Preparation

Obviously, you will need a stick-shift car. Your best bet is a car that is not new, nor one that has had the clutch recently replaced. Clutches are much "stickier" when new, and this makes learning more difficult. It's also better to learn in a smaller car, with a smaller engine. They are much easier to get going and to stop. Finally, choose a car with a floor-mount stick shift. Don't try to learn on a car that has the shifter on the steering column. Floor mounted stick shifts are more intuitive and easier to use.

You'll also want a couple good, safe places to practice. The first should be a large FLAT parking lot, preferably one with few lamp-posts so you don't have to concentrate so much on the "where you're going" while you are getting comfortable with shifting. The second should be a long straight section of low traffic roadway.

Practice on a a day where neither bad weather nor darkness are going to cause problems. If you are borrowing the car and the owner wants to come along, work out in advance that you might ask them questions, but your intent is to learn, and that you will be learning from a few mistakes along the way. In other words, they should keep quiet unless you ask for help. (I wish my grandfather followed those rules when he was trying to teach me to bowl!)

Let your friend (you don't think they're really going to let you borrow their car to learn without coming along do you?) drive the car to the middle of the parking lot, and have them shut it off in first with the parking brake on. Trade places and climb into the driver's seat.

The drivers seat - Getting a feel for the pedals

Three pedals and a stick shift. And a parking brake. We'll get to the parking brake later - let's concentrate on the pedals and stick shift.

You already know two of the pedals - the gas and the brake. They work the same as they do in an automatic. So let's skip to the clutch. What the clutch pedal (far left) does is control the distance between two discs or "plates." One plate is connected to the engine, and has a big, flat surface. The other plate is connected to the transmission and is made of a material like fine sandpaper. The clutch pulls them apart when you press it in, and lets them touch each other when the pedal is up. So when you press in the clutch you separate the engine from the transmission. Since the pedal is not an on-off switch, you can control how quickly the two come together, letting one slip against the other for a bit, as you let the clutch pedal up. This "letting out the clutch" is the key to getting the car moving from a stop.

So, with the car still turned off, put your right foot on the brake pedal, and with your left, push the clutch to the floor. On some cars it is hard to press in, but most modern cars have a "light" clutch. A light clutch is usually what you want, because you're going to be pressing it in and slowly letting it out a lot. Practice pressing it to the floor somewhat quickly, then letting it back up slowly. It's not that hard to get used to.

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