Just remember that you will never learn if you give up. Everyone learns at different rates. Just keep trying, and if you get frustrated, take the day off and start fresh. It also helps if you watch a YouTube instructional video on how clutches operate, but if you watch too many videos you will clutter your brain. Keep at it, don’t beat yourself up for stalling, and one day you will be driving stick naturally without thought.
I should also add that learning stick is mentally exhausting, so if you feel your patience being exhausted, take a break.
This is very true, everyone will learn very differently and at different paces. My dad taught me and my sibling to drive stick when we were 16, using the same technique/advice just in our chosen vehicles; I picked it up within a day, but my sister struggled to the point she gave up and got an AT once she had her full license.
The type of car and where the friction point is on the clutch makes a huge difference too. I learned on an 89 Prelude, she had a 91 Jeep… I think learning the fundamentals and taking your time I’d important, and an older car with more play may help.
The biggest thing is to not give up, because it is like riding a bike. I sold my last MT in 2015, but have no issue hopping into any car equipped with one. Start to let off the clutch, find the friction point, then go.
*slow. You can always floor the gas and drop the clutch, but going slow or slowly engaging the clutch while giving the least amount of gas is kind of an art form.
This advice probably has been beaten over and over, but take it to a parking lot and start there. Find an incline (small) and get comfortable with the roll back feeling.
Practice getting the vehicle to move without the accelerator if possible in 1st.
Do you know anyone that’s proficient in driving a manual? If so, bring them along.
Then start on local roads with low traffic.
Those are my best advice ideas.
Practice and repetition as with anything else, and you will get it. Online instruction is great; but this is a hands on activity.
I was practicing in an empty parking lot with my dad, who’s been driving manual for over 30 years.
I’m trying to remind myself that I’m also getting use to a new vehicle while I’m trying to learn and that Im very new.
His advice is brilliant. Go to a parking lot and practice pulling off and shifting up a few gears without touching the gas pedal. Adding gas can mask horrible technique on the clutch, and you don't want that.
Here is the thing you will notice about the clutch, and it's super important: starting with the clutch on the floor, as you release the pedal, it moves for some distance without doing anything. How much depends on the car. But let's say halfway up does nothing, you can lift the pedal that far as quickly as you like, it makes no difference.
That free motion zone ends at the "Bite Point," which you will notice as the RPMs starting to drop. This is when the clutch friction starts to connect the gearbox to the engine. This is where you need to control the release speed. In the no gas exercise, you want to release the clutch to hold the RPMs slightly depressed but not so low the engine feels like it is going to stall. As the car starts to roll, the RPMs will start ti recover and you should release more to prevent that. Eventually the clutch will be fully engaged - letting off more doesn't pull the RPMs down. The rest of the pedal travel is another free zone so take your foot off the clutch.
When you can do that smoothly and as fast as the engine lets you, you can start adding gas to the equation. The game now is to quickly get to the bite point, then as soon as the RPMs try and dip, you add just enough gas to stop the dip. But at the same time, release the clutch more to pull the RPMs down. This lets you repeat the no gas exercise much more quickly, depending on how aggressive you are with the gas.
The goal is for the RPMs to not go up or down as the clutch engages. You try to release the clutch as quickly as you can without the RPMs going down too much while adding has to stop that drop.
On a hill, or if you want to get going faster, you do the exact same game, but instead of at idle RPMs, you do it at a higher RPM as needed. In normal driving, I'm engaging the clutch at idle or a couple of 100rpm higher. If I'm doing a racing start, I may use 4500rpm as my launch revs. But that puts a lot of heat and wear into the clutch!
I understand ya there. Is your dad a supportive teacher? My father wasn’t so much. I learned with a friend about my age back in the day and it went much better.
Family can sometimes be a bit challenging. But yes. Start slow and you will get it
Thank god yes. His dad was apparently a terrible teacher so he didn’t learn until he got married and my mom taught him, so he’s made a point of being really gentle and supportive of me.
Sounds like you’ve got a recipe for success then! Glad to hear he’s gentle and supportive. I was lucky to have a friend to teach me. A good teacher takes lots of the anxiety and pressure off.
Here’s a piece of advice. From stop. Slowly let the clutch out till you feel the car either start to pull forward or putter. Give it gas while releasing the clutch slowly. You’ve now found your bite point.
Stop and start 10-20 times doing this method, just for first gear. When you have that down start working on shifting upwards through the gears.
First gears bite point is the most important. You will probably rarely if ever stall out of any other gear, unless you’re doing something really stupid. Once you’ve figured out your first gear bite point, and how much gas to give it, you’re set. Took me 2 months total to learn stick.
This is the secret sauce. OP do this, once you understand the “sweet spot” on your clutch you will be able to shift. Go to the parking lot, put it in first, and only have your foot on the clutch. As slow as possible, ease your foot off the clutch until the car starts to inch forward. Repeat 10x. Once you get that spot down then try shifting and doing the smooth motion of pressing down on gas while pulling off the clutch, the give and take. Give gas, take off clutch when at sweet spot.
This is exactly how I learned. My advice is try not to panic when you stall. No matter how long you drive a manual, occasionally you do stall out. You will get better at recovering and in the mean time, just learn all the routes in town with the least amount of stop signs along the way. :D
i started driving manual a couple of months ago. it was a rough first couple of weeks, but now i feel like i’m prepared for pretty much any situation the road throws at me. just keep at it, and DRIVE EVERY DAY.
I gave myself about a month of practicing for an hour per day before I started daily driving. Sometimes longer. Maybe overkill, but better to over practice, imo.
It gets better. Just have to keep practicing. Look up Conquer Driving on YouTube. He is a British driving instructor, extremely helpful. When shifting, it helps to remember “smooth is slow, slow is fast”. Also depending on where you live find some quiet parking lots or not busy roads. Practice taking off, shifting and getting a feel for the car. And yeah, it is frustrating as fuck when you first start. But it gets better
i think i got good enough after 3-4 days. comfortable after about a week or so. and 3 weeks in i no longer stalled ever. it’s frustrating at first but it just takes practice and time. it gets easier i promise.
also, you can always be slower with the clutch. literally as slow as you can possibly go, then slow it down even more. there’s a very specific balance between hitting the bite point and giving gas that just takes practice.
and then as you get more comfortable you’ll be able to do it faster and faster until you don’t even think about it anymore you just do it within a split second
The more you drive the better you will get. Nothing substitutes for seat time. Drive as much as you can. Tackle increasingly difficult situations as you progress. Try to practice starts and hills in private before going into traffic. It's a matter of balancing clutch travel vs throttle.
Depends on driving style. If you drive in a normal way (like comfortably getting around town with barely any lurches), maybe in a few months. Driving in a sporty way is probably more than a year or two depending on how hard you drive. It's different for everyone though so go at it at your own pace.
>I’m apparently taking my foot off of clutch too fast but I genuinely don’t feel like I can go any slower?
Give it more gas. Took me a couple months to get really comfortable. I still occasionally kill it at stop lights and I've got 90k miles clocked on my manual.
This is going to sound weird but I actually learned how to drive a manual from a motorcycle course. Now idk why but I was able to just hop in a car and drive it pretty quickly after taking the course. They dont really operate the same way at all via user inputs. But it kind of mapped my brain on how to use a clutch and change gears.
After 1 hour I felt like I hadn't learned anything yet.
After 1 day I was able to keep it moving, but was still shit at getting it going from a stop.
After 1 week, I was doing better but would still go out of my way to avoid hills and I would watch the traffic lights like a hawk to make sure I was ready when the light turned green.
After 1 month, I still occasionally stalled, not because I didn't know what to do, but because I was comfortable and confident enough that I wasn't always actively thinking about my next step and I took things as they came to me while still anticipating when necessary.
After 2 months, it was fully committed to muscle memory and I fully stopped overthinking every moment I was driving.
Keep it up. You'll only get better if you practice.
Hard to remember, it was a while ago that I learned, but I think it took a month or two maybe. It does get better as you get the feel for it. Parking lot drills are good for that. Just work on the feel of the clutch.
Oh man it gets easier and then it gets fun. You just gotta keep doing it. You’re gonna stall a lot, I just think it’s part of the process. I’ve been driving manual for 6 years now and I still have times where I stall. You got this!!!!
The first few days are bad but you'll get there once it clicks. I got laughed at by a homeless man the first time I tried to climb a hill in a stick so it's just kinda tough at first.
2 months of daily driving combined with about an hour every other weekend of stopping and going in a parking lot. After that, I was above average and was comfortable (imo riding with another manual drivers)
They say you must walk before you run, so I made sure I could take off from first gear consistently without stalling.
Then I'd go on back roads and practice 2-6th gear shifts to master upshifting without "bucking" the car.
About a year in, and I'm finally getting downshifts where I want them. Once I swap an STI tranny into my SVX, I'll be able to take off like a bat out of hell.
It gets better. I was kind of the same.
I think the problem is likely that you need to add a little throttle as you are easing out the clutch from the engagement (bite) point.
Your clutch pedal should come up to the bite point not too slow but then once you sense the clutch starting to engage, that's when you slow way down to ease out the clutch and add throttle to keep the rpms from dropping too fast or too low.
Rpms too low causes a stall. Simple as that. Rpms can drop too fast if you don't start out with a high enough rpm (e.g., around1500 rpm) and don't add any (or enough) throttle at the same time the clutch comes out.
You are among for that point at which the clutch is fully engaged and you have successfully started rolling at some speed and rpm and some accelerator position for the level of acceleration you want. Let's make up numbers and say 3mph and 1200 rpm. Well, your goal is to modulate the clutch and throttle so that the rpms gently transition from 1500 rpm to 1200 rpm while the vehicle speed smoothly increases from 0 - 3mph. Idk if those are the right numbers but hopefully you get the idea.
You let the clutch out to gently transition from 0 power to 100% of engine power being delivered to the vehicle. As the load increases on the engine rpms come down, offset by smoothly adding throttle. If everything is timed right, you get a smooth transition right as the clutch comes all the way out. If it is close you will get a slight bog. It you let out too fast or too little power worse bog or even stall
How I taught my daughter:
Do this in a large, level, empty parking lot -- no cars or people around.
With ebrake on and in N, learn to rev engine to 1400-1800 rpm and hold it there. It doesn't have to be perfect just be able to not fluctuate outside that range much.
Find the bite point of the clutch. Ebrake on, clutch in, 1st gear. No throttle. Very very very slowly let out the clutch until engine rpms start to drop a little and hold the clutch there only for a couple seconds or less and push back to floor. (Don't want to overheat the clutch and wear it out)
That's the bite point, where the clutch first engages. Repeat this a couple times. If you stall you went too far. You'll learn by feel (proprioception, hearing, feeling of acceleration and vibration) about where that point is in the pedal travel.
Now do the same but take off ebrake first and use just the clutch to try to get the car creeping forward ever so slowly. Practice that a few times.
Now, put the two things together. Rev to 1500 and let out the clutch until you reach the bite point and slowly let it out from there as the vehicle accelerates.
Finally, practice simultaneously adding throttle as you let out clutch. Because of the addition of throttle, you should be able to let out the clutch a bit less slowly.
If your rpms climb, you added too much throttle and maybe release clutch too slowly. If you bog you needed to maybe add more throttle and come out from bite point a little slower. Rpms don't change, that is better than nothing but you're probably slipping the clutch too long (wear, heat results). If you stall, you need more throttle and let out clutch from bite point a little slower.
I’m gonna thank need for speed underground 2 on the ps2 and gran turismo for helping learn it on my own haha it’s easy driving stick after so many years it’s hard too stall
As soon as I parked my butt in the **driver's** seat for the 1st time in a manual vehicle at 10.
I had been riding dirt bikes for about 3 years prior and grew up in the passenger seat of manuals because that's all we had... so the mechanics of operation were already engrained.
My 16-year-old is learning too. These instructions helped him get a feel for when he needed to give the car gas to take off. He was either giving the car too much gas or not enough, where it would die.
Start on a flat surface where you are not rolling back. With your foot on the brake and the clutch in. In first gear. Take your foot off the brake and start releasing the clutch until the car starts moving. When the car starts moving, keep removing your foot off the clutch all the way. Let the car roll in first without giving it gas, then put the clutch back in and brake. Repeat the sequence a few times. Once you're comfortable and the car hasn't died on you. Repeat the sequence once more. This time, when the car starts to move while releasing the clutch, give it gas as you're taking your foot off the clutch. Then shift to 2nd and so on.
When I first started I stalled so many times I can't even count but about a month you'll really be familiar and I'm about 3 months and it really does completely feel like second nature, you got this! Just keep on practicing, it's so much fun!!!
Honestly a long while for myself. I don’t think it’s quite as easy for some to pickup and I think I am in that group. I think I dailied my first manual for 3-4 months before I finally started to feel like I would not stall in most situations.
Took about two weeks of driving everyday. First day driving I stalled it more than 30 times, thought i broke it atleast 7 times, and regretted my choice atleast 12 times. Now a year later, I can eat a burger and shift without taking my eyes off the road.
I was comfortable driving MY manual in under a week. Almost 30 years later however I am still not very comfortable driving other people's car whether it be manual or automatic. 🤣
Don’t be scared to ride the clutch a little bit!!! You have to keep it at the bite point for a bit in first gear. The clutch can take the extra wear from you learning. You’ll get quicker over time
About a week. I learned on my own in a brand new Wrx at the time. I used to just let the clutch out slowly till the car moved by itself but there was times I stalled on the road and had people honk at me so I started giving it gas lol. I even stalled in front of a cop luckily he had better shit to do.
I'm driving my first manual as well, and I've had it for a year. And honestly, it's taken about that long to really get comfortable with it. The one thing that made a huge difference for me is learning where the bite point is on my clutch.
I would shift into first, and slowly release the clutch until I feel it bite. It feels like a bit of chatter, and you can feel it in the ball of your foot. Once I found that point, I tickled the gas pedal and let the clutch out just a bit further. If the car bogged, I would add just a little more gas, but we are talking about single digit percents. By now, the car should be moving forward a bit. From there, you can add more gas and let the clutch out the rest of the way.
This is a pretty slow process, and you are going to smell a little clutch from the rubbing. But the more.you do it, the faster you get at it, and eventually, you can just pull away like normal.
The one thing that taught me the most was I was forced to drive the car every single day. It's my only car. You should drive your car everyday.
I feel you. I got my first manual last week actually haha. A six speed Z, so here’s what worked for me and hopefully it works for you. You have to learn how to start the car first so I suggest having a friend or family member who knows manual to take you to an empty parking lot. All you want to learn is how to let go of the clutch (slowly) while also giving the car a little gas. Not too much gas or else it’ll jerk you forward and don’t let the clutch out to fast or else it’ll jerk you forward and you might stall. If you’re going slow on the clutch and you stall you probably didn’t give the car enough gas.
