How to Drive a Manual / Standard Shift Transmission

Hello and welcome to my new Instructable! By reading this I hope you gain the operational and technical knowledge you need to learn how to drive a standard shift car.

But first let's consider the following scenario...

You are a middle-aged paleobotanist on the island of JURASSIC PARK!! Even though things seem okay at first, some evil fat guy has shut down the power to the electric fences containing all the vicious man eating dinosaurs! You are somewhere near the T-Rex pen enjoying a cool glass of water when the ground starts shaking and the water ripples. You turn around to see a very hungry looking six meter tall Tyrannosaurus Rex coming at you at almost thirty kilometers per hour! Luckily, there's a jeep just a few meters away. After making a quick dash, you hop in the driver's seat and turn the key...but nothing happens! As your eyes turn toward the shifter to confirm that it's in 'park' you see the unfamiliar 'H' pattern of numbers on top of the shift knob. You realize that this jeep is equipped with a manual transmission...and since you don't know how to drive it you can't even get the engine started. It's too late to learn because the T-Rex has already flipped the jeep over and is proceeding to peel off the roof to gain access to it's next snack. Sadly, you realize that this is what you get for forcing your husband to trade in his '64 Corvette convertible for a minivan because you refused to learn.

Don't be caught in this situation! Read on to find out how you could have escaped from the T-Rex's mighty jaws!

Most models of cars sold in north America come with the option of having a manual or automatic transmission. Even though the vast majority of cars in North America are automatics, the manual transmission comes with many advantages.

Initial Cost: Manual transmissions are a lot cheaper than automatics. Choosing to buy a manual over an automatic saves you an average of $1000, depending on the make and model of the car.

Higher Gas Mileage: Manual transmissions are lighter and normally have more gears than their automatic counterparts. Also, a manual transmission doesn't have a hydraulic pump, which puts a big load on your engine. This can save you between 5% and 15% at the pump, depending on the make, model, driving conditions and driving style.

Lower Maintenance / Repair Costs: Automatic transmissions need regular fluid changes and are vulnerable to fluid leaks which can be very destructive. Many manual transmissions do not require any regular maintenance whatsoever. Repairs are usually more costly on automatics.

Better Control: With a manual transmission, the driver decides what gear to use. The best gear can be selected for the conditions (eg. low gear for going up steep hills or towing). Under these conditions, automatics often shift too high and end up wasting the engine's power.

Performance: In general, manuals have better acceleration and quarter mile times than automatics.

Fun: Automatics are boring as hell to drive. Manuals are fun as hell to drive!

Just a side note. If you have a manual car and for some reason you battery goes dead and you can't start the engine...just get your buddy to give you a little push and you're good to go! Can't do that in an automatic!

I guess the first thing you should do when learning a manual transmission is to learn how to drive an automatic transmission. Before attempting to drive a manual, you should have lots of experience with all of the other operations of a car including steering, accelerating, braking, turn signals and windshield wipers. I guess it's not a necessity but it makes things a lot safer and easier. You should also be familiar with all of the road rules and be able to demonstrate good driving practices.

The most important things are to pay attention and be careful. A car can be a very deadly weapon if not used right and it's not fair if an innocent bystander/motorist has to die today because you were distracted or being reckless.

Three more things:
Never ever ever ever operate a vehicle while under the influence of drugs or alcohol and if you already do I hope the cops find you very soon and nail you to the wall.
Never ever operate a car that has obvious mechanical problems. Look and listen for signs of mechanical defects.
Never use a drive-thru! Get up off your lazy butt and go inside! This saves you lots of gas, lots of clean air and in most cases it saves you time.

Now it's time to take a tour of a standard shift car's driver's seat. I'm only going to make emphasis on the controls directly related to the car's movement. The rest greatly depends on the make and model of the car. Please see the pictures for locations of the controls.

Steering Wheel:Used to alter the direction of the car while in motion. Can be turned clockwise or counter-clockwise to make the car turn right or left, respectively (shouldn't be news).

Tachometer: Provides a readout of the engine speed in revolutions per minute (RPM's). It basically tells you how fast your flywheel is spinning. Located within the center cluster.

Speedometer: Provides a readout of the forward speed of the car in kilometers per hour (KPH). It basically tells you how fast your tires are spinning. Located within the center cluster.

