How to Drive Standard

     In this blog I will be teaching you how to drive standard. To start, is learning how to turn on the car. First, if you know nothing about driving standard, there is an extra pedal besides the gas and break that will take the car in and out of gear, called the clutch. The clutch will engage and disengage the transmission. To first start the car, push the clutch in, and turn the key. Before letting the clutch out, make sure that the car is in first gear, or reverse, depending upon the situation                        

With certain cars the reverse gear will have a safety that requires you to either pull up on the shift knob or push down. To begin, slowly let the clutch out with your foot hovering above the gas pedal. Once the clutch reaches a certain point there will be a slight vibration in the pedal that will cause the car to start moving forward very slightly. When you can feel the vibration in the pedal, start to apply the gas very lightly. As you are applying the gas, lightly begin lifting your foot off of the clutch. Eventually the car will start moving enough to let your foot off of the clutch completely. Next comes shifting while moving. Once the car is moving it is good to focus on the RPM's and speed. It is never a good idea to let the RPM's get too high in any gear, it causes more wear and tear on the cars transmission and engine. In most cars after hitting about 2000-3000 RPM's it is a good idea to shift out of first into second. Shifting into second can be a little tricky sometimes. Make sure to learn how to drive in the day time when you can still see the shifting pattern. Some cars maintain the same pattern but some are vastly different. When shifting into second, let off of the gas and push in the clutch. After pushing in the clutch put the shifter into second gear, and slowly let the clutch back out. Depending on the skill level and type of driver, some will let the clutch out with the gas, and some without. When learning it is best to let it out without using the gas, because it makes for less foot work. Just make sure not too let the clutch out too quickly because it will cause a clunky and uneven shift. After learning the first few basics driving standard becomes much easier, the only thing that gets more difficult is trying to start on hills. There are three different ways to start on hills. To start off with the easiest way is to use the hand-brake. Just like a normal start have your foot on the clutch and above the gas, but use your e-brake to hold your car in place. When starting slowly let your foot off of the clutch until you find the point where it grabs, when finding that point slowly release the e-brake and start moving forward. The second way to do it is to use the clutch as the brake. This is the way to do it if you have more experience and feel comfortable with using a significant amount of clutch. When coming to the stop on the hill let the clutch out to the point where it starts to move forward and only apply enough gas to hold the car in place. It may seem simple, but it is only easy after knowing how to drive for awhile, and burns the clutch much quicker. The third is just the traditional start, which may be the most difficult if you have no room to roll back. As you get better and better at driving standard, it is less of a chore, than it is a part of driving. Eventually you'll be able to drive without even thinking about it, and it gives people a whole new aspect on driving.