Learning how to drive manual?

Question

I am thinking about buying a new car. I drive an automatic now. The reason I'm thinking about learning how to drive stick is because it's more expensive to buy a brand new car that's automatic.

My question is: How difficult will it be to learn manual? I have been driving automatic for 2 years, so it's not like it's been my whole life. I'm a quick learner, if someone explains things to me in a smart way. I know I'll learn the concepts behind driving manual before my feet will understand it.

I made my boyfriends car stall a few times trying to get it to go lol! I knew what I was supposed to do but my feet weren't doing it!

I know it will take time and i won't be perfect right away. I'm asking though, how long did it take you to learn manual?

Answer 1

if most of your driving is city then dont get a stick.  It will be harder and get annoyin having to keep shifting, its not really that hard to learn it just takes practice. And you will have to replace the clutch once in awhile

Answer 2

You'd be surprised how fast you learn. It isnt difficult at all. Copied and pasted:

How to drive a manual transmission (stick shift) car

    This tutorial starts with the assumption that you already have experience driving an automatic transmission car.  In today's day and age, with the easy availability of automatic  transmission cars, it is much easier to learn on an automatic.  There are so many things to get used to when learning to drive, that trying to master a clutch and gearshift while trying to remember to stop in front of the stop sign or back into a parallel parking space seems a bit silly.

    Read through the WHOLE tutorial first.  Some things are hard to explain before others, but you need to see the whole picture before you first turn the key...

Preparation:

    Obviously, you will need a stick-shift car.  Your best bet is a car that is not new, nor one that has had the clutch recently replaced.  Clutches are much "stickier" when new, and this makes learning more difficult.  It's also better to learn in a smaller car, with a smaller engine.  They are much easier to get going and to stop.  Finally, choose a car with a floor-mount stick shift.  Don't try to learn on a car that has the shifter on the steering column.  Floor mounted stick shifts are more intuitive and easier to use.

    You'll also want a couple good, safe places to practice.  The first should be a large FLAT parking lot, preferably one with few lamp-posts so you don't have to concentrate so much on the "where you're going" while you are getting comfortable with shifting.  The second should be a long straight section of low traffic roadway.

    Practice on a a day where neither bad weather nor darkness are going to cause problems.  If you are borrowing the car and the owner wants to come along, work out in advance that you might ask them questions, but your intent is to learn, and that you will be learning from a few mistakes along the way.  In other words, they should keep quiet unless you ask for help.  (I wish my grandfather followed those rules when he was trying to teach me to bowl!)

    Let your friend (you don't think they're really going to let you borrow their car to learn without coming along do you?) drive the car to the middle of the parking lot, and have them shut it off in first with the parking brake on.  Trade places and climb into the driver's seat.

The drivers seat - Getting a feel for the pedals:

    Three pedals and a stick shift.  And a parking brake.  We'll get to the parking brake later - let's concentrate on the pedals and stick shift.

    You already know two of the pedals - the gas and the brake.  They work the same as they do in an automatic.  So let's skip to the clutch.  What the clutch pedal (far left) does is control the distance between two discs or "plates."  One plate is connected to the engine, and has a big, flat surface.  The other plate is connected to the transmission and is made of a material like fine sandpaper.  The clutch pulls them apart when you press it in, and lets them touch each other when the pedal is up.  So when you press in the clutch you separate the engine from the transmission.  Since the pedal is not an on-off switch, you can control how quickly the two come together, letting one slip against the other for a bit, as you let the clutch pedal up.  This "letting out the clutch" is the key to getting the car moving from a stop.

    So, with the car still turned off, put your right foot on the brake pedal, and with your left, push the clutch to the floor.  On some cars it is hard to press in, but most modern cars have a "light" clutch.  A light clutch is usually what you want, because you're going to be pressing it in and slowly letting it out a lot.  Practice pressing it to the floor somewhat quickly, then letting it back up slowly.  It's not that hard to get used to.

Watch your hands - the gearshift:

    Now check out the gearshift.  In general, the gears are laid out like an H, with first in the upper left, second directly below it, third is to the right of first, fourth below it, and if there is a fifth, it is up to the right of third.  Reverse is usually on the left side of the H, sometimes up, sometimes down.  Usually you have to push the gear lever down into the floor before it will let you go into reverse.  The pattern is usually marked on the top of the k**b as well.

    Now, with the car still off, your foot on the brake only, and the gearshift in first, try to pull it straight down into second.  It probably won't budge.  This is because when the clutch pedal is up, there is usually internal pressure against the gears that keep you from taking it out of a gear, as well as putting it in a gear.  While we're on the topic, why did I suggest leaving the car in first gear when it was turned off at the beginning?  The answer is that manual transmission cars don't have a "Park" gear.  Instead, you leave the car in first gear, and the

Answer 3

It's really not that hard, I was proficient enough in 3 days to drive on all the hilly roads around here. Once you learn where the clutch engages and understand the basic movements then it's all a matter of doing it a million times to get that perfect shift every time.