How to Drive a Manual

Car?
Training Session
Learning to drive a manual car
• Where are the controls
Knowing the controls that you might have to use while driving, being able to locate and
use them without looking away from the road is important.
Remember in each vehicle these controls could be in different places:
- Washer and wiper, front and back
- Head lights, high and low beam
- Hand brake
- Demisters, front and back
- Horn
- Hazard lights
- Indicators
Adjust Your Seat
When adjusting the seat in the car:
The clutch pedal located on your left, should be depressed in to the floor and the seat adjusted so
the left leg has a slight bend in it (about 15 degrees). The leg should not be fully extended.
Push your shoulder into the back of the seat, and put your arms out in front of you at the top of the
steering wheel, now adjust the back of the seat so your wrists are on top of the steering wheel rim
(not your hand or arm but your wrist).
Most cars now can adjust the height of the steering wheel. Move the steering wheel up or down so
you can see the speedo clearly
Adjust Your Mirrors
The mirrors should be adjusted so when you look into them, you are only moving
your eyes not your head.
The centre mirror:
The top of your mirror should run along the top of your back window, you should
be able to see the whole back window.
The side mirrors:
On a flat road, you should see road from the middle of the mirror to the bottom of
the mirror, and from the middle of the mirror to the top of the mirror you should
see houses, trees, sky etc.
The bottom corner near the door of the mirror you should be able to see the back
door handle.
Know the Pedals

Look down at your feet - you will see three pedals.

The one on the left is the clutch (in simple terms it
basically transmits power from the engine to the
wheels). Now that pedal is used by your left leg only -
nothing else.
The middle pedal is the brake (which stops or slows
down the car). That pedal is used by the right leg only.
The pedal on the right is the accelerator (which makes
the car gather speed, or give it more power) that is
also used by the right leg. The reason why the right
leg is used by those pedals is that you are either
braking or accelerating - you should not be doing both
at the same time. (Stop or go). More important is that
your legs hopefully will not get tangled up with each
other, if that happens we will be in all sorts of trouble
won’t we.
Starting the Car
Starting the car,
in a manual car
Make sure you follow this procedure or else the car will more
likely to take off without warning.
• Press the clutch in (left pedal) with the left leg and hold it
down.
• Make sure the handbrake is fully on.
Anytime you put your hand brake on always make sure it is
fully on, not just partly on. The car may still roll if it is not.
• Move the gear stick to neutral
This is the middle position that feels free when moving it
from side to side the car is now considered “out of gear”.
• Start the engine with the key, by turning the key to the
right and when the engine revs up let the key go it will
automatically spring back; during all of this remember you
still got your clutch fully down.
“Congratulations you have now started the car”
• Make sure the gear stick is still in neutral and hand brake is
on; you can now release the clutch and relax for a minute
or two. The car should be idling along (there is no hurry).
Driving the Car
Driving the Car

Shift Into First Gear

• Now push the clutch in all the way, and put the car into first gear
using the gear stick. You'll usually find first gear by pushing the
stick left and then away from you.
• Keep the clutch in or you will stall the car! 

Release the Emergency Brake

• Now that the car is running, make sure your emergency brake
(handbrake) is off. Since you are on flat ground, the car won't roll
anywhere while you are figuring out what to do.

Release the Clutch and Give the Engine Some Gas

• Once you are in first gear, slowly release the clutch until you feel
the car just start moving. (Clutch control)
• This is the tricky part! Get a feel for this biting point (when the
car starts to shudder a bit) because it will make learning to drive
manual a lot easier. Practice until you can get to the point quickly.
Driving the Car: Clutch
control
• Clutch control is controlling the speed of the car when driving slowly
(below 5mph) with the clutch and gas pedal.
• Clutch control is one of the hardest parts to master for most people
when they're learning to drive a manual car. You'll feel at one with the
car once you've mastered it though and in complete control of the car
at slow speeds.
• The biting point: It's important to get used to where the biting point is
in your car.

