Celica Forums General Discussion General How hard is it to drive a 6 speed?

Ahh. I'm downstairs talking to my dad/his friend about this 2000 celica GTS i found for sale. They're trying to talk me out of buying a celica and just to get a less expensive car. They are saying that the clutch is extremely tough and awkward at first. They said that the clutch is very touchy/non forgiving. My bike/quad are considered forgiving for that they never stall out on me. i can be putting around in like 2nd with low RPM's and it wont stall. My starts are always smooth but idk if thats jsut cause im so used to riding them or if its the bike/quad. I don't want to be looking into a car that's really frustrating and difficult to learn to driev stick on. They also said it'd be like 500 for a new clutch/installiation. Is that true? I'll proablly look around for a cheap car thats stick to learn on besides the celica so i dont' burn it up. I just hope that the clutch really isn't that tricky. I really like this car and i dont' want to be turned off by it because of the clutch.

It depends mostly on the driver. I learned how to drive a stick on my dads porsche so the celica was always really easy for me. but all of my friends seem to have a lot of trouble and they all say its the hardest stick they have ever driven. so i think it really all depends on the person. i wouldn't let threat of burning up a clutch scare you from getting the car. it is an awesome car and will run forever. i've never had any problems from mine at all.

i have a 00 celica gts 6 speed. and i love it.. it's the best kind of car to drive so far.. it's not that hard to drive, just like any car you have to get use to the gears.. but once you do, its the best thing.. fun on the highways too.. :-) Try it, you'll probably love it!!

All you gotta do is pull it out of gear and it will slip right into gear without even using the clutch.

On a serious note, the Celica isn't too hard to drive, just give it a try and you will get the hang of it. The GTS has a low end problem, and if you dont rev it it won't go, but each car has it's own problems.

bout as hard as you make it my friend. give urself time and practice like a bitch, and before long it becomes second nature.

Dude get the Celica!...I'm getting one in super white GTS!...
Join the celica family!...

its a toyota...not a ferrari. just as easy as anyother mid priced sports car.

its a little harder than other cars i have drived but that becuase the celica is newer and the clutch is harder but wtf man if the other cars had new clutch to they wudd be the same

way shudd the celica be more of a hassel to drive?????

The clutch on the Celica isn't difficult in the slightest, the only thing tricky about the Celica at first is the throttle control, it's relatively sensative compared to some other vehicles.

The redline comes fast once lift kicks, you have to be ready & waiting for it - to hit it just right.

I learned clutch first on an Isuzu Rodeo, then an '03 Tacoma, then a '93 Camaro z28, then my '04 Celi.
(The only car I owned is the Celica, the others people just let me drive, maybe 5 times max)

I personally didn't have a single bit of problem when I got the Celi, and it went very smoothly, test-drive and all.

But my brother (who had a 5-spd truck for a year or two) said the clutch was like an on/off button, and his take-offs and shifts were very very jerky at first. But after about 20 minutes, he had a better handle on it, and was going much smoother.


I wouldn't let getting it 'cause it's stick turn you away from buying it. Sticks are much more fun to drive than autos, at least for me.

I drive automatic!...And everyone here at ecelica is telling me to buy a
6 speed!... I think I'm getting an automatic being that my wife can't drive a 6 speed!... sorry dudes...

Yah, been there.

learn her to drive stick its vort it
auto suck

at first i kept skipping gears because of how close they were but now it's sooo damn awesome i love it, i love it, i love it. go with the GTS it's soo bad ass [/color]

Dude...I learned how to drive a stick shift on my GTS. Never ever ever touched a standard in my life. It is not that bad. I am on my 2nd week and I am already hitting lift...hehehehehe.

It is not hard, and regarding the clutch. If you can afford to purchase a Celica, I am sure that you can save up $500 for a new clutch. Think about it this way, once you get use to it, you can purchase an aftermarket clutch to make it even better than stock.

Just don't blow up the engine.

I am getting a short shifter soon, so I will let you know how the difference in Performance in terms of a noob driving a GTS with the stock clutch VS. short shifter.

