It's the moment of truth. Put your right foot on the brake and use your left foot to push the clutch all the way down. Put the gearshift in neutral. Make sure it's in neutral by wiggling it. It should wiggle side to side easily. Now turn the key and start the car. Turn off the radio, the fan, and anything else that makes noise. Slowly, let out the clutch. If at any point the car feels like it wants to move, push the clutch back to the floor: you are not in neutral. Shut down and start over.
Clutch to the floor, right foot on the gas, give the engine just a little extra gas - not much. Now slowly let the clutch come up. As you feel that catch point, the RPMs will start to drop and the car will start to move forward a bit. Slowly give it more gas to keep the RPM's constant as you let the clutch out. This is the key to the whole thing. Give it enough gas to keep the RPM's constant until the pedal is all the way out. Now push in the clutch and brake to a stop. Repeat three or four times until that "catch" point starts to feel comfortable. Never rev the engine while letting out the clutch - remember the sandpaper and the disk behind this all? It you rev the engine while letting out the clutch, you wear off the surfaces of both disks. Likewise, it you don't give it enough gas to keep the RPM's up, it will stall. Practice until it takes no more than 1.5 to 2 seconds to smoothly take the car from dead stop to clutch all the way out. The faster you can smoothly get the car going, the less wear on the clutch.
Slow down a bitHow to drive a manual transmission (stick shift) car
Stalling at red lights. This one is self evident. Avoid it at all costs. Nothing is more embarrassing than calling attention to yourself with big revs and a loud exhaust, then jerking to a stop when the lights change. Of course if you want to find out who your friends really are, this will certainly make them show their true colors...
You already know two of the pedals - the gas and the brake. They work the same as they do in an automatic. So let's skip to the clutch. What the clutch pedal (far left) does is control the distance between two discs or "plates." One plate is connected to the engine, and has a big, flat surface. The other plate is connected to the transmission and is made of a material like fine sandpaper. The clutch pulls them apart when you press it in, and lets them touch each other when the pedal is up. So when you press in the clutch you separate the engine from the transmission. Since the pedal is not an on-off switch, you can control how quickly the two come together, letting one slip against the other for a bit, as you let the clutch pedal up. This "letting out the clutch" is the key to getting the car moving from a stop.
Just like the brake pedal, any time you are NOT using the clutch, keep your foot off of it. "Riding the clutch," even if you don't think you are putting any pressure on it, ever so slightly pulls the two plates between the engine and transmission apart. You not only get less power, but you also increase the amount of slipping that wears down the clutch faster. Clutches are very expensive to replace, especially on front wheel drive cars.
Now check out the gearshift. In general, the gears are laid out like an H, with first in the upper left, second directly below it, third is to the right of first, fourth below it, and if there is a fifth, it is up to the right of third. Reverse is usually on the left side of the H, sometimes up, sometimes down. Usually you have to push the gear lever down into the floor before it will let you go into reverse. The pattern is usually marked on the top of the knob as well.
If the parking lot is big enough that you can safely drive up to 35 MPH, you can try shifting in the lot, otherwise, let the car's owner take you to that deserted stretch of road you picked out earlier.
Second 3 to 25 MPHGranny shifting is when you take a slight pause in neutral between gears when shifting. So instead of going smoothly from 2nd to 3rd, you pull out of 2nd, stop for a moment in neutral along the way, then go into 3rd, and let the clutch out again. Very slow.
Fifth 45 to ??? MPHWhen it is time to stop, just do like before, push in the clutch and use the brake pedal to stop. Later on we'll talk about using the engine to slow you down. For now, just keep working on making it second nature to press in the clutch and using the brake pedal when you want to stop. Always go back into first gear to start out again.
The drivers seat - Getting a feel for the pedalsWe've already covered starting, stopping, upshifting, downshifting, engine braking, and parking (don't forget - leave it in first gear with the parking brake on!)
