AP6380

I am having an awful time trying to get an automatic car in Sardinia. The only company that looks like they may actually have one is autoeurope, and their price is crazy ($1100 for 10 days). I was able to get one through thrifty for my Naples to Calabria portion of the trip for 10 days at 531 Euros. They can't get me one in Sardinia. I would rather learn a new skill and take classes here, maybe rent a manual for the week before I go, than pay that (unless of course it ends up being more $$$). Is it possible? Or is this a skill that takes many months to learn?

m_kingdom2

$1100 for a large automatic for 10 days is reasonable, if you are too tight with your money to spend the extra on an automatic, then really you have no right to complain.

AP6380

I wasn't complaining, I was asking if it's possible to learn how to drive a manual in a short time frame.

ira

Hi ap,

This is not a difficult skill to learn. It takes a couple of hours of practice to coordinate your left foot lifting up on the clutch with your right foot pushing down on the gas.

Helpful hint,

When stopped on a hill, set the parking brake. When you are ready to start,
push in the clutch, step on the gas, release the clutch and the parking brake at the same time.

m_kingdom2

It's easy to drive if you've been taught how to drive one. Americans are too fond of automatics, I'm in favour of tiptronic gearboxes which offer one the control of a manual, but with the ease of an automatic.

However, on strange roads which are often small, and require lots of concentration, I think several hundred dollars extra is a small price to pay of ease of mind. You would be dangerous to yourself and other road users if you chose to rent a manual car.

ira

Oh, piffle!

NYCFoodSnob

In my early 20's, I lived in Beverly Hills for one year while working on a project there. My car rental was costing me $400 a month. Since the car was a tax deduction, I decided to buy, which brought the monthly payment down to $260.

Because I was in a hurry, I neglected to notice that the car I bought, a silver Datsun 280Z, was a five-speed. I had never driven a 5-speed before. I found a friend who knew how to drive a stick and she went with me to pick up my car. We drove to a parking lot on Santa Monica and she taught me how to drive it. But, she neglected to teach me how to deal with hills.

I'll never forget the first time I had to stop on a hill, with a car directly behind me, and I had to move forward without missing a beat. I was horrified! I couldn't believe I didn't leave the transmission behind cause it sure sounded like I had.

I rented a five-speed my first time in Italy to save money. I was fine on the highway but didn't enjoy the experience in the cities. In my opinion, the extra cost for an automatic is nowhere near the value of driving safely and securely. I always splurge on an automatic in Europe even though I know how to drive a stick.

Tangata

Just a couple of small points that you may wish to consider. In some countries, I don?t know what the practice is in the US, if you pass your driving test using an automatic your licence is so endorsed and many Rental car companies will not rent you a manual. It may be worth checking.

If that is not a problem, then go for it. Having some practice before arriving seems sensible and it might be worth checking if you are going to have the gear change on the floor (almost universal these days) or on the steering column. It?s not too difficult; I swap between automatic, classic manual and tiptronic regularly without a problem.

I once had a hilarious hour with a German friend who had rented a car and for the first time in his life found himself driving an automatic. He kept putting his left foot on the clutch and hitting the enlarged brake pedal instead, so that we were almost standing on our nose. He only needed an hour to settle down, but it will take longer to go the other way.

Ira, I love and endorse, that piffle!

Singletail

Yes, you can learn to drive a stick in a short period. As one of the helpful DRIVERS (and I don't mean the other wusses above who only know how to drive a keyboard) above has stated, the biggest skill is learning to coordinate your shift throw with the clutch...once you've done that it is like riding a bicycle..you never forget even if YEARS intervene...go for it.
My only concern would be the roads on Sardinia and you thinking you are suddenly James Bond in the Aston-Martin...although driving a Lamborghini as I do can do things to your mind...good things.
Hope it works out and no, I don;t think you are being cheap...if you could see that little cubby hole that person toils in you'd understand their passive aggression. Good Luck!

rex

I agree that you can learn in a weekend, or even in a single day, with enough hours behind the wheel. The key, as others have already said is the opportunity to practice and feel comfortable in a variety of driving settings (country roads and hilly ones are going to be more relevant in Sardinia, naturally, than divided interstate highways).

And I would hope that you have refresher days/opportunities in the week immediately before departing.

Best wishes,

Rex

Clifton

Yes, hills are the trickiest thing, in terms of mastering that clutch. The shifting comes pretty quickly, and you re-learn that part a bit from car to car.

The way I was taught was to pull half way up a large hill in an isolated location. My dad said, when you can hold this thing from rolling forward or backward without putting your foot on the brake... (a very "snatch these pebbles from my hand" moment )

Heavens knows what suffering that clutch really took, but like Rex says, it sticks with you. Definitely a useful skill even outside the trip. What if there's an emergency and the only car is a stick? Not likely in the US, I know. ONLY car? Stick? But it's suddenly fallen on me to drive in that general sort of situation.

ira

Hi Clifton,

>...The way I was taught was to pull half way up a large hill in an isolated location. My dad said, when you can hold this thing from rolling forward or backward without putting your foot on the brake... <

I take it that your dad owned a garage or sold clutches?

rkkwan

Don't do it. You'll be driving an unfamiliar car on unfamiliar roads. And you want to add manual shifting to the mix? You'll be worrying about shifting all the time and forget that you're suppoedly on vacation enjoying the scenery.