To find the biting point:

1. Press the clutch down
2. Select 1st gear
3. Press the gas (accelerator) to get the revs up to around 1 and a half on
the rev counter  
4. Raise the clutch slowly until you feel the biting point. You will know
when you've got the biting point as the back of the car will dip down
slightly and the engine sound will change. When you feel it, keep the
clutch still.
Driving the Car:
Clutch control
• Once it's safe all around, release the handbrake,
but keep your feet still.
• The car will now move. Raising the clutch slightly
(about the thickness of a coin) will make the car
move slightly quicker. Lowering the clutch down
(again, about the thickness of a coin) will slow you
down and that's clutch control.
• Raising the clutch completely with a little gas will
allow you to drive on and accelerate if required.
• When you feel confident, practice clutch control on
a hill and in traffic or creeping at a junction.
Driving the Car

Release the Clutch After Gears Engage

• Now that you are giving the car a little bit of

gas, don't release the clutch fully just yet.
Release it when you can feel the gears
engage. This will feel like a vibration you can
sense through the sole of your foot. Once
you get to that point, you can release the
clutch, and drive around without using the
clutch
How to change gear in
a manual car
How to change gear in a
manual car

Familarise yourself with the diagram of the gear lever

You won't have the luxury of looking down at the gear
lever when driving, so make sure you memorise the
diagram on top of the gear lever as to where the
different gears are positioned. Once you've memorised
the diagram, practice looking out of the front
windscreen and try to change through the gears.
Reverse gear can be in a different place depending on
the car that you're driving. More on reverse later.
If the engine is on, make sure that you press down the
clutch when changing gear. To save fuel, practice
changing gear with the engine off.
Neutral

• The gear lever is spring loaded

and it will always spring back
to the central neutral position
just under 3rd gear and above
4th (remember this for later).
Neutral is not in any gear.
When in neutral, the gear can
be freely moved left and right.
You wouldn't be able to do this
if it was in gear.
• You should always start the car
in neutral to make sure that
the car doesn't jump forward.
Gearing Up
Changing up the
gears
• When going up the gears you always start in first and
go through each gear.
• 1 st to 2nd ,2nd to 3rd,3rd to 4th etc. When changing
gears get to the correct revs first, then accelerator off
with your right foot, then clutch in (it should go down
quickly) with your left foot, change to the correct gear
then clutch out, (the lower the gear used the slower
the clutch pedal is released through the friction point.)
Then gently accelerate, one action at a time, but in a
smooth flowing action.
• When you feel comfortable practising changing up the
gears, and also can change up the gears without
looking at the gear stick (we don’t want run off the
road when we do it for real) you should practise
changing down the gears.
How select 1st gear
• Remember that the gear lever is spring loaded and springs to
the central neutral position. Use the palm of your hand so that
it's facing away from you on the side of the gear lever and your
thumb is pointing down. Your hand position will push against
the spring. Move it left and then forwards to 1st.

Changing up to 2nd
• To change up from 1st to 2nd, keep your hand in the same
position with your palm facing away from you and your thumb
facing down. This will stop it springing into neutral. Hold the
gear lever lightly to the left as you move it backwards to 2nd.
• If you don't hold the gear lever lightly to the left as you move it
backwards then you could accidentally go into 4th gear.
How to change up
to 3rd gear from
2nd
• Changing to 3rd from 2nd is a two step
process but it can be easy as long as
you don't force it.
• This time your thumb will be facing
upwards and your palm will be facing
towards you. This allows it to spring to
the central neutral position. Push the
gear forwards lightly, letting it spring to
the central neutral position and then
push forwards again to 3rd. Make sure
that you grip the gear lever lightly and
remember not to force it into 3rd.
Changing from 3rd gear to 4th
• Hand in the same position with your palm facing you and
thumb pointing upwards. Move the gear lever straight
backwards without moving it left or right.

