How to Drive a Manual Car with Standard Transmission
- 1). Take the manual transmission vehicle to an empty, flat parking lot. Have someone drive you there. It's best that you learn how to drive a stick shift away from traffic. Take note of light poles and other objects in the parking to avoid while driving.
- 2). Turn the vehicle off and engage the parking brake. Sit in the driver's seat. Depress the clutch pedal with your left foot. The clutch pedal is the pedal farthest to the left. Place your right hand on the shifter and move the handle through the gears, starting at first gear and moving through to the last gear and then back from the last gear to the first. Be aware of all the gears and how the shifter moves into them. Place the car in neutral and take your foot off the clutch pedal.
- 3). Press down on the clutch with your left foot again. Let your right foot rest on the floor while you move the clutch pedal in and out. Try to be as smooth as possible as you depress and release the clutch pedal. Now place your right foot on the brake pedal and depress it while moving the clutch pedal in and out. These motions are important in manipulating the gears of the transmission correctly when you drive.
- 4). Depress the clutch pedal and the brake with the shifter in neutral and start the vehicle. Take your foot off the brake pedal but continue to keep the clutch pedal depressed. Now disengage the emergency brake if you are on a flat surface.
- 5). Hold your right foot over the brake pedal but do not depress it. Slowly begin to release the clutch pedal. If the car is in first gear it should begin to move as the clutch engages as the pedal is released. Depress the clutch as soon as the car begins to move forward. This is will tell you how far the clutch will be released before the clutch engages. Repeat the process three times to get used to the engine and clutch working together.
- 6). Place your right foot over the gas pedal without depressing it. Release the clutch until the car begins to move forward and when it does depress the gas pedal slowly to give the car enough gas to continue to move forward. Push the clutch pedal down, let up on the gas and shift the shift handle into second gear. Release the clutch and continue to apply pressure on the gas pedal. The car will now be in second gear. Repeat the process as you shift up through the gears.
- 7). Press on the clutch pedal and the brake to slow the car down to downshift into a lower gear. Shifting up through the gears requires you to move faster and faster on the way up. Downshifting requires that you go slower and slower as you shift down.
- 8). Once you have mastered the flat surface, take the car to a road with a hill, preferably with little to no traffic. Stop partway up the hill and engage the parking brake. Put your foot on the brake and press in the clutch and then release the emergency brake. Ease off the clutch and depress the gas pedal simultaneously. Starting on a hill is arguably the trickiest aspect of driving a stick, so be sure to get in plenty of practice.
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