Best Way To Approach Manual..

[Rekin]

Hello

Being my 18th on April it's time to start thinking about my P-Plate. After spending years on automatic I believe its time to perfect manual driving.

I have two options and would like to hear some opinions from the fellow P-platers and full license drivers on this forum.

The options presented to me at this point is:

Plan 1:

- Purchase a Manual car $3000~$5000 in Jan or Feb 2006

- Learn and Practice Manual until April

- Obtain Manual P-Plate licence

- Continue driving manual car until i purchase a manual r32 gtst

Plan 2:

- Learn from instructor 10 - 20hrs

- Obtain Manual P-Plate license

- Drive Parents automatic cars until i purchase a manual r32 gtst

Both plans have their advantages and disadvantages and its hard to choose which one.

As one of the family car's will always be at home, due to mother taking train to city, the automatic car will always be available for me. However as its fairly new (2003) it would be a shame to scratch or ding it.

Having my own car would lead to insurance, maintence etc but it will be the only manual car in the house.

Parents think that manual only takes a couple of hours to learn as it only involves moving a stick and the actual road skills have been absorbed through my automatic training.

Which makes me question why VicRoads have two probationary licenses, Manual and automatic, if it is all the same...

Or Plan 3 for those crazy people :

- Just buy the r32 on my 18th and have fun.

Would like to hear your opinions. Also how would i create a poll for this thread as it may be easier to come to a solution.

Thanks All

- Patrick

Edited December 8, 2005 by Rekin

[Freddy Kruger]

id go plan one. get some experience by yourself on the roads in a not too powerful car. than when you feel more confident and hae the cash go for your r32. best not to get a good car for your first car... it WILL cop a floggin...

[Spook's_Skyline]

buy a shit manual car and drive it heaps

its how everyone else learns

i find instructors dont help much at all, only for road rules etc

i have taught my wife, bro, bro in law all to drive manuals, and the best way is just to spend time in the car

find a car park if you have to

we used to go do down to fairfield gardens and mt gravatt central and drive around there for hours until the noobies were confident with the clutch

[2_eclipsed]

sorry to go a little off topic, but what is Manual P-Plate license.

[blind_elk]

...it only involves moving a stick ... PFFFTT!!!!!

Go Plan1 - you need to be able to practice as much as possible. And you can't do that if you don't have the car to do it in. And make it a cheap, low-powered car - that way you can't get into too much trouble too quickly.

Reminder - you aren't (technically) permitted to drive a R32 GTSt on a Victorian Probationary Licence.

[Mr Italy!]

I was in the same situation as you when i was getting my licence. My parentals both drive autos (or rather, the autos drive for them...).

I just drove around in their autos for ages on my L's then went straight into the driving instructors manual car and did 6 lessons (which is the minimum lessons in the ACT to obtain your licence). It really isnt too hard once you've been driving and auto for ages.

Once i got my manual licence i continued to drive my mums auto around for about a year till i found the car that i wanted. It went alright, i didnt have to pay for insurance or rego, just fuel... milked it for as long as possible!!

But yeah, i would suggest that you do the same sorta thing, its pretty much the most cost effective way of doing it and you'll get a heap of driving experiance out of it.

[ignuz]

I first got my P's in November.. (auto) bought a R33 2 weeks ago ( manual ) learnt and practiced for a bit.. then.. got my license today :lol: :lol:

Doesn't take long to pick up.. just go and buy it.

[Mr Italy!]

^^ In the ACT if you get an Auto licence, you have to drive an auto for a year before its automaticly converted to manual...

[GTshortie]

Question: Can you drive a TURBO R32 with your P's? what state are you in?

Personally i reckon you should spent around $1000 for a shitbox manual car, pick up a Honda civic EF or Toyota Corolla.

Learn manual then get the R32 when you go on your blacks and saved the money.

my 2c

[frankxinyu]

i was in the same situation b4. had been driving an auto for a year b4 i decided to take lessons from a driving instructor. 6 lessons later got my manual license and started driving manual cars.

the only difference is that i get a car from work which is manual. so i had heaps of practice b4 i bought my own.

a GTST R32 shouldnt be too hard to drive any way as long as u drive accordingly imo.

just make sure u dont do anything u r not 100%sure u can do it on the road. as someone else said, go to a carpark if u need but it wont take u long as soon as u start driving on the road.

[someonestolecc]

I bought and learnt how to drive a manual on my first car. Before that I learnt to drive in an auto.

