What's the best way to learn how to drive stick shift?

Question

Anyone have any methods or clever ways of remembering what you have to do to make a smooth transition from driving standard? Also, do you steer into a skid or against it?

Answer 1

Yah just practice,  I learned how to do it really well in just a few days.  If any of your friends drive stick just ask them to come with you because they will be able to tell you when to shift gears and how to do it smoothly.

Answer 2

practice practice practice.....................

steer INTO the skid

Answer 3

Just get in and do it...     Steer into the skid...    I'm amazed at another thumbs down for the right answer...

Answer 4

Just to let you know, I'm a traditionalist, and I only prefer to drive manual transmission, although I know how to drive auto transmission.

1. Know your vehicle. If you use the ordinary manual, it will go like this sequence:

1 3 5

HH

2 4 R

2. Look on your gearstick, as the gearstick shows the positions of the gears. For example, if I want to place the vehicle into the 1st gear, I'll push the clutch pedal, pull/push the gearstick towards the left and then towards the front. Then I slowly release the clutch and push the accelerator. Best practice with engine off first before going on a road-test.

3. Once ready, try shifting gears with your eyes on the road rather than on the gearstick or the clutch pedal. Familiarise from there.

4. Finally when you think you're ready, push the clutch, start the engine, and try it out slowly. You'll be fine then.

Answer 5

practice till you get it.

Answer 6

The best way to drive stick shift is practice, and lots of it.  It's like driving an automatic, but involving another pedal (called the clutch) and more hand-eye coordination (anyone can learn, don't worry).  The braking and steering, though, are all pretty much the same as an automatic transmission car.  

I'll start with the basics: you have three pedals: the gas, the brake, and the clutch.  Everybody knows what the brake does, so that's not important for now.  The gas is a little different from an automatic, because it only controls the throttle, which can vary greatly depending on what gear you're in (I'll get into that more later).  

The clutch is the most important part of driving a stick shift.  Holding the clutch all the way to the floor is just like having the car in neutral: you push the gas, and the engine just revs, not turning the wheels.  Here's where it gets interesting, though, the clutch can "slip," meaning as you pull it out, the engine gains more and more traction on the wheels, allowing them to turn.  

If you tried to start the car in gear with the clutch not pushed in, it would stall (and lurch forward), because the starter motor would be trying to turn the wheels.  It is the same if you start the car with the clutch in, but let it out too quickly: the engine will not have enough torque to turn the wheels, causing it to lurch, sputter, and eventually stall, which can be embarrassing for new drivers.

As you probably already know from glancing at the gear shifter (but I'll say it anyway), the car has 5 or 6 gears, and a reverse gear.  They generally move in an H pattern: moving the shifter left and up is first gear, moving it down and left is second gear, and so on.  And neutral is when the gear shifter is centered in between of all the gears and moves fairly freely.

Now that we have the basics covered, it's time to move on to actually driving.  Like I said before, when starting the car, always make sure the clutch is all the way in, so it doesn't stall.  Now comes the tricky part (which is also the part that takes practice).  The idea is to let the clutch out to the "magical spot" where it engages the wheels, but not far enough that it lurches the car or stalls it.  

Hold the clutch in, put the car in first gear, and very slowly let the clutch out while giving the car gas.  Repeating this exercise over and over again will help you find the correct balance of the gas and clutch.  Don't be surprised if you stall it a few times: everyone does.  Once you get going in first gear, the hard part's over, now on to the easy stuff.

So lets say you've got the car moving in first gear.  The car should be going faster, shouldn't it?  Relax, it's supposed to be that way, that's what the gear changing is for.  Once the tachometer (RPM) reaches about 3,000RPM, in one motion, promptly take your foot off the gas while pushing in the clutch, shift to second gear (down and left), then return to the gas while taking your foot off the clutch.  

