Driving stick: A short(ish) guide
 

After seeing so many threads on driving 'stick' and the same common errors cropping up, I couldn't help but write this guide. This guide is not for people who want to be 'cool' or people who drive with one hand on the top of the steering wheel with the seat reclined. This guide is how to drive safely with the maximum level of control. For each point I will outline why the recommendation is what it is. I am writing from the perspective of someone in the UK, where to drive a manual (stick shift) you have to pass a specific test proving competency. If you pass your driving test with an automatic you may not drive a manual car. Additionally the vast majority of cars on the roads are manual, and most people I talk to prefer manual because automatics don't shift 'smooth enough' and pick the 'wrong gear'. In short, only relatively recently have automatics been able to match the average UK driver with a manual gearbox in terms of smoothness - which is the goal.

So let's get to it. You want to learn how to drive stick shift. Good on you! The first step is to forget everything you know about automatics, the knowledge doesn't transfer. Next is to find a professional instructor and have them teach you. Make sure the instructor is genuinely professional, you can check with a simple question: 'How do you do a hill start?'. If they mention the handbrake (e-brake) you're good to go.

However, here are the important notes so you know what's going on. I'll describe in terms of 'best practice' as it taught in the UK under government guidance. I'll mention alternatives that are equally as valid, or at least safe.

#1 Initial notes
When driving your focus should be on smooth. Anything that's jerky is wrong (or at least could do with improvement), you should be in total control at all times and it should be super smooth. Don't worry about clutch wear. Everyone worries about this, and you really shouldn't. You'll only get undue clutch wear if you a) drive aggressively, b) leave the clutch on the biting point for a long time, c) dump the clutch with relatively high revs. Think of the clutch like sand paper against your skin. If you're gentle, the sandpaper won't leave a mark. If you suddenly push hard against the sandpaper you're going to bleed. Finally, never, never, never leave your hand resting on the gear lever. Resting your hand puts pressure on the gearbox and you'll start wearing things out (most likely syncros).

#2 Setting off on a flat surface (this should be done on an empty road / car park when learning)
Depress the clutch and shift into first, then gently raise the clutch until you get to the 'biting point'. This is the point where the clutch starts to engage with the engine and the car will start to creep forward. Very, very gently raise the clutch slowly until it's all the way up. You will be driving very slowly.

Once you've done this a few times, start applying a little throttle once you've hit the biting point. Over time you'll start to get the hang of it and you'll be able to set off with throttle and speed.

One good exercise to do is to play around with the biting point in a car part. Raise the clutch to the biting point and just start slowly raising and lowering the clutch to get a feel of how 'deep' the biting point actually is and how it affects the car's movement. You shouldn't be applying any throttle whatsoever while trying this out.

Reasons: When learning you don't want to use throttle because you're still learning the movement of the clutch. You will not stall the car in first with no throttle if you're gentle with the clutch. Once you're familiar with the clutch you can then move on to the throttle which adds an extra layer of coordination.

#3 Shifting
While moving, depress the clutch, select the next gear (up or down), then slowly raise the clutch. As you pass through the biting point be a little more careful. With time you'll get to know how fast you can be with the clutch. It depends on speed, gear and revs. It seems difficult now, but within a few hours you'll master this. Don't try to be clever and start blipping the throttle or anything like that - the gearbox is perfectly capable of performing smooth shifts if you're smooth with the clutch. Over time you might find that applying a little throttle at certain times is necessary, this is OK. Just remember smooth & gentle is the goal.

Reasons: When learning you want to minimise what you're learning in one go. By not worrying about 'advanced' shifting techniques, you can focus on the most important skill - smooth shifting without using clever tricks. If you can be smooth without using tricks, when you add the tricks you'll be crazy smooth & capable.

#4 Deceleration
A lot of people have a tendency to 'coast' when slowing down. This means either shifting into neutral, or depressing the clutch. DO NOT DO THIS. When coasting you have less control over the car, and fuel usage will be higher. When you decelerate in gear, fuel is cut to the engine so you use no fuel. If you shift to neutral or use the clutch, fuel is required to keep the car idling. The current official stance is to apply the brakes and keep the car in gear, and then depress the clutch just before you 'labour' the engine. Labouring an engine is very bad, you know you're labouring the engine because it'll sound rough, the car will shake a little, etc. Basically dip the clutch at around 1,500rpm.

