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Most cars dont start in neutral unless the clutch is in.

Man ive driven manuals for more than two years and im now completely confused lol, i would go out and check now but im at uni and wont be home for about 3 weeks when its time for christmas but will defeintly check, meh im tired and confused

Time for some sleep before im forced to go to uni

well i meant going into first sorrys!

Most of the cars ive been in have a "clutch sensor" and the clutch needs to be pressed in all the way before the starter will turn on

Thats because my car had a pedal ebrake and my car wouldn't start unless I put the clutch in regardless if it was in neutral or not, thats why I said I assumed it had a kill switch installed.

Nah thats how all the cars (ive driven at least) are, in gear or neutral or not; you -need- the clutch in to start it. if you can start it with the clutch engaged, more then likely your clutch sensor (sensor to see if u got the clutch in or not) is broken.

not on my car.

To be honest mate, you really shouldn't buy an RX7 for your first car if you have never driven Manual before because not Only will you need to learn to drive manual, you need to learn to control a RWD car and on top of that the RX7 is turbo so you need to learn about boost.
Don't take it the wrong way, I just don;t want to hear about anyone sliding out in the rain into a tree because that accidentilly put there foot down and the boost kicked in loosing traction. I have to drive my S13 in like 5th gear at 1500 revs in the rain because it just wants to slide out around every corner, even on straight bloody roads!

I doubt that a RWD will be a problem for too many drivers. I learned on a RWD and I had no idea it was RWD. I thought it was about the same as my Accord which is FWD and found out after it was gone. I drove in the snow and rain, etc etc no problems (while I had a permit too). RWD is the same as any car you'll slide if you drive too fast in bad weather and ice no matter what your car is. I would get the RX7 if its the FC but the FD is kinda dumb to me. But that's just me if ya want a FD then get the FD. Who cares what idiots say they just say not to get it because they didn't get the car they wanted at first. So if you have a license you should have no problem driving in any kind of condition or with any kind of car if your not too dumb about it and try doing 100 in the rain and then turning a corner without braking. AT LEAST BRAKE!!

EDIT: As for stick shift driving it's just as easy as learning to drive the first time just different. It took me no time at all to learn it but then I didn't drive it at all for a year and forgot what I did and then learned it again when I started the car but I gotta admit if ya don't drive stick daily or are too used to automatic it does get annoying to constantly be on pedals and shift the gears etc etc. So until it's second nature at least to me, it's pretty annoying and gets on your nerves at times.

This post has been edited by Blazafan30 on Dec 11 2004, 08:33 PM

Was the car you drove a Turbo? Because I duno about you guys but once I hit boost on a wet road then I loose all traction and start snakeing.
I wasn't really saying don't buy the car as such, I was just trying to say that a powerful RWD turbo car is a bit risky in the wet and stuff when your learning, In the rain I could absolutly hammer my old FWD Nissan Exa and I would rarely ever loose traction but the S13 loves whipping the tail out. Then again it is a drift pig haha.

But yeh by all means get the car, they are awesome cars! Just don't thrash it in the wet lol.

Also I hate drivign Autos, they are kinda boring, my left foot always gets stiff and stuff. I love having control over my car

hmm, glacial response time here, but yeh, ive got back from uni, and not only on the car i drive, all my mates cars (ranging from beat up fiesta to riced up civics) and every car my dad has driven, none need the clutch depressed to start the car as long as your in neutral, if you tried in first you'd just stall, so yeah common sense tells you to use the clutch, but as far as your clutch sensor thingymabob sideways, ive never heard of it and neither has anyone i can find here in merry old england

Having the clutch in to start a car is a relatively recent "idiot proofing" measure. I think it's also much bigger in the american market than elsewhere, but it is leaking out, touted as a safety feature (oh, safety feature, i need that!). The only car i've driven with that "feature" was a kia rio.

It popped up at about the same time american cars started chiming at you everytime you did... anything. Got the door open with the keys in? BING BING BING... Got the ignition turned one notch to listen to the radio? BING BING BING... That gets boring fast. The ford explorer was the first car i experienced that in, but newer cars like the focus have a few noises. Aston martin have also started putting the damned things in, probably to aid sales in the states.

Shifting gears has never got on my nerves. Maybe because i've been blessed with "fun" gearboxes over the years. But you can do a lot of driving in a taller gear in most cars, unless they're asthmatic little buggers. My car spends most of its time in fourth, and i run it as low as 1500rpm and it pulls cleanly.

