How to drive a car with a clutch

[Kevin]

First, I learned how to drive a manual car.

I'm wondering if when you are at a red light, should you put the car in neutral and only have your right foot on the brake? Or have the clutch pedal depressed and have it in first gear?

Also, I was just looking at a Bring A Trailer auction and in the comments they talked about the idea that a person should NOT drive with your hand resting on the gear shift. Some people said pre-mature wear, and others said it's a myth.

What do you think?

We were wanting a golf cart for down here at the beach but ended up buying a jeep instead. It's a two door manual. Much more fun than a golf cart.

I was driving it today and wondered about these questions.

The Jeep has auto stop/start, but it's only activated if the car is in neutral and you aren't touching the clutch pedal. I thought that was interesting.

Also when parked, do you leave the car in gear -OR- leave it in neutral and use the emergency brake? (That is what I do.)

 

[MHtractorguy]

At a light, in gear, one foot on clutch, one on the brake.
I park with trans in reverse. I do not have hills around here, so I rarely engage parking brake.

 

[Al James]

Depends on how long you think you are going to be at the light. If you know you have time you can put it in neutral and watch traffic. When your time is getting close put it back in first and at the ready to release the clutch.

Don't drive with your hand on the gearshift unless you are anticipating a shift.

Park it in gear with the brake also applied.

Just my .02.....

 

[Woodtroll]

This is what I do and my reasoning - other folks may differ:

If I know I'm going to be sitting for a while at a red light, I put it in neutral and release the clutch. This minimizes wear and heat on the throwout and pilot bearing, neither of which is designed to be engaged for long periods (at least on lighter vehicles).

I don't rest my hand on the shifter for any length of time. If you put enough pressure on it you are putting pressure on the bearings the shift forks/collars ride against. May not hurt it, but can't help.

Parked, I leave it in lowest gear AND the parking brake set. I've seen too many vehicles roll off with only one or the other to do it any other way. I'm curious why you would take a manual transmission out of gear to set the brake, or am I misunderstanding?

 

[Mobuck]

I learned to drive "with a clutch" somewhere around 5 years old on an 8N FORD tractor. Was getting paid to drive a manual transmission truck( a REAL truck) by 17. Those old trucks were so underpowered we normally drove with one hand on the shifter cause a downshift(often 2 or 3) was required on most of the north MO hills. I still have a 5 speed manual transmission K3500 Chevy and C6500 dump truck.
Unless it's a short light, I kick it out of gear and watch the light so I'm back in gear when it changes. A slight hesitation can't be any worse than the 'shut the engine off' feature of the newish F150's. I bought a used Cherokee with inline 6 and 5 speed that had come from California(possibly a hilly city area). First thing I had to do was replace the parking brake handle and ratchet. Apparently, the previous owner used it at lights frequently.

 

[turd]

You do whatever you want at a light, I used to leave it in gear and clutch engaged so I'd be ready when the light changed. Always leave it in gear when you park and shut it off. Either first gear or reverse.

 

[Kevin]

This is what I do and my reasoning - other folks may differ:

If I know I'm going to be sitting for a while at a red light, I put it in neutral and release the clutch. This minimizes wear and heat on the throwout and pilot bearing, neither of which is designed to be engaged for long periods (at least on lighter vehicles).

I don't rest my hand on the shifter for any length of time. If you put enough pressure on it you are putting pressure on the bearings the shift forks/collars ride against. May not hurt it, but can't help.

Parked, I leave it in lowest gear AND the parking brake set. I've seen too many vehicles roll off with only one or the other to do it any other way. I'm curious why you would take a manual transmission out of gear to set the brake, or am I misunderstanding?

I leave it in neutral with the emergency brake because I've always heard if you leave it in gear it puts pressure on the transmission. Basically say first gear is not moving and holding up the weight of the vehicle. If I'm explaining what I'm thinking correctly.

 

[Kevin]

At a light, in gear, one foot on clutch, one on the brake.
I park with trans in reverse. I do not have hills around here, so I rarely engage parking brake.

Why leave the car in reverse?

 

[Kevin]

And a follow up question. Do you use the brakes to slow down or say go from 5th to 4th to 3rd etc to get the car to slow down?

or just brakes only?

I've always heard just use the brakes because they are cheaper than a new transmission and you don't want to put the extra wear on the transmission.

Is that correct?

 

[turd]

I leave it in neutral with the emergency brake because I've always heard if you leave it in gear it puts pressure on the transmission. Basically say first gear is not moving and holding up the weight of the vehicle. If I'm explaining what I'm thinking correctly.

No worse than when you are in gear and moving, much less pressure on the trans when parked.

 

[MHtractorguy]

Why leave the car in reverse?