The gears are for accelerating, not decelerating. So you only shift when you need to accelerate. Ie. when slowing down you stay in gear, and dip the clutch at the last second. When you need to speed back up you shift into the applicable gear (1-6) and then accelerate away.

Alternative: When decelerating, shift down through the gears as you slow down. You won't need to use any throttle when doing this. The drawback of this method is you'll gain additional clutch wear from the shifts, and extra fuel used to idle the engine when you depress the clutch. This method is used in racing, and there are very good reasons for it. In street use, however, it is redundant beyond your own personal pleasure.

Another alternative: When decelerating, when you have to depress the clutch leave it depressed, but shift down through the gears as your speed drops. The idea is to be in the correct gear for acceleration if you need to. This is actually a pretty good method because you're ready for emergency acceleration - but you do need to know how engine speed matches gear speed so is harder for beginners.

Reasons: Most reasons are mentioned in the text. Ultimately when the engine is driving the wheels the car is most stable, when the engine is decoupled it's less stable.

#5 At a stop
Best practice when stopped for longer than a few seconds is to put the gearbox into neutral, and apply the handbrake (e-brake). For shorter stops, 1st should be selected and the clutch depressed.

Reasons: A car in neutral with the handbrake applied will not go anywhere no matter what. The big reason is people slowly get tired in their clutch foot and raise it a little. At worst you'll go into the back of the person in front, at best you'll get undue clutch wear (yes even if you're far away from the biting point). The other reason is if someone hits you from behind. If the car is in neutral with the brake on, you'll roll forward and stop. If you're in gear with the clutch depressed the shock will cause you to take your feet off the pedals and your car will now run away until you regain your composure and stop the car. Chances are you'll hit something before you regain your composure.

#6 Hill Starts
Ahh the big one, that a lot of people get wrong in the US, but nowhere else it seems. Now remember the idea is to always be in control of your car. What do I mean by that? I mean that if something goes wrong, you won't crash into anything. So here's how you do a hill start:

1) Apply the handbrake (e-brake)
2) Gently raise the clutch to the start of the biting point
3) Apply a little throttle, and start raising the clutch at the same rate you release the handbrake (e-brake).
4) Continue slowly releasing everything until you're moving forward
5) If you start to roll back immediately pull up on the handbrake (e-brake) and depress the clutch. Return to step 2.
6) Congrats, you've done a controlled hill start!

Step 3 is the hardest and a lot of people have trouble with it, and would rather just go for the biting point and a load of revs. This is unsafe, you aren't in control and here's why:

1) You have to be super quick & almost perfect, otherwise you WILL roll back. With the proper method you always have a brake applied until you're moving, so you cannot roll back no matter what.
2) If you stall the car, you will either roll back (panic and depress the clutch), or you'll put a great deal of stress into the gearbox as it catches you (panic and raise the clutch)
3) Using high revs will cause you to shoot forward at a less controlled speed (proper method you have total control over speed at all times) or cause extra wear on the clutch (remember sandpaper).

The proper method should be undertaken slowly until you have confidence. This is why it's the proper method, you have unlimited time and total control. The handbrake (e-brake) is a normal brake it's not on/off, it's progressive like your footbrake. Be gentle, take it slow and if you roll back apply the handbrake some more. You shouldn't roll back whatsoever if done properly.

Hill starts are scary, even people with decades of experience will be nervous when it comes to a steep hill in traffic. It is normal to be scared. The important thing is you take it slow and keep control at all times. Over time a hillstart will go from taking maybe as much as 30 seconds to just 1 second. You will stall when learning, this is OK. If your hand is on the handbrake you won't roll, and you can just try again. Practice makes perfect and try not to get frustrated.

