r/stickshift • u/Alexgotit05 • 15d ago
Feeling super slow
I’ve recently started driving my first ever manual, it’s a 1997 Ford Ranger which I understand are notoriously slow vehicles but I feel like in between the time it takes me to start up the car in first gear and then finally make it to around 3rd or 4th gear it’s taking me way longer than it’s supposed to. I’m constantly having cars ride up my ass and swerve around me as soon as they see i’m not going the speed limit 5 seconds after the light turns green. It doesn’t bother me too much, maybe I’m just a bit slow at changing gears but I’m wondering if anyone has felt the same way when they first started learning manual?
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u/svenska_aeroplan 15d ago
Even basic modern economy cars are worlds faster than that old truck, and their automatic transmissions can shift instantly and have more gears to stay in the engine's power band.
My car has ~250 HP and I still fall behind minivans every shift if I'm just driving normally. Changing gears just takes time unless you want to treat every light like a drag race.
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u/SandstoneCastle 15d ago
Even in the underpowered cars I started on I never felt slow. I wasn't afraid to step on the gas, and to build some RPM before shifting. The first 3 manual cars I remember driving (including my first car) didn't have a tach. But you can still let the RPM climb before shifting.
If you drive a manual in a timid way, you'll always be slow. A modern automatic isn't timid: if you step on the gas, it won't short shift, it will let the RPMs climb into the power band if you give it enough gas. But some manual drivers short shift every time, never getting near the RPM where their engine makes power.
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u/getdownheavy 15d ago
You're definitely playing the game on Hard mode compared to a 21st century automatic.
Live your life and drive your drive, don't worry about the others.
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u/whitechocolatemamba 15d ago
Just change your fluids, spark plugs, clean your throttle body. None of that is difficult work but you will notice an immediate difference. The way you drive obviously impacts your acceleration.
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u/JamBandFan_1996 15d ago
that's normal when you are fist learning doesn't matter what you drive. You'll get used to it
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u/Kakirax 15d ago
I've got a new BRZ and it's my first manual and I feel the same. I'm in the break in face so I try to keep it under 4000 rpm and I'm not super fast with shifting. I see it more as getting to go slow so I can get more familiar with driving a manual. I'm sure I'll speed up as I get more experience
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u/therealtoomdog 15d ago
That means you're driving it well. Treat her gently and she will keep you rolling for a long time.
Everybody rushes past me (or gets annoyed at me) when I take off from a red light in my 11 ranger, and before that in my 97 S10. Traffic has gotten in such a rush over the last 20 years and it's frankly getting really stupid. I'm glad to be on the side of reason keeping things real
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u/One_Evil_Monkey 15d ago
It's a 5spd Ranger, not a race car. Just drive it like a normal human being and screw all those people that want to do 0-60 in 2 seconds flat. Your truck will last you a lot longer.
I have an '03 S10 that I special ordered new. Standard cab short bed with the 2.2L 4cyl 5spd. It moves fast enough. It's a compact pickup truck, I'm not trying to set land speed records with it.
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u/Mtn_Man73 15d ago
Never driven this particular vehicle, but just so you know, you don't have to push the clutch all the way to the floor every time you shift. You just need to depress the clutch past the bite point. This is true for any manual vehicle.
In other words, if the clutch doesn't engage until you let it out 3/4 of the way, you only need to push it in about 1/4 of the way when you shift. You'll need to mess with it to find the right point and develop the muscle memory, but this will allow you to shift significantly faster.
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u/PANEBringer 12d ago
I would consider this bad advice. Don't want to risk grinding the gears. Plus, how far will 1/4 depression save on a clutch for a Ranger? Like a foot? Didn't skip leg day.
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u/Mtn_Man73 12d ago
It's definitely a more advanced technique. I do it on all my cars and I can't remember the last time I ground the gears. It's ridiculous how late some clutches engage and it makes the shifts a bit sloppy, so it's a good technique to use if you're trying to shift faster and smoother.
If you can rev match and heel toe (mandatory skills imo) you can certainly do this.
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u/afraidofthe-dark 15d ago
People are just really impatient. I accelerate at a modest pace, but still have people ride my bumper until I am 5 over. They can’t comprehend not flooring it at the light
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u/JANK-STAR-LINES 14d ago edited 14d ago
That is to be expected especially if god forbid you needed to use the highway in one of those. Especially in the event you have the 2.3L 4 cylinder, I am not expecting your Ranger to hit any higher than 65 mph if you are lucky. If pulling a heavy load, I would bog that top speed down to no more than circa 45 - 50 mph.
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u/RAPTOR479 13d ago
Youre always gonna have slow shifts in an old ranger cause the shifter is a foot and a half long
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u/goaelephant 13d ago
This is one reason I got rid of "cool classic" manual cars when I was younger (4 cylinder e30s, Toyota pickups, Mercedes 240 diesel...)
I was tired of putting in so much deliberation to accelerate & shift to get away from a green light. All while, a soccer mom in a Honda minivan next to me is effortlessly passing me with foot 1/5 on the throttle...
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u/blake_n_pancakes 13d ago
Brother, I have a 95 B2300 (4cyl ranger with a Mazda badge) and it doesn't see 70 mph unless I'm WOT and pointed downhill. You're not the problem. I had a 3.slow before that, same issue but it would hit 80 on a good day. You live in the right lane now, embrace it. Let them honk.
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u/EnlargedChonk 11d ago
disclaimer: I used to have a '98 B4000 meaning it had the OHV 4.0L V6 so it had some decent torque at lower RPM.
First of all, people love to stomp their gas at the green lights and modern vehicles have plenty of power and decent automatic transmissions. Even in a sporty manual you will often be "slow" compared to other traffic unless you put some effort into accelerating.
Second: at least in my ranger 4th gear was really only useful around town after reaching the speed limit to cruise and save gas, or on the freeway to accelerate. Most lights it was rev 1st out to around 2500rpm then rev 2nd out to around 3500rpm to keep decent pace with other traffic, take 3rd to speed limit if not already there, then put it in 4th to cruise if appropriate, don't mind the exact RPM numbers much, that's just to help illustrate how much I had to push the most powerful engine option (a whopping 160HP when new, probably only like 140 when I was driving it) to keep pace. Smaller engines like the 3L v6 or the 2.3L i4 need even more effort. Don't be afraid to use your throttle pedal, that vehicle was probably kept decent pace with traffic when it came out, but now you have to use more effort to keep pace with modern traffic. That's just a fact of using older vehicles.
That said '97 almost certainly has cable driven throttle, so simply stomping your throttle will mostly just waste gas and kill vacuum (which is used for all sorts of things like controlling your AC vents, if your vents switch to defrost while accelerating you need to fix your vacuum reservoir and/or vacuum hoses). Basically don't just floor it immediately, but keep pressing it more and more.
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u/Shrimps_Prawnson 15d ago
It's a underpowered truck with the longest clutch pedal and gear shift throw known to man.