Want a Porsche, cant drive stick!

[RandallNeighbour]

I beg to differ with all these fine posting members!

I think if you were to call a Porsche dealer and ask for the newest salesman on the floor, and tell him you'd like to buy a 5 or 6 speed boxster but need to learn how to drive it, he'd be more than happy to find a used car on the lot and take you out in it for a half hour to an hour and show you how to drive it.

If I was selling cars and hungry as a new salesman (which I was years ago) and that was the only thing keeping you from doing business with me, I'd invest the time, that's for sure.

It's worth a try!

[Thumper]

The first few Boxsters I test drove before buying mine were stick shifts. So when I finally came across a pristine one for well below market, I was a bit disheartened when I looked inside and saw it was an automatic. I drove it and played with the steering wheel shift buttons and decided that it was different enough to give it a try. I still agree that a stick is move fun to drive, but I'm not disappointed with the tip at all. It takes some getting used to, but you can come awfully close to the feel of a stick once you get the hang of the steering wheel shift buttons. And in heavy traffic it's a dream not to have to work the clutch and shifter constantly.

My next one will be a 6 speed. Let's see what the 550 special editions are selling for in a couple of years.

[Perfectlap]

it took me exactly 5 minutes to learn how to drive a manual transmission.
Getting good at it took much longer, especially when I only drove my car on the weekends.
Just my 2 cents, there is no better experience of driving a six speed manual transmission whith a 250 HP mid engine behind you. The pure drving experience is: Shift, throttle, steer and brake
I really am opposed to anything on a sports car that compromises those basic skills. Mercedes now has cruise control that will brake and accelerate for you.

try posting an ad on craig's list in your area under services. I'm sure someone would gladly teach you how to drive a stick shift for $50.

p.s. something that helped me was to deliberately stall the car a bunch of times to get used to the limit of how much you can lay off the clutch pedal before the engine shuts down. Learning to drive a stick shift is allot like racing, you have to be comfortable with what you are doing in the cockpit first. Thinking about what you are doing and trying to execute at the same time is very difficult unless you are at ease. Oh and get in the habit of always pusing the clutch pedal all teh way down before shifting. Not doing so "bozo clutching" will reduce the life of you clutch.

[Ronzi]

When I was teaching my son to drive he was having a heck of a time figuring out how to get a stick shift car away from a stop without the familiar jerking, bucking, etc.
After pondering on the problem, and really thinking about what you do with the clutch, I advised him to let out the clutch until it reaches the hinge point, and then REDUCE the rate at which he was letting out the clutch.
Problem solved. If worked perfectly the first time he tried it, and he never had any more problem.
Stick shift training notwithstanding, if you would feel more comfortable with a Tiptronic car, get one. My car has a Tip and I have never regreted getting one. It sure is much easier, and in my opinion more enjoyable, to drive in metropolitan traffic.
There are some practical advantages as well, such as no clutch to replace periodically, and less liklihood of experiencing the dread RMS (rear main seal) oil leak problem.
After driving the Tipper for a couple of years I would not go out of my way to get another one, but neither would I avoid an otherwise good car just because it had the Tip.

[asnigro]

Thanks for the great advice all! I will print this out and refer to it while in the cockpit! If I get the practice in on a rental in time, I will be in Orlando over the New Year (Go Badgers!) so I might as well rent one and get some early Porsche experience before my test drive! Thanks again for the great tips!

[airboxster]

Originally Posted by asnigro

Thanks for the great advice all! I will print this out and refer to it while in the cockpit! If I get the practice in on a rental in time, I will be in Orlando over the New Year (Go Badgers!) so I might as well rent one and get some early Porsche experience before my test drive! Thanks again for the great tips!

I just taught my 17 year old daughter to drive a stick. It took exactly 2.5 hours and suddenly something clicked and she got it. I learned myself on a '66 VW bug. Don't really remember exactly how long it took but I bought the car and learned from scratch. Rather then rent a car take a couple driver training lessons with a stick and a teacher. Shouldn't take anymore than that. Once you learn on to drive a stick your will not want to drive anything else for a long time. I can't keep my daughter out of our Cooper S. I fall asleep driving an automatic. My two cents.

[limoncello]

one other thought (and I read the threads too quickly, sorry if this was already in there)

Go to a driver training school. the same ones that teach high school kids to drive for the forst time. most will have a stick car to teach in for those who want to learn stick. A couple of lessons should have you snapped in.
This may have an advantage over learning in the Porsche. Everyone who learns stick, like me when I leared, is going to go through the routine jerk starts, choking off and re-starting, mild panic when caught starting up a steep hill in traffic - whereas all of these things are do-able in the classroom environment of a driving school, with a trained instructor in the car with you. The costs are nominal - I sent both of my kids to schools.

Lastly, don't toss out the idea of an automatic. Years ago, autos were indeed slower and clunkier. But technology in just the last decade has lept ahead. Michael Schumaker in his Ferrari has an auto that shifts faster and better than humans could ever hope to. The recent Porsches are very good. Audi has some excellent 2 clutch autos that raising the bar (watch for the new VW GTI coming in Feb.!). I'm a stick shift driver since my first VW in 1968, but during my search for the Boxster I considered a Tip, and will consider hi-perf autos on all new purchases because the technology is finally here to equal sticks.

Similar to digital cameras - the first ones were humble, but now all the pros shoot digital. The technology moved on and so did I. The new auto tansmissions have arrived.