Later on when you're really familiar with stick shift you'll be able to do a hill start on shallow hills without having to go through the full process. You will be able to just go straight to the biting point and go up the hill. Technically this isn't correct but everyone does it. Just remember to have your hand somewhere near the handbrake should you accidentally make a mistake. You'll be slightly panicked, so having your foot near the foot brake and your hand near the handbrake means you're probably going to get one or both brakes applied before you roll. Steep hills always require the proper method to be carried out unless you're a moron trying to show off 'elite skillz' - you're not a moron so don't do that.

Reasons: Mostly mentioned in the text. But basically the idea is to be in full control, not a sudden quick movement that if you get wrong you'll roll backwards into someone. If things go wrong you should just remain stationary, the proper method ensures this is the case.

#7 Setting off down hill
This probably should have been put earlier, but most people kind of pick it up on their own. It's the same as setting off on a flat surface, but you don't need as much throttle. Additionally you should probably have your foot over the brake rather than the throttle just in case.

Reasons: Pretty obvious...

#8 That's it!
When learning stick shift, it's going to be scary and that's ok. Just remember to build good habits now, so that you're confident in the future. Don't try to be 'cool', or listen to the guy down the road who drives 'stick' with one hand on the wheel and one hand on the gear stick. Get professional instruction and do things the right way first time. With a solid foundation you can move on to doing bigger and better things like heel & toe downshifts. The point is in normal driving you don't need to do anything clever to be smooth - manuals are so good nowadays that the advanced techniques just aren't necessary beyond your own personal enjoyment.

Good luck, and enjoy your closer connection to your car!

You're teaching one method of starting on a hill while ignoring the clutch biting method.

The hand-brake method of stopping (and conversely starting) on a hill can be completely done without if you practice feeling out what is called the clutch biting point. This is the point in which the clutch begins to become engaged.

Tutorial 1 - Master feeling out the biting point


1. Find a hill that is not too steep and in an area where you can be stopped upon it for long periods of time.

2. Position and stop the car on the hill using your foot brake.

3. With your clutch pedal pressed in, put the car in first gear while holding the car with your foot brake.

4. WITHOUT RELEASING YOUR FOOT BRAKE, slowly begin releasing the clutch pedal until you start to feel the clutch 'biting'- you'll feel the RPMs drop as if you're about to kill it and feel the drivetrain tensing up. Push the clutch pedal in after you find this point.

5. Repeat step 4 until you are confident of your feeling for the biting point.

--

Tutorial 2 - Using the clutch biting point to prevent the car from rolling backwards on an incline

Before you begin, make sure you are comfortable with being able to feel and bite the clutch.

1. Position and stop the car on a hill with your foot on the brake, in first gear, with the clutch pedal pressed in.

2. Let the clutch out just enough to get to the biting point, but not far enough to where the RPMs begin to drop

3. Release the foot brake. If done right, you'll still be stopped and not sliding backwards.

4.Rinse and repeat until comfortable

Hope this helps

:clap::clap::clap:

#1 most valuable statement made in a while on this topic.
I get sick & tired listening to "kids" with a few months of stick experience trying to explain to other "kids" why you need to double clutch, heel toe, or rev match, etc., etc.

Just stick to the basics for the first year and develop some good muscle memory before trying any of those other techniques.

P.S. joined today, one post, claims from the UK, immediately makes a point saying, "find an instructor and ask him about starting from a hill.. if he mentions handbrake then you're good to go" LOLLL

... ten bucks says you're @stonenewt :lol:

I'm afraid not, but the thread did prompt me to finally join. To be honest I mostly lurk around the technical threads where there are some seriously clever people doing some very clever things.

The hill start is much like proper trigger discipline. The end result is the same, but one method is considerably safer than the other.

Your method lacks the safety net should you mess up the operation. At some point you have to move your foot from the brake to the throttle. If you stall the car, it will roll back before you get on the brake if the hill is sufficiently steep. Additionally a lot of cars (this one included) do not have the torque to hold the car on a sufficiently steep hill at idle revs, on those hills you either have to be super quick or you will roll back a certain distance.

I expect you'll disagree and it is of course a free country. I am also free to disagree with you! I've said what I've wanted to say, which is to take things slow, always ensure you have full control and don't do clever things until you've mastered the basics.