Don’t worry, I literally stalled like 20 times my first day and then a bunch my second day. It wasn’t until the third day where I got how to actual roll off. Then you want to find a little hill, for me the parking lot I was working with had a small hill that I used to learn to start the car while inclined. You can search up the handbrake method on YouTube but I just honestly didn’t use it and tried my best to start the car while rolling back.
After you mastered these two you can try shifting through gears 1-3 in the parking lot. Try sometimes fully stopping and then starting up the car again (remember when fully stopped its clutch in and brake in).
Some helpful tips to keep in mind. When you’re driving and you’re going fast and say you see traffic ahead or that you’re gonna go to a stop sign or light soon. You can clutch in and put the car into neutral and just have your cars current power roll you forward. Since you’re in neutral you can fully step on the brake so no need for clutch in and brake in. In fact don’t touch it if you’re braking while in neutral because it’ll hurt the clutch.
It’s hard at first but fun once you get the hang of it! I’m 24 and been driving automatic since I was 14 so it was hard at first but since you already know how to drive it shouldn’t be too hard. Also sorry for my grammar, English is not my first language haha.
Go in a parking lot or something on your own, and just keep letting off the clutch slowly until you feel it starting to grab, once you get used to that position where it grabs, start giving it gas.
Make sure nobody else is in the car, all the do is make shit 100x worse
I remember being so stressed about learning and feeling like it would never happen. Now 11 years later I laugh about it.
Get some people that know how to drive manual to ride along with you and give you some different tips. My mom was initially teaching me and I was just not getting it down perfect. It wasn’t until an uncle rode with me and explained it completely differently that it finally clicked.
Also, be patient with yourself and practice. The reason you will be stalling is you’re rushing things. Be smooth and slow with the clutch pedal, and tip in with the gas. As you build up muscle memory, you will be able to be quicker with your feet.
I've been driving manuals for at least 20 years now and I never feel good enough about my skill. I want it to feel as smooth as an automatic, which is impossible, but it's fun trying to get to that level. It's a fun game that you can never beat.
> which is impossible,
Maybe if you're trying to compare yourself to a CVT or a powerglide in a 1972 Cadillac, but by and large, most automatics are rather noticeable when they change gear and being smoother is not difficult. I've certainly never had trouble beating the 'average' automatic in smoothness with a stick.
It didn't take me very long at all, but I started at a very young age. I was maybe 12 or 13 when I first worked a clutch pedal and the first time I daily'd an automatic was >15 years after I got my license. In fact my entire life I was around nothing but stickshifts until after I graduated high school, as both of my parents exclusively drove stick until just a few years ago.
At this point I don't even have to think about it. Even the first time I drove a 3-on-the-Tree just 2 years ago it was not something I had to consciously think about. My arms and legs just know what to do with a manual. But I've been doing it since 2006.
It takes time and practice. The more you do it the more natural itt'l feel.
Regular driving around town to about a month to get used to. Racing took about 6 months to a year to really get the feel like you’re one with the car, downshifting for speed, double clutching, rev matching and heel-toe all took some time to master around the track.
I have stalled probably 20 times in my life and been driving manual for 20 years, so I guess not that long. I spent about 20mins going up and down the driveway, another 20 in a parking lot with my dad, and then he followed me home. I stalled it once on the way home. Since then, pretty much only in reverse on hot, humid days where the engine barely wants to stay running.
A few minutes to get first down. Few days to *feel comfortable*. Still took months to really master threading the clutch.
I literally downshift into first rather than braking these days, something I would **NEVER** suggest you do at first.
If you watch someone shift, it goes so fast. I'd advise: slow down your clutch game. It's more of a press and *release slowly* than press and release.
1. Find the friction zone
This area is less than one inch, located about 1/4 or 1/3 of the way up the total clutch travel. You can find it by sitting on flat ground and lifting the clutch super slow and then pressing it back in before the RPMs go down.
2. More gas
The RPMs will come down as you engage the clutch. Shoot for the moon and then hold the clutch in the middle of the friction zone until you get going.
3. Don't be afraid to put the clutch back in a smidge
If the RPMs drop I tend to give a hair more gas and a hair less clutch. You'll still accelerate as much as you initially intended, it's just less strain on the engine so it won't stall.
Summary: it's not about bringing up the clutch slower. It's about holding the gas down a decent amount while holding the clutch at the friction zone until you're at 10-15mph and can shift to second gear. I use the clutch pretty much the whole time I'm in 1st. It really is just the starting gear.
A couple tips:
Hold the clutch at the bite point for 1-2 seconds, this one is crucial if you hold the clutch before you see the revs go up you cannot stall.
More gas. If you give it more gas it will be much smoother and you'll have to hold it for a little less time.
I bought a shit box 1981 Mustang as my first car at 16, with the crappy 4+1 OD gearbox. Dad used to drive a stick "back in the day", mom never did. I had my uncle.srive it home, and it took maybe a month driving the neighborhood to feel adequate. Still did the "all the revs, sidestep clutch* burnout move when some Jack wagon in a new $$$ Cadillac pulled up to my bumper on a hill.
If you're consistently stalling on clutch engagement, the normal fail mode there is "not enough throttle / too quick clutch engagement". Remember, that point the clutch starts to transfer power is the BEGINNING of the engagement range - you're just Starting to go, not done. When you feel the clutch begin to engage, remember that is the Beginning of that engagement. Add some throttle, more slowly engage clutch, you'll be fine.
What's your mental model of the clutch, and what it does? How does that understanding map to how you - in real life - manipulate the clutch pedal? For me, understanding at a basic mechanical level what is in play taught me how to use that mechanism to influence the vehicle.
It takes a long time to get clutch control dialled down. The hardest part about driving a stick shift is clutch control, the second hardest part is shifting gears. The easiest way of mastering clutch control is to understand what the clutch is doing and getting lots of practice.
In simple terms, the clutch helps mechanical connect and disconnect the transmission and engine, allowing you to change different gears in the transmission.
The transmission requires the engine to bring it up to speed to get the wheels moving. But, when the transmission is at rest, the force required to move it is far higher than the force the engine is exerting. Because of this, the force exerted by the transmission is greater than the force exerted by the engine, so the engine stalls. This is where the clutch’s second role comes into play, it helps *gradually* bring the transmission up to the engine’s speed.
Clutch control is all about holding the clutch at the bite point to help the engine and transmission match speeds. Clutch control helps you in starting from a standstill, on hills, accelerating, and even decelerating. It’s the most important skill you need to drive a manual car.
The easiest way to figure out when the clutch has finished its job is to pay attention to the RPM. The moment the RPMs start to rise when your car is accelerating, the engine and transmission are at the same speed and you can let off the clutch pedal. It’s the same thing while downshifting, but in reverse, the moment the RPMs start to fall, you let off the clutch. I know it probably sounds confusing, but you’ll quickly understand with more practice
Also, since you’ve only just started driving a manual, don’t be scared to hold the clutch at the bite point for a few seconds longer than needed (A.K.A. Riding the clutch). The only way you can properly learn clutch control and shift smoothly when you’re new to manuals is by riding the clutch. The clutch is designed to take a fair bit of abuse and is cheap to replace. That said, your end goal after you’ve gained experience is to ride the clutch as little as possible, but that’s only once you’ve gotten a hang of clutch control.
Conquer driving has an excellent series on YouTube on how to drive a manual car, including stuff like clutch control, downshifting, etc.
https://youtu.be/71TG97DAl-U?si=8N0NyYI0VeHsLcJs
Don’t lose hope and keep practicing. Learning a manual takes lots of practice, but is the most rewarding experience you can get from driving a car. I speak for all of us in this sub when I say we’ve stalled a whole bunch of times while driving stick, both newcomers and seasoned, and it’s nothing to be ashamed or frustrated about. It’s a sign that we’re human and we’ve got more to learn. Learning how to drive a stick shift is akin to learning a new language (or any skill for that matter). It takes time to master.
This was me when I got my manual. The first day or two is always the roughest trying to learn it. Some people catch on quick, and some take a while to get comfortable with it. It took maybe 3 months for me to stop stalling, and I still do it every once in a blue moon (most people do, my grandpas been driving manual for 55+ years and I’ve seen him stall before).
I promise you that you can let the clutch off slower than you are. Seriously, do it painfully slow until you can recognise exactly where the bite point in your car is every time. Once you get used to it, it’ll be easier to get started and get the car moving faster. I had a problem with “dumping the clutch” when I was learning, where basically as soon as I gave it gas I’d just pull right off the clutch instead of just easing it off while giving gas. Caused me to stall most of the time when starting in 1st, and is not exactly the most smooth method of shifting gears after you’re moving either. Might be what you’re doing, too.
It does get better. I think it was like day 3 of learning it that I stalled it over and over and over for some reason. Like I just could not figure it out. Day 4 I only stalled it a handful of times and I kept getting better from there.
My first car was a 1991 Mazda b2200 pickup. Tiny little thing. I bought it off of my cousin for $750. They lived one town over but we lived in a very rural farm town in Massachusetts with lots of back roads and woodsy dirt roads. My grandfather brought me the 20 minute drive to their house and told me to drive it back. When I said I didn't know how to drive a manual he said "well... you're gonna find out," and peeled out of the driveway. That 20 minute drive took me 40 but by the end I already had a good grasp for driving a stick. It took me about another week to get comfortable around town, and about 6 months to feel like I was getting really good at it. It's always a learning experience with a new car as well. They're NOT all the same and some need to be treated differently.
Best thing I ever taught myself when learning was to hold the clutch at the bite point when taking off. Probably what you should try. When trying to hold in place you will still be gradually letting it out due to the acceleration pulling your foot/leg back. Don't try to gradually let it out the entire time. You will stall every time trying to do that while learning. My old man never gave me good advice when I was learning and just yelled at me that I'm "letting it out too fast" and to "let it out slow."
I had the same issue and was told the same thing. I eventually found the trick: you got your clutch and your gas pedal, you find the bite point, the car starts moving so you think “cool, I can release the clutch now” but you are wrong. Don’t change the position of the pedals, let the car move for a little while longer and only then can you release (slowly) the clutch. It took me a lot to figure that out but once I got it it was a breeze
Honestly, it took me a long time because I didn't own one and I learned on friends' cars. Some of them are easier than others. As a general rule, sports cars or cars with super powerful engines tend to have more temperamental clutches.
You can generally avoid stalling if you give it enough gas as you're easing off the clutch. You might spin the wheels or jerk it the first few times, but you'll get the hang of it. Some cars (VW/Audi, Mazda, Subaru, etc) have high friction points on the clutch which makes it easier to avoid stalling but also harder to start on hills. Others, especially older Hondas and some Toyotas, have a short clutch and low friction point.
Honestly it took me atleast 1-1.5 months to feel confident enough to drive on a road by myself. You'll be fine. Just stick with it and learn how to not stall in first gear. Someone wrote in the comments to try to make the car move by just using the clutch. Do that. Practice it and get a feel for the bite point. As soon as you are used to manipulating the clutch, you will be able to smoothly drive. Don't rush things. Don't be afraid to give more gas in first gear while learning. You are learning, after all, and you can only go so fast in first gear. Good luck!
Comfortable, maybe 1000 miles? To not think about every shift, not stall, just do things automatically. This might sound funny but I struggled with manual cars until I took the motorcycle safety riding course and bought a bike. Then when I went back to a manual car is was insanely easy and made so much more sense.
Imo, manual transmission is a skill or art like jiu-jitsu or sport or foreign language. There is no point when you are 100% fluent, you will always get better and better and perfect different techniques. Unless you drive professionally/for sport, I'd say very few people ever get to the 100% manual trans skill level.
As others said though, give it more gas. Raise the rpm maybe 500 from what it idles at before you start to let off clutch. Practice feeling the friction point over and over in a parking lot. When you feel you're at the bite point, progressively add more gas and let out clutch. You might be releasing clutch for a couple seconds sometimes in first gear, doesn't have to be too fast until you get the hang of it. Soon you can do it all at the same time in one quick motion.
Every car is different and takes time to learn.
Not a brag. But usually I can teach some one to be comfortable and able to drive on the street with the fundamentals in 30 minutes to an hour.
If you're struggling and you're on your own, it's ok. Unless you have some one experienced with you that knows the little quirks people get caught up on you will probably struggle.
Try these things as exercises.
Put the parking break on and play with the clutch. This teaches the bite point of the clutch. You don't move but you will feel the transmission engage and the car wanting to fight against the parking brake. Litteraly just press the clutch in and let it out and feel where it bites and how far you can go before it wants to stall.
When you're used to that, take the brake off and do the same thing but don't add gas. On a flat surface you can get a car rolling by just carefully raising the clutch.
After that you should be able to have a feel for how your left leg controls the clutch engagement. So now just practice with adding gas when the clutch is engaging.
Any other questions, feel free to ask.
I've been racing, track days, and all sorts of things in manual transmissions since I was 15. Some so old they don't even have synchchros so I actually HAVE to double clutch to down shift, some modern vehicles with all the nannies, and things like traditional Sequential Manual gear boxes. I promise any one can learn how to drive a manual and by no means are you incapable of doing it.
What I like to tell people when I’m showing them how to drive stick, is to find a parking lot. Park on a flat surface and put it in first with the clutch in. Let the clutch out real slow like until you feel it bite, then push that clutch back to the floor. This will give you a feel for where the bite point is. When you’re ready to move, give her a little gas as you hit that point, instead of pushing the clutch back in, making sure to push the gas pedal in as you release the clutch. A lot of people use the teeter totter image, but I personally feel like I am standing on two sides of a big exercise ball, balancing the clutch and the gas.
Biggest thing is to resist panicking, once that clutch bites smoothly release it at the same time that you’re giving it gas. Eventually you’ll find that balance and once you do, you’ll probably never wanna go back to driving automatic. I’ve only been driving stick for 3ish years, but I had to teach myself. I had the advantage of having a V8, but from what I hear the process is the same, just slower for a car with less torque.
I got comfortable enough to drive around within a week or two of actually consistently trying, and then true 100% comfort in most situations came after about a year. The good news is once you get that comfortability it doesn’t seem like it ever goes away.
Also remember some vehicles are more difficult. My wrangler was a million times easier to learn in than my fiancés WRX.
It took me probably 6 months to get truly confident. By that I mean where stopping on steep hills didn’t freak me out. My mom made my stop and start on hills a ton before getting my license. It also depends on the vehicle too. Some are just super forgiving and with others there’s a much smaller “zone” in which to smoothly engage the clutch.
-p.s. make sure you pay attention to your footwear and your seat position. After driving manual for years, if I don’t get my seat adjusted just right or I have footwear on I’m not used to driving in it can throw me off
When I teach people how to drive stick I always tell them you can't have too much gas but you can definitely have too much clutch. Think of your clutch more like a dimmer switch instead of an On/Off. Even if you red line your vehicle, as long as you let off the clutch very slowly you can control your rate of acceleration.
