Learning to drive a manual

landonn

landonn

Active member
my mom is helping me buy a car and it has stick shift or manual or watever you wanna call it and i kept stalling it out. do any of you with manual have any tips to driving it smoother.
 
if you;ve ever riden a dirt bike its just like that.

all you have to do is find where the clutch pops and thats where you wanna give her some gas.
 
yea man just keep trying at it, youll get it try releasing the clutch slower/faster and same with the gas and youll get it every car is different so its just work at it
 
taught a kid in 10 minutes the other day.

give her a little gas roughly 1.5k rpms, then slowly release the clutch out. once it begins to catch give her a little more gas, 2k rpm or so.....and just slowly release the clutch out.....after doing it for a week or so you should be able to do it smooth.

1st/reverse gear are the hardest to get familiar with.
 
yeah, i was driving it around my town and i was turning left and it just stalled out in th middle of the intersection, scary as shit.
 
just go out and drive when the least amount of people are out on the roads. basically it is the same thing as riding a dirtbike if you've ridden one. you should be able to let off the clutch and feel it start to "grab" (when it does this is different with every car) once you feel that "grab" you give it some gas and let off the clutch.

you're not going to get it right away, when you're learning try to avoid hills and things like that. once you get good and get a good feel for your gears and the clutch you can practice on hills and you should really have it down decently good in a week or so tops.
 
when my mum was teaching me to drive stick as soon as I got goin like the third time she made me do it on hills after that it was pretty scary but I was super smooth in like 3 days and I never rode a dirt bike before
 
word.

i used to go to a huge parking lot and play around. you learn how to do the e-brake slide and just get comfortable moving through the gears. at first i used to fuck up and I'd mean to put it in 3rd and accidentally put it in 5th and it'd stall out.

spend time in a parking lot working on your shifting, then you won't find yourself stalled out in an intersection freaking out.
 
I would recommend going to the busiest and fastest street. You'll have to learn quickly.

If tat doesn't sound good, try going out on a back road etc... and like someone before said, experiment with different RPMs (about 1.5k-2k) and start from there. Also, i would find a non busy hill and practice starting and stopping so when you get to a stop light on a hill you'll know what to do.
 
youre going to be so happy you learned a clutch. i find automatic cars just a bitch to drive now. its so nice telling the car when to shift instead of it just doing it for you. but all you gotta do is keep at it. everyone sucks their first time.
 
for me the key to learning was to keep giving it more gas as i try to get moving. Don't just push the pedal to a certain point and let out the clutch, you gotta actually increase giving it gas while letting out the clutch to get it moving smoothly. Especially on hills.

Also, while looking at the rpms helps when you're first learning, i wouldnt make it a habit. you dont wanna have to be constantly looking at the rpms to know when to let out the clutch and shift gears. learn to do it by sound. i made it a habit and it was extremely hard to break.

have fun i love stick.
 
I got my learners license a couple months ago and had to learn on a manual, it took me a while to get and the first time i tried to park i ran into the sidewalk but ya the more you practice the easier it is
 
i just drove stick for the first time like 10 min ago

its kinda fun

less boring than automatic

but yea it seems like you can pick it up pretty fast if you drive it alot
 
Hill starts will take you a while. I was first at a red light up a hill and I stalled like 4 times and never got to when it turned green before it turned red again. Having a handbrake instead of a foot operated parking break is definitely something all standards should have.
 
give it more gas than you think.

go to a parking lot and practice putting it into first 25 or so times in a row.thats all it took for me. after first, 2nd - 5th (or 6th if your lucky, i drove a 6spd audi rs4 and its sweet) are easy, and reverse is just like 1st.
 
I'm not sure if your mom is with you when you're driving but try it by yourself. Go out and cruise around for a few hours, trust me, you learn way faster on your own.
 
well basic tips are ease off the clutch while you east onto the gas, but thats probably exactly what your moms telling you.

if your stalling my guess would be either your not giving it enough gas for how much clutch your letting off, or your just dumping the clutch (not easing off, just droping it).

so either give it a little more gas (but DONT floor it.) or let off the clutch slower
 
its true. when i drive with my dad i still stall out ocassionally, when hes around he always bitches at me for not doing shit the way he would. so when i drive with him i get nervous/a little stressed.

the one time i drove alone ( i only have my permit), i drove perfect.

