Instructions on Driving a Stick Shift
A stick shift refers to a standard transmission. Driving a vehicle with a standard transmission is completely different than driving a vehicle with an automatic transmission. The standard transmission is made up of gears and linkages that require the stick shift to move the gears. The gears inside of the standard transmission require the assistance of the clutch to be able to shift. Most stick shifts come equipped with a three or four gear standard transmission depending on the make and model of the vehicle.
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Instructions
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Sit in the driver seat and lock the seat belt around you.
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Locate the three pedals on the floorboard. The pedal on the far right is the gas pedal. The pedal in the middle is the brake pedal and the pedal on the far left is the clutch pedal. The stick shift can only shift the gears if the clutch is pushed inward.
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Inspect the diagram around the stick shift. The diagram will give you the proper shifting directions through the gears. The diagram will be numbered either one through three or one through four. The numbers represent the different gears. The diagram also will show the locations of each gear.
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Push the clutch completely to the floor with your left foot and hold the brake pedal down with your right foot. Move the stick shift to the first gear location on the diagram.
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Crank the engine and slowly allow the clutch pedal to come back up until the vehicle begins to move forward. Once the vehicle begins to move forward, remove your right foot from the brake pedal and slowly push the gas pedal in while slowly releasing the clutch pedal. The vehicle will continue to move forward.
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Continue driving the vehicle in first gear until the RPMs on the dash gauge reaches 3,000 RPMs. Remove your foot from the gas pedal and press the clutch completely to the floor. Move the stick shift to the second gear location on the diagram. Slowly release the clutch while applying the gas pedal at the same time.
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Drive the vehicle until the RPMs reach 3,000 again. Remove your foot from the gas pedal and press the clutch completely to the floor. Move the stick shift to the third gear location on the diagram. Slowly release the clutch while applying the gas pedal at the same time.
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Drive the vehicle until the RPMs once again reach 3,000. Remove your foot from the gas pedal and press the clutch completely to the floor. Move the stick shift to the fourth gear location on the diagram. Slowly release the clutch while applying the gas pedal.
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Press the brake pedal and the clutch down at the same time when coming to a stop. Slowly release the clutch and apply the gas pedal to accelerate the vehicle again to 3,000 RPMs before shifting through the gears.
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Press the clutch and the brake pedal in at the same time and move the stick shift to the "R" position, to reverse the direction of the vehicle. Slowly release the clutch while slowly applying the gas pedal to accelerate the vehicle in reverse.
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Tips & Warnings
It always is best to practice shifting through the gears with the vehicle parked before attempting to drive the stick shift. If at all possible, have a friend or a family member come along with you the first time you drive a stick shift.
Make sure that the clutch is completely pressed to the floor before shifting the stick shift. If not, this can cause the gears to grind against one another and cause premature failure of the gears inside of the transmission.
Do not drive down the road with your foot on the clutch pedal. This also can result in premature failure of the clutch.