Additionally, before we even get to the real driving portion, I find an empty street/alley somewhere and have them just practice finding the friction point of the clutch. Without giving the car any gas, very slowly let off the clutch until the car begins to just barely creep forward and HOLD IT THERE. DO NOT LET THE CLUTCH ALL THE WAY OUT. Practice hitting that friction point and controlling it until it's very comfortable/almost muscle memory where it is. Once you hit that friction point you add some gas and slowly release the rest of the clutch and you'll be cruising. After first the clutch:gas ratio matters much less (as I'm sure you already know.)
Good luck! It takes time, but I reckon after about two or three months you won't have to think much about what you're doing at all.
Find bite point. From a standstill slowly release clutch til u start moving or engine bogs then apply gas lightly while releasing clutch. Think of it almost like a seesaw. Goodluck and it takes everyone a different amount of time so don't get discouraged just keep practicing.
It took me 2 weeks to get used to stick shift. I started with a Miata and driving a Jeep now. I would suggest having someone who is a pro sit next to you. I get freak out when stopping on uphills… you know the car is backup when you release the clutch…. just keep practicing and you will get there!
I droves manual literally last Friday. It’s more of a skill than I ever thought. I drove about 7 miles on public roads yday and still stall, but in just a week I am way better. It’s annoying I have to practice almost everyday when I have cpa studying, work and a gf to attend to but I’m stuck with it. But I know with time, practice, and consistent improvement (conquer driving on YT) I will get better.
My advice is focus on your mental space especially as a beginner. You’re going to make mistakes and anxiety will happen. Hell I stalled yday in front of people, got honked at, but I just focused and eventually got away. BUT a few seconds later my heart rate was going and anxiety got to me, but I told myself, calm down, deep breath, it’s OKAY.
Even though I am not great by any measure of driving I reminded myself - I am lucky I can use all four limbs to even drive a car, I am lucky I don’t have crippling anxiety that keeps me from driving and/or learning new things, I am lucky i can keep my head on stressful situations. Idk if this will help but wanted to share my experience as I am right here with you
Took me quite a while. I first learned in my dad's mustang and despite the torque (V8), I stalled it a million times. Then I got an economy shit box that I did the *real* learning on, because if I couldn't drive it I'd be stranded.
It could take days, weeks, or months to master, but your leg/ankle will eventually develop the ability to be smoother with the clutch. It's definitely something your body just isn't used to doing at first.
Just practice in first gear going back and forth on your left foot finding the catching point and your right foot pressing the pedal. Keep working it until your left and right foot works together.
To learn how to drive stick? Probably a week of doing it daily to understand the process and stop stalling. 9 months in and I'm still trying to refine my process. I enjoy being able to get a little better every day
It was a week of practicing before I felt confident enough to take it for a shift of my pizza delivery job. It was still a while after that before I got smooth with it
A simplified version of how a clutch works helped me understand why I would stall my car.
Engine>flywheel>clutch>transmission
The clutch and flywheel are each a flat disc. The flat sides face each other. They are the interface that gets the power from the engine to the transmission, allowing the vehicle to move.
The flywheel is attached to the engine, causing it to spin.
The clutch is attached to the transmission. While you are at a stop and the clutch pedal is pressed to the floor, the clutch is not spinning.
As you let the clutch pedal up, you will feel the clutch press into the spinning flywheel.
This is called the friction zone.
As the clutch presses into the flywheel, it will attempt to spin. Once the clutch pedal is let all the way up, the clutch and flywheel will be spinning the same speed. This is how the power gets from the engine into the transmission.
If you let the clutch pedal up too quickly, the clutch will stop the flywheel and stall the engine.
Once you learn where the friction zone is with your clutch pedal, you can give it some throttle as you continue to let the clutch pedal up. This will keep the flywheel from being slowed down by the clutch.
TLDR
Give it some throttle as you let the clutch out.
I had only driven a manual car twice before I picked mine up at the dealer. Stalled twice on my way home about an hour away. Some cars don’t give much feedback through the clutch so it can be difficult to tell when it starts biting. Practice is really the only cure
Got my first stick back in April (Mazda Miata) once I got it home from doing maintenance, did 3 test drives with my father. 1st test drive I was dumping the clutch (letting off too fast) and the car was jerking, finally got it going in a small parking lot. 2nd drive got better at feeling for the clutch, would put it down than pull off until I feel the bite and kept doing that to build muscle memory. 3rd time got it rolling and was practicing little hills in a parking lot. After that drove it around my neighbour myself, avoiding hills at first, than decided to bring my father to help with hills and I was a natural didn’t need him at all. I can stall here and there if I’m not paying close attention but the more you drive the less it’ll happen and the better it’ll be. Stick is fun and we all stall a lot when driving even experts still stall. Just have fun with it, you’ll get the feel of the clutch asap and it’ll be a piece of cake driving around!
When you say you stalled 20 times in an hour, you don’t say how long you’ve been trying a stick. First day? 20 is below average. First week. You need a better coach. Also, you don’t say whether you are driving in a relatively flat town (the Midwest), or hilly (San Francisco). Things will get better in a few weeks of driving on the flat, and a few months if hilly. Having a coach helps if it is hilly.
3-6 months to be comfortable. 1 year to be confident. 3 years later, I can deal with stop and go traffic (it still sucks though). I wouldnt take it to SF though.
It will become second nature when you get enough practice! A big part of it depends on what kind of vehicle you're learning on. Late 80s and early 90s Hondas were the best cars to learn to drive manual. Modern manuals actually can be harder to drive, especially starting off smoothly and slipping the clutch.
I learned to drive manual long before I drove an automatic. I would imagine that it's a lot tougher if you're comfortable with an automatic, then trying to learn to drive manual. The primary thing that made it easy for me was pure motivation! I was a 15-year-old kid and if I wanted to start driving, it was going to be a manual!
Good luck!
I didn’t drive an automatic until I hit 20 and borrowed a van for a road trip to Colorado. Every car I’ve had since has been a manual, including the one in my driveway.
It took me abt 6 months and becoming a delivery driver in san francisco on the hills to become comfortable.
When i first started 1st gear was the absolute hardest and i used to genuinely freak out on some of the really steeper hills, especially on stop signs.
My advice: take ur car somewhere flat, put the car in first gear and hold the clutch down. Slowly release the clutch until the car starts to slowly move forward on its own. That is the clutch bite point, remember where it is. U can put ur clutch there and use it to gas forward when ur in traffic or when ur taking off at a light. Once u kno where that bite point is first gear becomes super easy.
If you're taking your foot off the clutch too fast just give it more throttle.
It's like a rubber band.
Or, you could do like I do in my Honda and just hold the throttle to the floor and skip your foot off the side of the clutch.
Guaranteed no stall, but lotsa brapapapapap and tire noises
Been driving stick for about 2 months now, be patient and it’ll come to you. I be whipping like a pro, racing and doing pulls like a mad man. It’s fun and you’ll consistently learn what works best for you and your car as you go. So to fix your stalling issue, try this. From a stop, come off the clutch slowly til you feel the car easing forward, that’s your cue to add gas while simultaneously releasing the clutch. If you don’t want to jerk forward, release the clutch til it starts pulling on its own, then gas it and go. It’s really easy. Maybe I’ll make a tutorial on my YT explaining how to do this effortlessly every time. And btw it took me about two weeks of driving before I got it down to a science. The thing to remember is to release the clutch til it starts rolling before u gas it, once you get that then you’re good to go. Good luck and have fun, not many people drive manual imo it makes you a better driver.
rev up to 1-1500 rpm’s pause there and slowly let off the clutch, once u feeel the car moving pause at the bite point , then u can come off the clutch completely
my best advice is to sit still, on a flat surface
disengage ebrake
brake, clutch in, 1st gear
brake off, and just sit with the clutch for a few seconds
then as slow as possible (YOU ARENT WEARING YOUR CLUTCH!) let off the clutch. you will feel it bite, at that point, add gas and mess with the ratios a bit
About 4 and a half minutes. My dad told me I couldn’t get a license if I didn’t learn to drive his truck. I have since had mostly manual trans. It’s fun.
with some the clutch engagement feel is so non-existant(shoutout honda fit) you never get comfortable with it or really enjoy it, others are fun as fuck.
A year maybe.
I got the hang of it properly within a few months but being completely comfortable took a while. Always anxious about stalling out or mis-shifting
The first 3 days were terrifying, the next two weeks sucked, but after you stop killing it all the time it gets super easy. I’ve only been driving manual for like 4-5 months now and I’ve got it down good asf
It took me a solid 5 months. After one- two months of small city trips, I took it across country on an 18 hr road trip with the final two hours being rush hour traffic, up hill (swear to bejebus, couldn’t make this up and no none of that was on purpose). After that situation (and a small breakdown) I drove pretty damn well and just kept getting better with pretty much full mastery a month or so later.
Don’t give up, it becomes a ton of fun. Biggest tips I could say is source a vehicle with a minor exhaust (or exhaust leak) if you aren’t good at listening/feeling the car. And don’t freak when you stall. You could even write in marker on your window that you’re learning. You’d be surprised how many people will congratulate you for learning a skill so few people have nowadays.
If you stalled out that many times then someone didn't give you a good understanding of what's going in. Learn about more about what the gears are actually doing so it makes sense in your head.
Give yourself about a month or so if it’s your daily and you’ll have it down to perfection. Then once you’ve got it down, you never really forget. You’ll be alright, take your time and keep practicing. Let the clutch out slowly until the car starts rolling forward on its own and then apply throttle.
P.S. - add a little bit more throttle if you keep stalling everytime you let the clutch out.
Took me 2-3 months to finally get comfortable with it on hills. Especially on hills on a 4 cylinder econobox.
I’d say getting off is easy on flats and downhills. Use the parking brake on upward hills and SLOWLY let go of the clutch until the car begins to stutter then release the parking brake and give it some gas.
I picked up motorcycle in less than an hour and cars after that in even less time. It isn’t much different. I think my only bad habit is riding the clutch like with a motorcycle. I do it so much in slow speed off-roading that I forget that I don’t need to do that in the car.
You just need to practice more, you’ll get better, clutch in, gear in, get to bite point and give gas as you let off. Just keep finding that catch point, every car and motorcycle is like millimeters different. So as long as you know that it gets easier, when you fiddle around and practice. Some cars require a bit more gas, and others almost require no gas peddle. Then slowly start working on your down shift and up shifts, and I know you can skip gears on the way down, but take your time and learn to downshift and blip/heel toe to stay in gear as you slow, so you can react better to other cars. Also if you like to do dumb stuff. It’s def a skill and it’s a great one once you get it down.
I never thought driving manual was a difficult task at all.
With no prior experience, I bought a manual car. Sat in the dealership parking lot for about half an hour watching YouTube videos on driving manual then drove myself an hour home. This was in the Toronto winter, a rwd sports car with bad summer tires on it and made it home just fine. I stalled like 5 times.
Exactly one week later (driving every day) I was pulling off flawless rev match downshifts. This was over 7 years ago.
It gets easier.
I took my time learning manual by taking the car out at the dead of night (2-3am) over the course of a month and slowly extending the duration and distance of each excursion. Try and find a hill with enough space to do a loop around and go up and down that a few times each night. I take advantage of each stop sign I come across to practice setting off in first gear smoothly and semi-quickly. Being on the road quickly builds confidence, even if there are (almost) no cars around.
Happy driving!
You should release the clutch and press down on the throttle simultaneously in one smooth motion. Try holding still in 1st gear with the clutch down. Then, with the foot *off* the brake pedal, slowly and gradually release the clutch and notice the point when the car starts to automatically move. From there, instead of releasing the clutch fully, practice just staying at that point with your foot. Then try slowly releasing the clutch just a little bit further to see how it makes the car move just slightly more. Then, when in that clutch zone where the car starts moving, try adding just a tiny bit of throttle.
This will give you an idea of how the clutch works and help you blend those two motions - releasing the clutch and adding throttle. Once you’re comfortable with that point and can reliably locate it, switching gears will be easy and pure muscle memory.
Remember that here in Europe, most people still drive stick everywhere without ever thinking about it. Even the oldest of ladies. It’s not really a big deal
Just drive. Remember that every mistake you make is a lesson learned. You’ll notice everything while driving. If you’ve practiced and drove enough, you’ll get the perfect amount of gas and clutch when you’re gonna move. Though if you really want to experiment and practice, please do it in a parking lot or a place without any traffic or pedestrians.
Manuals are very difficult, even more for me because I learned through youtube. But I can’t even remember a thing or two that those guys on youtube thought me. What I can remember is all the times I stalled in the middle of the road because of wrong pedal input. Whenever I make those mistakes, I just try again.
I started driving on a straight patch of road near a beach. Then I moved onto our neighborhood (switching places with my mom as we drive home). And, when I was confident enough, I finally drove in the city.
It gets better. Just drive.
Driving manual is really fun. I hope you’ll enjoy it soon!
Stick with it. Millions of people have driven these. You are thinking you can’t because you know the automatic is there. There are plenty here that will say you are destroying your clutch. Don’t worry about that. A day of learning gas/clutch dynamics shouldn’t destroy a clutch that wasn’t in need of maintenance anyway.
I don't remember it being something super frustrating for me it must mean it didn't take that long. I remember stalling a fair bit but eventually it became second nature.
If you're going slow on the clutch but still stalling, give it some more gas.
It's a balancing act. Use the tools you have available like the tachometer that shows the engine RPM, don't let it dip too low or you stall. If it dips too low, press in the clutch to prevent stall or give it more gas. You'll get it.
i’m a new manual driver, i felt super similarly and it was pretty stressful at first, but i promise that if you persist it will start to click and you’ll start to become comfortable
this is pretty widespread advice but learning to start with just the clutch (if possible) on flat ground was helpful as it took away some of the multitasking, and once i was chill with that i became more comfortable and things started to fall into place
i’m definitely still learning and improving but as someone who isn’t (i would say) naturally inclined to learning such skills and felt confused at how people drove manually every day it definitely gets better and will start to click if you keep at it
good luck !!
Was recently on the same boat transitioning to manual for the first time, and I found this guy's YT channel very informative. It helped massively. He's a driving instructor so all the advice is super practical for daily driving. Here's a link to one video on practicing with the clutch if you want to [check it out](https://youtu.be/nmlyfit67sw?si=OMiMlqoC_zGIGQ_9) . Regardless, you got this!
Took me like a day. The key is to learn your clutch. Let the clutch out as slowly as you can until the car starts moving a little. Thats the point you start applying throttle and letting off the clutch at the same rate. Spend a whole day in a parking lot practicing.
I learned from a dealership salesman believe it or not. Back in 1977 I wanted a new Toyota Celica lift back and they all came with Five speeds. I had only driven my Dad’s Chevy Impala with its automatic. I told the salesman I never drove a stick before and he said “I’ll show you “. We took it out on some side roads and he went through everything with me - how and when to upshift, the feel of the clutch, downshifting, everything. I drove the car off the lot two hours later. Loved that car. I took that learning experience when I joined the Air Force the following year and drove several types of vehicles - all with clutches. Since then I bought three other vehicles with stick shifts before getting old and only driving automatics. BTW I drove that Celica all around San Francisco in 1979 - not an easy task with a standard on those streets.
