The inside of a transmission, courtesy of howstuffworks.com
Of all the automotive features to go by the wayside, the slow phasing out of the manual transmission is the hardest for the enthusiast to swallow. By automating cars more and more, the pleasure of driving is being chipped away, and skills that set above average drivers apart from plebeian motorists are no longer needed. With features such as automated manuals, rev matching automatic transmissions, and CVT’s, the average car buyer no longer cares to learn how to drive stick. Why should you even bother to learn then?
It’s more fun! You don’t have to be a dyed in the wool car enthusiast to enjoy the feeling of being one with a machine. Exerting control, finesse, and extracting performance from your car can not only brighten your commute, but it can also be step one into becoming an enthusiast.
For those of you that never learned how to drive a manual transmission, here are the basics of how to get a dreaded “stick” down the road. While these skills can be used to have more fun in a car, they can also be used to drive someone else’s car (ever dated someone who has a stick but you can’t drive it?), or drive a stick in case of an emergency. Plus, everyone over 21 has been a designated driver, and being able to drive stick opens up the options for whose car you take out to the bars or club.
Disclaimer: These are just the basics of how to get the car from point A to point B. Check parts two and three for more advanced techniques.
1. Three pedals? I only have two feet! How do I work this contraption?
The new pedal on the left controls the clutch. The other two pedals work exactly the same as in an automatic. Just like an automatic, you use your right foot to operate both of them. You might notice that the brake pedal is thinner; this is done to make sure there is enough room down there for the extra pedal.
What does the clutch do? The clutch is a disk that when the pedal is out, connects the engine to the transmission. Why do you need to disconnect the two? When you are stopped, and the car is in gear, your engine is turning at 600 rpm, and your tires are obviously spinning at 0 rpm. If they were turning, you’d be moving. To allow the engine to run while you are stopped, you need to keep the spinning parts separate from the non spinning parts.
Finally, when you do start to shift gears, you’ll need to disconnect the engine from the transmission. Transmissions route the power of the engine to the wheels, but if you are trying to transmit power while shifting gears, they will grind.
2. What are gears? Why do I need so many of them?
A simple way to describe this is comparing the gears in your car to the gears on a bicycle. Your bike will have different gears tailored for different situations: starting off, going fast, climbing hills. Cars operate the same way. While your bike might have 21 gears (or speeds as they are known in the bike world), your car will have at the most six. Why is this? Well, on a bike you have one human power, and in a car, you have at least 100 horsepower. Extra power requires less options, hence less gears.
Gears are arranged in most transmissions in an “H” patten. First is on the top left, second is below it, third is on the top right, and fourth is below it. Gears higher than fourth will continue up and to the right. Low numbered gears are used for slow speeds, and higher gears are used for highway speeds.
Reverse is hiding here somewhere. Since it is in a different spot in a lot of cars, look at the shift knob to see where it is at.
When you haven’t shifted into a corner of the “H,” you are in neutral. Neutral isn’t a gear, rather it points out that you haven’t selected a gear. Since no gear is selected, no power will transmit through the transmission, even if the clutch it out, and you rev the engine. This is used while idling, turning the car on, and can be used while waiting at long stop lights.
3. Enough theory! Let’s drive.
Press the clutch pedal to the floor. You are doing this to make sure that the engine can start spinning without trying to spin the wheels. Next, select neutral with the shifter. By doing this, there is no way possible that the engine will turn on and the car will start moving without you wanting to.
After turning the engine on, select first gear (left, then up). First thing I always do for students, is tell them to just take their foot off the clutch. WHAM! The car has stalled. Congratulations! You have just broken your stick driving cherry. Everyone will stall a car while they are learning. Getting the fear out of the way early makes it easier to keep practicing when you do it later.
