Love the Stick

Learning how to drive stick isn’t as scary as you think.

Story by Daniel Venegas

You step foot on the dealership and are enveloped in a rainbow of potential suitors standing end on end. Think speed dating with petrol as the sponsor. As you’re waltzing around the new models, half ignoring the car salesman, you see him/her out of the corner of your eye. There it is with a gorgeous paint job, beautiful body, and amazing headlights. You found it, you found the one. You walk over, already picturing what your life will be like with your hot new car. Then you gasp as you’ve just had your dreams dashed. The car dealer turns to you and says, “Yup, it’s a stick shift.”

Manual transmission cars aren’t as popular as they used to be, but are still found in lots of fun sports cars and trucks. Having the ability to drive one not only allows you to own any car you want, but also puts you in the select few who can drive any car on the planet.

Learning how isn’t as scary or as difficult as other people make it seem. To get started, all you need is a car with a manual transmission and an empty parking lot. For the car, find someone who owns their own stick shift car and will be willing to let you practice in it. A couple of practice session is all it takes to have you driving stick confidently in no time.

Before we begin, we should get some terminology out of the way. When you sit in a manual car, you will notice a couple of extra bits that that an automatic doesn’t have, or just doesn’t really make use of. Manual cars have three pedals instead of just two. The third one all the way to the left is the clutch. The stick to change gears in the middle of the car is the gearbox, or stick for shorthand. You will be using the clutch in tandem with the stick to change gears and turn the car on. Cars have gears that usually range from five to seven different gears, represented numerically on the top of the stick. The tachometer is the meter that shows how fast your engine is spinning. You watch this to know when to change gears. With these terms under your belt, you are ready to begin.

Here are the simple steps to driving a manual car:

Step 1: Turn on your car

Turing on a manual car is a bit different than an automatic. Press down with your left foot on the clutch and hold it there as you turn the key in the ignition. Once it is on, release your foot from the clutch. The car should now be on.

Step 2: Getting the car moving

Unlike an automatic, you can’t use the lever to put the car in drive and let it handle the rowing of the gears. The stick on your right hand side is what you’re going to use to manually change gears. Use your left foot to press down on the clutch and hold it there while you move the stick into the first gear position. Then you are going to slowly release the clutch while simultaneously pressing down on the gas pedal with your right foot. This is probably the hardest part to learn, so don’t be afraid to stall. Stalling is when the car is not given enough gas while releasing the clutch, and shuts off. If the car does stall, just go back to step one and start again. If done properly, the car will begin moving and you will be on your way.

Step 3: Shifting gears

You’ll know when it is time to shift gears when your engine starts to get a bit loud. You can also look at your tachometer and change gears at around 3000 rpm. To change gears, first you must release the gas pedal. Then, use your left foot to press down the clutch and hold it there while you use the stick to change into the next numerical gear. After that is done, release the clutch while simultaneously giving the car gas again. Use this step every time you want to switch gears. You usually want to change gears in order or reverse within one number, such as first to second or second to third. It is ok to skip a gear, but only for down shifting purposes. Downshifting is used to put your car in a lower gear. So you use the same steps to move the gears from third to second, second to first, etc. Don’t worry about stalling the car while changing gears. It is virtually impossible to stall the car changing gears. If you hear a grinding when you shift, it means you let the clutch go to soon before you finished changing gears. These errors are all part of learning, so do not be discouraged if it happens.

Step 4: Stopping the car

It is very similar to stopping an automatic car, but now there is an extra step. Press on the brake pedal and the clutch at the same time. While doing this, pull the stick out of which ever gear it is in. Then leave the stick in the neutral position — the middle of the gearbox. Release the clutch and continue with the brake pedal until the car has come to a complete stop. Now you know how to stop the car.

Step 5: Backing up

Backing up is also different from driving automatic. To drive in reverse, use your left foot to press on the clutch and hold it there while you move the stick to the reverse gear. Unlike shifting gears when moving forward, you are not going to release the clutch completely when going backwards. Release it slightly and begin to press the gas pedal. You will feel the car start to go backwards. Once you’ve moved to where you need to, release the gas pedal and press the clutch and the brake at the same time while moving the stick into the neutral position. Then, use step two to get the car going forward again.

And that’s how you drive a manual transmission. Don’t be afraid to keep failing while learning in the beginning. It’s all part of the process of learning how to drive. Just have fun and enjoy the ride.