I have never driven a stick, nor had an opportunity too. Nonetheless, I've taken an interest to trying to figure out how to do it. Here's what I've come up with. 1- Car off, no parking brake engaged 2- Right foot on brake turn, gear in neutral, turn on engine 2.5- Right foot on brake, right foot always used for brake/gas, left foot always used for clutch 3- Foot on brake, engine on, depress clutch fully and shift to first gear, foot still on brake at a stand still. 4- Clutch depressed fully, foot off brake to accelerator, approximately 50/50 ratio of releasing clutch to pressing accelerator 5- Car moving forward, shift to second when necessary via full clutch depression, so on and so forth to 3rd, 4th, etc. 6- When slowing down maybe in 5th gear, press brake, and down shift to 4th via clutch when engine starts to rev out 7- When coming to a complete stop, depress clutch fully, brake to stop, shift to first gear, then release clutch, foot on brake at all times. 8- When emergency stopping, depress clutch fully and brake at the same time, to a stop, and shift to first gear. I have nothing for reversing yet. How far off am I? The part I'm really unsure about is stopping, some people say depress clutch to stop, other people say shift to neutral.
That's pretty much it....you just have to do it in order to do it...the hardest part is moving away from a stop, especially on a hill....
some cars you can get to move without even touching the gas... just slowly let the clutch out until it starts to move and continue to slowly release it (faster you release, the more jerking you will feel). Once you get that motion of the "friction point" down, start to ease into the gas pedal to prevent that bucking motion. \nAnother way to think about it, most cars that are automatic go to about 1500 or more rpm the second you hit the gas because of the torque converter. In a sense your right foot acts as a torque converter, so hold it at 1500rpm and slowly let the clutch out.. Simple as that, the faster you let the clutch out, the less wear and tear on the friction material. But faster is not always as smooth.
Dont ride the clutch to much, when you have the clutch depressed the components are wearing 5x faster than if it was in gear so its better to coast/sit in neutral than to hold down the clutch and stay in first.
yeah sound you got it, as thcsuppreme says dont always need the gas, practise somewhere flat etc. give it a go as soon as you can it's fun, especially downshifting to overtake people
hehe keep foot flat, and smash the clutch in and out as quick as you can while you slam gears? my kinda driving
No need to even you the gas your just confusing yourself. I can get up to third in my car with no gas at all. when you do as you say a 50/50 ratio your just going to get frustrated with bumpy starts and end up slipping your clutch to death... Best way to learn is go in a empty parking lot Put it in first no brake (unless your rolling back) no gas either ..just foot on clutch and car in first then slowly let the clutch out till the car starts moving that push the clutch in again so the engine does not stall and keep practicing that then add gas. After that it will be easy and you won't even think about it. Sent from my iPhone 5s using Grasscity Forum..grabba dabba goo
Empty parking lot is a great idea. So many cars are different to drive as manual. Some clutches have a long throw, but a short little area of catch. Some have a slower, more gentle grab and others a fast and quick "jolt" engagement. One car I own has a racing clutch in it. It has a long area of clutch movement, but there is a small movement between nothing and holy shit we are going. Honestly just driving is the best way to learn. My first car I ever drove was a manual and I have been hooked ever since. Hills were the hardest, along with a drive though (fast food) where lots of cars are on your butt.
Step 4 : It's not always 50/50 ratio. Every clutch is different, you really just have to 'feel' it. The most important thing is to have RPMs up ( give it a little gas ) by the time the clutch reaches the engagement point. You'll learn that point on the car your driving in a short amount of time. Step 6: Which gear you down shift to depends on how much you need to slow down. Step 7: You can also go fully into neutral ( and let go of the clutch ) if you're stopping at a red light for example. at a stop sign though, depressing clutch, stopping and going into first would do fine.
When braking, I don't downshift. I just pop it in neutral and slow down that way. It saves gas and is less harsh on clutch components. And like others have mentioned, at stops/red lights, please do not sit there with the clutch depressed with the car in gear. Just put it in neutral and keep your right foot on the brake. Other than that, you got it down for the most part.
Reverse is exactly like 1st gear, it's really quite simple. If you can drive one manual transmission, you can generally drive any car or motorcycle with ease. It's awesome. I can hop in anything and it's like second nature once you've gotten used to driving stick for a relatively short time. And I'm generally uncoordinated in the rest of my life. Also, don't be afraid to use a little more gas when first practicing, so you don't stall. releasing the clutch in first gear is pretty gentle and drawn out till you get used to it.
IMO you should always have the parking brake engaged when the car is off. That's how people's cars end up in the neighbors' yards. This is how I did it, and it's really just up to personal preference, but.. Parking brake on -> press in clutch/turn on engine -> shift into first gear -> release parking brake and drive off.
when i bought my first car. my dad told me to buy a manual shift. he made me practice in a parking lot going from a stop, accelerate through first gear, up shift to second, stop. over and over. but the best way may be to just do it on your own.
When starting on a hill engage your parking brake and keep your hand on it. That way you can free up your right foot to focus on the gas. When its time to take off release the parking brake and you wont roll back. Just make sure your parking brake works properly and you pull the lever hard enough so you dont roll back. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhRwgRN3f1A