Times have changed, and now most people can get away with never knowing how to use a clutch. The reality is that driving a manual should be an important life skill. Case in point: When my boyfriend dislocated his shoulder and his buddy couldn’t drive his car, they had to call 911 for an ambulance to take him to the hospital.
I don’t know what to recommend for most drivers. Part of me would suggest that you learn to ”drive” with an automatic transmission. That way, you can focus on all the aspects of just driving. The downside is that most people then make the choice to never learn to drive a manual. It does make things a bit harder in the beginning, but once you learn. It is a bit like riding a bike: You might get rusty, but you never really forget.
I remember watching a driver's ed. video on ”How to Drive a Manual.” The guy made it look so easy: Just push in the clutch with your left foot; slowly disengage the clutch; feel the friction point; give it some gas; and away you go.
If you're reading this and don’t even know what the clutch is -- don’t worry -- I'll do my best to explain.
Here are some basics.
With your right foot, you'll operate the gas (far right) and the brake (in the middle). The clutch is the pedal on the far lefthand side. Use your left foot to push said pedal all the way to the floor to change gears. This is when the clutch would be in neutral because it is not engaged in any of the gears.
Different cars have different shift directions. So take a look and see where each gear is located. A diagram that resembles an H with numbers will show you where each gear on your car is located. Some cars have five gears and some have six. Some will have reverse in the far top-left or far bottom-right – every car is a bit different, so always make sure that when you drive a different car you take notice.
With the car turned off, this is a great time to practice shifting. Just make sure you push the clutch in so you can move the shifter from gear to gear.
The clutch is the part of the car that actually allows the gears to change when you're driving. You don’t necessarily need to understand how it works, just understand how important it is.
In order to practice and understand how the clutch and shifter work together, I recommend you find a wide open, empty, very flat space. I learned in an empty mall parking lot when the mall was closed. I would also suggest that you have designated time put aside (at least 30-60 minutes) so that you can focus on the task at hand and are not distracted by anything else.
Ensure your shifter isn't engaged in a gear. When the clutch is depressed, wiggle the shifter around. If it's stuck in a gear, move it into neutral. You always want to start the car in neutral. Push in the clutch, keep your foot on the brake and turn the key in the ignition.
Make sure you're in first gear with the shifter before you go any further. Keep your right foot on the brake and release your emergency brake (if it's on, which is should be). In order to learn and actually ”feel” where the gears engage, I would recommend slowly lifting your left foot off the clutch until you can feel the car start to move forward. Do not press the throttle just yet.
When you feel the car start to move, you can let your right foot off the brake and give it some gas. Don’t get frustrated at this point if you stall. A few things can happen: You let the clutch out too fast or maybe you don’t give it enough gas. Don't worry! It may feel a bit frustrating at first, but eventually it will become second nature.
When I was learning, I literally spent hours moving the clutch in and out without attempting to give it any gas. I found it was the best way to really understand my car and discover exactly where that friction point was. Once you start to inch forward, just push the clutch in to prevent from stalling so you can stop and repeat the process. Do this several times until you are comfortable with the feeling of your friction point.
Once you can get your car started in first, the hard part is over! When you're accelerating and you see the RPMs hit about 3,000-4,000 on your tachometer, push the clutch in with your foot (you'll want to take your right foot off the gas to prevent your revs from jumping up) and go into the next gear as quickly as you can because your revs will start to drop as soon as you depress the clutch. Essentially, you're putting the car into neutral an no power is being sent when between gears. Some new cars will have a shift light that will tell you the best time to shift up or down. Once you get more comfortable, you will find what works best for you.
It is important to make sure you take your foot completely off the clutch in between shifts. It can be a bad habit to get into and can wear out your clutch quickly.
To gear down, or downshift, you basically do the same thing, but apply pressure to the brake. Even though you are now downshifting, you still need to go through the process to change gears. Rev-matching is a lesson for more advanced manual drivers, and something we can get into in a later article.
Just one last, very important, thing: Coming to a complete stop.
In an automatic, this is simple; however in a manual vehicle you need to make sure that while you are coming to complete stop with your right foot on brake that you disengage the clutch completely with your left and shift the vehicle into neutral. If you find yourself in a situation where you have to brake suddenly remember: Clutch, brake! Always depress the clutch when you're braking suddenly. If you don't, you will stall. Regardless of whether or not you remember to shift into neutral, as long as you have the clutch pressed in, it essentially does the same thing and will prevent you from stalling your car in a sudden-braking situation.
It all comes down to this: Just get in your car and practice. You're going to get frustrated (there's no doubt about that), but in time you might even find you enjoy driving a manual. I know I do.