Long story short: I’m (24M) American, and I’m visiting my long-distance Romanian boyfriend for the first time soon. In Romania, most cars are manual - including all the ones owned by my boyfriend’s family (I’ll be staying with them). I’ve never driven a manual before. His dad told me he can give me a quick lesson, and that I’m welcome to use their cars if I want; otherwise, I can rent an automatic. I don’t have access to any manual cars here in the U.S. to practice on, so I’m not sure what to do.
Visit a AAA location and get an “international drivers permit”. It’s super easy and a good insurance policy for yourself. I highly doubt the police speak much English and aren’t corrupt, so it may save headaches. Also, watch out on neighborhood streets for potholes.
southsamurai@sh.itjust.works 17 hours ago
It’s easy tbh.
There’s a learning curve, but if you can walk while pulling something out of your pocket, you meet the minimum coordination test.
If you have a tachometer, it’s a little easier to learn when to shift, but it isn’t necessary at all, just a nicety.
No bullshit, I learned in a day, and was able to drive without grinding gears in maybe a week. Taught many people over the decades since. A day of practice that includes hills is all it takes to get the basics down.
When you first drive a different car, it may take a few miles to get a feel for the clutch and shifter throw, but that’s about it.
It seems way harder than it actually is, assuming you have full limb mobility. If you don’t, it can be a good bit harder.
When you first try it, just remember to get the clutch pedal all the way in before shifting, and you won’t have trouble in that regard. Letting the clutch out in sync with the gas is where coordination comes in, so test any new vehicle in an empty parking lot or other open space that’s flat, so you can get a feel for that safely. Once you have that feel, it’s easy peasy again.
At this point, I don’t even pay attention to shifting. It just happens without thinking about it as the vibration reaches the right level.
Hell, in my old car, I had taught dozens of people how to drive stick, and it got to 200k miles with the original clutch in it. That’s how easy it can be to learn.