZE THIS POSITION as this is where you will need to lift your foot to when starting from a stop, as well as a few other key areas (see -> shifting)

b. getting moving
Now that we've found our engagement point, we now know where the clutch grabs and begins to move the car. Now we can start practicing moving from a stop. This is one of the more difficult things to master when beginning on stick, however my steps will make it much much easier.

Your clutch foot and throttle foot must always be inverses of one another in order for smooth engagement of the clutch and flywheel. as your clutch comes up, the throttle should go down, and vice versa...

Firstly, push the clutch all the way in, and put the car into 1st gear (You may have to fight the car if its a 2000+ jbody... this is normal). Now, rev your car up to about 2000 RPMs, careful the engine will be touchy to throttle input. Now, get your clutch foot up to the engagement point. You will start to feel the car move forward, and revs will drop as it moves forward. DO NOT LET THE CLUTCH OUT ANYMORE THAN THE ENGAGEMENT POINT UNTIL YOUR SPEED IS ABOVE 10 - 15MPH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! use more throttle to get the speed up. After you pass the 10- 15 MPH mark, you can let the clutch out the rest of the way, but remember you must be smooth... you cannot just let off right away the car will buck.

THIS is the problem that many new drivers make when learning stick. TOO much clutch will stall out the engine. The engagement point is where you want to be to get moving fast, without burning out or stalling the engine.

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT! practice, practice, practice then practice MORE. Getting to know that engagement point without thinking about it is the secret to driving smooth and well. Set yourself up in makeshift traffic situations. Here's your challeneges:


1) get the car moving
2) get the car moving without bucking
3) get the car moving without bucking, rpms dropping, or lights dimming
4) get the car moving without everything in #3, within 8 seconds
5) get the car moving without everything in #3, within 4 seconds
6) get the car moving without everything in #3, within 2 seconds


now you're set in a straight line. Next is going up hills.

Repeat all the steps above, 1-6, but on a hill with a stop sign at the top. Roll up to the stop sign, come to a complete stop, then get the car moving without rolling backwards more than 2 feet. The engagement point is the key to hills.

2. Shifting

a. regular shifting
Before any advanced techniques, lets focus on getting into the next gear without breaking anything. First, get the car rolling. Around 3000rpm, push the clutch in and let off the gas at the same time. Remember, the clutch and gas should always be inverses of one another. Pull the shifter straight down into 2nd gear. Then, using the same inverse principal, get back into the throttle. Practice the 1-2 shift until you can do it seamlessly. All following gears follow the same principal, however speed will be greater since you're climbing thru the gears. Practice these until you can do it smoothly before advancing onto the next shifting technique.

b. downshifting
Downshifting is when you select the next lowest gear and utilize the engine to slow down the car without braking. When doing so, drag the clutch slowly so the engine can climb to the rpm needed to match the transmission speed. This will slow the car dramatically depending on how high the RPMs must climb.

Rev matching is a downshifting technique that allows a seemless match between engine and transmission. Before letting the clutch out, 'blip' the throttle to get the engine to climb to the rpm before letting the clutch out. When doing this properly, the downshift will be much faster, and slow the car down more quickly, and will not upset traction when driving the car on the brink of losing control. This is an advanced technique, and I don't suggest trying it until you're more comfortable behind the wheel.

c. speed shifting
Speed shifting is when you want to accelerate as fast as possible. This is a bit more risky than regular shifting since the margin for error is much smaller and grinding gears is of greater possibility. As you accelerate with the gas to the floor and get ready to shift into the next gear, (the RPM you choose to shift at is up to you) push the clutch down ONLY TO THE ENGAGEMENT POINT as you get there, pull on the stick you should feel it happily jump out of gear and jump into the following gear. As soon as you get into the next gear, get back into the gas and let the clutch out with the same inverse principal. The smoother and faster the shift, the more rapidly you'll accelerate.

these again are only the basics... if I were in the car with you, I could teach you much better. but dont be discouraged if it takes you a while to learn these techniques. Expect to spend about an hour per section if you are a real perfectionist. There's many more things to go over, but this is just a basic overview of what you need to drive in everyday situations.

^ what he said

Thanks a lot. Maybe ill let my pops drive it home and he can bring me to a parking lot.

I gotta tell you Myles. By far, the best way to learn how to drive manual is to force yourself. I learned by buying a 2002 cavalier. So, had to figure out how to get it home. By the next day, you would of thought I'd been driving manual for a while. Total immersion is the way to go. Good luck and follow the squirrel's suggestions, they are good!

^^^^^What he said. Just go to a parking lot and have fun with it! I learned to drive on a stick, and I don't think that I would ever want to drive an automatic. I've been driving for about 10 years, and I still mess up a shift once in a while, but I don't care. Its fun!

Myles O'Howe wrote:so its basicly the "e-brake" on auto cars.

It is an "e-brake" not parking brake, at least in Pennsylvania and I suspect most other states. The law states that it is must be able to stop the car from 60MPH (I think) in a given time or distance (about twice the regular stopping distance if I recall) and be a seperate system from the main.

A parking brake wouldn't have to stop a moving car, just keep a stopped car from moving. Big difference.

