How to Teach Yourself to Drive a Manual Transmission

Teaching yourself to drive a manual transmission is one of the most difficult tasks you can undertake. I learned to drive a manual transmission from a friend and thought I would never be able to do it. I remember buying my first car, a 1993 Honda Civic. When the car arrived at the dealer it was a 5 speed car! I had no idea how to drive it, but was actually able to get it back to my apartment. After a month I was an expert. Here's how I did it:

Difficulty: Challenging

Instructions

1. ASK a friend to drive you to a local school yard where you can teach yourself to drive a manual transmission.

2. SWITCH seat with your friend and ask him/her to read these instructions to you.

3. WAIT before starting the car and press down the clutch with your left foot. The clutch will be the pedal on the far left. At the same time put the gearshift into the neutral position.

4. RELAX when driving because when teaching yourself to drive a manual transmission there is no pressure of traffic.

5. START the car.

6. CHANGE the gearshift to first gear position --- go left and then up.

7. ASK your friend to repeat any of the steps we have covered thus far. Make certain you are comfortable with the initial steps of teaching yourself to drive a manual transmission (5 speed).

8. NOD your head "yes" if you are ready to proceed. If not, tell your friend right now to repeat any of the steps we have already covered.

9. PRESS down on the foot brake and take off the no parking lever.

10. RELEASE the foot brake.

11. RELEASE the clutch slowly with your left foot and give the car gas with your right foot. If you do this too quickly, the car will shut off.

12. DO not panic if the car stops. Simply start all over again.

13. NOTICE that in order to change gears you need to move the gearshift to second, third, fourth and fifth gears.

14. LOOK at the gearshift and notice the numbers that indicate where to move the handle.

15. ACCELERATE the car by releasing the clutch, changing gears and giving the car gas.

16. PRACTICE this until you are comfortable driving a stick shift.

[botticelli728]

on 10/24/2009 This is something that has eluded me for a long time. I'm ready to give it another shot. 5*

[plantguru]

on 10/19/2009 I feel that first changing the gears from the passenger seat while your friend drives and clutches helps a lot. Or just get a great deal on a manual transmission car and learn while drivin it home (NOT RECOMMENDED!!!)but thats what I did and after about a month I perfected it. Now I wont go back to a car with automatic transmission.... WEll unless I get a great deal on it LOL

[ljstraight]

on 10/18/2009 Great lesson! 5 stars