When most people learn to drive manual transmission, they worry about stalling at traffic lights. When I was learning how to drive a manual, an instructor told me over the radio to brake after cornering on the track. I had some problems adapting, but at the end of the day, I wanted to drive as fast as I could.
small recently opened a manual transmission driving class at the BMW Performance Driving School in Thermal, California. While there are two other BMW Performance Driving School locations in Spartanburg, South Carolina and Indianapolis, Indiana, the Southern California location will be the only one offering the Mini Manual Driving School. Located in the grounds of heat cluba private multimillion-dollar motorsports club, the program gives attendees the chance to practice shifting gears without having to worry about upsetting every driver around. an expert teaches in a closed course.
When Mini announced this new program, it seemed like the perfect opportunity for me to let go of my gearshift driving skills. I learned to drive a manual transmission as a teenager in the late 2010s, thanks to a family friend in the late 1960s. fiat500. But I’ve never owned a manual transmission car, and after my first lesson on the gravel road in Long Island, I’ve never had a chance to build more of a gearshift experience. The two cars that I spent most of my time driving, a 2006 Cadillac DTS and a 2016 Toyota Corolla, were both automatic transmissions. So when Mini invited me to the school in shifts, I jumped at the chance.
Full disclosure: Mini took me on a flight to Palm Springs, CA to attend the inaugural Mini Driving School class, and provided me with accommodation and food while I was at the school.
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The Mini Manual Driving School starts in the classroom. The school’s lead instructor, Rob Stout, opened the day by asking the class if anyone came with manual driving experience already. Glancing around the room full of journalists and influencers, I only saw two other people raise their hands. Stout has more than a decade of racing experience and has won two touring car championships at a national level, so he was more than equipped for our room full of novices.
The focus quickly turned to the car. Stout explained the strategy of how you shift through the gears in a manual-transmission car by comparing the process to riding a bicycle with multiple gears. He emphasized that you need to push the clutch pedal all the way to the floor with force, then gradually lift off the pedal as you apply throttle. Stout also explained how to set up your seating position to use the full range of motion of all three pedals comfortably. He instructed us to sit close enough to the steering wheel to turn it 180 degrees without having to adjust our grip.
After leaving the classroom for the track, we met our instructors for the day, Christopher Hill and Loni Unser. Hill has been teaching high-performance driving for nearly 20 years and has multiple manufacturer instructor certifications. Unser currently races in the production-car-based World Racing League. She’s also a member of the legendary Unser Racing Dynasty 9-time Indianapolis 500 champion.
Each student is assigned to drive a manual Mini – 2-door hardtop, 4-door Clubman or convertible. Hill and Unser double-checked our seating positions and made sure our radios were working. They instructed each of us to shift into all six gears in the transmission while standing still, to familiarize ourselves with the operation of the gear lever. Then we were off and running.
Although the Minis we used for the class are factory-made, they already have some features that make manual driving easier for beginners. digital remote board shows what gear you’re in, so you don’t have to look down at the gear lever. And when you shut down the engine in a new manual Mini, the engine stop-start system automatically restarts the engine whenever you stop when the brake and clutch are pressed.
Hill sent us one by one with reminders of what we should focus on in that segment. The first exercise is to start and stop continuously, keeping the engine at about 1,500 rpm while loosening clutch. I stalled twice in the first few laps because I lifted the clutch pedal too quickly, but soon I was catching the beat easily. We would stop by Hill at the end of each lap so he could give us tips and answer questions. Unser was stationed on the other side of the track if we needed any help midway through the lap. Hill’s first piece of advice for me was to use more force when starting from a standstill.
Next, we start at a stop, shift into second gear, continue for a second, then slow down to first gear and stop. That’s where I ran into some problems: I couldn’t get my Mini to shift into second gear consistently. The gear lever tends to be in the neutral position. Hill told me that gear I would naturally be sucked into the next gear and I realized that I had put too much force on the rod. Gearing is not an issue for me as I always follow Hill’s prudent advice to always press the clutch when braking. When I got over that mental barrier, I felt like the world opened up in front of me and I could move up and down with ease.
The relatively small limits of short car course meant we couldn’t maintain the pace to learn more advanced concepts. heel shift and rev joints are not critical at slower speeds and shifting between first and second gears during repetitive exercises.
For our third and final half-hour session, we were free to run a short lap, stopping only for a quick check-in with Hill each lap. The instructors told us not to get past the third gear, but we were able to hit it easily 55 miles per hour on the longest straight line. All the pieces start coming together in that final segment. I was starting to pick up the pace, and the instructors noticed. Unser encouraged me to start braking later at the end of a long straight to increase cornering speed. The students were all on a single radio frequency, so we all witnessed each other as the instructor’s survival tips were replaced by advice to go faster at the end. day.
When we got out of the car at the end of the show, we were all smiling. We want to keep driving. While you won’t leave Small manual driving school As an expert, the driver will have the basic knowledge needed to safely drive any manual transmission vehicle on the open road.
I wish I could replace my current car with a manual, but I share it with my brother and he can’t drive the gear lever. I have no space in New York City to buy a second car, but after Mini school, I’ll take the chance to drive any digital car I can. This time, I won’t let my crafting skills rust for another decade.
Registration is now open for the four-hour Little Manual Driving School for $499 per person. If you’re staying near Palm Springs, or going there for a tour, Mini’s school is a great way to practice the basics of gearshift driving without risking your own car. or friends.