Now we are going to get the car rolling without stalling the engine. Without touching the gas, slowly pull the clutch out till the car starts to move. Once you feel where the car wants to start moving, put the clutch back in, and slow to a stop. Repeat this 10 times till you remember how far you have to move the pedal till the car starts to move. Keep in mind, each time you stop, you’ll need to put the clutch back in, otherwise the engine will stall. If you forget, you’ll feel the vibrations of protest come out of the engine. If this happens, put the clutch in. If you do stall, just put the clutch in, and turn the engine back on
The key here is being slow and deliberate. Most people will stall the engine because they move the clutch too fast. You need to move the clutch slowly so the car slowly starts to move. If you tell it to start moving too quickly, the engine might not have enough power, and it will turn off. It might take 3-5 seconds before the car is moving quick enough that you can take your foot off the clutch. This is ok, you’re learning, and it isn’t a race. If the engine keeps stalling, move the clutch out slower. Keep practicing starting and stopping till you can do it the majority of the time without stalling.
4. I’m Ricky Bobby! I want to go fast!
Correct way to hold the shift knob, with your hand cupped over the top.
Now that you can get the car rolling without stalling, we’ll learn shifting. First thing to remember is never touch the shifter until the clutch is in. Repeat after me. “I, (insert name here), will not touch the shifter until the clutch is in.” Again, you don’t want the transmission to send power to the wheels while you move gears around; you’ll grind the gears.
After you have the car rolling, you can now touch the gas to speed up. When do you shift? Wait till you have sped up to about 15-20mph, or till the tachometer says the engine is turning between 3,000-4,000rpm. Now, clutch in, pull the shifter down into second, and slowly let the clutch out, without touching the gas pedal. Once the pedal is out, add some gas, and you are going faster! Same technique should be applied till you have accelerated to the speed you want. When you are going the speed you want, shift into a gear that keeps the engine between 2,000-3,000rpm.
5. Help! I’m in 5th gear on the freeway, I want to exit, but I don’t know how to slow down!
This part confuses most people. They know how to get up to speed, but when it comes time to slow down, they don’t know what gear to put the transmission in. It’s really simple. Leave the shifter alone. I’ll teach you later how to be a pro, but now, we want you to just get around town.
Just like an automatic, slow down using the brakes, and if you are going to come to a complete stop, make sure you remember to put the clutch in. Select neutral, let the clutch out, and you are good to go driving again.
If you exit the freeway but keep driving at a normal city speed and the car doesn’t accelerate when you hit the gas, it’s because you are in too high of a gear. Rather than freaking out about which one of the 5 or 6 to try, just take the easy route. Put the clutch in (because you wouldn’t touch the shifter without the clutch being in would you??), shift down one gear, let the clutch out slowly, and then add gas to see if the car accelerates. If it still doesn’t want to, try going down one more. After you get a lot of practice, you’ll remember which gears work at what speeds, and you’ll have the experience to shift there from the start, but for now, take your time.
6. That’s a lot to learn! Run it all by me again in a simple way.
Clutch in. Shift to neutral. Turn on the car. Shift into first. Let the clutch out without adding gas. Once it’s rolling and the clutch is all the way out, add gas. Get to 20mph, clutch in, shift into second. To slow down, use the brake and don’t worry about anything else. If you want to speed up again and the car wont accelerate, clutch in, select one gear lower, clutch out, and try again. To come to a complete stop, leave it in the gear it is in, and put the clutch in right before you stop.
Final notes:
Most American drivers in automatic cars are as impatient as a spoiled kid in a Chuck E. Cheese’s. They’ll honk at you, drive around you using their middle finger as an IQ meter, but don’t get flustered. Learning how to drive stick takes time, but you’ll get it.
Your best bet is to find an empty parking lot (church, mall, movie theater) to learn the basics of starting and stopping. After that, start driving on public roads that have light traffic.
Check part two of the tutorial for a few more lessons. In the next installment, I’ll teach you how to start from a stop quickly, how to start on hills, and how to downshift from higher gears like a pro.
-KF