If the car is now moving faster and the RPM dropped to 1,500 or 2,000, congratulations, you've got it into second gear!  That's pretty much all the basics of driving a stick shift, because the same principles apply to all the other gears.  When you get to 3,000RPM in 2nd gear, do the same action to switch to third.  Same for third to fourth, same for fourth to fifth.  That's it!

This wouldn't be a really good answer if I didn't cover EVERYTHING you might encounter when driving a stick shift.  So here’s some extra stuff (still useful).  Let's say you're approaching a red light, and you need to stop (gradually).  The way that works for me (and most stick shift drivers) is to shift into neutral (center the shifter), then apply the brake to stop.  You won't need to push the clutch in when you stop, because in neutral the engine is not connected to the wheels.

Another somewhat important aspect of stick shift driving is picking a gear if you DON'T stop.  Let's say you were slowing down for that red light, but suddenly it turns green.  There's no cars in front of you.  If you're going 20-25MPH, you certainly don't want to stop the car and start from first gear.  That will decidedly annoy many drivers around you.  

Pick a gear that properly suits your speed.  If you try to shift into first gear going 20MPH, you will destroy your synchronizers, which are made to match the engine speed with the wheel speed.  Also, shifting into 4th or 5th gear at this speed would cause the RPM to plummet, possibly stalling the car due to lack of power/torque.  3rd gear would be ideal, for this situation, because the car is going about as fast as the gear ratio was designed for.

As you drive a stick shift more and more, you will begin to learn which speeds apply to which gear.  This is very useful if you need to shift into a gear while still moving.  Other than that, all stick shift driving takes is practice, which makes perfect.  Oh yeah, totally unrelated, but steer the direction your back wheels are sliding.  Happy Driving!

Answer 7

Step 1:

Look at the floorboard; you'll see 3 pedals. From left to right, they are: clutch, brake, gas.

Step 2:

Study the simple diagram on the top of the gearshift, which will show you where the gears are. In most new cars, this will look like a three-legged H. First, third and fifth gears are at the tops of the legs; second, fourth and reverse gears are at the bottoms. The crossbar of the H is neutral.

Step 3:

Make sure the parking brake is engaged and the car is on a flat surface in an area where you have plenty of room.

Step 4:

Press down on the clutch pedal and then move the gearshift into the neutral position.

Step 5:

Start the car.

Step 6:

Keeping the clutch pedal down, put the car into first gear by moving the gearshift to the top-left position.

Step 7:

Apply the foot brake and release the parking brake.

Step 8:

Release the foot brake when you're ready to start moving.

Step 9:

Begin to release the clutch pedal slowly; when you hear or feel the engine begin to slow down, slowly press down on the gas pedal as you continue to release the clutch. The car will start to move forward.

Step 10:

Accelerate until the car has reached about 3,000 rpm, then take your foot off the gas, press down on the clutch pedal, and pull the gearshift directly down through neutral to second gear. Be sure to pull the gearshift down until it can't go any farther.

Step 11:

Release the clutch pedal gently, simultaneously pressing down gently on the gas pedal.

Step 12:

Repeat the shifting process each time you hit 3,000 rpm until you're driving at the appropriate speed. (Third gear is up and to the right; fourth gear is all the way down from there; fifth gear is up to neutral, right and then up again.)

Step 13:

Downshift by releasing the gas pedal when you want to decrease your speed. Press down on the clutch and move the gearshift through neutral into the next-lower gear (move down only 1 gear at a time). Once you're in the lower gear, release the clutch slowly and brake as you do so.

Step 14:

Stop the car by downshifting to second gear and applying the brakes. Apply the clutch just before the car stops. Don't downshift into first.

Step 15:

Drive in reverse by following the same steps you would for starting in first gear. The reverse gear engages more quickly than first gear, however, so be sure to release the clutch slowly and begin to press the gas pedal as soon as the car begins to move.

Know your car, as soon as you feel that you are starting to skid, before it is out of control, you will need to correct slightly your steering to go against the turn. So if you feel you are turning left too much, rectify your trajectory going straight or slightly right........................