I do hate auto's though. I can't stand the feeling of the engine resisting the brakes until the torque converter lets go. It also bugs the hell out of me when they jump around gears in corners. Coasting down hills also puts low friction stress on the brakes (which glazes the pads unless you have slotted discs... which most auto's don't). In a manual you can just use the engine braking on hills.

if you have trouble controling a car when a turbo kicks in you dont need to be driving. Its not that big of a diffrence of driving. all you do is get a little bit of a push but not enough to make you fishtail unless your on ice or something.

Depends on the turbo, some times you get more then a little "push" depending on the car

Rx7's are good cars to start with you learn rwd control thanks to the 50/50 balance the car is already more responsive to the driver then most cars the manual is not a problem just practice when i got my FC i was a bit scared but after a while i don't see my self driving another car.

Sideways, u don't need the clutch in to start the 86!!

sorry for being stupid but just to make it clear is it just...press clutch shift then release?? do u have to let go of gas when up shifting??corrent me if im wrong please

Yes u do, otherwise ud over rev ur engine.

I have been driving auto up until today and I have discovered that it is really quite easy to drive manual. 15 minutes and I was not longer slipping the clutch at all, but I still had to conciously think about it. The most difficult part seemed to be the release of the clutch rather than any other part of it. (being as that is when the clutch makes contact with the engine.) The only part that really takes a while to pick up perfectly is getting going actually. Once moving it's a lot easier to make the clutch meet at the right speed.
Once you get the hang of it, it's way funner than an automatic. I definetly must get one rather than my crummy truck.....

This post has been edited by Gold_Ultima on Mar 30 2005, 01:21 AM

when you start to learn down shifting it gets a bit harder.

I said in the wet, and I can control the car fine... all I was trying to say was if he never driven manual before then maybe an FC isnt the best first car, Im not saying dont get one just dont hammer the f**k out of it if your not used to it, Ive seen to many amatuers hit trees that way.
Besides my car doesnt give a "little" push rofl.

Well to help the topic back I will add my little chit chat on shifting and manual transmission.
I learned my manual gearing before I got a car, as I was living on a farm I drove a tractor.
Where you not only had to consider shifting between 1st to 4th but also High and Low.
Starting in Low 1 was fairly easy but since I often had to travel somewhere the Low series wasn't the best way to get there (Snail speed deluxe) So I had to use High gears.
Of course I stalled it a lot before I got it right but in the end I got it.
And then the shifting speed increased and now I can start and stop it without even thinking.
Though the brakes, well moving over to car it was a bit of a problem.
As when I wanted to stop the tractor I nearly had to put all my weight on the brakes and it slowed down very slowly.
However, I learned the difference between car and tractor the hard way...

I SLAMMED THE BRAKES in the car in the same manner I did on the tractor, teeth in the dashboard in other words

I have had embarrasing situations when I learned driving a car too, stalling it 6 times in a row... Mid intersection.
Why? Because I panicked, a 4 way intersection and I forgot all about being smooth on the clutch.
7th try I got out of there, with wheelspin as I went WOT (Wide Open Throttle) on the poor VW Caddy (Imagine a VW Golf in pickup truck version)

Now when I am done studying I hope to get a FD3S (Mazda RX-7 for the unknowing person) though not the same as Keisuke, I am aiming at getting a 1998 Type RS imported from Japan, in Innocent Blue Mica color.
But I will use the car as a weekend driver mainly for the fun of it as it drinks fuel and requires a lot of maintance. (Which I have accepted)
So currently I am doing my "homework" by reading up as much as I can on this rotary powerplant and its familiar problems.
The primary source is: www.rx7club.com which has a large userbase and tons of posts to read on rotary engines and RX-7's.

Back to shifting again.
I was probably more fortunate than most of you as I had my stepfather teaching me.
However, the worst thing is starting in a hill.
Downhill is easy as you can use brake but uphill is worse as you roll backwards.
It requires balancing with ebrake, brakes, throttle and clutch.
I have done it sometimes but I don't like it, the first time I tried I went a bit too hard on the gas pedal.
So I wheelspinned on the dirt surface I was starting on.

Technically to do a hill start you dont need to go anywhere near your foot brake, especially if your driving the English licecne exam. The method they expect is for you to be stopped on the hill with the hand brake on (e-brake i guess you lot call it) Then bring your clutch to the bite while having a steady number of revs, slightly more than on the flat to get it going smoother, and when the car makes the little 'clunk' and the bonnet sits up, you can relase the hand brake and you'll sail smoothly away.

Thats the proper way to do it lol, there are other ways that are quicker etc but thats the proper way on the british licence test

I remember doing that when I was learning how to drive. Man, if my dad saw me doing that he would have beat me down. He is one of those that believes that if you dont know how to drive stick, you dont know how to drive at all.

<--- Still doesnt have a working hand/e-brake.