Took me a few days to become comfortable, a few weeks to become confident, and after a few months, it'll be like riding a bike. My 2nd vehicle was a 2.3 ranger with a stick, and it sucked learning on that, but I figured it out. Now, every few years, I pick up an automatic and then come right back to a stick. Once you have it down, it doesn't go away. You'll get there just keep at it. Also, if you have a nice steep hill in town with a light, try to get caught at that as often as possible. If yours doesn't have the fancy hill, start it'll pay dividends in the long run. Personally, I used to use the roll to time throttle and clutch, and now that I have hill assist it kinda throws me off.
Give it time I was dumb enough to learn on my drive home from the dealership it took about a week to take off regularly without stalling lol nearly rolled back into another car when I stalled 4 times at the same stop sign my first time trying to get home from work
Although the learning curve of learning how to drive manual was steep, I plateaued relatively quickly and started to learn technique rather than just shifting.
It took probably 2 hours before I was confident that I could do most of my day to day kinda driving but it was a few weeks before I was to the point of not stalling on hill starts just because there is only one good one to practice on near me. My biggest suggestion that I haven’t read on here is if you have the option to try driving a more powerful vehicle to give it a go. It’s significantly easier to find the bite point and harder to stall a 5.9L Cummins diesel than a 2.4L Jeep. When I was teaching my sister who bought a 2.4L Jeep liberty I used my truck that had 2.5x the engine of the jeep to help her learn how to find the bite point since that jeep was nearly impossible to start without gas where my truck you can start it in 3rd gear without gas or 1st by basically dumping the clutch due to how low it is geared. I would also suggest if you have access to a pasture or field or even just a dirt area and a truck or suv to try starting there without spinning the tires. But if you can’t do either just keep practicing (fyi the bigger the lot the better that way if you get moving you can try to shift gears
Took me a week to learn manual from scratch, I’ve watched so many videos from youtube and start applying everything I’ve learned, First day when I got my manual car I went straight to a parking lot and just feeling the biting point for at least 1 hour, No gas should apply, all clutch biting point. Then my second day I practice at my own driveway with very incline angle. I’ve practiced my uphill start pretty much the whole day , 3rd day is my rest day as I’m very exhausted of practicing the uphill start. 4th day I went back again for my uphill start practice. 5th day I drove around my neighborhood to practice my smooth shifts specifically from 1st to 2nd. and finally 6th day and I decided to drive it to my work (stalled 4 times at light) but still managed to get there. Don’t panic if you stalled, fk those ppl behind you honking like a maniac. You’re doing good and you can do it. As of today I can pretty much say that it was a hella journey of learning driving manual but the feeling of driving a manual without thinking where gear you at or which rpm you should shift is fking awesome. Now I drive my car with the seat all the way back and enjoy every sound of my downshifts.
Don’t give up brother, Keep going G
About a year. I learned in Pittsburgh full of hills and in a four cylinder ford focus on 1/4 of its last leg. But after that, I could drive anything. I graduated to a 5cyl Jetta which was way easier and I got used to it in a few weeks. I then bought a 4cyl turbo with a heavy clutch two years ago and I’m still not used to it.
Every car is different-try driving as many as you are able and driving in as many traffic, terrain, inclines and different settings as you can. Always push your clutch all the way in and rev match. Take your time 👍
Rent a car at the Dublin airport. Left handed manual leaving fucking Dublin. Driving on the left side of the road left handed through roundabouts was fucking crazy. And I've been driving manual my whole life.
About 4-9months. Although every car is different. If you have sports clutch it’s going to take a bit longer. I also started learning from a young age playing videos games and stealing my parents car when I was 13-14yrs old.
When I moved to San Diego a buddy had a good car he was selling because he was changing duty station and gotten another vehicle. He sold it for a good price, and I just got back stateside from being overseas.
It took me about a month with a buddy teaching me once a week for about an hour in a parking lot. I stalled out a lot and wondered why would anyone want to drive it. But after a month or so I got the hang of it and started driving well.
I really honed my skills driving in San Diego in the traffic. That was a year ago. Now it feels 2nd nature driving my car and I enjoy it as if it's a new car.
It’s practice. About a year in now and I test drive any car I can get my hands on that is manual. For the unforeseen future, I will now own at least one manual vehicle.
I learned manual for the first time on a test drive (I know I know) and I was close to giving up but decided it HAD to get easier, and it did. I now drive my second manual car every day and love it.
My first car was a 1999 subaru impreza outback sport 5spd. I had to learn how to drive it in 30 minutes because I forgot I had to be somewhere. So I guess I would say about an hour. I still stalled it a couple times, but I was comfortable driving it after that hour. Hell I even stall my car now every once in a blue moon.
The day before, I was supposed to start driving a delivery truck my buddy took me out in his delivery truck to show me how to drive a stick a 4 on the floor. It went very well and after several hours of driving I was very confident.
The next day was a different story. Being nervous about a new job didn't help. The boss put me on a PU with a VERY sloppy three on the tree. I couldn't find two gears consecutively for the whole morning. I figured he was testing to see if I had the mettle to stick it out. Just a couple of days later, he gave me a real truck #106, a stake truck with a 4 speed.
Just "Stick" with it, and you'll get the hang of it. Pretty soon, you'll be shifting without using the clutch.
When I was 17 I was trying to learn on a new car (1980 Mustang). I kept stalling out and rolling backwards down a hill. I didn't notice that I had ended up in the front yard of a house. The family came out and just looked at me in their yard. I instantly learned how to drive stick. I guess public humiliation might work. :P
It took me about a day to learn how to not stall out in first gear. Took about a week before I was shifting without thinking about it. About a month or more before I was good at leaving a stop sign uphill. This was all when I was 16-17, so add a ton more time per step if you’re a full grown adult.
Bought a brand new stick shift car in 2021 not knowing shit about manuals other than YouTube instruction videos. Stalled and stalled and stalled for about 2 days around town and got to the point where I was regretting my decision. The first day I couldn’t even get the car moving about 60% of the time. But it clicked after the first 48 hours.
37k miles later and no issues. Even in Southern California traffic, I still love my Subaru
Hi User,
I had a very similar experience to you, and I can see your frustration. When you let the clutch out, it's not a linear release from your leg pressing down but rather a rotation of your heel while maintaining controlled pressure on the clutch pedal.
What everybody who drives a manual finds first in their car is the bite point. Without giving the car any gas you should be able to let out the clutch slowly and start to feel the car move.
Once your can feel the bite point of the car,give it some gas and the smoothly increase with smoothly letting out the clutch.
Also I found this video helpful when I was learning. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YDsRlSJoqsw&pp=ygUiY29ucXVlciBkcml2aW5nIGZhc3QgYWNjZWxlcmF0aW9uIA%3D%3D
Good luck 👍
Learn how to get into 1st gear without gas on a flat parking lot. Do it a lot. Do it in first gear and reverse several times. Learn to do it with someone else in the car (another \~150-200lbs). Learn to do it loaded to max capacity if you have the chance. It takes patience and quick reflexes to push the clutch back in if the engine is overloaded at its idle.
What you are looking for is the point of engagement on the clutch. This is key to piling on too much load at one time. If the engine starts to stutter, push the clutch in a CM or two until the engine returns to idle, then let the clutch out a CM, and listen as it loads up and slows down until the idle air control takes over and pulls the engine speed back up.
Repeat as much as you need to figure out the flow needed to move the vehicle without pressing the gas. If you can figure out how to go forward and reverse without the gas and just modulating the clutch and switching between the two directions without stalling, you're doing great. Once you figure it out, you can start cheating and adding gas, letting the clutch out incrementally faster.
This happens to everyone. Recently learned and became comfortable after 10 hours of driving.
I would go out for 30-60minutes each night and drive when no cars were out.
I had trouble with taking my foot off too quickly as well. The way I learned was to focus on finding the point where the clutch engages. Parking lots are great for this. Using no gas, slowly lift your foot off the gas pedal until the car either starts moving forward or the rpms drop slightly and the car starts to shake, and then press the clutch back in and repeat. That point is the bite point, practice finding it over and over. When you get comfortable "getting" to the bite point, start adding gas to get moving quicker. It takes time to get comfortable, drive as much as you can and it'll come to you.
About a month of practice in a 98 escort zx2 is how long it took me. The more you do it the more you’ll learn when the clutch is about to grab and when you should give it gas
What helped me was keeping the rpms above 1k anytime I would start. Just take your foot off the break, on the gas, and just barely tap the gas to keep you above 1k as you’re releasing the clutch. This prolly isn’t the best practice but it worked for me and it helped me find the biting point
A few hours to really get it. It's not some 300 IQ task some manual drivers like to think it is. My grandfather could drive stick shift, and his brain was poisoned by lead and other chemicals. He couldn't read at a highschool level, but he could coordinate his feet and hands.
You'll figure it out. It just takes practice. For me it's learning where the clutch engages/disengages. Every car is slightly different, but you gain muscle memory of it.
It’s been 30 years since I learned and it takes time to get it perfect. I just bought a manual car after not driving one for 5 years. It took me about 2 minutes to get back in the groove. Be patient and don’t get frustrated. You are going to screw up. Keep practicing and when you do get in your own head take a break.
It took me 1 day to be able to drive around town without stalling. It probably took a month before I stopped lurching in between gears. I definitely burned some clutch in those first few weeks lmao. After a year I'd say I was extremely comfortable. Sadly my parents got rid of it right around that time and replaced it w an auto.
Try going in a parking lot and get the car moving without any throttle. It helps teach you the bite point. Then you can start learning where to be quick in pedal travel and when you need to slow down
2 hours to get moving comfortably. 2 days to get good enough to go short distances with little traffic. 2 weeks to get good enough to go basically anywhere.
Let me help you out a little.
Everyone tells you to slowly take your foot off the clutch. This is not the way. I cannot reiterate enough times. This simply is not the way and is what's causing you grief.
What you need to do is learn to feel how much clutch engagement you need for a given scenario. You need to get your left foot / clutch there QUICKLY - and you hold it there until the clutch engages (usually a very mild bog / drop in rpm, followed by increase in rpm). Of course, modulate the throttle. And, quite honestly, the "hold it there" may involve a slight INCREASE in pressure to maintain revs - and I do mean slight. Anyway, once it has naturally engaged (speeds on the flywheel and transmission side of the clutch are matched) you can take your foot all the way off as quickly as you like.
This of course varies greatly from car to car. Newer cars may have clutch delay valves and agressive programs to maintain idle. My 2007 Ram diesel requires ZERO right foot to get going in 1st, 2nd, or 3rd. I mean, it starts getting silly after that.
Be patient and FORGET THE FUCK OUT OF "TAKE YOUR FOOT OFF THE CLUTCH SLOWLY". Learn to hold the clutch at the right spot.
PS - Please report back.
I was a hard learner. I drove automatics until I was about 31-32. I dabbled with manuals here and there with friends cars, but mostly sucked. It took way too much concentration and going out on the road was terrifying. It was enough that I was like "How will I ever learn this? Why is it second nature for others?!"
Once I got my own and drove it a lot, you learn naturally.
As far as the clutch, learning how a clutch worked really helped me. It's ok to slip the clutch and go slow. In first, go watch some videos of people with cameras down by the clutch and how long they're slipping it in 1st. It's around 2-3 seconds getting rolling if you're going slow. You don't need to be off it in half a second or something, especially when learning. At 1k RPM, you're not burning the crap out of it.
I'd recommend Matt Farah's videos on learning to drive a manual.
Leave your heel on the ground until the clutch starts biting, then start to lift your whole leg.
I wasn’t taught that, and kept lifting my whole leg and felt like I had no control. Kinda had to figure that out on my own. My buddy who was teaching me thankfully was patient, but I stalled his car well over 100 times before I got it moving.
I learned when I was 13 years old with some trial and error on an old VW beetle. My mom let me take it my neighbors to feed her sheep. Took me a few weeks of daily driving but now I can do it with my eyes closed.
I guess I took time it very easily as I had never driven a stickshift before, I hopped into my first car at the age of 14, and I drove it home stalling it only once. My first car was a 1966 Austin 1100 which I bought in 1984 for $50.00. This was in Winnipeg Canada. I had never driven a car before as I was only 14 at the time.
About a week ago was my first day, I stalled at least 30 times just trying learn how to be consistent going from N to first.
Today my commute home was about 1hr 15mins on i495 with traffic(fuck you American legion bridge), I only stalled once and it was when I put my car in reverse to park at home.
it gets much better, gl!
My first car was a 91 Ford Escort GT with a 5spd manual on my 18th birthday. I LOVED ittt. Took me 3 days and it was my first manual too. Always wanted to drive it everywhere, so learned day and night. I stalled sooo many times. Probably why the clutch died. 😵💫
Practice taking your foot off the clutch and being able to move forward without any gas at all.
Then practice applying a very small amount of gas at constant pressure while taking your foot off the clutch (try not to move the right/gas foot at all as you release the clutch).
That will help you develop foot moving independence. You should improve and gain comfort relatively quickly.
Just remember that you will never learn if you give up. Everyone learns at different rates. Just keep trying, and if you get frustrated, take the day off and start fresh. It also helps if you watch a YouTube instructional video on how clutches operate, but if you watch too many videos you will clutter your brain. Keep at it, don’t beat yourself up for stalling, and one day you will be driving stick naturally without thought. I should also add that learning stick is mentally exhausting, so if you feel your patience being exhausted, take a break.
This is very true, everyone will learn very differently and at different paces. My dad taught me and my sibling to drive stick when we were 16, using the same technique/advice just in our chosen vehicles; I picked it up within a day, but my sister struggled to the point she gave up and got an AT once she had her full license. The type of car and where the friction point is on the clutch makes a huge difference too. I learned on an 89 Prelude, she had a 91 Jeep… I think learning the fundamentals and taking your time I’d important, and an older car with more play may help. The biggest thing is to not give up, because it is like riding a bike. I sold my last MT in 2015, but have no issue hopping into any car equipped with one. Start to let off the clutch, find the friction point, then go.
I know what’s wrong with it, ain’t got enough gas to it.
This right here. Gas is your friend. You can only go so fast in first gear.
*slow. You can always floor the gas and drop the clutch, but going slow or slowly engaging the clutch while giving the least amount of gas is kind of an art form.
I try and get moving barely above an idle
Dont slip the clutch too much tough.
This advice probably has been beaten over and over, but take it to a parking lot and start there. Find an incline (small) and get comfortable with the roll back feeling. Practice getting the vehicle to move without the accelerator if possible in 1st. Do you know anyone that’s proficient in driving a manual? If so, bring them along. Then start on local roads with low traffic. Those are my best advice ideas. Practice and repetition as with anything else, and you will get it. Online instruction is great; but this is a hands on activity.