If you were downstairs talking to your dad and friend then of course they will try to talk any youngster out of a GTS. It's not a about the clutch. It's about you and the damage that may insue, the insurance, and the long arm of the law. Driving a manual is as easy as an auto. Your dad and his friend are only looking out for your interest. Thank God I didn't have the opportunity to get a GTS for my first, second, or third car, when I was young. I would have totalled it like the rest and may not be here replying to this post.

That is true. The question should be "Are you mature enough to drive a GTS?" lol.

Just drive smart and you will enjoy your GTS.

yeah i had a 5 speed, everytime i drop to 4th i'd endup at redline on the interstate, now i have 3000rpms to play with with my 6spd!

imo its harder to balance gas/clutch with ss when at speed

ans just so you know it all the fhings your dad says about the car is bull shit (no dissrespect )
he just try to get you to buy a cheaper car so you dont fuck up his incurense or f& up in any other expensive way and maybe becuase he is a fried you are not grown enough to drive a fast car like that when you are all n00b and every fhing but to me it seem like you can teh cluch fhing pretty good , if you can start with no hassel then it wannt be any dif. in teh celi and if you can balance in 2 on low rpm i dont see way you have shuts little faith in your stick driving

just get the 6speed and get used to the clutch...

celica gts has a tighter gearbox, which personally i like better. low torque caused me to stall when i first started but adding a grounding kit helps a lot. clutch is touchy but learnable.

still, i wouldn't trade it for any other sport compact...

e

yea, my bf has a 6 spd gts...and that's what he told me. a 5 spd's gearbox isn't as tight as a 6spd--so that may be what you have to get used to and learn. and i guess the low torque is why i stalled a lot too when starting to learn

it's not the tq...

LOL you guys are funny.

If you're thinking 6 speed vs 5 speed is difficult, it's really not. Shifting is the least difficult part of driving a stick. Shifting and launching smoothly in our cars is actually easier than in a car with tons of power, IMO. I've driven a six-speed GTS on three or four occasions without problems. When I test drove the 350z the other day, I couldn't stop from peeling out from a stop, and on the shift to second.

Last summer I drove my brothers truck for a week to learn stick. By day three, I wasn't even thinking about it anymore. Just got for it man

Hey, how did this get resurrected from the dead? I got all excited. I was about to show some person how to drive stick with an added bonus on launching from a dead stop and shifting around turns while at speed. None of my secrets revealed of course, but a start . Oh, I thought it was for that guy/girl that was going to give the HIDs away for teaching them to drive stick. My bad.

celicas are the easiest stick car to drive. i think the clutch is very lighter than any other car in its class.
its very easy to drive trust me

What do you mean by shifting around turns? Is this hard to do or something?

yeah what do you mean? Before the turn or during the turn? If it's before you would mean downshifting. You can shift while turning if you are casually driving or driving a little on the fast side. But no real racer on a road course going full speed will shift in the turn. That's a no-no.

The shift gate is a little tricky, but it shouldn't take more then a few days to get decent with

Go into the corner in the gear you wanna come out of it in.

In my noobness opinion driving the 6 Speed GTS, I think that shifting is cake. I do not mind the shift gate. I think this is because this is the only standard car that I have ever driven, so I dunno what to compare the shift gates to, just a few good assumptions.

Heel-TOE

i dont think its a smart idea to have the celica as ur car to learn stick on... i think you should get an older car first and perfect ur footwork... thats wut i did with my rx-7 and now im ready to buy a celica... you might stall it and mess up ur timing gears and shit... its not juss the clutch that gets messed up so get an older car and then get the celi.

^^ First time I drove a stick was in a GTS, it wasn't bad at all I didn't stall, but it wasn't the smoothest ride

If you can drive a bike or quad, you are well on your way. The biggest problem is once the clutch starts to grab, people just dump it and that's when you stall. If you can rider a bike or quad you know about letting it out easily. Same principle, just with your feet.

just get the celica, you only live once. you'll have other cars in the future also

go test drive a mazada 3, their clutch kicks ass...

I have driven stick on:
Ford F150
Ford Ranger
VW Beatle
Honda CRX
Honda Civic

The CRX has been the easiest (well I guess it would be its my car, but hopefully I will be movin to the Tcamp soon) So is the GTS 6 spd as easy or easier then any of these?