We’re GuysWithRides and today we’re going to be showing you the basics of driving a manual
Before we actually start driving, let’s get into the basics of things
The first thing you’ll notice is that a manual car has 3 pedals instead of 2
The brake and the gas are in the same place but the pedal on the left is called the clutch
In an automatic, the car changes gears for you, hence the term automatic
but in a manual this is what you’ll be using to change between gears
The next thing you’ll see is the gear stick
Most cars will come in either 5 or 6 speeds and the one we’re in today has 6
Before you start driving, you should play around with the gear stick
a little and make sure you know where all the gears are
All cars will have the same basic setup with first gear to the left and up
second to the left and down, third in the middle and up
fourth is in the middle and down, fifth is right and up
and sixth is right and down
While this particular car has reverse all the way in the up and left
many cars have reverse in different positions, which is why it is best to know your car before you attempt to drive it
Lastly when the gearstick is in the middle, it is in neutral
It is important to remember that the ONLY time your car can come to a complete stop without stalling
is when you’re in neutral OR when the clutch is pushed all the way in
Practice shifting through the gears with the clutch pushed in before you actually attempt driving
Another thing you’ll notice is the parking brake
Unlike in an automatic, manual cars don’t have a gear for park
so to park this car all you need to do is pull the parking brake up and for extra safety you leave it in first gear
Now lets start driving
Make sure your seat adjusted so that you are in a comfortable position
and you can push the clutch all the way in
and make sure your mirrors are properly adjusted as well
In order to turn on your car, you need to push in the clutch all the way in and either push the button or turn the key
Some cars will actually require you to push both the clutch and the brake to get it started
First release the parking brake and to back up you’ll push in the clutch and put the shifter in reverse
Now you slowly let go of the clutch until you feel the car starting to move
At that point you hold it right where it is and and very lightly tap on the gas to get you moving a bit more
If you feel you’re going too fast then push the clutch back in and just feather it out slowly again
When you’re driving in reverse, unless for some weird reason you decide to have a backwards race with someone
you don’t ever want to fully let go of the clutch because that’ll cause you to launch backwards with much more force than you would ever want to
YEEEEEEAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH
Now comes the hardest part about driving a stick
Getting going in first gear
Before you start trembling in fear, don’t worry because we’ve got a secret to make it very easy for you
Make sure you’re in an empty parking lot with lots of space to practice
Okay now do this
Push in the clutch and put the car in first gear
Now WITHOUT touching the gas, slowly let go of the clutch
At a certain point the car will start to move forward and at that point you hold the clutch in place
That point where you are holding the clutch is called the catch or the bite point
This is where the clutch engages the transmission
What you want to do next is give it just a little bit of gas, keeping your RPMs around 1800
and the car will start to move a lot faster
Now you slowly let go of the clutch until your foot is completely off of it
The key here is to SLOWLY let go
If you let go too fast the car will jerk, you might stall
On the other hand, don’t give it too much gas because then you’ll launch the car
To prevent this from happening the ideal RPMs would be around 1800 until you fully let go of the clutch
Once your foot is completely off the clutch and you’ve got the car moving, you should just cruise around the parking lot in first gear
stopping and starting until you get the feel of the catch point
Remember, this is the hardest part about driving stick so be sure to practice this the most
Once you’ve got this down, the rest is a piece of cake
Now for changing gears
So generally first gear is used only at very low speeds
such as pulling out of your mom's garage and parking lots
Once the RPMs hit around 3500, you’ll want to push in the clutch and pull down the shifter into second gear
Be sure to let off the gas when you push the clutch in
Once you’re in second gear you slowly let go of the clutch while giving it gas at the same time
just as you did to get started
If you’re able to go this then you’ve officially learned how to drive a stick
because the rest of the gears work the exact same way
Once you’ve got enough practice you can go onto the road and try it out yourself
When you're coming to a stop, for now you can just put it in neutral and use the brake
Eventually you’ll want to learn how to downshift and we’ll teach you that in a later video
For now just practice what we’ve taught you and congratulations
You’ve learned how to drive a stick and go impress all your friends
If this video helped you out make sure to like it and subscribe to GuysWithRides
If you guys want to see something explained better or want to see us post a video about downshifting
just comment below and we’ll do it right away. Thanks A lot, Later YouTube!