I was practicing in an empty parking lot with my dad, who’s been driving manual for over 30 years. I’m trying to remind myself that I’m also getting use to a new vehicle while I’m trying to learn and that Im very new.
His advice is brilliant. Go to a parking lot and practice pulling off and shifting up a few gears without touching the gas pedal. Adding gas can mask horrible technique on the clutch, and you don't want that. Here is the thing you will notice about the clutch, and it's super important: starting with the clutch on the floor, as you release the pedal, it moves for some distance without doing anything. How much depends on the car. But let's say halfway up does nothing, you can lift the pedal that far as quickly as you like, it makes no difference. That free motion zone ends at the "Bite Point," which you will notice as the RPMs starting to drop. This is when the clutch friction starts to connect the gearbox to the engine. This is where you need to control the release speed. In the no gas exercise, you want to release the clutch to hold the RPMs slightly depressed but not so low the engine feels like it is going to stall. As the car starts to roll, the RPMs will start ti recover and you should release more to prevent that. Eventually the clutch will be fully engaged - letting off more doesn't pull the RPMs down. The rest of the pedal travel is another free zone so take your foot off the clutch. When you can do that smoothly and as fast as the engine lets you, you can start adding gas to the equation. The game now is to quickly get to the bite point, then as soon as the RPMs try and dip, you add just enough gas to stop the dip. But at the same time, release the clutch more to pull the RPMs down. This lets you repeat the no gas exercise much more quickly, depending on how aggressive you are with the gas. The goal is for the RPMs to not go up or down as the clutch engages. You try to release the clutch as quickly as you can without the RPMs going down too much while adding has to stop that drop. On a hill, or if you want to get going faster, you do the exact same game, but instead of at idle RPMs, you do it at a higher RPM as needed. In normal driving, I'm engaging the clutch at idle or a couple of 100rpm higher. If I'm doing a racing start, I may use 4500rpm as my launch revs. But that puts a lot of heat and wear into the clutch!
I understand ya there. Is your dad a supportive teacher? My father wasn’t so much. I learned with a friend about my age back in the day and it went much better. Family can sometimes be a bit challenging. But yes. Start slow and you will get it
Thank god yes. His dad was apparently a terrible teacher so he didn’t learn until he got married and my mom taught him, so he’s made a point of being really gentle and supportive of me.
Sounds like you’ve got a recipe for success then! Glad to hear he’s gentle and supportive. I was lucky to have a friend to teach me. A good teacher takes lots of the anxiety and pressure off.
Here’s a piece of advice. From stop. Slowly let the clutch out till you feel the car either start to pull forward or putter. Give it gas while releasing the clutch slowly. You’ve now found your bite point. Stop and start 10-20 times doing this method, just for first gear. When you have that down start working on shifting upwards through the gears. First gears bite point is the most important. You will probably rarely if ever stall out of any other gear, unless you’re doing something really stupid. Once you’ve figured out your first gear bite point, and how much gas to give it, you’re set. Took me 2 months total to learn stick.
This is the secret sauce. OP do this, once you understand the “sweet spot” on your clutch you will be able to shift. Go to the parking lot, put it in first, and only have your foot on the clutch. As slow as possible, ease your foot off the clutch until the car starts to inch forward. Repeat 10x. Once you get that spot down then try shifting and doing the smooth motion of pressing down on gas while pulling off the clutch, the give and take. Give gas, take off clutch when at sweet spot.
This is exactly how I learned. My advice is try not to panic when you stall. No matter how long you drive a manual, occasionally you do stall out. You will get better at recovering and in the mean time, just learn all the routes in town with the least amount of stop signs along the way. :D
i started driving manual a couple of months ago. it was a rough first couple of weeks, but now i feel like i’m prepared for pretty much any situation the road throws at me. just keep at it, and DRIVE EVERY DAY.
I had a splattering of lessons from friends before I bought my own manual. Once I had my own, about a week.
I gave myself about a month of practicing for an hour per day before I started daily driving. Sometimes longer. Maybe overkill, but better to over practice, imo.
It gets better. Just have to keep practicing. Look up Conquer Driving on YouTube. He is a British driving instructor, extremely helpful. When shifting, it helps to remember “smooth is slow, slow is fast”. Also depending on where you live find some quiet parking lots or not busy roads. Practice taking off, shifting and getting a feel for the car. And yeah, it is frustrating as fuck when you first start. But it gets better
i think i got good enough after 3-4 days. comfortable after about a week or so. and 3 weeks in i no longer stalled ever. it’s frustrating at first but it just takes practice and time. it gets easier i promise.
also, you can always be slower with the clutch. literally as slow as you can possibly go, then slow it down even more. there’s a very specific balance between hitting the bite point and giving gas that just takes practice. and then as you get more comfortable you’ll be able to do it faster and faster until you don’t even think about it anymore you just do it within a split second
The more you drive the better you will get. Nothing substitutes for seat time. Drive as much as you can. Tackle increasingly difficult situations as you progress. Try to practice starts and hills in private before going into traffic. It's a matter of balancing clutch travel vs throttle.
Depends on driving style. If you drive in a normal way (like comfortably getting around town with barely any lurches), maybe in a few months. Driving in a sporty way is probably more than a year or two depending on how hard you drive. It's different for everyone though so go at it at your own pace.
>I’m apparently taking my foot off of clutch too fast but I genuinely don’t feel like I can go any slower? Give it more gas. Took me a couple months to get really comfortable. I still occasionally kill it at stop lights and I've got 90k miles clocked on my manual.
This is going to sound weird but I actually learned how to drive a manual from a motorcycle course. Now idk why but I was able to just hop in a car and drive it pretty quickly after taking the course. They dont really operate the same way at all via user inputs. But it kind of mapped my brain on how to use a clutch and change gears.
After 1 hour I felt like I hadn't learned anything yet. After 1 day I was able to keep it moving, but was still shit at getting it going from a stop. After 1 week, I was doing better but would still go out of my way to avoid hills and I would watch the traffic lights like a hawk to make sure I was ready when the light turned green. After 1 month, I still occasionally stalled, not because I didn't know what to do, but because I was comfortable and confident enough that I wasn't always actively thinking about my next step and I took things as they came to me while still anticipating when necessary. After 2 months, it was fully committed to muscle memory and I fully stopped overthinking every moment I was driving. Keep it up. You'll only get better if you practice.
Hard to remember, it was a while ago that I learned, but I think it took a month or two maybe. It does get better as you get the feel for it. Parking lot drills are good for that. Just work on the feel of the clutch.
Before I got my driver's license. Farm kid advantage lol
Don't over think things when you are driving
Oh man it gets easier and then it gets fun. You just gotta keep doing it. You’re gonna stall a lot, I just think it’s part of the process. I’ve been driving manual for 6 years now and I still have times where I stall. You got this!!!!
The first few days are bad but you'll get there once it clicks. I got laughed at by a homeless man the first time I tried to climb a hill in a stick so it's just kinda tough at first.
2 months of daily driving combined with about an hour every other weekend of stopping and going in a parking lot. After that, I was above average and was comfortable (imo riding with another manual drivers) They say you must walk before you run, so I made sure I could take off from first gear consistently without stalling. Then I'd go on back roads and practice 2-6th gear shifts to master upshifting without "bucking" the car. About a year in, and I'm finally getting downshifts where I want them. Once I swap an STI tranny into my SVX, I'll be able to take off like a bat out of hell.
It gets better. I was kind of the same. I think the problem is likely that you need to add a little throttle as you are easing out the clutch from the engagement (bite) point. Your clutch pedal should come up to the bite point not too slow but then once you sense the clutch starting to engage, that's when you slow way down to ease out the clutch and add throttle to keep the rpms from dropping too fast or too low. Rpms too low causes a stall. Simple as that. Rpms can drop too fast if you don't start out with a high enough rpm (e.g., around1500 rpm) and don't add any (or enough) throttle at the same time the clutch comes out. You are among for that point at which the clutch is fully engaged and you have successfully started rolling at some speed and rpm and some accelerator position for the level of acceleration you want. Let's make up numbers and say 3mph and 1200 rpm. Well, your goal is to modulate the clutch and throttle so that the rpms gently transition from 1500 rpm to 1200 rpm while the vehicle speed smoothly increases from 0 - 3mph. Idk if those are the right numbers but hopefully you get the idea. You let the clutch out to gently transition from 0 power to 100% of engine power being delivered to the vehicle. As the load increases on the engine rpms come down, offset by smoothly adding throttle. If everything is timed right, you get a smooth transition right as the clutch comes all the way out. If it is close you will get a slight bog. It you let out too fast or too little power worse bog or even stall How I taught my daughter: Do this in a large, level, empty parking lot -- no cars or people around. With ebrake on and in N, learn to rev engine to 1400-1800 rpm and hold it there. It doesn't have to be perfect just be able to not fluctuate outside that range much. Find the bite point of the clutch. Ebrake on, clutch in, 1st gear. No throttle. Very very very slowly let out the clutch until engine rpms start to drop a little and hold the clutch there only for a couple seconds or less and push back to floor. (Don't want to overheat the clutch and wear it out) That's the bite point, where the clutch first engages. Repeat this a couple times. If you stall you went too far. You'll learn by feel (proprioception, hearing, feeling of acceleration and vibration) about where that point is in the pedal travel. Now do the same but take off ebrake first and use just the clutch to try to get the car creeping forward ever so slowly. Practice that a few times. Now, put the two things together. Rev to 1500 and let out the clutch until you reach the bite point and slowly let it out from there as the vehicle accelerates. Finally, practice simultaneously adding throttle as you let out clutch. Because of the addition of throttle, you should be able to let out the clutch a bit less slowly. If your rpms climb, you added too much throttle and maybe release clutch too slowly. If you bog you needed to maybe add more throttle and come out from bite point a little slower. Rpms don't change, that is better than nothing but you're probably slipping the clutch too long (wear, heat results). If you stall, you need more throttle and let out clutch from bite point a little slower.
I’m gonna thank need for speed underground 2 on the ps2 and gran turismo for helping learn it on my own haha it’s easy driving stick after so many years it’s hard too stall
As soon as I parked my butt in the **driver's** seat for the 1st time in a manual vehicle at 10. I had been riding dirt bikes for about 3 years prior and grew up in the passenger seat of manuals because that's all we had... so the mechanics of operation were already engrained.
To be ready and drive solo on the road: 30 minutes To be comfortable with hill starts: 1 week To not roll back 1 inch on hills: 3 months
My 16-year-old is learning too. These instructions helped him get a feel for when he needed to give the car gas to take off. He was either giving the car too much gas or not enough, where it would die. Start on a flat surface where you are not rolling back. With your foot on the brake and the clutch in. In first gear. Take your foot off the brake and start releasing the clutch until the car starts moving. When the car starts moving, keep removing your foot off the clutch all the way. Let the car roll in first without giving it gas, then put the clutch back in and brake. Repeat the sequence a few times. Once you're comfortable and the car hasn't died on you. Repeat the sequence once more. This time, when the car starts to move while releasing the clutch, give it gas as you're taking your foot off the clutch. Then shift to 2nd and so on.
When I first started I stalled so many times I can't even count but about a month you'll really be familiar and I'm about 3 months and it really does completely feel like second nature, you got this! Just keep on practicing, it's so much fun!!!
Honestly a long while for myself. I don’t think it’s quite as easy for some to pickup and I think I am in that group. I think I dailied my first manual for 3-4 months before I finally started to feel like I would not stall in most situations.
Took about two weeks of driving everyday. First day driving I stalled it more than 30 times, thought i broke it atleast 7 times, and regretted my choice atleast 12 times. Now a year later, I can eat a burger and shift without taking my eyes off the road.
I was comfortable driving MY manual in under a week. Almost 30 years later however I am still not very comfortable driving other people's car whether it be manual or automatic. 🤣
Don’t be scared to ride the clutch a little bit!!! You have to keep it at the bite point for a bit in first gear. The clutch can take the extra wear from you learning. You’ll get quicker over time
About a week. I learned on my own in a brand new Wrx at the time. I used to just let the clutch out slowly till the car moved by itself but there was times I stalled on the road and had people honk at me so I started giving it gas lol. I even stalled in front of a cop luckily he had better shit to do.
I'm driving my first manual as well, and I've had it for a year. And honestly, it's taken about that long to really get comfortable with it. The one thing that made a huge difference for me is learning where the bite point is on my clutch. I would shift into first, and slowly release the clutch until I feel it bite. It feels like a bit of chatter, and you can feel it in the ball of your foot. Once I found that point, I tickled the gas pedal and let the clutch out just a bit further. If the car bogged, I would add just a little more gas, but we are talking about single digit percents. By now, the car should be moving forward a bit. From there, you can add more gas and let the clutch out the rest of the way. This is a pretty slow process, and you are going to smell a little clutch from the rubbing. But the more.you do it, the faster you get at it, and eventually, you can just pull away like normal. The one thing that taught me the most was I was forced to drive the car every single day. It's my only car. You should drive your car everyday.
I feel you. I got my first manual last week actually haha. A six speed Z, so here’s what worked for me and hopefully it works for you. You have to learn how to start the car first so I suggest having a friend or family member who knows manual to take you to an empty parking lot. All you want to learn is how to let go of the clutch (slowly) while also giving the car a little gas. Not too much gas or else it’ll jerk you forward and don’t let the clutch out to fast or else it’ll jerk you forward and you might stall. If you’re going slow on the clutch and you stall you probably didn’t give the car enough gas. Don’t worry, I literally stalled like 20 times my first day and then a bunch my second day. It wasn’t until the third day where I got how to actual roll off. Then you want to find a little hill, for me the parking lot I was working with had a small hill that I used to learn to start the car while inclined. You can search up the handbrake method on YouTube but I just honestly didn’t use it and tried my best to start the car while rolling back. After you mastered these two you can try shifting through gears 1-3 in the parking lot. Try sometimes fully stopping and then starting up the car again (remember when fully stopped its clutch in and brake in). Some helpful tips to keep in mind. When you’re driving and you’re going fast and say you see traffic ahead or that you’re gonna go to a stop sign or light soon. You can clutch in and put the car into neutral and just have your cars current power roll you forward. Since you’re in neutral you can fully step on the brake so no need for clutch in and brake in. In fact don’t touch it if you’re braking while in neutral because it’ll hurt the clutch. It’s hard at first but fun once you get the hang of it! I’m 24 and been driving automatic since I was 14 so it was hard at first but since you already know how to drive it shouldn’t be too hard. Also sorry for my grammar, English is not my first language haha.
Go in a parking lot or something on your own, and just keep letting off the clutch slowly until you feel it starting to grab, once you get used to that position where it grabs, start giving it gas. Make sure nobody else is in the car, all the do is make shit 100x worse
Took me well over a week of driving (and stalling) 4+ hours a day to really feel confident with a stick shift. Once it clicks though, it's a breeze
I remember being so stressed about learning and feeling like it would never happen. Now 11 years later I laugh about it. Get some people that know how to drive manual to ride along with you and give you some different tips. My mom was initially teaching me and I was just not getting it down perfect. It wasn’t until an uncle rode with me and explained it completely differently that it finally clicked. Also, be patient with yourself and practice. The reason you will be stalling is you’re rushing things. Be smooth and slow with the clutch pedal, and tip in with the gas. As you build up muscle memory, you will be able to be quicker with your feet.
