driving manual = Easy to learn..but hard to master

take your time and take it easy like someone said earlier. and hope you have a good coach sitting shotgun

 

sorry to be but BiFfMaN you avatar is tight! Id like to see that on 8.5x11 paper

 

Learning how to drive a manual car is easier than it use to be. In your first few tries you'll most likely kill the car (i'm making some assumptions here). That's okay, the car is going to be fine and, likewise, you too.

1.) Ask a family/friend/relative (who does know how to drive a manual car) to get assist you in getting the car into a flat clearing; a cul-de-sac or empty parking lot, both works well.

The next step is getting into the driver's seat, with the engine off and gear in neutral. You want the engine off just in case you feel finicky and accidentally slip into gear that way you won't go launching off unexpectedly.

2.) Now that you are in neutral you want to simply work the clutch pedal. Pressing/depressing the clutch pedal for a few minutes to warm up your leg and get a rough feel for it. This can be tiresome on your left leg for the first day or two, especially if you've never driven a manual car before.

I remember learning how to drive clutch on a '93 civic, and man I swear, the clutch pedal travel was rediculously long as well as the throw between shifts. Being 5'5" I had to literally have the seat all the way up and tip-toe to do so; it was ugly.

3.) So now you have a rough feel for the clutch pedal go ahead and start the engine (You want to press the clutch all the way down then fire up the engine, it's a good practice). Make sure you are still in neutral or your car will jerk forward and cut-off when you engage the clutch.

4.) With the engine on and an open area in front of you, again, press down on the clutch pedal then put the gear-shifter into 1st gear (to the left and up) firmly. You might feel a little notch, sometimes refered to as gating, but it should be smooth as the travel of the shifter comes to an end.

5.) Slowly engage the clutch; meaning you let your feet off of the pedal. Again, do this slowly until you feel the car starting to move. Like any girl, you'll know when she's ready. This is when you want to feed her some gas. Lightly tap the gas pedal, and again it doesn't take much so gently-does-the-trick. Not enough gas and the engine will cut off if you engage the clutch too much in 1st. Therefore, play in 1st until you think you're comfortable.

FYI, 1st gear is never that smooth even after you engage it so don't worry if you're bobbing around even though your rpm is 1.5 - 3k; it's meant for your car to start and not for cruising.

6.) The most difficult part is already over (until you start learning how to start on hills). Having mastered 1st , you want to start going into the other gears. Cruise around the parking lot going 15-20 mph or less if you're in a cul-de-sac. You can be in 3rd at the most when going 15-20 mph (preferably 2nd), anything higher and you'll bog-down the engine.

Good for you. Go ahead and slow down the car to a stop and start over. 1, 2, 3, 2, 1, 0, 1, 2, 3, 3, 3, 3, 2, 1, 0. You don't have to follow the previous sequence, simply work your way until you feel you're comfortable enough to start her up and get her going. Like any good girl, if you listen to her you'll get the most out of it; romance her a little if you have to .

7.) Being comfortable in 1st through 3rd gear is key to safe driving when you're with other motorist. With enough practice (1-2 days) you should have a good feel, not necessarily firm, but enough to get on public roads safely. Again, you want to pick out a road that has very little traffic.

The best place to start is from your very own drive way. Start and warmup your car and merge into traffic (if there's any, hopefully none though ) and drive her around the block a few times. Residential roads have speed limits of 25mph, so you should be able to get up to 3rd and potentially 4th if it's a long stretch of road. You should be able to perform all the basic traffic maneuvers without much stress.

8.) When you feel you're ready to drive in traffic do so. Start with light traffic and work your way up. Likewise, with 4th through 6th gear (if you have an MR, like me ) you can easily get into those when going highway to freeway speeds (45-65 mph).

But at this point, having a good feeling of 1st gear through 3rd, the rest is a peace of cake. You can even skip gears if you want to now.

Best of luck to you