So I'm wondering if it's possible to get a shift knob that has the lighted numbers. I'm new to driving a stick, and I usually forget what gear I'm in, and at night I can't exactally look down and check. I've tried to find one, but I really have no idea if it will work or not. I have an 06 SS/SC, black. Does anyone know where I can find one?

Thanks!!!

 

There's one with a display that tells you, don't know if it works on the Balt or anything about it. One tip though, when you're first driving, don't put the radio on at all, listen to the engine and learn the sound. That's the best indicator of what gear you're in.

 

sit down for about 1 hour and just go through the gears
thats what helped me out

 

your very first manual car is a supercharged cobalt? damn. that's a lot of car for your first time. good luck. i learned on a slow little cavalier.

 

yeah not an easy first car to learn on, i learned on a 92 s-10 with almost no clutch left, it had about a 4 foot throw on the shift too lol

 

If were talking about the same one which is the only one ive seen, it wont work with the reverse lockout.

Id hate to say if you buy that thing it will be a waste of money. In another week or two you'll be shifting through gears without even thinking about it and you'd never look down at that thing again. Just go out and drive, drive, drive. Thats the best way to learn a stick and learn a new car.

 

i dont mean to degrade your abilities or sound like a parent, But if you havn't mastered the shifting yet, you might not want to be driving at night anyway. I would stick to daytime driving until you're comfortable enough to stop looking down.

 

cobi, I'm pretty sure it's the same one. I just remember seeing it, no details.

This is my first manual as well, been driving it for 2 years with no problems now. Two best things to learn early on, like someone else said, go through the gears. And like I said, listen to the engine. If the shifter is "up" you're in 1, 3, or 5, if it's "down" you're in 2 or 4. Look at your speed and RPMs, that's a good indicator, but eventually you can tell just by how fast you seem to be going and what the motor sounds like to tell you what gear you're in and when you need to shift.

Not everyone has a choice. I didn't. Needed new car, bought the one I knew I wanted, couldn't afford a beater. I caught on within the first week or so of owning the car as to where the gears were and what gear I was in, but sometimes you have that moment of confusion coupled with being used to having a light SOMEWHERE telling you what gear you were in.

 

I can shift ok, it's just that once I've been going for awhile I manage to zone out what gear I'm in. I turned up the brightness of the dash lights, and there is a faint enough glow that I can now tell at least up or down, and I'm fine now. So it's all ok. I also learned to drive on an old Cavalier, I just never drove it long term.


Except for the fact I was driving home last night (Maybe that was dumb, but I really wanted to drive and I only went about 3 miles. I let a friend drive the rest.) and I hit a raccoon. A super-big-raccoon-of-doom. Crap. Busted my radiator and the...erm, part of the bumper under the license plate. Does it have a real name? I sound like an idiot now.

 

I posted this a while back, if you buy it then you have to slide the reverse lockout off your shifter, which isnt hard, http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/the-knob/...ppy-256042.php

 

everyone rippped on it but i liked it