It's faster (no pun intended) to learn proper driving techique if you start with a less aggressive car. If you dive head first with a relatively fast & eagerly snap oversteering car such as the s2k your stunting your growth.

Typical happenings:
- In the S2k that catch many a drift (again no pun intended)
is that stock tyres tend not to squeal before the rear end comes loose on you.
- If you grind more than twice in 10,000 miles or MISS SHIFT alot then you need to slow down and analyze your technique. Seriously. Maybe get a new shift knob too.
- The S2k gets into a slide and the driver has just absolutely no idea what to do.

You can't become a great driver instantly. It takes time and progression. Sure you can learn to drive a manual on the S2k but your gimping yourself if you don't learn proper technique first.


In the last 10k miles i've only grinded twice and it was because my seat was too far back for my tastes. Maybe you say I shift slow? I have an Ap2 with the delay valve and I can shift staying in VTEC without enabling the device, my shifting is pretty swift and clean. If your grinding, you need to examine your driving. Slow it down and disipline your technique.

I've yet to miss a gear. In fact I can count on one hand the times I've missed a gear in my lifetime with any car. Again, if your missing shifts then slow down and disipline your technique.

 

I learned on my first S2000, lets just say I had to replace the clutch at 25k

 

I learned stick on my S and I would definitely say that it was frustrating at first. I'll admit that I did stall the S quite a few times. But looking back, I now appreciate the S much more when I'm driving my friends' cars.

I don't think it's easy learning stick on an S2000 but it makes definitely makes you a better driver. The S is really responsive to even the slight actions (or screwups). I liked the fact that you could "feel" what was happening internally with the car. anyways, thats my experience with learning stick.

 

I have to ask what you mean here. If your talking about letting the clutch out slightly while giving it gas to hold it in place instead of using the brake, NO NO!

If you're doing this, STOP! You are burning up your clutch when you do that. That is one of the worst habits a manual driver can have.

What you need to practice is sitting on an incline while holding the brake, and then transfering to the gas and FULLY releasing the clutch without rolling backwards (at least too much). One way to do this is to use your emergency brake during the transfer so you don't roll back.

 

I don't think the s2000 is a hard car to drive since it's a manual transmission.

Typical Honda light clutch and easy to use.

And

 

I'd say learn on something else first, but stick with a Honda/Acura: by far the easiest to learn on, IMO. Get an older civic or integra, get the methods down and hone his skills first, then move up.

However, if you friend is intent on an S, then its up to him. But he needs to learn proper technique quick so he isn't spending $$$ on repairs (either from clutches or accidents).

my .02

 

i once allowed my GF to "Refresh" her manual shifting skills in the S.

GF -->yes
Friend -->no

just kidding

 

No, no.. I didn't do that to hold it in place. I held the car in place w/ the brake. I just paid a lot of attention to know where the friction point was to learn where to give it more (and how much more) gas to not roll back. When I was learning, I did what you were describing in the latter part of your post. My main concern then was to not burn up my clutch so I did plenty of research before I even tried. I never did do that e-brake thing, though.