How to Drive a Five-Speed Manual
- 1). Use your left foot to depress the clutch (far left pedal), and your right foot to depress the brake.
- 2). Insert the key into the ignition, and turn to start. Keep your foot on the clutch and the brake.
- 3). Move the gear shift lever all the way to the left, and then push it up. This is first gear, and it's where you need to be when you first start moving. When you can wiggle the stick shifter back and forth to the left and right, you are in neutral. Up and to the left is first gear. Down and to the left is second gear. Up and in the middle is third. Down in the middle is fourth. Up and to the right is fifth gear. Down and to the right is reverse.
- 4). Take your foot off the brake and lightly press the accelerator.
- 5). Slowly let out the clutch pedal. You'll feel the vibration, often called a friction point, when the car is ready for you to let the clutch out all the way. If you don't feel any vibration, continue to let the clutch out slowly. Some cars have a more defined friction point than others.
- 6). Give the car a bit more gas now that you are moving. If it didn't work and your car stalled, start over at step one. Getting the car moving in first gear and reverse is exactly the same technique, only in different gears. For reverse, shift all the way to the right and down. Everything else is the same.
- 7). Shift into second gear once you hear the engine start to get louder. Shifting into second, and all subsequent gears, is done by taking your foot off the gas, depressing the clutch, shifting and then releasing the clutch slowly. Press the gas again, and you are ready to accelerate.
After some time, you'll actually begin to feel when the car needs shifting. This will vary from car to car, but a general rule of thumb is to move on to the next gear at either 3,000 to 3,500 rpm (rotations per minute) or every 15 mph. So, at 15 mph shift into second gear. Shift into third gear at 30 mph. Shift into fourth gear at 45 mph. - 8). Shift into fifth at 60 mph. Fifth is considered an overdrive gear, meaning you don't really need it. Fifth is a cruising gear for the highway. When on the interstate, or a highway, you can shift into fifth and cruise comfortably without having to shift any higher.
- 9). Downshift every 15 mph. So when you are going starting at fifth gear and need to slow down, you'll downshift into fourth gear at 45 mph, third at 30 mph, second at 15 mph and so on. First gear is almost exclusively to get your car rolling and to drive at very slow speeds.
You downshift the same way as you upshift. Press the clutch in, take your foot off the gas, shift and then push the gas again. - 10
Depress the clutch and the brake at the same time anytime you have to come to a quick stop. If you don't have time to downshift but need to stop quickly, this is the only way to stop the car without stalling it. If you hit the brake without the clutch and the rpm drops too low, your car will stall. As you get more experienced, you can tap the clutch, put the car in neutral (the stick can wiggle freely left and right), and just use the brake without "riding" the clutch.
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