so maybe give that a try
 
the 1st time is always hard, when ever you practice make sure you're calm because my 1st time i ended up getting pissed at my mom, at the car and at life lawlz.

when you have to stop uphill make sure you're at 1st and don't let the brake go until you have clutch mid way out, then release the break quickly and then give it some gas... if that makes sense. good luck!
 
yeah i learned how to in like 3 days its not hard you just have to practice and eventually, you wont even think about it.

going uo hills is a little harder but an easier thing to do is just ease of the clutch using no gas and if you get it right it will start to move forward on its own then start to give it gas ans release the clutch.

 
dude same here, like I was bugging out so much with my dad today driving manual that when he told me to turn right i went left thinking that i was right, and i always forget my blinkers and shit, just because theres more to do.

when im in my moms automatic though its never like that.
 
thanks to all you guys, if you didnt notice i gave all you +karma cause who doesn't want some more karma.
 
wow sorry I didnt give advice,

like others said, go to a parking lot, and find the sweet spot for your car. Getting into first is the hardest for me personally. Once you get going, all you need to worry about is having the right amount of pressure on the clutch and not giving it to much gas.

go on some country roads (if you have some) and just drive your car around and get a feel for it
 
if you let the clutch out slowly without any gas it will go. then when you feel comfortable and steady you can start to add some gas.

try starting in 4th gear. it straight g
 
The most important thing is learning where the clutch "catches." I remember when I first got it down. I had been stalling a lot, and then all of a sudden it clicked for me in my schools parking lot, and I knew exactly where to start on the gas.

As said above, start in a flat parking lot. As soon as you think you have it down, GET TO A HILL. Something secluded, so you don't piss people off. Stop in the middle of the hill, and focus on getting started without stalling and without rolling back too much. Just go forward a bit, roll back, stop, rinse and repeat.
 
i remember when a friend (noteefa) and i were mobbing to california one night, and we were switching driving roles at like 3am, i had stalled his car like half a dozen times.

My biggest problem was 1) being too slow releasing the clutch, and 2) giving too little gas. Each car is different, so just get quickly comfortable with the power of the car and where the clutch catches, spend like numerous sessions in a big ol parking lot getting used to it, then just start driving around and tackle some small hills.

Getting into first is definitely the hardest part. After that, its usually really easy.
 
It's basically just getting comfortable with the car, as everyone else suggested learning in a parking lot is a great place to start. It helps to know how it works.. there's two ways your car can be in neutral, if the clutch is in or if you haven't put it in gear. If the car is in gear while it's not moving it will stall. All you have to do is get it moving before you fully let off the clutch. A rough guide...

1. Find the clutch point (about an inch above the floor in most cars, but not all). Know where this is. You don't want to guess every time. Practice pushing in the clutch to this point so that you know what your foot feels like when it's there.

2. Release the clutch at a reasonable pace. Don't granny it, but don't pop it. The key word is natural. As you let it off, press on the gas. For a smooth takeoff it should be proportionate - that is, press in the gas at the same speed you're letting off the clutch.

3. To keep from stalling at stops, just dip the clutch in a little and pop the shifter out of gear. You don't want to hold in your clutch at every stop or you'll ruin it, but if you come to a stop while the car is in gear and the clutch is not in, it will stall, as I said in the first part.

It will take about a week pf regular before you feel comfortable with it, and a while after that before you fully get rid of stalls and shifting errors. It's all worth it man, driving stick is so much fun and so much better than shitty autos.

Another tip for downshifting (PRACTICE THIS ONCE YOU GET COMFORTABLE, it's part of what makes driving standard so fun) is when you press in the clutch, pump the gas as you're downshifting. The reason the car jumps when you downshift is because it has to raise the RPMs to match your new gear to the speed you're going. You'll notice if you pump the gas while the clutch is in the RPMs will spike, so once you get good you can match the RPMs ahead of time (or at least get it close) and it will make every one smooth as hell.

 
i have a 5 speed gti and basically just train your foot to retract exactly to the point where the car starts to move then slowly apply gas as you release the clutch....youll get it.
 
keep at it, once you get the "feel" down for your specific clutch, you are set, and it really doesnt take that long... you will be peeling out like a badass in no time.. haha
 
take your time and let the clutch out really slow. once you start to feel the car start to move a little bit (this wont happen unless youre on flat ground) start to give it a little gas. the trick is finding the point where the car gets in gear, then give it gas.
 
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