Moe said:
How does that auto run tho...Im hopefully getting a TURBOD automatic WRX in acouple of months and Im just wondering everyone is saying to get a stick but I dont kno how to drive a stick and there is just to much to remember, and I kno that sticks are faster than auto but anyway how do you think it runs?
My 04 WRX is the first manual/stick car I've driven.
MY FIRST MANUAL/STICK STORY
I got my new job (over at IBM) and a month later went to dealership... and said... I want a WRX. They showed me their last 2004 model. I said, "I want to test drive it."
Needless to say, I didn't tell the salesman that I've only driven a manual/stick once (my friends VW wagon, he let me drive it down his 2 block neighborhood... I stalled out like 3 times)
So, I get in the car. I forget that I had to press the clutch before I start the car... So the car doesn't start. The salesman looks at me with a weird look and says, "Press the clutch in." He was quick to figure out that I had no clue what I was doing. Still, he lets me proceed.
I put it into first... and we kind of stutter. The car dies. Right now I'm sweating bullets and think to myself, "Crap, what have I gotten myself into... Stupid head! You don't even know how to drive a manual!" ...
So the salesman says, "Try to ease off the clutch, a WRX is a little harder to get going than other manuals you might have driven." I nod like I totally understood what he was saying. This time I'm driving down... the RPM's are revving really high... he looks at me and swallows *gulp*... and clears his throat and says, "You can shift now." And gives me a fake smile. I proceed to shift to 3rd... and GRIIIIIINNNNDDDDDD... You can see his face... it looks like this: !Cry!
Ok, so we're moving now. And so we go down the road. And I see it... A big hill with a stop light at the top... Now my hands are sweating. And my ears are kind of red. With my luck, the green light goes yellow, and then red. OH CRAP!!!
So, I'm on the top of the hill... Let's just say, I had to turn the ignition over about 10 times (literally) before we got going again ... those people honking on your rear doesn't help much. Especially when they come up really close to your rear and your car is rolling backwards.
I turn too look at the salesman's face, and he has a look that says, WTF "OMG, there goes the clutch... this kid better buy this car or I'm getting fired for letting him drive it and destroy the clutch on it."
Anyways... Long story made short... I came back the next day to drive the car home :rocks:
The salesman was really cool... because his first manual car was a BMW M3. And he drove it home in New Jersey rush hour traffic. He said he probably stalled like 50 times before he got home. It was cool... because he could relate... he really wanted his M3... and I really wanted my WRX... even though both of us couldn't drive manual back then. So, I'm glad I got in the car with a great salesman !Thumbs Up Any other salesman would have told me to stop and get in the passenger seat and head back to the dealership.
MORAL OF THE STORY: It's not as hard as you think. Even if you're the most clumsy person ever... you can still learn. Go for it! Test drive a manual
(Just don't tell the salesman you can't drive a stick worth a lick of anything)
P.S. I've only been driving a manual/stick for a year now (Had my 04 WRX for about a year)... and I've been to 3 autocrosses, 1 auto-x school, and an 1/8 mile drag strip :rocks: