[RockCrusher]

Originally Posted by fangelov

Might be the selector fork, but not 100% sure it applies to the M2 transmission. Not a bad idea to avoid resting your hand on the lever anyway.

If one exerts enough force on the shifter yeah shifter fork wear can occur. But the spring(s) that help keep the shift lever centered are pretty substantial and one would have to put a lot of force on the shifter.

But even letting one's hand rest on the shifter is bad form.

I've read posts by some drivers who have had a track driving instructor in the car and when the driver leaves his hand on the shifter the instructor will reach over and offer to help steady the wheel.

The point is if one is not actively shifting to keep the hand, both hands, on the wheel.

[ourlee]

Yeah buy a 3k Miata and practice on that

[mtoo]

Take a long scenic drive on the weekend after you get it.

You don't have to worry about rev matching when down shifting or rolling backwards on a hill from a stop with this car. Just get some initial seat time until you feel comfortable, then you can refine your skill every day from there.

Congrats and enjoy the car.

[10"]

Originally Posted by Laguna Seca Blue

If you make a habit of wiping out Mario Kart style

🤣🤣🤣 I LOL’d

OP—-you’ll be fine. It’s amazing how fast you will really learn a manual on delivery day—after paying 1000s of $$$$ to be able to drive it home!

[CJ421]

Originally Posted by ronniecs7

Hi everyone!

I just joined bimmerpost today as I eagerly await my g87 M2 delivery. This will be my first manual transmission car and I was hoping to hear some general words of advice. My brother in law has been teaching me to drive manual in his Hyundai Veloster, so that is the only practical context that I have. I would love to hear how the M2 differs/compares.

Welcome & congrats on the car.

There is good advice here already. The below is kind of generic (applies to any manual car) and not exactly an M2 vs. Hyundai comparison, but advice I'd give to anyone learning manual.

You'll have the fundamental skills coming from any [modern] manual car. Keep driving with your brother in law for now. Maybe take him with you when you pick up the car so you don't feel nervous.

--Learn the clutch engagement point. Flat, empty parking lot, take your shoes off, put the car in first and slowly let the clutch out until it grabs. You will be able to get the car moving WITHOUT using the gas. Any manual car can be launched this way, so you can try it on the Hyundai.
----You really never need to use the gas to get these cars going unless you're on an incline.

--These cars prefer slow + deliberate shifting in everyday driving. Fully press the clutch, THEN grab the shifter and move to the next gear. Take your time.
----If you felt the car push forward when you let the clutch out, then you didn't wait long enough for the engine RPMs to fall. (You shifted too quickly.)
----If you felt the car lurch [your head went forward] when you let the clutch out, you waited too long to let the clutch out, and the engine RPMs fell too far.
----Finding the balance between those two scenarios will take a little time.

--Only grab the shifter to shift. After shifting, hands off the shifter and back to the steering wheel.

--Don't coast in neutral. You really don't have control of the car in this state. When approaching a stop, stay in the current gear until the RPM's drop to about ~1K and then shift to neutral. There is no need to downshift in this scenario in normal driving.
----So, don't engine brake i.e., downshift all the time to slow the car. Coast in gear or use the brakes. Brakes are much cheaper than an engine or clutch.

--Do not sit at a stop with the clutch in. Clutch out and be in neutral. Shift into first when the traffic light turns green, not before.

--When shifting to neutral, I wiggle the shifter to the left twice as a confirmation I'm in neutral. This is muscle memory for me. You might do it differently. But have some kind of way to ensure you're in neutral. The last thing you want is to be in gear at a stop, unthinkingly let the clutch out, and hit the car in front of you.

--Try a panic stop in a parking lot. Get up to speed and then press the clutch and brake in at the same time. This should be instinct after a while. The car won't stall this way.

--The rev-match feature means you don't need to learn to heel-toe. So, you can go from 4 > 3 and not worry about blipping the throttle to get the engine RPM up. You can turn this feature off, but I never do. (I used to heel-toe my previous BMW's, which I never found easy/smooth to do on the street, so I really like this rev-match feature.)

--If you do need to downshift, do so at the turn entry point, right before you turn the steering wheel. Not mid-turn. Accelerate or maintain speed through the turn and then upshift when the wheel is centered again.

--Leave the car in gear after you park. First or reverse is fine. Use the parking brake as well.
----If you prefer leaving the car in gear when you start it, be careful; if the front of the car is against a wall, use reverse so that if you start the car and accidentally slip off the clutch, the car doesn't go into the wall.

YouTube has plenty of how-to videos about driving a manual if you want some visuals.

Charles

[LAnderson23]

Originally Posted by CJ421

Welcome & congrats on the car.

There is good advice here already. The below is kind of generic (applies to any manual car) and not exactly an M2 vs. Hyundai comparison, but advice I'd give to anyone learning manual.

You'll have the fundamental skills coming from any [modern] manual car. Keep driving with your brother in law for now. Maybe take him with you when you pick up the car so you don't feel nervous.

--Learn the clutch engagement point. Flat, empty parking lot, take your shoes off, put the car in first and slowly let the clutch out until it grabs. You will be able to get the car moving WITHOUT using the gas. Any manual car can be launched this way, so you can try it on the Hyundai.
----You really never need to use the gas to get these cars going unless you're on an incline.

--These cars prefer slow + deliberate shifting in everyday driving. Fully press the clutch, THEN grab the shifter and move to the next gear. Take your time.
----If you felt the car push forward when you let the clutch out, then you didn't wait long enough for the engine RPMs to fall. (You shifted too quickly.)
----If you felt the car lurch [your head went forward] when you let the clutch out, you waited too long to let the clutch out, and the engine RPMs fell too far.
----Finding the balance between those two scenarios will take a little time.

--Only grab the shifter to shift. After shifting, hands off the shifter and back to the steering wheel.

--Don't coast in neutral. You really don't have control of the car in this state. When approaching a stop, stay in the current gear until the RPM's drop to about ~1K and then shift to neutral. There is no need to downshift in this scenario in normal driving.
----So, don't engine brake i.e., downshift all the time to slow the car. Coast in gear or use the brakes. Brakes are much cheaper than an engine or clutch.

--Do not sit at a stop with the clutch in. Clutch out and be in neutral. Shift into first when the traffic light turns green, not before.

--When shifting to neutral, I wiggle the shifter to the left twice as a confirmation I'm in neutral. This is muscle memory for me. You might do it differently. But have some kind of way to ensure you're in neutral. The last thing you want is to be in gear at a stop, unthinkingly let the clutch out, and hit the car in front of you.

--Try a panic stop in a parking lot. Get up to speed and then press the clutch and brake in at the same time. This should be instinct after a while. The car won't stall this way.

--The rev-match feature means you don't need to learn to heel-toe. So, you can go from 4 > 3 and not worry about blipping the throttle to get the engine RPM up. You can turn this feature off, but I never do. (I used to heel-toe my previous BMW's, which I never found easy/smooth to do on the street, so I really like this rev-match feature.)

--If you do need to downshift, do so at the turn entry point, right before you turn the steering wheel. Not mid-turn. Accelerate or maintain speed through the turn and then upshift when the wheel is centered again.

--Leave the car in gear after you park. First or reverse is fine. Use the parking brake as well.
----If you prefer leaving the car in gear when you start it, be careful; if the front of the car is against a wall, use reverse so that if you start the car and accidentally slip off the clutch, the car doesn't go into the wall.

YouTube has plenty of how-to videos about driving a manual if you want some visuals.

Charles

This is a great post and full of spot-on advice. As a seasoned MT driver, I agree with everything you said. I will especially echo the advice to be careful if you leave it in gear when you park it. Even though I have years of experience, I have on occasion without thinking, let the clutch out immediately after starting the car but with the shift lever still in 1st. This causes a sudden lurch forward and then the car stalls out. Luckily the handful of times I've done it I didn't hit anything, but if you are near a wall, parking block, or another vehicle you can do some damage. It scares the shit out of you when it happens unexpectedly so you'll learn quick if you do it one time, haha.

[KC87ZB]

I had my M2 for all of a week when I handed the steering wheel over to my daughter to drive. With all of 5 times experience driving a stick she had it mastered in a couple minutes and finished the drive, taking us home

This thing is ridiculously easy to drive.

