"How to Drive Stick Shift!" by Caleb V

            From my earliest years, I always remember the time I spent with my dad, working on or driving cars. Growing up, my dad shared his passion and knowledge about cars with me. This has caused me to grow my own passion and love for cars. We spent hours together in the garage working on his mustang. When I was young, I would stand there holding the flashlight for my dad. He would take time to describe all the parts and all of their different functions. As the years went on, I expanded my knowledge about cars, and eventually would start being able to help him work on the cars. The one thing I always wanted to learn about was how to drive manual, or stick shift. I always saw my dad driving, how he shifted gears, and would always be in amazement. I’ll never forget the first time my dad let me try driving stick, it was one of the best day’s with him. Driving stick is an entirely different feeling of driving, it involves using your whole body to operate the car. In this tutorial, I hope to explain what a manual transmission is and how to be able to drive a manual car. Learning and being able to drive stick has been one of my favorite memories with my dad, and I hope to share that with all of you.

 

Step 1: Understanding what a manual transmission is:

All cars have a transmission, it is what shifts the gears in your car. In technical terms, most cars have 6 gears, which you shift throughout as you're driving. Using a tachometer, you either shift yourself, or your automatic transmission (most cars) shift it for you. Essentially, when you're driving and you hear your engine sound loud, that means high RPMs. The break from the engine being loud to being quiet, that is when your transmission has shifted gears. A manual transmission just means you yourself are shifting your gears, allowing for more control over the car. In order to shift a manual transmission, you must engage the clutch, while letting off the gas, and moving the shifter to the next gear. The clutch is the 1st pedal on the left, or to the left of the brake.

 

Step 2: 1st gear, the tachometer, and the clutch

In a manual car, when stopped you either must be in 1st gear with the clutch engaged, or neutral. If you don’t then the engine will stall, turning the car off. Additionally, on hills, you will roll back if you don’t engage the clutch fast enough to start counteracting the force pulling you back.

Now, to get out of first gear, you must release the clutch to an engagement point. The engagement point is where you slowly lift up on the clutch, and you begin to feel the car start moving. At that point, you need to simultaneously let off the clutch while giving the car gas. If you do that, without flooring the gas, you can get out of first gear! You use the tachometer to know when to shift, at about 2500, RPMs, or eventually you can listen to engine noise to know when. From this gear, you will upshift to 2nd.

 

 

 

 Step 3: 2nd, the turning gear            

 

2nd gear is a short gear, meaning you won’t be in for a very long time. It is the gear that you will always turn in, so when taking a turn, you would downshift into second gear. From this gear you will upshift to 3rd.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step 4: 3rd gear

3rd gear is longer than 2nd, but another gear that you will not be in for a long time. It is possible to take a turn in third gear if you are going fast enough, but you normally would not. From this gear you will upshift to 4th.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step 5: 4th gear  

4th gear is a long gear, which makes it good for street driving. The gear is used at about 40mph so for most streets, you can just stay in this gear as you are driving. From this gear you will upshift to 5th. When shifting from third, you move the shifter straight down. You have to be careful when doing so to make sure that you do not accidentally shift into 2nd gear.

 

 

 

 

Step 6: 5th gear

5th gear can be used both on the freeway and on the street. It is good at about 50 mph and up to 60 mph. On the freeway, you want your RPMs to be at 2,000. If they are below that, you need to downshift because lugging can damage the engine. If the RPMs are way too high, then you need to upshift. For shifting into 5th, when learning you should push the shifter with an up then right motion. You will feel a wall, basically as far right as you can push the shifter. Once you feel that, go straight up to 5th to ensure you enter 5th gear.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step 7: 6th gear

In my car, and in most manual cars, it will be a 6 speed transmission. Meaning that there will only be 6 gears to be in. To be in 6th gear, you have to be going at about 65 mph and faster. So, you will usually only be in this gear when you are on the freeway. If you have made it into 6th gear, congratulations! You've now shifted through all 6 gears. Like with most things, with practice and more experience, you will only get better. Have fun driving stick shift!