Yes, you CAN do it, but why compromise your vacation in such a big way?

I've taught other people how to drive a manual, and one thing I notice is that while many of them can learn it relatively quickly on flat road, unhurried; once they're on the smallest hill, or in traffic, or get into another manual car, they all seem like they've not learned anything at all. The clutch of every car is different - some lighter and some heavier, each with a different pick-up point, etc... It's no problem after you've driven a few of them, but not good when you have never driven one.

Clifton

LOL. No. We had one old Chevy truck. I remember that thing taken apart, engines swapped, etc innumerable times as I was growing up. I'm sure I helped contribute to that cycle. We'd do this on Friday nights, so that if need be, we could yank the engine (which I could do well before I could drive) and have it going again before he had to work on Monday. Clutches we'd get from salvage yards.

The truck eventually didn't make it, but I can still do the clutch thing . just for the intended purposes of repositioning the feet now though. Clutches aren't cheap and I don't have his patience.

dln

AP, if you're trying to save money by renting a manual, you many not come out ahead if you have to learn first. My youngest is pressing for driver's ed lessons and it's going to cost about $350. And you will want to rent a car afterwards to practice for a week or more, so you'll have to figure in that expense. You may very well end up spending your $1100 anyway!

However, if you plan on other future trips to Europe, learning how to drive a stickshift will prove to be a wise investment, because you'll never again have to pay for the more expensive automatic rates. It might be a very smart move on your part. And yes, you can learn! I am one of the world's more mechanically inept people and yet I drive a stickshift beautifully no matter what the terrain. It's a very enjoyable skill to have. Makes driving fun.

rkkwan

dln is correct. You should learn, but not for this trip. For the next one, and the one after that, etc...

Ann1

If you decide to do it, remember that to put the car into reverse in European countries, you have to push down the stick to get it in gear. Sometimes you have to pull it up. Just know it isn't like in the US where you just have to move it into gear.

Just a suggestion to people wanting to travel to Europe and rent a car. Start thinking about it now. Rent a stick shift car a few times and practice, practice, pracitce.

cmt

I'm interested in this question. I never rent a car on trips. When I travel alone, I always plan trips that can be enjoyed using public transportation. When I got to more remote areas or areas not well served by public transportation, I go on small group tours (e.g., to Basilicata, western Crete, the Dordogne). I never learned to drive stick shift. Even in an automatic, I just think it would be too difficult to find my way in unfamiliar places with people driving around me at high speed, or to drive on narrow, winding, steep roads to remote hilltowns, so I wouldn't want to rent a car by myuself. But I might consider renting a car if I ever travel with some other people to Basilicata (not practical to travel around there without a car) and we could share driving.

I looked into taking lessons in stick shift at home. Most driving schools won't/can't teach it. A few will, but only if the customer provides the car. (If I already had a stick shift car, I certainly know how to drive it already.) Only one school gives lessons and provides the car. It is extremely expensive: $200 for one two-hour lesson. I have doubts about whether that would be enough, if I did not have opportunity to practice afterwards. I thought instead I might look into renting a stick shift car locally and getting one of those other schools to meet me at the car rental place to start the lesson there...assuming that they don't charge as much as the other school. Then at least I'd have the car to practice on for the weekend or day or whatever period I contract for, after the lesson.

CarolA

I would think that if you don't drive a stick that Sardina would be a hard place to feel comfortable.

I drive a manual every day so for me renting one in Europe is not a big deal. That said I once tried to teach a friend for a trip to Europe. After a few hours of my gears being ground in a FLAT parking lot I told her she had to rent an automatic. Some people just were not meant to shift gears and drive at the same time.

US drivers licenses are not endorsed as to automatic vs. manual.

Finding a US car to rent at a resonable rate may be next to impolssible. The major car rental places only rent automatics (some of their specialty cars may be manual, but they are very expensive and may require supplementatl insurance.)

Giovanna

Reaching the "golden years" seems to have many ramifications. For some reason those who are not part of the "golden years" feel that those in the "golden years" should take tours rather than travel independently. But if there are many on tours, younger people shouldn't go because we are boring and just "old." That would also apply to hotels that cater to these boring old people.

Yes I walk slower, make noises when I sit down, have aching in my right knee after a day of sightseeing, but with all of my "faults and disadvantages" I can drive a stick shift and have done so all of my life (35 years in a VW bug and currently a small SUV with a 5 speed).

Perhaps I should start giving driving classes, teaching you disadvantaged youngsters how to drive a stick.