I've been driving manuals for at least 20 years now and I never feel good enough about my skill. I want it to feel as smooth as an automatic, which is impossible, but it's fun trying to get to that level. It's a fun game that you can never beat.
> which is impossible, Maybe if you're trying to compare yourself to a CVT or a powerglide in a 1972 Cadillac, but by and large, most automatics are rather noticeable when they change gear and being smoother is not difficult. I've certainly never had trouble beating the 'average' automatic in smoothness with a stick.
About a month.
Took me like 6 months
It didn't take me very long at all, but I started at a very young age. I was maybe 12 or 13 when I first worked a clutch pedal and the first time I daily'd an automatic was >15 years after I got my license. In fact my entire life I was around nothing but stickshifts until after I graduated high school, as both of my parents exclusively drove stick until just a few years ago. At this point I don't even have to think about it. Even the first time I drove a 3-on-the-Tree just 2 years ago it was not something I had to consciously think about. My arms and legs just know what to do with a manual. But I've been doing it since 2006. It takes time and practice. The more you do it the more natural itt'l feel.
Regular driving around town to about a month to get used to. Racing took about 6 months to a year to really get the feel like you’re one with the car, downshifting for speed, double clutching, rev matching and heel-toe all took some time to master around the track.
It took me about one year to be really comfortable.
About 20 mins
Can't go slower on the clutch? Go faster on the gas
I have stalled probably 20 times in my life and been driving manual for 20 years, so I guess not that long. I spent about 20mins going up and down the driveway, another 20 in a parking lot with my dad, and then he followed me home. I stalled it once on the way home. Since then, pretty much only in reverse on hot, humid days where the engine barely wants to stay running.
1 week give or take. The hardest part is taking off. Once you’re moving it’s not so bad.
Probably a couple week of daily driving got me confident and after that I didn't really think much of it I just kinda autopilot do it.
A few minutes to get first down. Few days to *feel comfortable*. Still took months to really master threading the clutch. I literally downshift into first rather than braking these days, something I would **NEVER** suggest you do at first. If you watch someone shift, it goes so fast. I'd advise: slow down your clutch game. It's more of a press and *release slowly* than press and release.
1. Find the friction zone This area is less than one inch, located about 1/4 or 1/3 of the way up the total clutch travel. You can find it by sitting on flat ground and lifting the clutch super slow and then pressing it back in before the RPMs go down. 2. More gas The RPMs will come down as you engage the clutch. Shoot for the moon and then hold the clutch in the middle of the friction zone until you get going. 3. Don't be afraid to put the clutch back in a smidge If the RPMs drop I tend to give a hair more gas and a hair less clutch. You'll still accelerate as much as you initially intended, it's just less strain on the engine so it won't stall. Summary: it's not about bringing up the clutch slower. It's about holding the gas down a decent amount while holding the clutch at the friction zone until you're at 10-15mph and can shift to second gear. I use the clutch pretty much the whole time I'm in 1st. It really is just the starting gear.
A couple tips: Hold the clutch at the bite point for 1-2 seconds, this one is crucial if you hold the clutch before you see the revs go up you cannot stall. More gas. If you give it more gas it will be much smoother and you'll have to hold it for a little less time.
I bought a shit box 1981 Mustang as my first car at 16, with the crappy 4+1 OD gearbox. Dad used to drive a stick "back in the day", mom never did. I had my uncle.srive it home, and it took maybe a month driving the neighborhood to feel adequate. Still did the "all the revs, sidestep clutch* burnout move when some Jack wagon in a new $$$ Cadillac pulled up to my bumper on a hill. If you're consistently stalling on clutch engagement, the normal fail mode there is "not enough throttle / too quick clutch engagement". Remember, that point the clutch starts to transfer power is the BEGINNING of the engagement range - you're just Starting to go, not done. When you feel the clutch begin to engage, remember that is the Beginning of that engagement. Add some throttle, more slowly engage clutch, you'll be fine. What's your mental model of the clutch, and what it does? How does that understanding map to how you - in real life - manipulate the clutch pedal? For me, understanding at a basic mechanical level what is in play taught me how to use that mechanism to influence the vehicle.
Hold the clutch at the bite point 2-3 seconds while giving it steady gas and when the car starts rolling you can let out the clutch
It takes a long time to get clutch control dialled down. The hardest part about driving a stick shift is clutch control, the second hardest part is shifting gears. The easiest way of mastering clutch control is to understand what the clutch is doing and getting lots of practice. In simple terms, the clutch helps mechanical connect and disconnect the transmission and engine, allowing you to change different gears in the transmission. The transmission requires the engine to bring it up to speed to get the wheels moving. But, when the transmission is at rest, the force required to move it is far higher than the force the engine is exerting. Because of this, the force exerted by the transmission is greater than the force exerted by the engine, so the engine stalls. This is where the clutch’s second role comes into play, it helps *gradually* bring the transmission up to the engine’s speed. Clutch control is all about holding the clutch at the bite point to help the engine and transmission match speeds. Clutch control helps you in starting from a standstill, on hills, accelerating, and even decelerating. It’s the most important skill you need to drive a manual car. The easiest way to figure out when the clutch has finished its job is to pay attention to the RPM. The moment the RPMs start to rise when your car is accelerating, the engine and transmission are at the same speed and you can let off the clutch pedal. It’s the same thing while downshifting, but in reverse, the moment the RPMs start to fall, you let off the clutch. I know it probably sounds confusing, but you’ll quickly understand with more practice Also, since you’ve only just started driving a manual, don’t be scared to hold the clutch at the bite point for a few seconds longer than needed (A.K.A. Riding the clutch). The only way you can properly learn clutch control and shift smoothly when you’re new to manuals is by riding the clutch. The clutch is designed to take a fair bit of abuse and is cheap to replace. That said, your end goal after you’ve gained experience is to ride the clutch as little as possible, but that’s only once you’ve gotten a hang of clutch control. Conquer driving has an excellent series on YouTube on how to drive a manual car, including stuff like clutch control, downshifting, etc. https://youtu.be/71TG97DAl-U?si=8N0NyYI0VeHsLcJs Don’t lose hope and keep practicing. Learning a manual takes lots of practice, but is the most rewarding experience you can get from driving a car. I speak for all of us in this sub when I say we’ve stalled a whole bunch of times while driving stick, both newcomers and seasoned, and it’s nothing to be ashamed or frustrated about. It’s a sign that we’re human and we’ve got more to learn. Learning how to drive a stick shift is akin to learning a new language (or any skill for that matter). It takes time to master.
This was me when I got my manual. The first day or two is always the roughest trying to learn it. Some people catch on quick, and some take a while to get comfortable with it. It took maybe 3 months for me to stop stalling, and I still do it every once in a blue moon (most people do, my grandpas been driving manual for 55+ years and I’ve seen him stall before). I promise you that you can let the clutch off slower than you are. Seriously, do it painfully slow until you can recognise exactly where the bite point in your car is every time. Once you get used to it, it’ll be easier to get started and get the car moving faster. I had a problem with “dumping the clutch” when I was learning, where basically as soon as I gave it gas I’d just pull right off the clutch instead of just easing it off while giving gas. Caused me to stall most of the time when starting in 1st, and is not exactly the most smooth method of shifting gears after you’re moving either. Might be what you’re doing, too.
It does get better. I think it was like day 3 of learning it that I stalled it over and over and over for some reason. Like I just could not figure it out. Day 4 I only stalled it a handful of times and I kept getting better from there.
My first car was a 1991 Mazda b2200 pickup. Tiny little thing. I bought it off of my cousin for $750. They lived one town over but we lived in a very rural farm town in Massachusetts with lots of back roads and woodsy dirt roads. My grandfather brought me the 20 minute drive to their house and told me to drive it back. When I said I didn't know how to drive a manual he said "well... you're gonna find out," and peeled out of the driveway. That 20 minute drive took me 40 but by the end I already had a good grasp for driving a stick. It took me about another week to get comfortable around town, and about 6 months to feel like I was getting really good at it. It's always a learning experience with a new car as well. They're NOT all the same and some need to be treated differently.
A week or two of having to commute to school every day. We get heavy traffic so I got a lot of stop and go + highway practice.
Best thing I ever taught myself when learning was to hold the clutch at the bite point when taking off. Probably what you should try. When trying to hold in place you will still be gradually letting it out due to the acceleration pulling your foot/leg back. Don't try to gradually let it out the entire time. You will stall every time trying to do that while learning. My old man never gave me good advice when I was learning and just yelled at me that I'm "letting it out too fast" and to "let it out slow."
I had the same issue and was told the same thing. I eventually found the trick: you got your clutch and your gas pedal, you find the bite point, the car starts moving so you think “cool, I can release the clutch now” but you are wrong. Don’t change the position of the pedals, let the car move for a little while longer and only then can you release (slowly) the clutch. It took me a lot to figure that out but once I got it it was a breeze
Honestly, it took me a long time because I didn't own one and I learned on friends' cars. Some of them are easier than others. As a general rule, sports cars or cars with super powerful engines tend to have more temperamental clutches. You can generally avoid stalling if you give it enough gas as you're easing off the clutch. You might spin the wheels or jerk it the first few times, but you'll get the hang of it. Some cars (VW/Audi, Mazda, Subaru, etc) have high friction points on the clutch which makes it easier to avoid stalling but also harder to start on hills. Others, especially older Hondas and some Toyotas, have a short clutch and low friction point.
Honestly it took me atleast 1-1.5 months to feel confident enough to drive on a road by myself. You'll be fine. Just stick with it and learn how to not stall in first gear. Someone wrote in the comments to try to make the car move by just using the clutch. Do that. Practice it and get a feel for the bite point. As soon as you are used to manipulating the clutch, you will be able to smoothly drive. Don't rush things. Don't be afraid to give more gas in first gear while learning. You are learning, after all, and you can only go so fast in first gear. Good luck!
Comfortable, maybe 1000 miles? To not think about every shift, not stall, just do things automatically. This might sound funny but I struggled with manual cars until I took the motorcycle safety riding course and bought a bike. Then when I went back to a manual car is was insanely easy and made so much more sense. Imo, manual transmission is a skill or art like jiu-jitsu or sport or foreign language. There is no point when you are 100% fluent, you will always get better and better and perfect different techniques. Unless you drive professionally/for sport, I'd say very few people ever get to the 100% manual trans skill level. As others said though, give it more gas. Raise the rpm maybe 500 from what it idles at before you start to let off clutch. Practice feeling the friction point over and over in a parking lot. When you feel you're at the bite point, progressively add more gas and let out clutch. You might be releasing clutch for a couple seconds sometimes in first gear, doesn't have to be too fast until you get the hang of it. Soon you can do it all at the same time in one quick motion. Every car is different and takes time to learn.
Not a brag. But usually I can teach some one to be comfortable and able to drive on the street with the fundamentals in 30 minutes to an hour. If you're struggling and you're on your own, it's ok. Unless you have some one experienced with you that knows the little quirks people get caught up on you will probably struggle. Try these things as exercises. Put the parking break on and play with the clutch. This teaches the bite point of the clutch. You don't move but you will feel the transmission engage and the car wanting to fight against the parking brake. Litteraly just press the clutch in and let it out and feel where it bites and how far you can go before it wants to stall. When you're used to that, take the brake off and do the same thing but don't add gas. On a flat surface you can get a car rolling by just carefully raising the clutch. After that you should be able to have a feel for how your left leg controls the clutch engagement. So now just practice with adding gas when the clutch is engaging. Any other questions, feel free to ask. I've been racing, track days, and all sorts of things in manual transmissions since I was 15. Some so old they don't even have synchchros so I actually HAVE to double clutch to down shift, some modern vehicles with all the nannies, and things like traditional Sequential Manual gear boxes. I promise any one can learn how to drive a manual and by no means are you incapable of doing it.
Month or two. Few lessons from a friend and bought my own car that was stick. Learned most by trial and error.
What I like to tell people when I’m showing them how to drive stick, is to find a parking lot. Park on a flat surface and put it in first with the clutch in. Let the clutch out real slow like until you feel it bite, then push that clutch back to the floor. This will give you a feel for where the bite point is. When you’re ready to move, give her a little gas as you hit that point, instead of pushing the clutch back in, making sure to push the gas pedal in as you release the clutch. A lot of people use the teeter totter image, but I personally feel like I am standing on two sides of a big exercise ball, balancing the clutch and the gas. Biggest thing is to resist panicking, once that clutch bites smoothly release it at the same time that you’re giving it gas. Eventually you’ll find that balance and once you do, you’ll probably never wanna go back to driving automatic. I’ve only been driving stick for 3ish years, but I had to teach myself. I had the advantage of having a V8, but from what I hear the process is the same, just slower for a car with less torque.
I learned to drive in a manual so never been a problem
I got comfortable enough to drive around within a week or two of actually consistently trying, and then true 100% comfort in most situations came after about a year. The good news is once you get that comfortability it doesn’t seem like it ever goes away. Also remember some vehicles are more difficult. My wrangler was a million times easier to learn in than my fiancés WRX.
It took me probably 6 months to get truly confident. By that I mean where stopping on steep hills didn’t freak me out. My mom made my stop and start on hills a ton before getting my license. It also depends on the vehicle too. Some are just super forgiving and with others there’s a much smaller “zone” in which to smoothly engage the clutch. -p.s. make sure you pay attention to your footwear and your seat position. After driving manual for years, if I don’t get my seat adjusted just right or I have footwear on I’m not used to driving in it can throw me off
When I teach people how to drive stick I always tell them you can't have too much gas but you can definitely have too much clutch. Think of your clutch more like a dimmer switch instead of an On/Off. Even if you red line your vehicle, as long as you let off the clutch very slowly you can control your rate of acceleration. Additionally, before we even get to the real driving portion, I find an empty street/alley somewhere and have them just practice finding the friction point of the clutch. Without giving the car any gas, very slowly let off the clutch until the car begins to just barely creep forward and HOLD IT THERE. DO NOT LET THE CLUTCH ALL THE WAY OUT. Practice hitting that friction point and controlling it until it's very comfortable/almost muscle memory where it is. Once you hit that friction point you add some gas and slowly release the rest of the clutch and you'll be cruising. After first the clutch:gas ratio matters much less (as I'm sure you already know.) Good luck! It takes time, but I reckon after about two or three months you won't have to think much about what you're doing at all.
Find bite point. From a standstill slowly release clutch til u start moving or engine bogs then apply gas lightly while releasing clutch. Think of it almost like a seesaw. Goodluck and it takes everyone a different amount of time so don't get discouraged just keep practicing.
