First Manual Driving Experience

Everyone in Europe drives manual shifting cars.  Automatics exist but are more expensive, less fuel efficient, and not available to rent anywhere; meaning if i want to drive anywhere in Europe I need to learn how to drive manual.  My boss, Vicky, who drives an Audi A3 preferred that I didn't burn up the clutch on her car and instead offered to teach me on the rental car provided to us for this trip.  Since our other plans were rained out today we took to the parking lot this afternoon!

After some brief instructions we were off! At least until I killed the engine trying to go from standing still to forward :)  After a few more stalls and some bunny hops around the hotel parking lot I was comfortably starting, stopping, and driving in 1 and 2 gears around stationary objects (parked cars and this old man who was having a laugh at my expense!)  Before much longer it was time to get on the road.  A short 1/3 mile loop with two yield signs and a stop sign provided my first in traffic experiences.  I was very happy to only stall once in the 10-12 loops we did.

Feeling quite confident about my new found abilities Vicky decided it was time for hill starts and stops.  The method and coordination behind driving a manual shift car on a hill is nonsensical to a person who grew up driving an automatic.  Finding the balance between the clutch and accelerator while easing off the handbrake at the same time was difficult and took much longer to get the hang of.  After a good hour of stalling and starting though i had it!

After getting hill starts and stops down, driving on flat ground was a piece of cake!  All I need now is more practice and I'll be able to drive in continental Europe :)  I'll have to relearn all of this on the other side of the car when I get back to England next week if I want to drive there!

A big thanks to Vicky for being a patient  teacher!