My wife hasn’t driven it but also has no interest. She really has a mental block with manuals and just won’t drive it. Admittedly she said there was a 5% chance she would drive it as an automatic. So here we are.

[MADBMWX5MC]

Congrats on your manual trans, man...I miss those days!

[wjones14]

Originally Posted by LAnderson23

This is a great post and full of spot-on advice. As a seasoned MT driver, I agree with everything you said. I will especially echo the advice to be careful if you leave it in gear when you park it. Even though I have years of experience, I have on occasion without thinking, let the clutch out immediately after starting the car but with the shift lever still in 1st. This causes a sudden lurch forward and then the car stalls out. Luckily the handful of times I've done it I didn't hit anything, but if you are near a wall, parking block, or another vehicle you can do some damage. It scares the shit out of you when it happens unexpectedly so you'll learn quick if you do it one time, haha.

I agree about leaving the car in gear with the parking brake on when shutting down. I learned a lesson decades ago with an '87 Mustang GT, where I parked it on my inclined driveway, with the parking brake on and the gearshift in neutral. Someone knocked on my door an hour later saying my car had rolled into the street. I live on a quiet street so fortunately it wasn't a huge deal.

So yes there is a possibility of starting it later and lurching forward if you forget it's in gear, but not putting it in gear could result in a worse outcome. It quickly becomes muscle memory and a non-issue to confirm whether the gearshift is in neutral or a gear before releasing the clutch.

[NewToM]

Originally Posted by wjones14

I agree about leaving the car in gear with the parking brake on when shutting down. I learned a lesson decades ago with an '87 Mustang GT, where I parked it on my inclined driveway, with the parking brake on and the gearshift in neutral. Someone knocked on my door an hour later saying my car had rolled into the street. I live on a quiet street so fortunately it wasn't a huge deal.

So yes there is a possibility of starting it later and lurching forward if you forget it's in gear, but not putting it in gear could result in a worse outcome. It quickly becomes muscle memory and a non-issue to confirm whether the gearshift is in neutral or a gear before releasing the clutch.

Never had this happen before, but now that I know it is a possibility it should happen soon enough.

[wjones14]

Originally Posted by NewToM

Never had this happen before, but now that I know it is a possibility it should happen soon enough.

Maybe it doesn't happen with the new e-brakes, but older cars (including the F87) with a cable depended on pulling the lever up that one last click.

[NewToM]

Originally Posted by wjones14

Maybe it doesn't happen with the new e-brakes, but older cars (including the F87) with a cable depended on pulling the lever up that one last click.

You have destined for it to happen. My cars blood is on your hands!

[LAnderson23]

Originally Posted by wjones14

I agree about leaving the car in gear with the parking brake on when shutting down. I learned a lesson decades ago with an '87 Mustang GT, where I parked it on my inclined driveway, with the parking brake on and the gearshift in neutral. Someone knocked on my door an hour later saying my car had rolled into the street. I live on a quiet street so fortunately it wasn't a huge deal.

So yes there is a possibility of starting it later and lurching forward if you forget it's in gear, but not putting it in gear could result in a worse outcome. It quickly becomes muscle memory and a non-issue to confirm whether the gearshift is in neutral or a gear before releasing the clutch.

Yes, to be clear I am still advising you leave it in gear when you park, just also a warning to be careful when you start it up the next time, haha.

Although, like you I am used to a manual, cable-pull parking break, some here are saying the electronic parking breaks are strong enough you don't need to leave it in gear so...I guess it's up to you? I plan on leaving mine in gear because that's how I've always done it.

[RockCrusher]

Originally Posted by wjones14

I agree about leaving the car in gear with the parking brake on when shutting down. I learned a lesson decades ago with an '87 Mustang GT, where I parked it on my inclined driveway, with the parking brake on and the gearshift in neutral. Someone knocked on my door an hour later saying my car had rolled into the street. I live on a quiet street so fortunately it wasn't a huge deal.

