Manual Licence

[1vngal]

When I got my L's and then went to my P's I only had access to auto cars. And plus living on my own and studying full time driving lessons was the last thing I could afford. So I got my auto licence, but Service Tas went through a stage of making the mistake of giving out manual licences to those that only did the auto test. I was one of them.

A few months into my P's, my dad's girlfriend got a manual car, and took me out the back roads to learn. It doesn't take long to get used to. The hardest part for me was getting used to putting the clutch in when stopping, coz I'd driven Auto for so long, I wasn't used to it.

Now I can drive a manual fine. Best thing I did was to learn how.

 

[The Darkness]

i only had access to auto cars. hence why i got my autos. i can shift and all just not the clutch lol. i only frove a manual once too. only chance i had

 

[albert5268]

haha according to my dad i started driving when i was three... he used to start the ute off in 1st and i would stand on the seat and use the hand throttle and steer while he was on the back dishing out haybales in the paddocks... cant remember how old i was when i first started using the clutch... but i could only just reach it and then i would have to hop up again to see over the steering wheel...

 

[pendulum]

haha I regret not looking into this thread sooner
So... just to let you know why the "Should you learn in manuals" issue came up, got a friend whose wife can't drive manuals at all... Their car was away getting repairs done, and thus they were lent a courtesy car... which she hadn't learn to drive, a manual However, as a full NSW license holder, she was legally able to drive it... haha funniest thing ever, driving up and down the main street watching someone on their full license stalling worse than all the L platers I've ever seen (gee I feel mean now)

 

[VRSS]

i dont see whats so hard about driving manual cars.. stopping is easy just downshift or if your lazy put it in neutral and just brake.. lucky im in SA i dont need a manual licence

 

[BeNoS]

haha well im on my l's at the moment and havent actually drove a manual on the road but take off fine as i do it at work every day (im a mechenic) i even taught myself how to do it in some1 elses car not the best thing to do but i was fine lol but yeah we had an instance today where we went to lend out a loan car and the lady couldnt drive manual so we had to rebook her for another day so we had a auto 1
i myself agree wif the if u cant drive manual u shouldnt be on the road thing so yeah get the manual straight up save urself the hassle later
and also in qld there is seperate licenses but u can drive a manual wif an auto license if u have a fully licensed manual driver in the car wif u

 

[Tasmaniak]

When are they going to bring out a law that if you can't type in anything else other then phonetics, then you shouldn't be on the internet? LOL

 

[AirStrike]

haha well im on my l's at the moment and havent actually drove a manual on the road but take off fine as i do it at work every day (im a mechenic) i even taught myself how to do it in some1 elses car not the best thing to do but i was fine lol but yeah we had an instance today where we went to lend out a loan car and the lady couldnt drive manual so we had to rebook her for another day so we had a auto 1
i myself agree wif the if u cant drive manual u shouldnt be on the road thing so yeah get the manual straight up save urself the hassle later
and also in qld there is seperate licenses but u can drive a manual wif an auto license if u have a fully licensed manual driver in the car wif u

WOW!! Maybe some more time at school would of helped!! You managed to write all of that with no punctuation at all.

 

[JBDrifter]

I drove for 2 years in an auto on my L's, up until about a month before my 18th birthday when I started getting lessons so i could learn how to drive a manual for the test. I think I had 7 hours practice driving a manual, including the actual test, and that was it. I passed with flying colours, and was rapt I had a manual licence
Like has been said previously, I actually got a job thanks to the manual licence, for a company that hired out party equipment... we delivered the equipment out to the locations and all their vehicles were manuals. It also meant I had a broader variety of cars to choose from when replacing my written off VK. Now in a full time job as an apprentice sparky, we're obviously driving around in vans and they're obviously all manual trans, so I'm still benefiting from it now, and forever will I imagine. Plus it's so much more fun than an auto.

For anyone who can't seem to make the decision I would definitely say "just do it!". Although it may seem confusing and you may be worried about the clutch and what might happen if you can't figure it out... it really isn't that hard! Like everything else it takes practice, and you'll eventually get your head around it... and it really doesn't take all that long to learn anyway. Just get an instructor if you're really nervous, they have a set of their own pedals in the passenger seat so they can guide you with the clutch and accelerator.

 

[Shounak]

The only time I've had trouble driving a manual transmission was a friends old Holden with a 3 spd manual on the steering column....I didn't know where the bloody gears were! They had to be there somewhere!

Try driving a non-synchro manual box. You need to double clutch (none of this F+F bull****..

Real double clutching, where the revs need to be perfect or you get a painful grinding sound. Any ole fool can drive a synchro manual, the only way to stall it is to be in a ridiculously high gear or stopping.

Or try riding a motorbike, where if you downshift too fast and get off the clutch too fast, you're back wheel ends up highsiding and the bike is sent flying..

Modern day manual cars drive themselves, it's much more fun to drive a real manual car. Although, for day to day driving (especially traffic), I'd prefer an auto. I can eat, drink, talk on the phone and just remain semi-conscious..