Handbrake: Engages the rear drum brakes without using the master cylinder or hydraulic pressure. Used in case the main brakes fail or to hold the car when parked. Engaged when pulled up or disengaged when pushed back down.

Gas Pedal: The pedal on the farthest right. When pressed in it causes the engine to spin faster and produce more power. Used to accelerate the car. Operated with the right foot.

Brake Pedal: The middle pedal. When pressed in it causes the brake pads/shoes to engage the brake rotors/drums to convert the car's kinetic energy into heat energy. Used to decelerate the car. Operated with the right foot.

Clutch Pedal: The pedal on the farthest left. When pressed in, the clutch disc disengages the flywheel and breaks the connection between the engine and the wheels. When released, the clutch disc re-engages the flywheel and the engine now powers the wheels. Used for short-duration stops and changing gears. Operated with the left foot.

Shift Knob: Used to select the appropriate gear. To select a gear, the knob is moved into the corresponding position of that gear marked on the top of the knob (must be done while the clutch pedal is pressed in). Neutral is selected when the knob is in the center position. The photo shows the shift pattern most commonly found in 5-speed manual transmissions.

By the way, the car shown here is my 2005 Toyota Echo hatchback, which is my absolute favorite car in the world apart from a 2002 Nissan Skyline GTR R-34.

Having an understanding of what is going on inside the engine and transmission while you are using the controls is priceless when learning how to drive. We will look at all of the individual components of the car's powertrain starting with where the power is produced and ending with where it is utilized.

Engine: A device that converts the energy stored in gasoline into mechanical energy and heat. The mechanical energy is used to spin the flywheel and in Canada the heat energy is used to defrost your windshield.

Flywheel: A spinning disc on the outside of your engine that is used to deliver rotational energy to the clutch. It is the output of power from your engine.

Clutch: A disc that it attached on one side to the flywheel and on the other side by the transmission. The attachment of the clutch to the flywheel can be broken or made by pressing in on or releasing the clutch pedal, respectively.

The best place to try this is in an empty parking lot with very flat and level ground and plenty of room around the car. You should have somebody who knows how to drive the car bring you to a location like this. When you first sit in the driver's seat the engine should be off with the shift knob in neutral and the handbrake engaged. It's now time....

With your left foot, press the clutch pedal in all the way. Turn the ignition key clockwise all the way to "start" and hold for about one second until the the engine turns over. Release the key. If the shift knob is still in neutral you may release the clutch pedal at this time.

Have a look at the tachometer and take note of the RPM readout. It should be holding steady at around 700 to 1000 RPM, depending on the car.

Use your right foot to press and hold the brake pedal. Grasp the handbrake and pull up slightly while pressing the button with your thumb. When the button goes in, push the handbrake all the way down. Release the brake pedal and check to see if the car rolls. If the car stays put you can leave the pedal alone. If the car rolls you should find another spot.

Use your left foot to press and hold the clutch pedal all the way in.

Use your right hand to move the shift knob from neutral to first gear.

Slowly start to release the clutch pedal. At a certain point you will feel a vibration in the pedal and will see the RPM decrease slightly. This is the friction point where the clutch disc and the flywheel make first contact. The car may also start to creep forward. When you come to this point, don't release the clutch pedal any more.

Press the clutch pedal all the way in again and press the brake pedal to stop the car if necessary. Practice the previous step until you can quickly release the clutch pedal up to the friction point and hold it there. If you stall the engine, you must press the clutch pedal in all the way and turn the key.

Now lets get down to business. It's time to get the car moving up to a significant speed. To get the car moving, you're going to have to give it a little shot of gas. You should aim for an engine speed of about 1500 RPM when you reach the friction point. That means you'll have to press down on the gas pedal while releasing the clutch pedal at the same time.

Press the gas pedal in a TINY BIT while releasing the clutch to the friction point at the same time. This time the car will start moving forward when the friction point is reached. Hold the gas pedal where it is while you slowly release the clutch pedal out all the way.

Once the clutch pedal is out all the way and the car is moving you have just made a mockery of the hardest part of driving a standard shift... Starting off from a dead stop.

Now feel free to drive the car around a little bit. Accelerate a bit until the engine starts to make a lot of noise. As long as your speed stays between 10 and 30 KPH it should be just like driving an automatic (by that I mean you do not have to operate the clutch or change gears).