So yes there is a possibility of starting it later and lurching forward if you forget it's in gear, but not putting it in gear could result in a worse outcome. It quickly becomes muscle memory and a non-issue to confirm whether the gearshift is in neutral or a gear before releasing the clutch.

While my habit is to leave the transmission in gear and set the parking brake the car can still roll in gear -- albeit slowly -- if parked on a sufficiently steep incline if the parking brake is not applied. (I have tested this in my M2.)

'course, correct parking on an incline requires the front wheels be turned for just in case.

As for the risk of starting the engine with the transmission in gear and forgetting to depress the clutch while I have never tested this in my M2 pretty sure there's a clutch safety switch that will prevent the engine from cranking if the clutch is not fully depressed.

While I park the car leaving the transmission gear my habit is to before starting shift the transmission to neutral then depress the clutch and start the engine.

[xtougher]

Lots of good advice already in here.

I'd just add that you need to be patient with yourself.

Like most skills, there are some "plateaus" that you will go through.

You may pick something up quickly, but take a little while to get it down smoothly, and a little longer still for it to become "second nature".

So, as you go through that process, give yourself some grace. You'll enjoy the car more that way. And it's okay to be "happy" with the steps in between "new to manual transmissions" to "proficient" or "expert" or wherever you're trying to get.

[gondolafanclub]

I'm in the same boat as OP, I had a buddy give me a crash course in his veloster too lol I looked at some beater manuals around and even test drove an old golf with a guy for like half an hour- I let him know ahead of time I didnt really know how to drive manual but he was cool about it and I didnt stall his car at all. I didnt end up buying it though because it was CLAPPED lmao- I figured I didnt really need a beater car to learn on so here I am waiting for delivery.

I bought a cheap sim racing wheel/shifter/pedals just to get used to the motions. I also ride motorcycles but you obviously cant ride a car clutch quite like you can a wet clutch on a bike so im not sure how much the skills translate.

[Bret]

Originally Posted by clutchdj

nice first manual for sure. congrats.
2. learn how to properly heel-toe downshift.

Absolutely 99% unnecessary and 100% unnecessary given that the M2 has automatic rev matching.

Originally Posted by LAnderson23

I told my wife I would teach her how to drive a stick shift, but now that the reality of teaching her on my brand new M2 is setting in I'm starting to regret making that promise, lol. Should I try and back out of this arrangement? How much damage can she do?

My wife hates driving manual transmission cars. That's one of my incentives for buying them. Unless she's really determined and coordinated, I'd try to talk her out of it. Fortunately, my wife is neither.

Originally Posted by RockCrusher

While my habit is to leave the transmission in gear and set the parking brake the car can still roll in gear -- albeit slowly -- if parked on a sufficiently steep incline if the parking brake is not applied. (I have tested this in my M2.)

This reminds me of a friend who parked his Firebird at his girlfriend's house. Her driveway had an incline up to the house. For some reason, he put it in reverse and didn't pull the parking brake up enough. A few hours later they heard his car crank up. They went outside and it was half way down the hill stopped by a tree.

[Hydrodamalis]

I found this video by Matt Farah to be a very helpful visual demonstration on how to do the basics before I started learning.

Also don't stress if you struggle to be smooth at first and even stall sometimes. When I got my first manual I had done some lessons before but it had been a while. The first week was a struggle and I worried I had made a mistake but after that it became second nature.

[KC87ZB]

My main advice is as above, don't worry about being smooth at first, the main thing is to not tear something up. Better to be patient. If you over-rev when you start off, just wait for the engine to slow back down and try again. You will find it hard to stall this car but it can be done. If you buck, push in the clutch and try again. Relax!!

Also, the 3 second hill hold in this car is important to remember to help with the transitioning your right foot from brake to accelerator when starting. And, worst case, you can apply the electric parking brake, it will auto disengage.

Highly recommend some time in an area with minimal to no traffic. Start in a large parking lot and work your way to the street.

[Geighty7]

All this chatter and OP hasn’t even been back lmfao

[gondolafanclub]

Does the auto hold work when you're stopped on a downhill incline and going to reverse back uphill?

[NewToM]

Originally Posted by Geighty7

All this chatter and OP hasn’t even been back lmfao

He went with the auto…