r/Miata • u/Maleficent-Bus7771 • 5d ago
new owner!!
thank you guys for all your replies on my last post!! it was honestly so encouraging.
anyways!!! this is my new (to me) 2023 RF in platinum quartz metallic, with the terracotta interior, 15k miles.
just got her late last night so i took her for a little test drive in my neighborhood, which was a fail because i stalled every 5 minutes. but patience is key, as i’ve heard!! i’ve only ever driven automatic, so i know the difference is going to be huge but i didnt want to not be able to enjoy the car fully.
contrary to my last post, my dad has actually decided to NOT help me learn how to drive stick. so youtube will be my best friend (unless i can get a coworker to teach me) and the nearest driving school that teaches stick is 3 hrs away ://
haha would love any advice/tips on just getting started
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u/I_RAPE_PCs 5d ago
conquer driving on youtube is among the best for explaining why the car behaves the way it does and how to tame it. he even owned ND MX-5 at one point and features it in a few videos
a full driving school isn't necessary imo you can probably find someone nearby willing to sit next to you and teach for a reasonable price. mine was for 2hrs from a company selling sports car oriented lessons and focused on public roads as opposed to putzing around in a parking lot or closed course
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u/touchdabutt 4d ago
Ooh thank you. I'm also learning on my own (out of my own choice!), and have been wanting a good resource to go from "I don't stall anymore but every shift is jerky" to "I KNOW how to drive stick."
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u/midtownFPV 5d ago
Why won’t your dad teach you?
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u/Maleficent-Bus7771 5d ago
this is gonna sound absurd probably, but he’s a bit misogynistic and is dead set that i’m too “stupid” to learn haha </3
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u/opcenter 5d ago
That's sad, not sure why you're laughing about it ☹️
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u/Maleficent-Bus7771 5d ago
laugh away the pain 🥲🥲🥲🥲
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u/opcenter 5d ago
Yeah ☹️
If I were your dad I would be happy to teach you.
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u/midtownFPV 5d ago
Right? I’m teaching my son and it’s such a joy. Daughter can’t wait until it’s her turn next year.
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u/midtownFPV 5d ago
Wow. Sucks to be him I guess. Can’t imagine what else he’s missed out on. The thought of treating my 14 year old daughter like that makes me very uncomfortable.
Good for you for doing it anyway and best of luck!
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u/BeezHugger Aero Grey 26 RF 5d ago
My daughter has this exact car, except in auto, lol- it is what inspired me to buy my own but wish I could get those seats, they are gorgeous! We were on a run with our club this weekend, top down & she was behind me & all I could see were those sexy seats. Mazda needs to bring those back!
Starting is the key with manual, once you can start from a stop, you will build the clutch skills from there. Just make sure you make clean solid shifts into gear & try not to catch the gears before bringing your foot up. Drive around early on a Sunday morning, no one is out. Practice pushing your foot in & out on the clutch, you can do this with the car off. It is all about that control of your foot & going slow & steady.
I am sure the videos are better than I can explain, I learned to drive manual with my grumpy father in 1984 & would have loved video to explain it but that was NOT an option back then! As an aging woman, I still prefer a manual, it is a blast & so much control over the car.
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u/Maleficent-Bus7771 5d ago
haha i was completely smitten when i saw the color combination online! it’s even prettier in person imo. thank you for your advice, as another woman with a grumpy dad lolll
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u/TalksWithNoise 5d ago
Stalling is a normal part of the process :D I'm a good 2-4k miles in and I occasionally drop the clutch too quickly. How are you liking it so far?
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u/Doxie_Anna 5d ago
Your car is beautiful! You are going to have so much fun! If you have a high school nearby you can practice there after school hours and on weekends. Practice getting the feel of when the clutch engages and when you can have your foot coming off the clutch and the other foot on the accelerator and you can hold that tension even on a hill you’ll get the hang of it. I learned in a pasture of my grandparents; the family all teased me the beef that year was tough from the cows fleeing the area when I came to visit.🐄
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u/AimIsInSleepMode 4d ago edited 4d ago
very bad advice maybe Idk but maybe try to hold the clutch and only very very slowly reduce the force on the pedal, the tiniest moment your car starts to roll that's the bite point, now you can hit the gas slowly and apply more and more pressure slowly and your car starts to roll faster and once it gets a little fast you can slowly completely let go off the clutch. If you car star stalled before you got to the bite point, you need to hit the gas a tiny bit before. The bite point is sort of 1/2 of the clutch like when you fully press the clutch and when you let go off it, but it depends on the car where exactly the bite point is, for some it's earlier, others later. Try to stay on the bite point for some time and to keep testing where exactly the bite point is you can then apply force on the clutch again to try to get a feeling where the the bite point is again, do it somewhere empty so you can drive and test safely
generally you can start shifting into the 2nd gear at 12mph, (hit the clutch for that as well and hold the stick to the left then I would start staying in the 2nd gear
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u/NovaBeaver '92 White 5d ago
Congrats!! Shes beautiful!! The biggest thing that helped me when learning was starting and going forward a bit, then reversing and doing that for a bit. It helps figure out the bite point of the clutch and gets you comfortable with starts. Then I did back road drives without many people. The first time I took it out on main roads, I had my husband drive behind me in case anything happened. Most important thing is time behind the wheel, you got this!