Oh well, end of my llittle rant. Call it what you want, most people will know what you're talking about.

yea i had to force myself to learn a stick aswell.. I was working at a summer camp and they only had 1 truck that I HAD to use to keep my job... beat up 83 ford f100 with a manual (crappy clutch too, engaged like half an inch from being completely let out) I kicked a lot of dust around for the longest time but i learned pretty quick, now i wont drive anything else but manual (except traffic situations... bleck!)

good luck and have fun with it !


http://www.motortopia.com/cavyfreak442/cars
Best ET to Date: 14.251 @ 98.51 mph. 13's or Bust Baby!

That up there is sticky quality. NICE GOIN SQUIRREL!!!!


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Madjack wrote:Like I said before, building an engine like ours (2.2 or 2200) is a painstaking chore , since there is so few custom made parts. It's frustrating to me too, but that's what I like about doing this engine, it's the challenge.

thanks for the nice comments guys... I try lol


I was actually thinking about making a video showing foot positions and crap with RPMs on screen and a bunch of other crap to not only show the basics, but to show rev matching and heel toe downshifting... believe it or not, heel-toe downshifting is NOT impossible in a jbody despite its crappy pedal set up

I'd also show some fun stuff like drag launching and burnouts

since we are on the topic of driving standards, i just jumped into an86 twin turbo rx-7 and away i went like it was meant to be.however inthe last three years of driving stick i have never been sure of what points u are suppossed to shift at in a sunfire. a lot of people tell me that u can pretty well redline it another has said every gear at about 3500rpm's and a mechanic i know who owns a newer cavie said (and showed me)that u can give it all its got as he was saying this he popped it into neutral and hammered the gas and just held the pedal to the floor running the tach as high as he could and he said "u could pretty much redline it all day and the engine wont blow these little motors can handle a lot more" personally i dont think i have ever gone past 5000 rpm in any gear and i dont think redlining it is any good. so im wondering what are ideal shift points for our cars without hurting them for daily driving and for racing (street or track) it may be a dumb question but no one showed me how to drive a standard and ive always been curious about when u should shift it normally i just shift at 3000-3500rpm but could u run it up to 7000rpm?

for daily driving, if you want my opinion I shift depending on how fast I intend on going

if I'm going to be going 50mph, I usually shift around 3500-4000

if I'm only going to be going 30 I shift around 2500

and so on... thats how I determine when to shift


some people also say skip gears... for instance, daily driving my friend shifts from 1st to 3rd to 5th and skips 2nd and 4th altogether, then at the track run thru the gears in proper order.

I personally never skip gears... I hate when the engine bogs down and being in too low a gear when applying throttle can encourage the clutch to sliip.

however, I have caught myself jumping from 4th to 5th on occasion.

but as far as shift points daily driving it depends on your intended speed like I said above... but never much past 4k if you're being easy on the car.

AT the track however, I always take mine to right before rev limiter.

Shifting at the redline is important not because of where the car stops making power, but because of where the rpms drop to for the next gear.

whenever I have shifted a car before its redline, it was slower everytime. Shifting early accomplishes nothing other than wasting a run at the track or getting beat on the street.

When i granny it i shift on average at 3k. When at the strip like squirrel said redline it.


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Madjack wrote:Like I said before, building an engine like ours (2.2 or 2200) is a painstaking chore , since there is so few custom made parts. It's frustrating to me too, but that's what I like about doing this engine, it's the challenge.

thanks ! so when you are racing you run it past the red line or just before

For Daily Driving I try to shift a 3k, no matter what car I'm driving, but that's more of the fact that I can be driving one of about 8 different stick-shift cars at the time. Another Rule of thumb that I use is every 10 mph I shift gears, 10mph up-shift to 2nd, 20mph up-shift to 3rd and so on all the way up to 5th gear, if the road allows it.

At the track shift at redline.




Yella02-I promise I will return to you in one piece and this will stay up until I am safely home

the clutch is your friend

shawn choma wrote:thanks ! so when you are racing you run it past the red line or just before

I would shift 2-300RPMS before redline so you dont have to take your foot off the gas entirely. Keep your foot planted and shift with Haste.


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Madjack wrote:Like I said before, building an engine like ours (2.2 or 2200) is a painstaking chore , since there is so few custom made parts. It's frustrating to me too, but that's what I like about doing this engine, it's the challenge.

When i race I take the car to just shy of redline.
Daily driving, I shift at 3K except for 5th. I go into that at 45mph.

Learning a stick is not that hard, just goto a large empty parking lot and follow the steps above. I basically followed those steps when i though my Girlfriend to drive my car. 2 hours later she was on the streets chirping the tires.

lol - couple people mentioned about teaching their girlfriends, but me, being the girl, and teaching my boyfriend how! lol, jsut thought id share

i got to learn on a 92 s-10 with a clutch on its last limb...god the throw on those things seem so huge now compaierd to my cavi...what took me the longest to learn was to not let the clutch out immedietly when the car starts to more...like said above, i wouldnt go back to an automatic now (if i have a choice) except in stop in go traffic they kinda suck



96 cavi'/WI j's