How to change from 4th gear to 5th

• Hand in the same position with your palm facing you. Push
lightly forwards to neutral, then to the right and forwards to
5th.
Gearing Down
Changing down
the gears
• When changing down the gears you can either go down
each gear just like changing up the gears or you can do the
one shift change that is changing directly into the correct
gear. e.g. 4 th gear straight into 2nd gear. You simply do
that by reaching the correct speed by braking then select
the correct gear - it’s as simple as that. Some drivers like
the feel of changing gears and prefer to change down each
gear.
• Remember the brake and clutch have no direct link, you
may still need to brake while you are already pressing the
clutch in to change gears.
• To change down, brake to the correct speed and only then
put your clutch in, change down into the correct gear then
clutch out slowly. The lower the gear slower the clutch
comes out. If you don’t change at the correct speed you
can do damage to the car.
Changing from 2nd gear to 1st
• Hand in the same position with your palm facing away from
yourself as you need slight pressure pushing to the left and
then forwards to 1st.
• If you don't hold it lightly to the left then it might go into 3rd
gear.

Changing down from 3rd gear to 2nd

• Because you'll be pushing against the spring to change into
2nd gear, your thumb points down and your palm should face
away from you. Push the gear lever backwards slightly to
neutral and then push left and backwards to 2nd.
• Having your hand in this position will help to push against the
spring and avoid changing into 4th gear accidently.
How to change down gear

Changing down from 4th to 3rd

• Thumb pointing upwards, palm facing you. Push forwards in a
straight line.

Changing down from 5th to 4th

• Have your palm so that it's facing yourself. Push downwards
lightly, let it spring to neutral and then downwards again to
4th.
 A Sample Simulation
Start the Car - Holding the gear stick correctly change into 2nd gear.
- Clutch in. - Clutch out slowly. If this was not smooth more likely
- 1st gear the clutch came out too quickly

- Handbrake off. - Accelerate to 2,500 revs.

- Bring clutch to friction point. - At 2,500revs accelerator off.

- Check to see if it is safe to merge onto the road - Clutch in.

(if not wait until it is) - Holding the gear stick correctly change to 3rd gear.
- Revs to 2,000 revs - Clutch out slowly.
- Clutch out slowly keeping the revs up If things - Accelerate to 2,500 revs.
feel wrong clutch in quickly and start again.
- At 2,500 revs accelerator off.
- Clutch fully out. - Keeping light on the
accelerator bring the revs up to 2,500 revs. - Clutch in.

- Accelerator off. - Holding the gear stick correctly change into 4th gear.

- Clutch in. - Clutch out.

 A Sample Simulation
Let’s pull over to the side of the road and start again.
- Check your mirrors for cars behind you.
- Indicate to let other vehicles know what we are doing.
- Brake smoothly and gently.
- When the car slows down to about 40km/h gently move off the road. We need the get the speed
off the car first before moving off the road.
- Clutch in. (Because we are coming to a stop, no need to change down the gears)
- Bring the car to a stop (keep your clutch in)
- Select neutral.
- Hand brake on.
- Now release your clutch and relax a bit.
 A Sample Simulation
Going down the gears
- Accelerator off.
- Brake to about 50km/h.
- Clutch in.
- Holding the gear stick correctly change into 3rd gear.
- Clutch out slowly. Lower the gear, slower the clutch comes out.
- Brake to about 40km/h
- Holding the gear stick correctly change into 2nd gear.
- Clutch out slowly.
Common Errors
The common errors to look out for when
changing up

If you listen to and feel the car, the car will let you know when something is not right.
You just need to understand the car’s language.
• Pushing down the clutch too soon before the accelerator is off. The car will rev up; the
timing needs to be right. (accelerator off then clutch in)
• Changing up too soon. Make sure the revs are right, 2000 to 2500 rev. The engine will
labour if the revs are too low for that gear.
• Bringing the clutch out too fast. The car may jerk around a bit.
• Accelerating too soon before the clutch is out after we selected the correct gear.
(Clutch out than accelerate smoothly)
The common errors to look out for when
changing down

• Not braking to the correct speed first. The car will over rev, this can cause damage.
• Clutch coming out too fast. The car will jerk around a bit.
• Selecting the wrong gear. The car will rev up or labour.
• Accelerating before the clutch is out. The car will rev up.