I would advise for any first car get a shitter because there's a high chance of writing it off or dinging it etc.. so just drive that for a year or two then get a skyline.

PS. I wrote my first car off.. very hard.

[Stel]

I learnt manual on the skyline....

it was very hard to get used to because of the very heavy clutch...

but the good thing was i learnt on the heavy duty clutch which meant i didnt need to get used to anything else.

My mates who have got normal clutches can hardly drive my car because of the clutch.

If you go the R32 without knowing manual, just be very careful.....

[TracidTrax]

i was kinda in the same position as u 2 years ago, my birthday was in April and i started driving manual in January and endedup getting my licence late April and buying a Supra a day before i got my P's

alot of people say to buy a shit box for a first car, i say bs. If your confident with your driving and have the money buy a r33 NA or if u really want a gtst

[TracidTrax]

My mates who have got normal clutches can hardly drive my car because of the clutch.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

ye same, 1 of my mates stalled it a couple of times and the other changed gears quite rough actually

quite a pain in heavy traffic though

[dezz]

i learnt in manual cars when i was a kid, real young at my cousins shed....then for ages i didnt touch a manual, all through my L's was in my parents auto cars, then i went with the instructor to refresh me on manual...got my manual license, but my first car N/A tx5 was auto.

got my manual 33 GTS-T on the way to compliance in the next few days, so it'll be the first manual ive touched in like 2 years.

I think ill pick it up again pretty quickly, and then i'll be fine

oh, and you can drive a 32 gts-t in victoria on ur p's...just not a 33 GTS-T

[Patto-]

My parents only had autos when i was learning to drive. I got a couple of lessons in a manual car, but gave up and got my p's in an auto.

When I got my p's I only had to be on p's for a year. So after the year was up I got my full license and bought my manual skyline. It didn't take too long to get used to a manual, especially since I had already done some lessons.

So I'd say go for Plan 1. Especially since you are quite likely to make little mistakes when your on your p's. You don't want to do that in a nice car. TracidTrax you must be lucky. Every one I know has had little dings while on their p's.

[Rekin]

sorry to go a little off topic, but what is Manual P-Plate license.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

When you go for your probationary license you choose if you are going manual transmission or automatic.

With a Manual licence you can drive both auto and manual, whilst on auto you are restricted.

The automatic car which will be available for me is a 2003 Hyundai Getz and my mother clearly stated that she does not care about any scratches, dings, accidents which may occur. As she is on rating 1 and has no use for the car she does not mind what i do with it.

As she will be paying for the rego and insurance, it is a cheap alternative for me until i can afford a r32.

Also the fact that owning your own car is a step into independence and respect for what you are driving.

However obtaining my own car, around the $5000 mark, would lead to rego, insur, rwc, plenty of repairs and a dieing engine which all could be saved up for the r32...

Also from what I have read, a 1990 - 1993 model R32 GTST is legal at the moment for P-Plates but with the new laws coming out next year it may cause some issues.

Thanks all

[foznice]

Yeah, 1990-1993gtst is LEGAL, or is it 1991-1993?? I can never remember but yeah LEGAL.

As for me.. I'm a learner too (but I'm 18 in 12mintues) and P's in a couple of weeks.. I always learnt manual right from the word go.. I don't think it's hard to pick up, and you should be able to learn with a driving instructor.. someone mentioned before, that driving instructors are only good for road rules.. this is true in some cases.. the way I see it, is that when your first starting out (or learning manual) they actually teach you and have advice and stuff, but when you are going for your driving test, they start to teach you how to pass if you know what I mean...

I'd say go with plan 2... it means that you can get your r32 sooner, and at the same time you still get to drive

[Rekin]

As for me.. I'm a learner too (but I'm 18 in 12mintues) and P's in a couple of weeks.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Guess I'll be the first to say Happy Birthday haha :lol:

Yeah when i think about it, it will be more cost effective to just drive the auto around and when I do purchase my first manual car i dont have to take it on the road as soon as I get the keys. Probably spend a couple of weeks practising at a carpark so i dont stress and kill the car when i stall on a busy road.

Thanks

- Patrick

[FATGTS-R]

I say plan 1. Get a cheap R31 manual and learn in that. Similar weight and size to the 32.

Yes, you will have expenses such as insurance etc. But if you keep out of trouble at least you will gain a rating and when you get your R32 the insurance wont be as steep.