Quote:
Originally Posted by PonyPotato
I learned how to drive stick in my old VW Jetta GLI. Learning in an import is no more difficult than learning in a domestic car - in both cases, you have to quickly learn how not to burn the clutch and find the "sweet spot" where you're engaging the gear. It's also obvious in a high-performance car that you're not going to shift at the same RPMs as a dinky little "get-me-there" sedan, so you can never put a standard on when to shift. Depending on traffic conditions, I don't always shift out of 1st when I normally would - if traffic is just going to slow down to a trickle/stop again, there's no point in engaging 2nd gear just to have to shift back down again.
BTW, getting used to driving stick again in Beltway traffic isn't the most fun, but it sure is nice to be able to zoom-zoom away from everyone once it clears out.  |
I learned to drive a stick in a 1970 VW minibus-took my test in it too.
I've driven a stick for 38 years and will never EVER own an automatic; and I agree, a stickshift is a shiftstick is a shiftstick. I've driven an old Valiant with three on the tree, VW bugs and now my PT and the only difference really is that "sweet spot".
By the way, the PT manny tranny actually is made to be driven both as a speed shifter and a "get-me-there" sedan-it "senses" the quickness of your acceleration and thusly, allows a wider range in the RPMs in the speed-shift mode, which gets me up to 45 or so in 2nd and at a good cruising speed in 3rd. Having a K&N cold-air filter system boosts it even more( and I LOVE seeing those faces in the little lowered Civic drivers when it's hitting peak RPM in 2nd and starts to growl as I go by'em . Priceless!)