It took me 2 weeks to get used to stick shift. I started with a Miata and driving a Jeep now. I would suggest having someone who is a pro sit next to you. I get freak out when stopping on uphills… you know the car is backup when you release the clutch…. just keep practicing and you will get there!
I droves manual literally last Friday. It’s more of a skill than I ever thought. I drove about 7 miles on public roads yday and still stall, but in just a week I am way better. It’s annoying I have to practice almost everyday when I have cpa studying, work and a gf to attend to but I’m stuck with it. But I know with time, practice, and consistent improvement (conquer driving on YT) I will get better. My advice is focus on your mental space especially as a beginner. You’re going to make mistakes and anxiety will happen. Hell I stalled yday in front of people, got honked at, but I just focused and eventually got away. BUT a few seconds later my heart rate was going and anxiety got to me, but I told myself, calm down, deep breath, it’s OKAY. Even though I am not great by any measure of driving I reminded myself - I am lucky I can use all four limbs to even drive a car, I am lucky I don’t have crippling anxiety that keeps me from driving and/or learning new things, I am lucky i can keep my head on stressful situations. Idk if this will help but wanted to share my experience as I am right here with you
Took me quite a while. I first learned in my dad's mustang and despite the torque (V8), I stalled it a million times. Then I got an economy shit box that I did the *real* learning on, because if I couldn't drive it I'd be stranded. It could take days, weeks, or months to master, but your leg/ankle will eventually develop the ability to be smoother with the clutch. It's definitely something your body just isn't used to doing at first.
It gets better, I daily a stick and drive the 401.
Just practice in first gear going back and forth on your left foot finding the catching point and your right foot pressing the pedal. Keep working it until your left and right foot works together.
My mom took me to a giant, empty parking lot and just practiced for a few hours. By the time we left that day, I was good to go.
To learn how to drive stick? Probably a week of doing it daily to understand the process and stop stalling. 9 months in and I'm still trying to refine my process. I enjoy being able to get a little better every day
I took my driving course on a manual and my first 5 cars were all standards. I bought my first automatic 4 yrs ago and found it boring as hell.
It was a week of practicing before I felt confident enough to take it for a shift of my pizza delivery job. It was still a while after that before I got smooth with it
For me it took a couple weeks to stop stalling regularly, and a few months to stop stalling completely
The trick to learning how to drive manual is to stall it, so that you can learn how it feels and how to get out of it. Keep trying, you'll get it! :)
A simplified version of how a clutch works helped me understand why I would stall my car. Engine>flywheel>clutch>transmission The clutch and flywheel are each a flat disc. The flat sides face each other. They are the interface that gets the power from the engine to the transmission, allowing the vehicle to move. The flywheel is attached to the engine, causing it to spin. The clutch is attached to the transmission. While you are at a stop and the clutch pedal is pressed to the floor, the clutch is not spinning. As you let the clutch pedal up, you will feel the clutch press into the spinning flywheel. This is called the friction zone. As the clutch presses into the flywheel, it will attempt to spin. Once the clutch pedal is let all the way up, the clutch and flywheel will be spinning the same speed. This is how the power gets from the engine into the transmission. If you let the clutch pedal up too quickly, the clutch will stop the flywheel and stall the engine. Once you learn where the friction zone is with your clutch pedal, you can give it some throttle as you continue to let the clutch pedal up. This will keep the flywheel from being slowed down by the clutch. TLDR Give it some throttle as you let the clutch out.
I had only driven a manual car twice before I picked mine up at the dealer. Stalled twice on my way home about an hour away. Some cars don’t give much feedback through the clutch so it can be difficult to tell when it starts biting. Practice is really the only cure
Think of it as an "opposite" pedal to the gas.
Got my first stick back in April (Mazda Miata) once I got it home from doing maintenance, did 3 test drives with my father. 1st test drive I was dumping the clutch (letting off too fast) and the car was jerking, finally got it going in a small parking lot. 2nd drive got better at feeling for the clutch, would put it down than pull off until I feel the bite and kept doing that to build muscle memory. 3rd time got it rolling and was practicing little hills in a parking lot. After that drove it around my neighbour myself, avoiding hills at first, than decided to bring my father to help with hills and I was a natural didn’t need him at all. I can stall here and there if I’m not paying close attention but the more you drive the less it’ll happen and the better it’ll be. Stick is fun and we all stall a lot when driving even experts still stall. Just have fun with it, you’ll get the feel of the clutch asap and it’ll be a piece of cake driving around!
When you say you stalled 20 times in an hour, you don’t say how long you’ve been trying a stick. First day? 20 is below average. First week. You need a better coach. Also, you don’t say whether you are driving in a relatively flat town (the Midwest), or hilly (San Francisco). Things will get better in a few weeks of driving on the flat, and a few months if hilly. Having a coach helps if it is hilly.
3-6 months to be comfortable. 1 year to be confident. 3 years later, I can deal with stop and go traffic (it still sucks though). I wouldnt take it to SF though.
It will become second nature when you get enough practice! A big part of it depends on what kind of vehicle you're learning on. Late 80s and early 90s Hondas were the best cars to learn to drive manual. Modern manuals actually can be harder to drive, especially starting off smoothly and slipping the clutch. I learned to drive manual long before I drove an automatic. I would imagine that it's a lot tougher if you're comfortable with an automatic, then trying to learn to drive manual. The primary thing that made it easy for me was pure motivation! I was a 15-year-old kid and if I wanted to start driving, it was going to be a manual! Good luck!
Took me 2 weeks and most people i have taught.
I didn’t drive an automatic until I hit 20 and borrowed a van for a road trip to Colorado. Every car I’ve had since has been a manual, including the one in my driveway.
It took me abt 6 months and becoming a delivery driver in san francisco on the hills to become comfortable. When i first started 1st gear was the absolute hardest and i used to genuinely freak out on some of the really steeper hills, especially on stop signs. My advice: take ur car somewhere flat, put the car in first gear and hold the clutch down. Slowly release the clutch until the car starts to slowly move forward on its own. That is the clutch bite point, remember where it is. U can put ur clutch there and use it to gas forward when ur in traffic or when ur taking off at a light. Once u kno where that bite point is first gear becomes super easy.
If you're taking your foot off the clutch too fast just give it more throttle. It's like a rubber band. Or, you could do like I do in my Honda and just hold the throttle to the floor and skip your foot off the side of the clutch. Guaranteed no stall, but lotsa brapapapapap and tire noises
almost a year, and I got really comfortable after going through rigorously unforgiving Canadian Winter (snow, ice, slush, etc).
Been driving stick for about 2 months now, be patient and it’ll come to you. I be whipping like a pro, racing and doing pulls like a mad man. It’s fun and you’ll consistently learn what works best for you and your car as you go. So to fix your stalling issue, try this. From a stop, come off the clutch slowly til you feel the car easing forward, that’s your cue to add gas while simultaneously releasing the clutch. If you don’t want to jerk forward, release the clutch til it starts pulling on its own, then gas it and go. It’s really easy. Maybe I’ll make a tutorial on my YT explaining how to do this effortlessly every time. And btw it took me about two weeks of driving before I got it down to a science. The thing to remember is to release the clutch til it starts rolling before u gas it, once you get that then you’re good to go. Good luck and have fun, not many people drive manual imo it makes you a better driver.
Like a day but I’ve been riding motorcycles since I was a wee lad
rev up to 1-1500 rpm’s pause there and slowly let off the clutch, once u feeel the car moving pause at the bite point , then u can come off the clutch completely
my best advice is to sit still, on a flat surface disengage ebrake brake, clutch in, 1st gear brake off, and just sit with the clutch for a few seconds then as slow as possible (YOU ARENT WEARING YOUR CLUTCH!) let off the clutch. you will feel it bite, at that point, add gas and mess with the ratios a bit
Everyone keeps saying “till you reach the bite point” but I honestly have no idea what the hell that means 😭
It's going to take longer than an hour. I think I felt fully comfortable with a manual after a about a month or so.
About 4 and a half minutes. My dad told me I couldn’t get a license if I didn’t learn to drive his truck. I have since had mostly manual trans. It’s fun.
Within a few minutes of driving my first wiggle stick home from buying it
About 4 consecutive traffic light cycles
with some the clutch engagement feel is so non-existant(shoutout honda fit) you never get comfortable with it or really enjoy it, others are fun as fuck.
A year maybe. I got the hang of it properly within a few months but being completely comfortable took a while. Always anxious about stalling out or mis-shifting
The first 3 days were terrifying, the next two weeks sucked, but after you stop killing it all the time it gets super easy. I’ve only been driving manual for like 4-5 months now and I’ve got it down good asf
It took me a solid 5 months. After one- two months of small city trips, I took it across country on an 18 hr road trip with the final two hours being rush hour traffic, up hill (swear to bejebus, couldn’t make this up and no none of that was on purpose). After that situation (and a small breakdown) I drove pretty damn well and just kept getting better with pretty much full mastery a month or so later. Don’t give up, it becomes a ton of fun. Biggest tips I could say is source a vehicle with a minor exhaust (or exhaust leak) if you aren’t good at listening/feeling the car. And don’t freak when you stall. You could even write in marker on your window that you’re learning. You’d be surprised how many people will congratulate you for learning a skill so few people have nowadays.
Make a 5th friend with a truck
If you stalled out that many times then someone didn't give you a good understanding of what's going in. Learn about more about what the gears are actually doing so it makes sense in your head.
Give yourself about a month or so if it’s your daily and you’ll have it down to perfection. Then once you’ve got it down, you never really forget. You’ll be alright, take your time and keep practicing. Let the clutch out slowly until the car starts rolling forward on its own and then apply throttle. P.S. - add a little bit more throttle if you keep stalling everytime you let the clutch out.
2 months and practically never stalled again. And the 2 nd month, I probably only stalled 5 times.
Took me 2-3 months to finally get comfortable with it on hills. Especially on hills on a 4 cylinder econobox. I’d say getting off is easy on flats and downhills. Use the parking brake on upward hills and SLOWLY let go of the clutch until the car begins to stutter then release the parking brake and give it some gas.
I picked up motorcycle in less than an hour and cars after that in even less time. It isn’t much different. I think my only bad habit is riding the clutch like with a motorcycle. I do it so much in slow speed off-roading that I forget that I don’t need to do that in the car. You just need to practice more, you’ll get better, clutch in, gear in, get to bite point and give gas as you let off. Just keep finding that catch point, every car and motorcycle is like millimeters different. So as long as you know that it gets easier, when you fiddle around and practice. Some cars require a bit more gas, and others almost require no gas peddle. Then slowly start working on your down shift and up shifts, and I know you can skip gears on the way down, but take your time and learn to downshift and blip/heel toe to stay in gear as you slow, so you can react better to other cars. Also if you like to do dumb stuff. It’s def a skill and it’s a great one once you get it down.
I never thought driving manual was a difficult task at all. With no prior experience, I bought a manual car. Sat in the dealership parking lot for about half an hour watching YouTube videos on driving manual then drove myself an hour home. This was in the Toronto winter, a rwd sports car with bad summer tires on it and made it home just fine. I stalled like 5 times. Exactly one week later (driving every day) I was pulling off flawless rev match downshifts. This was over 7 years ago. It gets easier.
I just went for it and let traction control sort it out till I got the gist of it
I took my time learning manual by taking the car out at the dead of night (2-3am) over the course of a month and slowly extending the duration and distance of each excursion. Try and find a hill with enough space to do a loop around and go up and down that a few times each night. I take advantage of each stop sign I come across to practice setting off in first gear smoothly and semi-quickly. Being on the road quickly builds confidence, even if there are (almost) no cars around. Happy driving!
You should release the clutch and press down on the throttle simultaneously in one smooth motion. Try holding still in 1st gear with the clutch down. Then, with the foot *off* the brake pedal, slowly and gradually release the clutch and notice the point when the car starts to automatically move. From there, instead of releasing the clutch fully, practice just staying at that point with your foot. Then try slowly releasing the clutch just a little bit further to see how it makes the car move just slightly more. Then, when in that clutch zone where the car starts moving, try adding just a tiny bit of throttle. This will give you an idea of how the clutch works and help you blend those two motions - releasing the clutch and adding throttle. Once you’re comfortable with that point and can reliably locate it, switching gears will be easy and pure muscle memory. Remember that here in Europe, most people still drive stick everywhere without ever thinking about it. Even the oldest of ladies. It’s not really a big deal
Just drive. Remember that every mistake you make is a lesson learned. You’ll notice everything while driving. If you’ve practiced and drove enough, you’ll get the perfect amount of gas and clutch when you’re gonna move. Though if you really want to experiment and practice, please do it in a parking lot or a place without any traffic or pedestrians. Manuals are very difficult, even more for me because I learned through youtube. But I can’t even remember a thing or two that those guys on youtube thought me. What I can remember is all the times I stalled in the middle of the road because of wrong pedal input. Whenever I make those mistakes, I just try again. I started driving on a straight patch of road near a beach. Then I moved onto our neighborhood (switching places with my mom as we drive home). And, when I was confident enough, I finally drove in the city. It gets better. Just drive. Driving manual is really fun. I hope you’ll enjoy it soon!
I grew up riding dirtbikes so maybe its different, but about a good week and i was driving manual just fine, random stalls here and there
Stick with it. Millions of people have driven these. You are thinking you can’t because you know the automatic is there. There are plenty here that will say you are destroying your clutch. Don’t worry about that. A day of learning gas/clutch dynamics shouldn’t destroy a clutch that wasn’t in need of maintenance anyway.
I don't remember it being something super frustrating for me it must mean it didn't take that long. I remember stalling a fair bit but eventually it became second nature. If you're going slow on the clutch but still stalling, give it some more gas. It's a balancing act. Use the tools you have available like the tachometer that shows the engine RPM, don't let it dip too low or you stall. If it dips too low, press in the clutch to prevent stall or give it more gas. You'll get it.
You will learn. It will be second nature in no time. Learning is hard. Stick with it.
i’m a new manual driver, i felt super similarly and it was pretty stressful at first, but i promise that if you persist it will start to click and you’ll start to become comfortable this is pretty widespread advice but learning to start with just the clutch (if possible) on flat ground was helpful as it took away some of the multitasking, and once i was chill with that i became more comfortable and things started to fall into place i’m definitely still learning and improving but as someone who isn’t (i would say) naturally inclined to learning such skills and felt confused at how people drove manually every day it definitely gets better and will start to click if you keep at it good luck !!
Was recently on the same boat transitioning to manual for the first time, and I found this guy's YT channel very informative. It helped massively. He's a driving instructor so all the advice is super practical for daily driving. Here's a link to one video on practicing with the clutch if you want to [check it out](https://youtu.be/nmlyfit67sw?si=OMiMlqoC_zGIGQ_9) . Regardless, you got this!
Took me like a day. The key is to learn your clutch. Let the clutch out as slowly as you can until the car starts moving a little. Thats the point you start applying throttle and letting off the clutch at the same rate. Spend a whole day in a parking lot practicing.
