I bought this but can drive manual

Yeah, but only if you're doing about 5mph/10kmh, basically only when you're parking. Otherwise you'll wear the clutch unnecessarily.

reverse is always too fast. you have to slip the clutch a bit if your clutch can't fight the brakes without chattering.

I have a lot of experience with these cars. They can be tricky, especially if you're just starting out. The clutch is very snappy, and at least mine with a new clutch and fresh fluid had a very high engagement point.

The stock WRX engine plus the AWD means the car really bogs if you let the clutch out too fast at idle. My advice until you get more confident, rev it up to ~2000 rpms and then slowly let the clutch out. When you feel the car start to move, try to hold the clutch there, then let it out even slower.

When I say slow I'm talking probably 5 seconds of consistent travel, moving the clutch from all the way on the floor to all the way up. Keep that up until you get more comfortable with it, then try it with less and less throttle, or rolling on the throttle as you roll off the clutch. You will probably still stall occasionally, even when driving around, for a while. Don't worry about it, just clutch in, start it up, and go on your way.

The clutch connects the engine to the wheels, so if the engine is running and the car isn't moving, to get the car started something has to slip. On cars with more torque the engine will keep plowing along, and on cars with less grip the tires will slip some too, which makes it easier. You've got a lot of drivetrain drag, a lot of grip, and not much torque, which means you have to do pretty much all of it with the clutch. So it's best at first to give yourself some help with more revs.

For a while, if you've got a problem, step on the clutch. If you're taking your foot off the gas, step on the clutch. Keep practicing. And don't forget you're driving, don't get so absorbed in the footwork you don't look at where you're going.

There's every chance none of the advice you'll get is the advice that will help you, so you're probably on your own. But this is how your grandma drove, so it can't be that hard.

Oh also, reverse on these cars doesn't engage very well, the gears are straight cut and they don't like to engage. If you put it in reverse, then try to go and nothing happens, try again. The gears might just be poorly aligned and you may have to slowly try to let the clutch out while pushing on reverse until it goes, it's a pain. Assuming you have a WRX with the 5 speed. Don't worry about the whining, that's the straight cut gear noise.

How badly will I fuck my car up with all this trial and error when starting.

You're not going to. If you're colossally stupid you could burn out your clutch or overheat the engine, I guess? But stalling is pretty much the same thing as shutting the engine off.

And if you do have to change your clutch, well, it's not a particularly fun project on your car but there are worse things. At least there are plenty of good threads on NASIOC and the like to help you.

You won't. If you're uncomfortable or lack confidence, enquire at your local DMV or license centre about lessons, or if you know a family member who can drive stick, ask them for some pointers.

The biggest thing that helped me learn how to drive manual is to learn how it's all working. Look up how the flywheel, clutch, pressure plate and transmission work and you'll be able to process in your head what you need to do with the gas and clutch pedal.

I'm still noob to wrx's. That looks older than a 2004, what year is it? How much did you pay?

People slip their clutch to death every day in the winter when they get stuck because lolgroundclearance and have no problems

You underestimate how durable clutches are. They're meant to be lifetime items. If you knock that down to a twice in a lifetime item, holy fuck.

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>If you're colossally stupid you could burn out your clutch or overheat the engine

How colossally stupid do you have to be?

I've just been using the clutch with no gas to move my car back and forwards in my drive way.

also I'm scared now cos I'm hearing you ain't supposed to have the clutch in for more than 10 seconds. I think I may have been doing that whilst edging backwards, putting it back in for neutral. compose myself then put it in first to edge forward again.

all using just the biting point

>also I'm scared now cos I'm hearing you ain't supposed to have the clutch in for more than 10 seconds
I don't know who told you this but it's nonsense. Holding the clutch in when stopped will wear the throwout bearing but even if you always held the clutch in when stopped over the lifetime of the car it's unlikely the bearing will fail before the actual clutch. If it's just a temporary thing while you're learning how to drive stick it won't make any difference at all so don't get all stressed over not shifting to neutral while you're going up and down your driveway or even when you're starting to drive on the road.

As other people have said the big thing is just not excessively riding the clutch.

>Go to parking lot
>Stop
>Engage first
>Try to creep forward using the clutch only, no gas
>learn where the clutch bites and use that to move the car until clutch is fully engaged
>do it tens of times, hundreds if necessary
>don't even think about going fast enough to shift into 2nd
>Don't use the gas pedal until you can nail the creeping using clutch only
>Do it again in reverse
>go home
>Do it again next day until you never stall
>once that's done, practice using the gas while doing the same thing so you can move off faster

Changing every gear after 1st is piss easy and should never need more training than the stretch of road that separates your driveway from the parking lot.

Learning manual is just a matter of learning where the clutch bites and how long the pedal travels from biting point to full engagement, this should be your main priority when training. Moving from a standstill is the most difficult part.

>excessively riding the clutch

what is considered excessive and what fucked up sort of shit would I need to do to blow the engine, clutch or transmission?

Excessive is when you ride the clutch for way too much when you could have depressed it completely.

Even resting your foot on the clutch pedal when cruising is considered riding the clutch.

You won't blow your engine, neither your transmission, but you will destroy your clutch if you ride it constantly.
Once the clutch is worn too much you wont be able to accelerate on high gears at best and you won't be able to move the car at worst.
Replacing a clutch is expensive if you don't do the job yourself.

If you can move your car just by simply releasing the clutch completely, there is no reason to keep it half pressed and using the gas on top of it, it's just pointless and avoidable wear.