How To Drive A Manual Car Stepbystep Learn to drive Car

Introduction:

Learning to drive a manual car will take a little longer than an automatic car, as there are more car controls for us to master before we can drive smoothly. In this article we will show exactly how to drive a manual car, including how and when to use the clutch pedal, gearstick and hand brake.

Start the car’s engine:

Before starting a manual car we should check that the gear stick is in the neutral position – which means that no gear is selected. In most modern cars we need to push the clutch pedal down fully before we start the engine, as this will prevent the car from moving suddenly if we have accidentally left it in gear.

Now we can actually start the car’s engine with the engine start button or key. We should hear the engine start up, and see the rev-counter move from 0 to about 1000 rpm. We can take our foot off the clutch pedal now, as the engine is running and we have no gear selected.

If we gently press the right pedal with our right foot  – this is the car’s accelerator, we can see and hear the engine increasing speed. If we lift our foot off the accelerator the engine will return to it’s idle speed again. An engine’s idle speed is just the minimum speed that it can run at, and once started the engine will stay at this speed so that it is ready for use whenever we need to drive. The middle pedal is for the car’s brakes, but we won’t need to use those until later.

Get the car ready to drive:

On the top of the gear stick there is a diagram that shows where all the gears are on this car.

Most cars have the forward gears in the same place, but the position for reverse can vary – so it’s worth taking a look before driving a new car for the first time. In addition, some cars have 5 gears, some 6, and older cars often have 4. This is why it’s important to memorise the gear positions before starting to drive, as it would be dangerous to select the wrong gear or look down at the gearstick whilst driving. Now that we know where the gears are, we need to select first gear to get the car ready to pull away.

First, we must push and hold the clutch pedal down fully, as this allows us to move the gear stick. Next we can push the gear stick left and up, into first gear. Now that the engine is running and the car is in gear, we must be careful with our left foot on the clutch pedal – as the car will move if we lift it up. For now, we keep our left foot pushing the clutch pedal fully down and hold it still.

We must look all around the car before we move off, as we could cause danger if we surprise or get in the way of other traffic. We prefer to look all around the car through its windows, and a quick check in our right door mirror before we go. Just checking our mirrors is not enough, as there are large blind spots on both sides of the car that the mirrors don’t cover. Once we are sure it’s safe to go, we can pull away.

Pulling away:

Since we are on flat ground we can release the hand brake, as the car won’t roll away on its own. The technique for a hill start is slightly different, and since we have filmed two different ways to do hill starts in our other videos we’ll stick with driving on flat ground here.

To actually release the handbrake we must lift the handle a little, as this allows us to press and hold the button, as we put the handle fully down. The red handbrake warning light on the dashboard also goes out, confirming that the car is not being held stationary any longer.

To make enough power to move off, we increase the engine speed by using our right foot to lightly press the accelerator pedal a little. The rev counter needle shows the current engine speed, and we need about 1500rpm to confidently pull away.

Once we are used to a car we can also judge our engine speed just by listening to the sound of the engine, but to start with the rev-counter is useful.

Once we have set the engine speed, we must keep our right foot still as we need to maintain this power level as we use our left foot on the clutch pedal. All we need to do now is use our left foot to find the biting point of the clutch – which will gently drive the car forward. There are several ways that we can tell that we have found the biting point of the clutch – the engine sound will deepen, there might be a little extra vibration through the car, or if we look at the rev-counter we can even see the engine speed drop a little as it starts to drive the car forward.

So we start to slowly lift our left foot until we feel the clutch starting to bite – and once this happens we keep both feet still as the car starts to roll. The biting point gives just the right amount of drive to get the car rolling, and then at about walking pace we can lift the clutch pedal right up to fully engage the clutch.

It’s important to let the biting point get the car rolling, before lifting the clutch pedal any further. If we try to lift the clutch pedal slowly up in one go, the car will probably stall or lurch forward. Keeping our feet still for a few seconds once we find the bite point will be far smoother and prevent any stalling. At this point we can move our left foot to the side where there is a handy footrest in most cars.

Changing gears:

As we change the speed of the car, we will of course needs to change gears to maintain efficiency. If we look at the rev-counter we can see that the engine is spinning at about 2000 rpm, so it is about time to change up a gear. To do this we will need to lift off the accelerator, press the clutch pedal fully down, select 2nd gear, then lift the clutch pedal back up, and finally press the accelerator to continue driving. disengage the drive…. select the next gear… and engage the drive again. Now we are in second gear we can adjust the amount of engine power with our right foot. Lift off to slow down, and push down to go faster. Now that our speed has increased once more, it is time to change into 3rd gear – so once again we move our feet, select the next gear, and then move our feet again.

With experience and practice we will naturally speed up this process a little, but there is no rush to do any of this, as the car has plenty of momentum and will keep rolling for some distance. It is far better to take our time with a gear change and get it right, than rush and end up in the wrong gear.

Stopping:

Before stopping the car we should check our mirrors for any danger behind us, and if it’s safe indicate to others that we intend to pull over. To actually stop the car we need to lift our right foot off the accelerator – which will reduce engine power and allow the car to slow gently. We can then start to gently brake the car, whilst carefully steering the car towards the edge of the road into our parking position.

Once the engine speed has reduced to just above 1000rpm we must push the clutch pedal fully down, so that the engine is disconnected from the wheels and does not stall. Finally we can vary our pressure on the brake pedal so that we stop the car wherever we need to. Once the car stops we must keep our feet fully pressed down on the clutch and brake pedals whilst we secure the car.

We can’t lift our feet up straight away, as it would stall the engine or allow the car to roll downhill. To secure the car we must lift the handbrake up firmly until we feel the brake has been applied. Since the handbrake is now keeping the car still we can now lift our right foot off the foot brake.

Next, we must move the gear lever to the neutral position so that no gear is selected – which allows us to take our left foot off the clutch pedal. Finally, we check the indicator has been cancelled so that we aren’t a distraction to other traffic.

We lift off the accelerator and start braking, then as we steer gently to the edge of the road we push the clutch down fully just before the car stops. Finally, we secure the car with the handbrake, select neutral and take our feet off the pedals.

Extra drive:

Mat will drive on again now, so we can watch and listen as he controls the car. As you can see, there is a lot of coordination required to smoothly drive a manual car. This usually takes many hours of practice to master, so don’t worry if you find it difficult at first. Driving an automatic car is of course far easier, but if you persevere and master the clutch and gearbox of a manual car it can make driving more involving and enjoyable.

but if you have any questions about any part of this then please leave a comment and we will do our best to help.

Summary:

So, remember to; Learn what each car control does Do everything slowly to start with Keep practicing to improve your skills, and Enjoy the freedom driving gives you. Thanks for reading!