How to drive a manual transmission

Getting ready to drive. Elias Fortney gets in his car and is prepares to start the engine. Fortney drives a manual 2015 Subaru Crosstrek. Photo credit: Jacob Harris (10)

Manual transmission cars require the driver to switch gears themselves; automatic cars do the shifting for the driver. In a manual, there is no computer helping you with shifting; instead, you must manage and think about the revolutions per minute (RPMs) and your speed. It is now time to take a trip back in time and learn what driving was like before automatics were the main cars on the road. 

It is now time to take a trip back in time and learn what driving was like before automatics were the main cars on the road. 

The stick in the middle with the ball on top that has the numbers on it? That’s a shifter. On some cars it has four gears, but it can have all the way up to ten (note, a car that goes up to ten gears is rare, for example a freightliner). 

Now, another point of interest, the third pedal aka the clutch. The clutch is the odd pedal all the way to the left that defeats modern car thieves. Using the clutch is a necessity to get the car to go anywhere. 

Now that the main points of interest have been covered, let’s talk about how to drive. 

First step, put the car in neutral. You do this by moving the shifter to the point in between the gears on the shifter. Then, you put the clutch all the way in, press the brake, and turn the key. This starts the car.  

Next, while holding the clutch, move the shifter to 1st gear. Now comes the magic. While giving a little gas, keeping the RPM around 2-3 thousand (the numbers on the tachometer, keep that between numbers 2 and 3), let off the clutch slowly. The car should start to move. Once you are fully off the clutch, and the car is moving, you should be ready to move forward. 

If you stall, that’s okay. Everyone does. You just restart the process and try again. 

As you pick up speed, it’s time to shift. Usually, for fuel saving, you should shift around 2,000-2,500 RPMs. Let off the gas, press in the clutch, and shift up. Now, time for downshifting. Let off the gas, press in the clutch, and move the shifter down a gear.  

Time for some trials and fun bits of driving a manual. A challenge you might face is getting started on the uphill. Incline and gravity are your biggest challenges. As soon as you press in the clutch, your car will start rolling backwards. You need to be near perfect on the inputs, including gas, and have just enough of everything.  

Hills aren’t the only challenge. “Another difficult thing is…traffic, because starting and stopping in traffic is not fun,” Elias Fortney (11) said. When you’re at the front of the line, and people are waiting to go, it can be stressful trying to get the car going. 

Driving a manual isn’t all about the challenges. “Some fun things you can do is that you have more control over your car, so that’s more fun,” Fortney said. Having more control of your car can be key for many advanced driving techniques that are fun.