I just lol'd really hard when you said, "find a driving instructor and ask him about hill starts... if he mentions handbrakes, you're good to go!"

There's no reason a newbie can master finding the clutch biting point after a little bit of practice. I suppose in the UK they like to do things differently, though.

P.S.S I still think you're stonenewt and will hail you as such until you provide a pic of your car with a slip of paper that says "boogle" next to it. Inside the car. :)

I'll disagree here - while I don't think your method is bad or wrong, I don't think the alternative is either, not just because I use it every day :). I'm perfectly in control of my car when coasting to a stop in neutral - fully in control of the brakes, steering and can be in proper gear in a fraction of a second if acceleration is needed.

Regarding fuel consumption I'll have to say I don't believe you, but don't have any proof to offer otherwise.

Overall, I would say your method might be best for beginners as they may be unable to find the proper gear quickly enough should they need to accelerate.

Eh. I see your point, but in my 32 years on this planet have never seen anybody pull the handbrake at a stoplight in any country. I think that's a little safety overkill, and even your handbrake may not save you from hitting the car in front of you, depending on proximity and speed of the impact from behind.

Like before, I think this may be an ideal safety-blanket method for beginners, but not necessary for someone with significant experience. When I was taught to drive manual, my dad took me out to an empty parking lot that had a moderate incline. We practiced starting out on a flat surface as you said before with the clutch to get the car idling along, and once that was mastered, we tried the hill. Even as a beginner, the handbrake would not have offered much assistance - it's more about knowing the point where the clutch engages to hold the car and then applying throttle to move forward.

I've never had to use the handbrake on a hill start, or encountered a hill that would even make me consider doing so and have driven extensively in the mountains.

Aside from those two, I would say generally good advice. Main point is to find someone patient with significant experience to teach you, and don't expect to master it in a short amount of time. You may be able to mechanically get yourself going and be successful, but it will take time for it to all become second nature.

while most of the read did not provide any new info for myself, i believe beginners could take a few ideas from this. i drive similar to OP and only ever used the handbrake while starting on a hill.

when sitting at a traffic light with cars stacked behind and or in front i am guilty of pulling the handbrake and resting my legs being lazy. it seems i tend to use that function of my car a little more than others in daily driving.

Well, this post has one major benefit: I'll send the link to my daughter who currently lives in the UK, where the driving test is a real witch to pass. She says they will fail you if you put the gear in neutral and coast, so I'm sure these hints will be helpful (at least in the UK).

I won't argue with any of these points, but there's one point I just can't buy:

I've been driving stick for 40 years, and while I don't claim to be a professional driver, it's just hard to believe that resting your hand on the gear shift will have any effect on the syncros.

No heel-toe, not interested

As they very well should, for such a ghastly error.

Actually it will, in fact on the XV there have been several people that had problems that were able to be traced directly to doing that. While I do it myself I try to be conscious of not actually having any weight on the hand and with this car that's easy because you can rest your forearm on the console.

Yup, 30 years of driving stick and I will frequently do this. My wife calls me a wussy every time :sigh:

In this car with the fully electric steering you will have control there but in most cars where the steering boost is due to hydraulic pressure gained from engine revs the steering is less accurate and you need to use more strength to steer. This equates to a lower level of control. Most of us have adapted to it and don't consider it a problem but technically it is the wrong thing to do. Same with the brakes, hydraulic pressure falls off with lower rpm's.

He's right about the fuel consumption, minor issue but it's there.

I often pull the brake at a light just so I don't zone out and roll a bit. I did that once in my old Willys Jeep and rolled into the truck behind me. That cost $600 for a grill and headlight :bonk:

Congrats! You're a pro ;)

I applaud you for your effort but there is some bad information in here, in an otherwise good post!




First issue: If you can’t start on a hill, then you’re not a pro! Not all vehicles have a hand brake. For example my Ford Ranger uses a foot parking brake, so the only method for hill starts is to hold the vehicle with your regular brake and find the bite point and feather the clutch in while feathering the brake out, then proceed to the gas, you “MIGHT” role back a little but you should be ok if it’s less than a couple of inches.