Let's get going: First gearNow, with the car still off, your foot on the brake only, and the gearshift in first, try to pull it straight down into second. It probably won't budge. This is because when the clutch pedal is up, there is usually internal pressure against the gears that keep you from taking it out of a gear, as well as putting it in a gear. While we're on the topic, why did I suggest leaving the car in first gear when it was turned off at the beginning? The answer is that manual transmission cars don't have a "Park" gear. Instead, you leave the car in first gear, and the fact that the transmission is connected to the engine means that it can't turn while the engine is off. First gear is the best gear to do this in because higher gears could let the car move a bit if the engine turns just a tiny bit - first gear creates the greatest resistance. You may also ask why you need the parking brake as well? If you ever watched the Tom Cruise movie Risky Business, you'll know. Yes, in spite of all I've said above, it is possible to knock the lever out of first and into neutral, at which point the car can roll away. Down a hill. Out a dock. Into the lake. Very expensive.
But, if the light looks like it will be a while, or for any other reason you don't think you will be moving, you should shift into neutral, and while still holding the brake pedal down with your right foot, let the clutch out. As long as the gear shift is in neutral, the car won't move or stall, or otherwise embarrass you. You should do this because having the clutch pushed in really stresses some of the moving parts. In fact, often times you can hear a whining sound when you have the clutch pushed in that goes away when you let it out. Normally a small sound is not a problem, but a very noticeable whine is a sign that the "throwout bearing" may be going bad. Pay a mechanic to fix it, because you don't want it to fail - the clutch can get quite flaky in its operation as the throwout bearing deteriates.
So what else do you need to know?This tutorial starts with the assumption that you already have experience driving an automatic transmission car. In today's day and age, with the easy availability of automatic transmission cars, it is much easier to learn on an automatic. There are so many things to get used to when learning to drive, that trying to master a clutch and gearshift while trying to remember to stop in front of the stop sign or back into a parallel parking space seems a bit silly.
Stop and GoAt what speed should you shift to second? It depends on the car, but in general each gear has a good range:
With the engine warmed up a bit, and a clear path ahead of you, push the clutch back in and move the gearshift to first. WIth your right foot still on the brake pedal, let the clutch out slowly. You will hear the engine slow a bit and the car try to move as you let it out. You have found the point at which the clutch "catches." Push the clutch back in and take your foot off the brake, and try it again. Car still doesn't move, huh? Push the clutch back in and release the parking brake. NOW you're set.
And if you want to go down to 10 MPH? Simple enough, press in the clutch, use the brake pedal to slow to your preferred speed, move the shift lever to second, and let out the clutch as you match the engine speed with the gas pedal. It will be jerky the first few times as the car is often going faster than the engine, so the engine will go up in speed as you let out the clutch, even though you don't give it gas. This is called "engine braking," and is something you will want to use a little later when you have the whole normal stopping thing already mastered.
First from 0 to 15 MPH tops
Practice on a a day where neither bad weather nor darkness are going to cause problems. If you are borrowing the car and the owner wants to come along, work out in advance that you might ask them questions, but your intent is to learn, and that you will be learning from a few mistakes along the way. In other words, they should keep quiet unless you ask for help. (I wish my grandfather followed those rules when he was trying to teach me to bowl!)
Usually you shift up when you are at the halfway to 3/4 point between the two extremes. First gear is really only to get you going. In fact, it is very easy to start the car in second gear - although don't try this until you get a good handle on the whole process as it is tougher on the disk plates.
Third 15 to 45 MPHRevving at stop lights. This is why you want a manual transmission, right? Just push in the clutch and rev the engine. You can do it anywhere: stop lights, cruising down the boulevard, anywhere.
Imagine you are at at traffic light, waiting for the light to change to green. What gear should you be in? Where should your feet be? If you expect it to be a short light, you should have your right foot on the brake, your left foot should be holding the clutch to the floor, and you should be in first gear. When the light changes to green, you can just let your foot off the brake and start like normal.
Three pedals and a stick shift. And a parking brake. We'll get to the parking brake later - let's concentrate on the pedals and stick shift.