Manual Transmission and Snow

[JakeDBP]

Hey guys and gals,

I'm new to stick shifts with my FG3 being my first car with a stick and without AWD. Previously I had a 1997 Subaru Outback and a 2004 Outback H6 LLBean, both automatics, the 97 a 2.5L and the 2004 a 3.0L- both made enough power to move the car and spin the wheels, especially the H6, on snow but the AWD made it easier to just hit the gas and let the car figure out how to get me moving.

Now that I'm in a FWD Civic with snow tires and a manual, I'm curious if there's a specific way to drive in the snow when you have a manual transmission? Yesterday I took Heidi out for a spin just for fun to learn some things, and I found it difficult to start in 2nd gear without almost stalling. Also, I found how important it is to accurately rev-match my downshifts. The one thing is that in 1st gear, my car spins easily and even after the 1-2 shift, I can get the tires to easily spin with a little too much gas. Can any experienced stick drivers please help me understand the differences in snow driving with a stick?

 

[07TLX]

Learning the engagement point of the clutch and the lowest rpm you can start off in first helps with the spinning and being smooth with the shifts will help a lot....

 

[KennyGS]

Practice in a parking lot where there is ample room to get the feel of your car. Try driving in different gears, braking at different speeds. Pretend you're in various situations, and practice them to build some experience and confidence.

 

[Monk]

The 1st thing I was going to say was start in 2nd, but you said it was hard to do that, so try seeing if you can get it to start rolling in 1st by letting off the clutch slowly and not putting your foot on the gas at all, just to see what happens(depends on how much idle is built into the car). And, as Kenny & 07TLX said......... Practice..... Even experienced drivers should find a parking lot to practice in(Church and school lots are a good source).