Stick Shift Driving

NYC Driving Lessons

Stick Shift Driving Lessons in NYC

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Driving Lessons

Finding a good place to give stick shift driving lessons in NYC isn’t the easiest task, but if you know what to look for, it isn’t that hard either. Ideally, you want to avoid hills, one lane or tight streets and heavy traffic areas. The biggest inconvenience is other motorists interfering with your learning concentration. A honk is the number one concentration breaker.

Look for an open flat area. Ideally, you’d want some obstacles, but make sure that you can control the situations you put yourself in or whoever you’re teaching. For example, if you find a nice hill near by, make sure you can put the hazard lights on and pull over to the side. Traffic should be able to maneuver  around you easily.

Don’t resort to parking lots for driving lessons. Parking lots won’t prepare anyone effectively. Open, flat roads with light traffic and obstacles close by are ideal. For obstacles, make sure you have one small hill, one large hill and one long stretch of road for gear cycling.

 

Reverse and Parallel Parking

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When it comes to learning stick shift, reversing and parallel parking can’t be ignored. The concept is the same, but the mechanics are very different. For starters, if you’re parallel parking on an up hill or down hill, rolling will interfere with the process.

Key Points

    • Reverse pulls off using the same rules as pulling off in first gear
    • Reverse is not always in the same place on every car, be sure to check
    • Reversing is usually done slowly, which means you’re never off the clutch
    • Use the emergency brakes to hold the car for careful inching on hills
    • Park by putting the car in gear, turning the wheel and pulling the e-brake
    • Reverse by moving your foot up and down the clutch for accuracy





Reverse

Reversing in a manual car is a little different than an automatic car. Instead of resting on the break, your feet will be by the gas and the clutch. Getting the car moving in reverse is the same as getting the car moving in first gear. The only difference is in reverse, our goal isn’t to gradually gain speed. Our goal is to be slow and precise. Think of the clutch as a push. Whenever you need a push, add gas and come off into the friction point. The car should be maneuvered into the parking spot with little burst of friction and release.
To keep the car moving slowly and avoid a rapid speed up, add gas while releasing the clutch. It’s important to maintain your position on the friction point and inch up or down on the clutch accordingly. If the car is speeding up, go down on the clutch and let it’s own momentum carry it into the spot until you need to move again. When you want to move , repeat by adding a little gas and coming up to the friction point again for a “push”.

Parallel Parking



Using the reversing techniques above, parallel parking in a stick shift car will be much easier to deal with. The only problem is hill parking at this point. Parallel parking on a downhill is very tricky because now the car will roll forward when you’re trying to reverse. To avoid this, I suggest pulling up the emergency brake and making sure the car is secured by that. Give the car gas and start releasing the clutch until there is enough tension and the car wants to move. At this point, slowly drop the brakes, carefully hold on to the clutch and gas. Allow the car to roll in to the spot. You can tweak the pace by inching on or off the clutch slightly while maintaining consistent gas. Use the Emergency brakes every time you have to stop and adjust wheel direction to make sure it doesn’t roll into the car in front.

For parallel parking on an uphill, life is a little easier. You can just come off the foot brake and let gravity do it’s job. The car will roll into the parking spot.Just stay on the foot brake to control the pace. Adjusting and straightening the car out might be a little difficult now because you’ll have to move forward (up the hill). Use the emergency brakes to build up tension, then release them gradually and straighten the car out.

At the End of Parking

When the car is parked and you’re ready to get out, you can do a three things. What I recommend though is doing all three. Pull up the emergency brake, turn the wheel all the way to towards the curb and leave the car in gear. Turning the wheel will add extra resistance just in case it budges, it will roll into the side walk. Putting the car in gear will make sure it’s held by the transmission, this isn’t 100% though. Doing all three is the safest way to park.

You want to leave the car in the opposite gear of where the car is facing. For example, if you’re parallel parking facing downhill, leave the car in first gear, turn the wheel towards the curb and pull the brake up. Now you turn the car off, come off the clutch slowly, then the foot brake. If you’re parking facing uphill, everything is the same except instead of putting the car in first gear, you’re putting it in reverse. Just remember opposites!

