First Manual Car an 04 Cobra?!

[maddogg545]

Hey guys I am in a bit of a bind. I am seriously thinking of getting rid of my 01 GT and getting a 04 Cobra. The only problem is that I really don’t know how to drive a car with a manual transmission. I messed around of a friends car one time (stalled a lot) but never really drove a manual car before. My car before my GT was a 98 ZX2 Auto. I have driven motorcycles for a while and I don’t have a problem with that, of course it's a lot different. I'm just wondering what your opinions are and what you would do in my situation. Before I can legally trade in my car I would have to put the stock manifolds and cats back on. Do you think a 04 Cobra is a wise choice if I never driven a stick before? I keep hearing that the learning curve is real short but I just don’t want to break a brand new car. My parents just want me to get a 05 GT AUTO, but I don’t want to miss out on a chance to own a Cobra. People are telling me that I'm crazy to get a stick shift car and that I will get tired of it and want an AUTO. But I don’t think that’s possible in a Cobra.

 

[super302]

get the cobra, it only takes 2-3 days to get pretty good at a stick, You gotta learn sometime

 

[vipergts281]

Guess what, I picked up my 03 brand new and only had about 10 minutes of experience driving stick.

Just be prepared to stall and feel embarrassed.....like I was.

But you will get the hang of it soon enough.


BTW, where at in NJ are you?

 

[maddogg545]

I live in South Jersey (Cumberland County). I know I would stall quite a bit, but I dont care about that too much. I just dont want to hurt the tranny. I have my eye on a nice new mystic, silver, and red fire. Hey viper, were you able to drive the car off the lot ok? Did you tell the dealer you didn't know how to drive stick? I would like to see the look on his face when you tell him you want to test drive it, then when your in the car say "I dont know how to drive stick to good).

 

[vipergts281]

I live in South Jersey (Cumberland County). I know I would stall quite a bit, but I dont care about that too much. I just dont want to hurt the tranny. I have my eye on a nice new mystic, silver, and red fire. Hey viper, were you able to drive the car off the lot ok? Did you tell the dealer you didn't know how to drive stick? I would like to see the look on his face when you tell him you want to test drive it, then when your in the car say "I dont know how to drive stick to good).

No, I didn't tell them I didn't know how to drive stick. I was nervous as hell though. I stalled when I started the car up since I forgot to put it in neutral before I turned the key.

I stalled a few times. Mainly on an incline. I missed two green lights because I couldn't get it moving, lol.

My advice, just let the clutch out very, very slowly and when you feel the car start moving, slowly let the clutch out the rest of the way.......all of this while giving it gas. Like I said, you will get the hang of it soon enough.

I'm right outside of Philly btw. Right over the Commodore Barry Bridge.

 

[Beau]

dude DO NOT GET AN AUTO! its soooooo much more fun with a manual you'll get used to it real quick. i did after a couple of days.

 

[Dr. Wu 2000]

I was in the same situation as you are. My old ride was an auto 2000 GT. When I told the dealer that I never drove a stick before as he was handing me the keys to the cobra, the look on his face was priceless. I was all ready to take my chances driving it off the lot but I had about an hours drive and I thought better of it. The salesman drove it home for me and another guy followed him to my house. Needless to say I was a tad embarassed. It took me all of 2 days to get out on the main roads and be ok with the stick. You WILL stall out, you WILL have trouble at first, but you will get the hang of it. I never realized how much fun I had been missing all those years with an auto. That will never happen again. Do yourself a favor and go for it. Good luck.

 

[sonicx219]

get a manual... you'll never want an auto sports car again!!! Went from an automatic 99 GT to 03 Cobra last year and it is worth it. The 03/04 clutches are stiffer than cluthes in other cars but you will get used to it. I knew how to drive a manual before I got my Cobra and I still stalled out during the test drive... oh well....

 

[chuckstang95]

One thing Ive noticed is that every one drives a stick differently. I have a freind who has been drivin stick for a long long time, but sucks at it big time. Never stalls but just lets say you do not want him driving you around, unless you like to feel every shift. And then when you get into speed shifting and stuff, its really interesting to see how differently we all do it. My 99 beats my freinds 03 all the time , simply cause he cant drive stick! ahha

 

[alfman9]

Same situation I was in with my 03 GT auto. I went for the Cobra. I had driven my dad's mach 1 with a stick a little, but this was MY first manual car. I dont think you can get tired of it. I love how much more control I have over the car with the stick. Most people hate the heavy clutch pedal, but I love it. You can really feel the car through it. I test drove an 05 GT the other day and was like wtf? It was super light, barely touch it and it falls to the floor. If your not man enough to hold a tough clutch down at a red light then your not man enough for a muscle car. Have fun and get the Snake.

PS - One tip for driving. This car has a lot of power. Dont listen to everyone else saying "let it out slow and easy" . This car has a lot of power. Make use of the power and give it lots of juice , youll be hard to stall then. j/k...or am i?

 

[vipergts281]

PS - One tip for driving. This car has a lot of power. Dont listen to everyone else saying "let it out slow and easy" . This car has a lot of power. Make use of the power and give it lots of juice , youll be hard to stall then. j/k...or am i?

You let it out slow and easy at first so you can get a feel for when it catches and get used to it overall. Once you get used to it then yes, you don't have to do it slow any more.

maddogg545- Since it does have alot of power, if you take his advice of "give it lots of juice" you will be introduced to the infamous wheel hop.

 

[01CobraDude]

I agree with everyone else...get the Cobra. You won't regret it. The people telling you that you will get sick of driving a stick likely drive 1972 Datsun pick up trucks with 3 on the tree. I was told the same thing before and shortly after I bought mine ('01 coupe). Driven it through Chicago during rush hour and not even then did it bother me.