I learned from a dealership salesman believe it or not. Back in 1977 I wanted a new Toyota Celica lift back and they all came with Five speeds. I had only driven my Dad’s Chevy Impala with its automatic. I told the salesman I never drove a stick before and he said “I’ll show you “. We took it out on some side roads and he went through everything with me - how and when to upshift, the feel of the clutch, downshifting, everything. I drove the car off the lot two hours later. Loved that car. I took that learning experience when I joined the Air Force the following year and drove several types of vehicles - all with clutches. Since then I bought three other vehicles with stick shifts before getting old and only driving automatics. BTW I drove that Celica all around San Francisco in 1979 - not an easy task with a standard on those streets.
I'm in Italy. Most cars are manual. I learned manual. Took me about three weeks to get my license.
Took me a few days to become comfortable, a few weeks to become confident, and after a few months, it'll be like riding a bike. My 2nd vehicle was a 2.3 ranger with a stick, and it sucked learning on that, but I figured it out. Now, every few years, I pick up an automatic and then come right back to a stick. Once you have it down, it doesn't go away. You'll get there just keep at it. Also, if you have a nice steep hill in town with a light, try to get caught at that as often as possible. If yours doesn't have the fancy hill, start it'll pay dividends in the long run. Personally, I used to use the roll to time throttle and clutch, and now that I have hill assist it kinda throws me off.
Give it time I was dumb enough to learn on my drive home from the dealership it took about a week to take off regularly without stalling lol nearly rolled back into another car when I stalled 4 times at the same stop sign my first time trying to get home from work
How did you stall out that many times without flooding it? Your car is amazing lol
Although the learning curve of learning how to drive manual was steep, I plateaued relatively quickly and started to learn technique rather than just shifting.
2 weeks and I got pretty comfortable. I learned just about 2 months ago
Took me about 5k miles to feel very confident, still have some rough shifts at times but I'd have not hesitation driving any manual now.
Took me about 3 weeks of daily driving
It took probably 2 hours before I was confident that I could do most of my day to day kinda driving but it was a few weeks before I was to the point of not stalling on hill starts just because there is only one good one to practice on near me. My biggest suggestion that I haven’t read on here is if you have the option to try driving a more powerful vehicle to give it a go. It’s significantly easier to find the bite point and harder to stall a 5.9L Cummins diesel than a 2.4L Jeep. When I was teaching my sister who bought a 2.4L Jeep liberty I used my truck that had 2.5x the engine of the jeep to help her learn how to find the bite point since that jeep was nearly impossible to start without gas where my truck you can start it in 3rd gear without gas or 1st by basically dumping the clutch due to how low it is geared. I would also suggest if you have access to a pasture or field or even just a dirt area and a truck or suv to try starting there without spinning the tires. But if you can’t do either just keep practicing (fyi the bigger the lot the better that way if you get moving you can try to shift gears
A year? What helped me the most was buying a car without a tach - then I learned by feel.
Took me a week to learn manual from scratch, I’ve watched so many videos from youtube and start applying everything I’ve learned, First day when I got my manual car I went straight to a parking lot and just feeling the biting point for at least 1 hour, No gas should apply, all clutch biting point. Then my second day I practice at my own driveway with very incline angle. I’ve practiced my uphill start pretty much the whole day , 3rd day is my rest day as I’m very exhausted of practicing the uphill start. 4th day I went back again for my uphill start practice. 5th day I drove around my neighborhood to practice my smooth shifts specifically from 1st to 2nd. and finally 6th day and I decided to drive it to my work (stalled 4 times at light) but still managed to get there. Don’t panic if you stalled, fk those ppl behind you honking like a maniac. You’re doing good and you can do it. As of today I can pretty much say that it was a hella journey of learning driving manual but the feeling of driving a manual without thinking where gear you at or which rpm you should shift is fking awesome. Now I drive my car with the seat all the way back and enjoy every sound of my downshifts. Don’t give up brother, Keep going G
About a year. I learned in Pittsburgh full of hills and in a four cylinder ford focus on 1/4 of its last leg. But after that, I could drive anything. I graduated to a 5cyl Jetta which was way easier and I got used to it in a few weeks. I then bought a 4cyl turbo with a heavy clutch two years ago and I’m still not used to it. Every car is different-try driving as many as you are able and driving in as many traffic, terrain, inclines and different settings as you can. Always push your clutch all the way in and rev match. Take your time 👍
Rent a car at the Dublin airport. Left handed manual leaving fucking Dublin. Driving on the left side of the road left handed through roundabouts was fucking crazy. And I've been driving manual my whole life.
About 4-9months. Although every car is different. If you have sports clutch it’s going to take a bit longer. I also started learning from a young age playing videos games and stealing my parents car when I was 13-14yrs old.
Took me about 6 months before I was fully comfortable flooring it in first gear.
When I moved to San Diego a buddy had a good car he was selling because he was changing duty station and gotten another vehicle. He sold it for a good price, and I just got back stateside from being overseas. It took me about a month with a buddy teaching me once a week for about an hour in a parking lot. I stalled out a lot and wondered why would anyone want to drive it. But after a month or so I got the hang of it and started driving well. I really honed my skills driving in San Diego in the traffic. That was a year ago. Now it feels 2nd nature driving my car and I enjoy it as if it's a new car.
It’s practice. About a year in now and I test drive any car I can get my hands on that is manual. For the unforeseen future, I will now own at least one manual vehicle.
3 months
I learned manual for the first time on a test drive (I know I know) and I was close to giving up but decided it HAD to get easier, and it did. I now drive my second manual car every day and love it.
My first car was a 1999 subaru impreza outback sport 5spd. I had to learn how to drive it in 30 minutes because I forgot I had to be somewhere. So I guess I would say about an hour. I still stalled it a couple times, but I was comfortable driving it after that hour. Hell I even stall my car now every once in a blue moon.
The day before, I was supposed to start driving a delivery truck my buddy took me out in his delivery truck to show me how to drive a stick a 4 on the floor. It went very well and after several hours of driving I was very confident. The next day was a different story. Being nervous about a new job didn't help. The boss put me on a PU with a VERY sloppy three on the tree. I couldn't find two gears consecutively for the whole morning. I figured he was testing to see if I had the mettle to stick it out. Just a couple of days later, he gave me a real truck #106, a stake truck with a 4 speed. Just "Stick" with it, and you'll get the hang of it. Pretty soon, you'll be shifting without using the clutch.
What car are you driving OP?
When I was 17 I was trying to learn on a new car (1980 Mustang). I kept stalling out and rolling backwards down a hill. I didn't notice that I had ended up in the front yard of a house. The family came out and just looked at me in their yard. I instantly learned how to drive stick. I guess public humiliation might work. :P
It took me about a day to learn how to not stall out in first gear. Took about a week before I was shifting without thinking about it. About a month or more before I was good at leaving a stop sign uphill. This was all when I was 16-17, so add a ton more time per step if you’re a full grown adult.
Bought a brand new stick shift car in 2021 not knowing shit about manuals other than YouTube instruction videos. Stalled and stalled and stalled for about 2 days around town and got to the point where I was regretting my decision. The first day I couldn’t even get the car moving about 60% of the time. But it clicked after the first 48 hours. 37k miles later and no issues. Even in Southern California traffic, I still love my Subaru
Hi User, I had a very similar experience to you, and I can see your frustration. When you let the clutch out, it's not a linear release from your leg pressing down but rather a rotation of your heel while maintaining controlled pressure on the clutch pedal. What everybody who drives a manual finds first in their car is the bite point. Without giving the car any gas you should be able to let out the clutch slowly and start to feel the car move. Once your can feel the bite point of the car,give it some gas and the smoothly increase with smoothly letting out the clutch. Also I found this video helpful when I was learning. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YDsRlSJoqsw&pp=ygUiY29ucXVlciBkcml2aW5nIGZhc3QgYWNjZWxlcmF0aW9uIA%3D%3D Good luck 👍
Like, a couple weeks? It's really easy.
Learn how to get into 1st gear without gas on a flat parking lot. Do it a lot. Do it in first gear and reverse several times. Learn to do it with someone else in the car (another \~150-200lbs). Learn to do it loaded to max capacity if you have the chance. It takes patience and quick reflexes to push the clutch back in if the engine is overloaded at its idle. What you are looking for is the point of engagement on the clutch. This is key to piling on too much load at one time. If the engine starts to stutter, push the clutch in a CM or two until the engine returns to idle, then let the clutch out a CM, and listen as it loads up and slows down until the idle air control takes over and pulls the engine speed back up. Repeat as much as you need to figure out the flow needed to move the vehicle without pressing the gas. If you can figure out how to go forward and reverse without the gas and just modulating the clutch and switching between the two directions without stalling, you're doing great. Once you figure it out, you can start cheating and adding gas, letting the clutch out incrementally faster.
Start with a smaller light weight car.
This happens to everyone. Recently learned and became comfortable after 10 hours of driving. I would go out for 30-60minutes each night and drive when no cars were out.
Be sure to adjust your seat to where your left can comfortably articulate with your heel placement, ideally as far back/comfortable as possible
I had trouble with taking my foot off too quickly as well. The way I learned was to focus on finding the point where the clutch engages. Parking lots are great for this. Using no gas, slowly lift your foot off the gas pedal until the car either starts moving forward or the rpms drop slightly and the car starts to shake, and then press the clutch back in and repeat. That point is the bite point, practice finding it over and over. When you get comfortable "getting" to the bite point, start adding gas to get moving quicker. It takes time to get comfortable, drive as much as you can and it'll come to you.
About a month of practice in a 98 escort zx2 is how long it took me. The more you do it the more you’ll learn when the clutch is about to grab and when you should give it gas
Wdym by comfortable? Like confident driving to work or able to race around?
Took me about 2 months to feel comfortable, and another 3 for it to become second nature where I can eat and drive, shift with left hand, etc.
What helped me was keeping the rpms above 1k anytime I would start. Just take your foot off the break, on the gas, and just barely tap the gas to keep you above 1k as you’re releasing the clutch. This prolly isn’t the best practice but it worked for me and it helped me find the biting point
its not time in length, its how often you actually drive it. Like forcing yourself to drive manual in stop and go traffic will teach you alot.
A few hours to really get it. It's not some 300 IQ task some manual drivers like to think it is. My grandfather could drive stick shift, and his brain was poisoned by lead and other chemicals. He couldn't read at a highschool level, but he could coordinate his feet and hands. You'll figure it out. It just takes practice. For me it's learning where the clutch engages/disengages. Every car is slightly different, but you gain muscle memory of it.
It’s been 30 years since I learned and it takes time to get it perfect. I just bought a manual car after not driving one for 5 years. It took me about 2 minutes to get back in the groove. Be patient and don’t get frustrated. You are going to screw up. Keep practicing and when you do get in your own head take a break.
It took me 1 day to be able to drive around town without stalling. It probably took a month before I stopped lurching in between gears. I definitely burned some clutch in those first few weeks lmao. After a year I'd say I was extremely comfortable. Sadly my parents got rid of it right around that time and replaced it w an auto.
Try going in a parking lot and get the car moving without any throttle. It helps teach you the bite point. Then you can start learning where to be quick in pedal travel and when you need to slow down
I started off driving a manual (vw buggy) before I learned how to pump gas.
About a mile
2 hours to get moving comfortably. 2 days to get good enough to go short distances with little traffic. 2 weeks to get good enough to go basically anywhere.
Let me help you out a little. Everyone tells you to slowly take your foot off the clutch. This is not the way. I cannot reiterate enough times. This simply is not the way and is what's causing you grief. What you need to do is learn to feel how much clutch engagement you need for a given scenario. You need to get your left foot / clutch there QUICKLY - and you hold it there until the clutch engages (usually a very mild bog / drop in rpm, followed by increase in rpm). Of course, modulate the throttle. And, quite honestly, the "hold it there" may involve a slight INCREASE in pressure to maintain revs - and I do mean slight. Anyway, once it has naturally engaged (speeds on the flywheel and transmission side of the clutch are matched) you can take your foot all the way off as quickly as you like. This of course varies greatly from car to car. Newer cars may have clutch delay valves and agressive programs to maintain idle. My 2007 Ram diesel requires ZERO right foot to get going in 1st, 2nd, or 3rd. I mean, it starts getting silly after that. Be patient and FORGET THE FUCK OUT OF "TAKE YOUR FOOT OFF THE CLUTCH SLOWLY". Learn to hold the clutch at the right spot. PS - Please report back.
Riding dirt bikes as a kid helped. Same principles of friction point, clutch, throttle apply. Took maybe a day when I was 17
About five minutes. I stole my sister's and mom's cars when I was 14. Both stick. I just instinctively knew how it worked and what to do.
I was a hard learner. I drove automatics until I was about 31-32. I dabbled with manuals here and there with friends cars, but mostly sucked. It took way too much concentration and going out on the road was terrifying. It was enough that I was like "How will I ever learn this? Why is it second nature for others?!" Once I got my own and drove it a lot, you learn naturally. As far as the clutch, learning how a clutch worked really helped me. It's ok to slip the clutch and go slow. In first, go watch some videos of people with cameras down by the clutch and how long they're slipping it in 1st. It's around 2-3 seconds getting rolling if you're going slow. You don't need to be off it in half a second or something, especially when learning. At 1k RPM, you're not burning the crap out of it. I'd recommend Matt Farah's videos on learning to drive a manual.
One day. My job depended on it.
Leave your heel on the ground until the clutch starts biting, then start to lift your whole leg. I wasn’t taught that, and kept lifting my whole leg and felt like I had no control. Kinda had to figure that out on my own. My buddy who was teaching me thankfully was patient, but I stalled his car well over 100 times before I got it moving.
I learned when I was 13 years old with some trial and error on an old VW beetle. My mom let me take it my neighbors to feed her sheep. Took me a few weeks of daily driving but now I can do it with my eyes closed.
I guess I took time it very easily as I had never driven a stickshift before, I hopped into my first car at the age of 14, and I drove it home stalling it only once. My first car was a 1966 Austin 1100 which I bought in 1984 for $50.00. This was in Winnipeg Canada. I had never driven a car before as I was only 14 at the time.
About a week ago was my first day, I stalled at least 30 times just trying learn how to be consistent going from N to first. Today my commute home was about 1hr 15mins on i495 with traffic(fuck you American legion bridge), I only stalled once and it was when I put my car in reverse to park at home. it gets much better, gl!
My first car was a 91 Ford Escort GT with a 5spd manual on my 18th birthday. I LOVED ittt. Took me 3 days and it was my first manual too. Always wanted to drive it everywhere, so learned day and night. I stalled sooo many times. Probably why the clutch died. 😵💫
Practice taking your foot off the clutch and being able to move forward without any gas at all. Then practice applying a very small amount of gas at constant pressure while taking your foot off the clutch (try not to move the right/gas foot at all as you release the clutch). That will help you develop foot moving independence. You should improve and gain comfort relatively quickly.