Finding places for Stick Shift Lessons

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Stick shift lessons are generally not as difficult as most people make them out to be. The preparation is very minimal. The skill itself isn’t hard to grasp, it just takes time and repetition to develop finesse. The first most important part when it comes to stick shift lessons is the location.

Key points

    • Avoid learning in parking lots or completely empty streets
    • Start in an area with wide roads and light traffic
    • Make sure there are streets where speeding up is acceptable
    • Pick out an area that is mostly flat, but has a range of hills not too far by
    • Make sure there are a lot of stop signs/lights around the area


Stick Shift Lessons



A lot of people want to start out in parking lots. People who are taking stick shift lessons already know the rules of the road and have general driving experience. The only way to really learn is to be put in a situation as realistic to actual driving conditions as possible. Taking away traffic or road rules is unrealistic! Look for wide, flat streets. Find an area that has hills and traffic signals close by. Hills are very important.

Make sure you’re comfortable in the place you’ve chosen. There are times when you’ll need to shift through the gears and practice down shifting. Have a long strip of road around for just that purpose. Progression should be made quickly. From starting to starting on hill, then downshifting and so on.


Stick shift lessons shouldn’t be done in very busy places. Even if it’s realistic, that’s an extreme. The idea is to keep yourself on your toes, not completely petrify you! You still need time to focus on what you’re doing, but still have the sensation of every day driving. Streets with cars parked on the is preferred because it makes learning parallel parking easier. Set the stages for your stick shift lessons and the rest will take care of itself!

Stick Shift Driving Lesson: Down Shifting

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Key Points

    • If the gas is too responsive, it’s time to up shift
    • If the gas is hardly responding, it’s time to down shift
    • Downshift if the RPM drops below 2000 while driving or slowing down
    • Take your time. There is usually a lot of time to downshift
    • Come off the clutch much slower when down shifting



Introduction to Down Shifting

Down shifting is a little different than shifting up in gear. Downshifting is useful with sudden slow downs and speed ups in day to day traffic. The main difference between down shifting and up shifting is the engine power.

Down shifting goes from low engine power to higher engine power, meaning more response from the engine. More response means the car is going to react more abruptly. The best way to avoid the abrupt reaction is to smooth the transition into the lower gear. Come off the clutch slower and softer than an up shift. That will solve that problem and make down shifting better.

When to Down Shift

If you’re slowing down for any reason, it’s a good idea to consider down shifting. If traffic ahead is slowing down, you’re coming up to a sharp turn, or you’re approaching an exit from the highway, it’s a good idea to consider down shifting.

It’s a good idea to experiment with different gears at different speeds. The more experimenting you do, the better and quicker you can grasp the concept of down shifting.

 

 

Top Five Reasons to Own a Manual Stick Shift Car

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Gas Mileage

This is the one everyone wants to hear. This is the first of the top five reasons to own a stick shift car. It is definitely true that when a manual car is driven properly, it can save some gas. Automatic transmission vehicles these day are built better than they were before, so the difference in gas mileage isn’t that drastic anymore. Be careful though. Over revving and aggressive driving can actually end up making you waste more gas!

 

Maintenance

Lets face it. Automatic transmissions are more complex and newer technology. To rebuild an automatic transmission that’s due for maintenance can cost up to $2,000.00. A new clutch on the other hand will cost anywhere from $600.00 to $1,200.00. Manual cars also need their brakes changed less on average. A good clutch with efficient driving can last more than 10 years!

Performance

It’s popular knowledge that manual transmission vehicles have better overall control than automatic cars. This is due because the driver has the options to downshift, shift early, shift late, rev match, etc. With all these options at the drivers disposal, most drivers incorporate their unique personalities into their cars options for maximum control.

 

Accessibility

About 95% of the world drives stick shift. Knowing how to drive manual can save a lot of money and headaches when traveling. Think about it, why would the rest of the world prefer manual? Hint: It isn’t because they’re lacking in technology.

It’s Fun

Driving stick shift is fun. Driving automatic can be repetitious and boring, but in a manual car, a whole world of opportunities  opens up. I’m not talking about racing or being reckless. Having new options open up to you, options that can maximize performance of the car leaves you developing your own driving style!