This is the method is probably the best for a newbie. Brakes are cheap while clutches are expensive, not to mention if you miss a gear and choose the wrong one, it could be fatal to your engine. The bolded part is a false statement. The car is only unstable while applying abrupt accelerating, decelerating, and/or huge steering inputs, it doesn’t care if the clutch is in while coasting or out when cruising. The biggest upset is when transitioning from acceleration to deceleration, and steering i.e- car rear end steps out while turning (slippery surface), so the best thing to do as a newbie is to push the clutch in and correct with your steering – avoid the brakes and gas at this point! New modern stability control systems do this for you but it doesn’t hurt to push the clutch in while it figures out what needs to be done. Then once straight and in control again, slowly feed the clutch out and carry on.

QUOTE=boogle;2026730] #5 At a stop
Best practice when stopped for longer than a few seconds is to put the gearbox into neutral, and apply the handbrake (e-brake). For shorter stops, 1st should be selected and the clutch depressed.

Reasons: A car in neutral with the handbrake applied will not go anywhere no matter what. The big reason is people slowly get tired in their clutch foot and raise it a little. At worst you'll go into the back of the person in front, at best you'll get undue clutch wear (yes even if you're far away from the biting point). The other reason is if someone hits you from behind. If the car is in neutral with the brake on, you'll roll forward and stop. If you're in gear with the clutch depressed the shock will cause you to take your feet off the pedals and your car will now run away until you regain your composure and stop the car. Chances are you'll hit something before you regain your composure. [/QUOTE]


This is whole paragraph is bad advice!
1) You should never be in neutral at a stop with the clutch out! That is a driving test failure in Canada! However people do it to prevent “wear” on their release bearing, which is a consumable part – like brake pads.
2) You should NEVER use your parking brake at an intersection or while stopped unless traffic is completely stopped due to major accident or something else to that effect.
3) If you’re in gear and clutch depressed and someone hits you from behind you should be on the brakes anyways and worse case should be that you stall the car!

QUOTE=boogle;2026730] #6 Hill Starts
Ahh the big one, that a lot of people get wrong in the US, but nowhere else it seems. Now remember the idea is to always be in control of your car. What do I mean by that? I mean that if something goes wrong, you won't crash into anything. So here's how you do a hill start:

1) Apply the handbrake (e-brake)
2) Gently raise the clutch to the start of the biting point
3) Apply a little throttle, and start raising the clutch at the same rate you release the handbrake (e-brake).
4) Continue slowly releasing everything until you're moving forward
5) If you start to roll back immediately pull up on the handbrake (e-brake) and depress the clutch. Return to step 2.
6) Congrats, you've done a controlled hill start!

Step 3 is the hardest and a lot of people have trouble with it, and would rather just go for the biting point and a load of revs. This is unsafe, you aren't in control and here's why:

1) You have to be super quick & almost perfect, otherwise you WILL roll back. With the proper method you always have a brake applied until you're moving, so you cannot roll back no matter what.
2) If you stall the car, you will either roll back (panic and depress the clutch), or you'll put a great deal of stress into the gearbox as it catches you (panic and raise the clutch)
3) Using high revs will cause you to shoot forward at a less controlled speed (proper method you have total control over speed at all times) or cause extra wear on the clutch (remember sandpaper).

The proper method should be undertaken slowly until you have confidence. This is why it's the proper method, you have unlimited time and total control. The handbrake (e-brake) is a normal brake it's not on/off, it's progressive like your footbrake. Be gentle, take it slow and if you roll back apply the handbrake some more. You shouldn't roll back whatsoever if done properly. [/QUOTE]

This is all again bad advice. Someone has already posted about another method which is probably a better way! Using your clutch and brake is not un-safe in fact it’s probably the safest but takes the most skill. Like I said above not all vehicles have a hand brake. Some are actually now electric, so yes in fact they are “on/off” switches! Anyways it was pretty good post but it had some misinformation in it as well.

Closing remarks, I like your post its pretty complete and like that you focus on teaching the starting off method without gas, this is the best way to learn the biting point, and will become invaluable when performing hill starts. Cheers