To come to a complete stop, use the brake pedal to slow down until your speed reaches zero. Before the car stops, you must press and hold the clutch pedal all the way. Repeat the previous two steps until you can confidently start off from a complete stop.

To park the car, move the shift knob into the neutral position and engage the handbrake by pulling it up all the way.

I actually lied a bit about the hardest part about driving a standard. The hardest part is to start off from a dead stop while rolling backwards down a hill. You have to find the friction point quickly because the whole time you're looking for it you'll be rolling backwards...possibly into the car behind you. Also, a bigger shot of gas is needed while you are releasing the clutch pedal past the friction point. Practice makes perfect...you should probably try this in a safe spot before you attempt it in traffic.

If you've mastered the previous step "Starting Off" you would probably have a good chance at escaping from the T-Rex at Jurassic Park (assuming it has a top speed of about 30 KPH which is what most paleontologists say it is). Although if you remained in first gear over the entire pursuit you could run out of fuel long before you're safe. And it's possible that you'd end up blowing the engine. So not knowing how to shift up from first gear is very very bad. So let's see how it's done...

Again it's best to try this in an open, flat area such as an empty parking lot. We'll start the procedure from when the car is parked. The first little bit wont be in any great detail since it's covered in the previous step "Starting Off".

Fasten your seatbelt.

Press in the clutch pedal all the way to the floor and hold.

Turn the key to start the engine.

Press in and hold the brake pedal. Disengage the handbrake.

Move the shift knob from "neutral" to "1"

Move right foot from brake pedal to gas pedal. Press gas pedal a TINY BIT while quickly moving the clutch pedal to the friction point. Slowly release clutch the rest of the way while holding the gas pedal down a TINY BIT.

Once the car gets going, apply more force to the gas pedal to get the car to accelerate.

As the car accelerates, the engine speed (the RPM's on the tachometer) will keep increasing until the engine becomes very loud. This is when you should shift up. The precise time you shift depends on your driving. For good fuel economy you should shift up at about 3000 RPM. For racing you'd wait until the tachometer almost touches the redline before shifting.

When you decide it's time to shift up:

Release the gas pedal.

Press the clutch all the way to the floor and hold.

Move the shift knob from "1" to "2".

Quickly release the clutch to the friction point and slowly release it the rest of the way.

Apply force to the gas pedal to get the car to accelerate.

You may notice that shifting to second caused the engine speed to go down. Now the car can accelerate to even higher speeds without revving the engine too much. When the engine does start to roar however, you follow the same procedure as shifting from first to second. The only difference is you shift from second to third or from third to fourth and so on.

Here are some good "rule of thumb" shift points if you want to get good fuel economy and maximize the life of your car. Again, the exact shift points that are best depend on the make and model of the car.

1st to 2nd - 15 KPH
2nd to 3rd - 30 KPH
3rd to 4th - 50 KPH
4th to 5th - 60 KPH to 100 KPH

The reason the last shift point has a high range is because the fifth gear is what we use as the "holding gear". Whatever our final speed is, we use fourth gear to reach it and then we shift into fifth once we are there. We remain in fifth gear the whole time we cruise at that speed.

Now that you are able to obtain high speeds in your standard shift vehicle, you must know how to properly slow it down and stop it. I guess it doesn't make much sense to use a car if all you can do is speed past your destination without actually stopping there.

When driving at a given speed in a given gear, slowing down causes the engine to slow down also. If you slow down too much, the engine speed will eventually drop so low that it will lug and eventually stall out. At this point, you need to increase the engine speed by shifting down into a lower gear.

Here are some general "rule of thumb" shift points when decelerating. Again, the exact shift points that are best depend on the make and model of your car.

5th to 4th - 70 KPH
4th to 3rd - 50 KPH
3rd to 2nd - 30 KPH
A downshift from 2nd to 1st gear is not necessary. You may use 2nd gear to slow all the way to a stop, just remember to shift into 1st before starting off again.

The correct procedure for downshifting:

Press the brake pedal to decelerate to your downshift point.

Press in and hold the clutch pedal all the way to the floor.

Move the shift knob from the current gear to the one below it.

Quickly release the clutch pedal to the friction point and slowly release it the rest of the way.

Continue braking if necessary.

Using common sense, being careful and taking the time to check over your car on a regular basis can save you many things such as money, gas, wear and tear, frustration and even lives.

Standard transmission-specific good driving practices:

Don't use the clutch pedal to hold the car on a hill.