How To Drive A Manual Transmission

All cars had a manual transmission when the first automobiles hit the road. Now it's becoming harder to find a car with a stick-shift as most manufacturers are seeing little demand for them. Even Porsche is no longer offering a manual transmission in their iconic 911 sports car.

But if you do find yourself behind the wheel of a car with a clutch and a shifter, you'll need to know how to drive it, so we've come up with a step-by-step guide for driving a car with a manual transmission. This guide assumes that you know how to use the steering wheel to make turns and the brake to slow down and stop, and will only focus on shifting gears.

Step 1 - Make sure that the car is in neutral (not in gear). You can tell the car is in neutral by wiggling the stick shift left to right. If it wiggles freely, then the car is not in gear. If it feels stuck in one place, then you're probably in gear. Start the car. In order to start a car with a manual transmission, you will need to press the clutch as far down as you can before turning the ignition key.

Step 2 - Press down on the brake with your right foot and then release the emergency brake. Make sure you have your foot on the brake pedal and that it is pressed when you remove the emergency brake as the car could start rolling in either direction. The car should now be running, the shifter in neutral, and your right foot on the brake.

Step 3- Push the clutch all the way down with your left foot while keeping your right foot on the brake. Use your right hand to put the car into first gear. There should be a diagram on your shift knob indicating where first gear is, but typically it is the gear closest to the steering wheel (top left). Your car is now in first gear and ready to move.

Step 4 - Take your right foot off the brake and move it over to the gas pedal. Press the gas pedal while keeping the clutch pushed in with your left foot. You'll start to feel the engine rev and see the tachometer start climbing higher. As you press harder on the gas pedal and the RPM's on the tachometer start to climb, slowly take your foot off the clutch. You'll now start to feel the car moving forward. Keep taking your foot off the clutch while giving it more gas until your left foot is completely off the the pedal and your car is driving forward without the clutch.

Step 5 - Now you're driving in 1st gear. You will need to switch gears as the revs on the tachometer climb higher and you reach the limit of your gear. It is most commonly recommended that you shift gears between 2500 and 3500 rpm's. As you reach that threshold, take your foot off the gas, and press the clutch with your left foot down to the floor. Then shift the lever from first to second gear while the clutch is still pressed down. Once the car is in second gear, press the gas again as you release the clutch the same way you did in step 4. You are now in second gear. Follow step 5 for switching gears as you accelerate.

Here is an overview of what speed range you can expect to be in for each gear. Every vehicle will be different, but this is a good outline:

First gear:                 0 to 15 mph
Second gear:           3 to 25 mph
Third gear:               15 to 45 mph
Fourth gear:             30 to 65 mph
Fifth gear:                 45 to ???

Slowing down, stopping and downshifting - Slowing down with a manual transmission is easy. Always remember one thing, you can always use your brakes, no matter what else is going on. If you need to stop, you can always use your brakes! If you are just slowing down slightly, you can keep the car in gear. If you have to come to a complete stop, just press the clutch in and keep the car in neutral while using the brake to slow down and come to a complete stop. If you need to slow down but keep driving, you will need to downshift the car. This is essentially like step 5, except you're switching gears in the opposite direction; down instead of up. As you're slowing down, press the clutch in and take the car out of gear. You will then need to put the car in the appropriate gear depending on how fast you're going. Knowing which gear to choose will come with experience, but the above gear guide may be helpful. Once the car is in gear, take your foot off the clutch and give the car some gas. This will feel different than switching gears when accelerating, and can feel like the engine is slowing you down but if you downshift correctly, then you shouldn't put any dangerous strain on your car.

Waiting at a light or stop sign - When waiting at a light or stop sign, you can do one of two things. The first is put the car in first gear and keep the clutch pressed all the way in while your other foot is on the brake until the light changes and you're ready to start moving. I find this to be a bit of a pain as you're having to sit there with your left foot pressed all the way in for what can sometimes be a long time. The other thing you can do is keep the car in neutral and out of gear with your foot on the brake until it's time to get moving and then put the car in gear. It is usually a matter of personal preference which method you end up choosing.

Parking - When parking a car with a manual transmission, there are a few things you need to do. The first is the emergency brake. Always use your emergency brake when parking your manual car. Pull it up so that it's nice and tight. The second is putting your car into a gear before walking away. This is done as a fail-safe so that if the car pops out of gear, the emergency brake will keep it from rolling away, and vice versa; if the emergency brake fails, the car being in gear will prevent it from rolling. So, put your car in gear and pull up the emergency brake if you want to be sure your car will be there when you return.

There are lots of other things you can do with a manual transmission that you can't do with an automatic, such as power-shifting, granny-shifting and double-clutching, but these aren't important things to know if you just want to get around in your car. Driving a stick-shift is one of the best ways to experience driving. Unfortunately, as manual transmissions become fewer and far-between, not everyone will get to experience it but if you get a chance to drive one, make sure you take it!

How To Drive A Car With a Manual Transmission