In the previous article I mentioned the basics of operating a manual transmission. Now you will get the opportunity to try it for your self (car not included). Before you go for your first drive, I will give you some tips and tricks to practice. To help out I recommend going on your first few drives with a veteran to three pedal vehicles. While not absolutely necessary, the feedback they can give you can speed things up. However if you follow this guide, I can get you started on your own if necessary. For safety reasons please do this in an area with little to no traffic, empty parking lots are an ideal place.
Gearshift Layout
As I briefly mentioned in the last article each transmission will have it’s own “h pattern” to select gears. Just like a bicycle, a car will come with different gear ratios for different speed or power demands. Most cars you will see now days come with 5-7 gears, older cars can come with 3-4 gears.
Typically first gear is the one that gets you going from a stop. However sometimes, bigger vehicles (i.e. large pickups) are meant to be started in second gear. As first gear is used for getting moving with a heavy load. This is sometimes called a “granny gear” or “crawler gear.” Most transmissions have a layout with first gear being the furthest left and up. However sometimes first gear can be below reverse, also known as a “dog leg” by many drivers.
Neutral will be in the middle, and you will be able to move the shifter side by side. Reverse is usually locked out by pushing down on the shifter, but sometimes there is a collar to pull up on. Other wise reverse is below the top most gear or in a dog leg pattern. Please be careful not to put the car in reverse when moving forward. As this can cause severe damage to the drive train. Before starting the car I recommend getting familiar with the shift pattern on your vehicle. Then we can move onto the next step!
Getting Moving
Now it is time to learn how to get the vehicle moving from a stop. This is the most difficult part, and requires patience and practice. Don’t worry after a few times it will be easy, also avoid steep hills for now. As manual vehicles can stall on steep hills and roll back when not moving. Later on I will give you some tips I use when I drive my convertible in the mountains. Again patience is key, just like learning any new skill.
To begin, you will want to start the engine. Then make sure to immediately put the vehicle in neutral with the parking brake on. When you are ready release the parking brake, press in the clutch all the way and select first gear or second if applicable. Then you will want to slowly let off the clutch, to get a feel for where the clutch engages. You will notice the car beginning to creep forward or the engine stopped running.
If the engine stopped running this is called a stall. If this happened don’t worry, and keep practicing until you get the car to creep forward. Once you get a feel for the clutch we will next add some throttle. This will allow the car to take off a little bit faster with out stalling. When you do this focus on only rising the engine RPM by 300-500 from idle. This will be displayed by your tachometer in your dashboard, also note older cars didn’t always come with tachometers.
Shifting Gears
Once you are comfortable with getting moving from a standstill. Then the next step is to get used to shifting gears. The best starting point is at the low traffic area from the previous exercise. Before setting off make sure you remember the shift pattern of your transmission. When you get going, as a rule of thumb you can let off the clutch a little faster when shifting gears while moving.
This is because when you are moving the clutch doesn’t need to be slipped as much. Slipping is when your clutch needs to catch up to the speed of your engine. Think of it like a brake, but instead of it stopping it is connecting your engine to your transmission. Ideally you will want as little slipping as possible to reduce wear and tear on your clutch. This is done by timing shifts perfectly, and rev matching on shifts from a lower gear to higher gear. I will teach rev matching in a later article, but for now it is best to focus on smooth gear changes.
Practice Makes Perfect
I hope things go well for you on your first drive! It can be nerve racking at first, it was for me at least. However after a while, it will get easier to the point of becoming second nature. Just like with anything else practice makes perfect. I appreciate anyone who read this far, and when you are ready. There will be more articles to help polish your skills for even smoother operation of a manual transmission.