I had the most painful visual experience today:

I test drove the RSX-S in Nighthawk Black Pearl this evening (it will be mine SOOOOON) at Napleton Acura in Elmhurst, IL. While I was waiting for the salesperson (name was George...really cool) to photocopy my drivers license and bring the car to the front of the showroom I saw a pretty well-to-do older gentleman finishing up a purchase that he was making for his son.

I thought nothing of it because even though I wish I would have had the opportunity at the kid's age (16-18) to get a brand new Acura from my dad, I know a lot of fathers have the means to do so and more power to them.

Anyway, after I was done making my future baby scream my name in iVTEC, I said goodbye to the salesman and went on my merry way...so I thought.

On the way out I saw the son of the older gentleman in a Desert Silver Metallic RSX-S. I thought "nice choice man", but as soon as the light turned green it went downhill from there.

AT EVERY STOPLIGHT FOR THE NEXT 10 MILES I watched this guy make that beautiful machine violently jerk all over the place and shut off on him at every single take-off. Cars were honking at him, his dad was trying to coach him at lights, he would stay behind while cars went around him, his dad would have to pull over to the side of the road to wait for him.

OUCH!!!!!!!!!

I know that EVERYONE has been a rookie manual transmission driver at some point in their lives...but don't you think there are better ways to learn than to treat this marvel of engineering like a guinea pig? Heck, I learned in a 1987 Nissan Sentra Station Wagon.

Buy some $100-$250 piece of crap with manual transmission and beat it into the ground while learning everything you need to know to be decent at it...not perfect...decent.

Another alternative would be to buy a Base with Auto and SportShift.

I congratulate him on his good fortune, but use some common sense....PLEASE!!

 

Well, to his defense....I didn't know how to drive stick when I got my 99 GSR either. I learned it on the way home...LOL....but then again I didn't stall like he did.

It wasn't that hard to learn how to drive stick to be honest with you. Some people learn how to do it faster than others.

I do have to agree with you though that what he and I did wasn't exactly ideal.

 

he should have taught him in an empty parking lot, not a busy road

 

Funny to see this posted now as I just bought a silver 03 RSX-S in the same area last week (from McGrath Acura, a dealership I would highly recommend). Anyway, this is my first manual transmission car so I am still learning the intricacies. However, I did practice in the weeks before hand on a friend's beat-up 96 Escort first in parking lots and later in traffic. I also told my salesperson before the test drive that I was still learning and he started me off in a nearby empty parking lot before we moved on to busier roads.

I don't see anything wrong with getting an car like an RSX-S as a first manual transmission, but it does certainly sound like that kid needed more practice before getting out in traffic. On the other hand, there's only so much practice you can get in a parking lot -- you're just never going to face the myriad of situations you'll find out on the road and around other drivers. To that end I wish other drivers could show a little more patience and knock the road rage down a few notches. I still stall out maybe once a day (with no bucking), but I just quickly restart the engine and go on my way. However, laying on the horn over the few extra seconds a stalled newbie may add to your commute is NOT going to get them going any faster and in fact probably increases the chance of them stalling out again if they get flustered.

 

I am so glad that my dad started me out at racing moto-x when I was 11. The first time drove a car with a manual transmission I had no problem. I was allready used to the idea of how the clutch worked. hell I was only like 12 when I did it. (one of our delivery trucks) anyway. everyone has to learn sometime I guess. Too bad it was on the type-s though.

 

Binary:

I purposely named the dealer and where it was because I did not want to have any misunderstandings since I'm sure many Desert Silver Metallic's are sold in a week in Chicagoland.

If you'll refer to my post I said that at least be "decent" at it, not "perfect" and I applaud you for actually practicing beforehand.

Regarding the road rage, I agree with you that road rage will not produce any positive results. However, it is very dangerous for the primary driver as well as any drivers behind him/her when the car bucks and stalls. Additionally, being a Chicagoan, you know quite as well as I do that if you sneeze too hard and veer off a lttle bit, Chiago drivers will be down your throat in less than a second.

jlammy:

I also agree with you on the fact that some learn it faster than others, but remember that for a lot of people, learning to drive stick is like learning to drive all over again and in driving school they don't put you on the road the first day of class because it's too dangerous. Same thing with learning to drive stick in a real world situation on your first day behind the clutch.

In conclusion, I have to say that it was very painful to see such a beautiful car get treated that way during the first few minutes of its road life. That was the original reason for my post.

Taffeta

 

That is horrible...poor car I learned how to drive stick on my dad's old 94 GS-R when I was 15 and, with minimal instruction, drove it perfectly. It's pretty self explanatory, save for the intracacies :shrug:

 

No doubt...that's why I just plugged my own $.02 and agreed with you at the end....LOL

 

87 sentras are the best cars to learn stick on, amen to that. Mine wan't a wagon though...:thumbup:

 

Man, that is horrible . You'd think that they would have taught him beforehand. Oh well, he'll be using the drive-train warranty in not to long . Nothing was as sad as when I was sitting at the Nissan dealership, and this guy had just bought a G35 Coupe. He and his wife hop in, he starts it up. Proceeds to go two feet and kill it . I was laughing :rofl:.