Reverse is the lowest gear ratio that is available in most manual transmissions. That is the gear least likely to allow the car to move.

 

[Dan in MI]

I coast to lights in neutral. Watch the light and drop it in gear in preparation to take off. (Often wondered if thats bad in case I need to out of some clowns way) I do not use engine braking unless it is on hills and required. I had a pilot bearing go on the one car I did that with and quit after that. Park in gear with and without parking brake depending on situation.

 

[Mike J]

And a follow up question. Do you use the brakes to slow down or say go from 5th to 4th to 3rd etc to get the car to slow down?

or just brakes only?

I've always heard just use the brakes because they are cheaper than a new transmission and you don't want to put the extra wear on the transmission.

Is that correct?

I haven't driven a stickshift in a long time but when I did (when I rode a motorcycle too) I downshifted & used the brakes to stop. Even if you press the clutch in & use the brakes if you don't down shift you will not be in the right gear to start speeding back up if you slow down for traffic & then speed back up. If you don't downshift or use clutch when you slow down it will mess you up because you will be in the wrong gear.
I didn't learn to drive a stick shift until I was 18 or 19. I had wrapped my previous vehicle around a pole. I found a deal on a used 74 Corolla with a 5 speed. My roommate & I went to a big parking lot & he schooled me on how to hold the clutch on a hill, starting & stopping. We practiced for about an hour. Then it became my daily driver. The first day or two was a little rough but I got the hang of it. It is kind of a feel thing. I'm not sure if I did a good job trying to explain that or not.
Some things it is easier to show (demonstrate) than tell.

 

[RoninPA]

I was taught:

Parking, uphill with/without a curb - Transmission in First, emergency brake on, front wheels turned to left
Parking, downhill with/without a curb - Transmission in Reverse, emergency brake on, front wheels turned to the right
Parking, flat area with or without a curb - Transmission in First or Reverse, emergency brake on, front wheels straight. left or right.

Reasoning for the wheels - if everything fails, your front wheels will go into the curb, hopefully stopping the vehicle, not out into the street. If no curb, the car will hopefully run off the road and stop on/in whatever is on the right side. If a flat area, who cares?

 

[Busterswoodshop]

I have no idea how many vehicles I have had that had manual transmisions.
I think people worry too much.
Just drive however you want .
I doubt very seriously anything described here is going to make a difference in the wear , that you will notice.
Slipping the clutch will wear the clutch out faster than anything described here.

 

[Jeepnik]

Only comment I have is this. The only vehicle I ever drove where resting your hand on the gearshift ( and I've driven things from minis to runway foaming tankers) was my buddy's VW Bug with the then new "automatic stick shift". On that it would engage the electric clutch if you put pressure on it.

Heck, on some vehicles I drove you were constantly shifting up or down the transmission, transfer case and doubler. Think 18 forward speeds and six reverse. And there were times you needed every darned one of them. And if you couldn't double or even triple clutch you weren't going anywhere. Synchros didn't exist in those.

 

[Dave P.]

I park with manual trans cars in reverse, will set the parking brake on hills also.
Usually rolling toward a red light will bump it into neutral, then clutch and low gear
just before the light changes. Still rolling when the light changes...throttle blip, sometimes
clutch, sometimes depending on the car just slip it back into the appropriate gear,
it's really vehicle dependent.
I can't even stretch my imagination to the point of believing gear load on a stationary
transmission shaft causing wear. Fill a transmission with half water and let it sit for 14
years and maybe get rusting and pitting on the gear contact patch.
If you put pressure on the shifter of most street transmissions in the direction you would
move it to shift I could see wearing the syncro rings and shifter forks eventually, just resting your hand on it....nope.
Just drive it....as mentioned above the clutch will likely die first anyway.

 

[wproct]

I learned to drive "with a clutch" somewhere around 5 years old on an 8N FORD tractor.

This is exactly how I learned to drive a standard transmission. I was about 9 years old. Dad took me out in the middle of a field and showed me how to operate the clutch, gear shift, and the brakes. Then he let me drive as he sat on the fender watching for about 5 minutes. Then he got off and went to the barn. Told me to drive until I got tired of it.

 

[eveled]

Neutral at red lights, less stress on the throw out bearing.

Down shift through the gears as I'm coasting to a stop, that way I'm in the correct gear if the light turns green.

Shift to lower gears if on a down grade to save the brakes.

If pointed up hill I start in first gear, if pointed down hill I let gravity start me rolling and start in second.

I've got a jeep I bought in high school with 140,000 miles on the original clutch and a pickup truck with 180,000 on the original clutch.

I leave it in first when I park, set the parking brake if in a hill.

 

[Jeepnik]

You are worried about the throwout bearing but use engine braking. Yep, clutches are easy. Six of one, half dozen of another.