How To Drive Stick Like The Boss You Were Always Meant To Be

I drive stick. More specifically, I drive stick in the notoriously hilly Bay Area and I enjoy it immensely. If you can drive stick, do. Here’s why — and how you can if you can’t already.

I guarantee someone else can explain the mechanics/physics of “how to drive stick” better than I can.* But, to the layperson trying to operate a vehicle with a manual transmission (MT), the key thing to know about how it differs from an automatic transmission (AT) is that you are in charge of selecting the proper gear. This requires you, the driver, to consider various factors all at once, primarily the speed and torque needed to haul you and your 3000-pound heap of steel up/down huge ass hills.

This is not easy — and I say this even as someone completely comfortable driving stick. Objectively speaking, the act of driving stick is complex; in order to go fucking anywhere, a ton of actions have to come together all at the right time, on the spot, in ever-changing conditions. (Then, a bunch more details have to get ironed out to not just go somewhere, but do so in a manner equally as comfortable as you could in an AT.)

PROOF: I drive really shitty stick when I’m sleep-deprived. Like, noticeably shitty. Sleepy brain no worky on complex tasky.

Maybe you’ve tried to drive stick and either a) think you suck at it and could never do it full-time, or b) just don’t want to do it full-time. For you, before you give up forever, I must remind you of a few of the many fringe benefits of all this “aggravation” we choose to go through by driving stick:

1. Substantially cheaper at the lot. $2000 less for the 2015 Kia Soul base model (and, as is often the case, there was no option for a base/cheapest model with an automatic transmission; AT would have required an upgrade on the whole car package). That $2000 saved was then handed to the state of California in the form of hella taxes.
2. Substantially cheaper at the pump. 35–37 MPG on our ’96 Honda Civic 5-speed + ’88 Honda CRX 5-speed (each with over 350,000 miles). Near-hybrid MPG is possible if you work to avoid complete stops and throw the thing into neutral every chance you get. I might know someone who could talk to you about that if you’re interested.
3. Substantially cheaper at the mechanic. It’s the same reason that a compelling argument against purchasing an iPhone is its non-replaceable battery. If ANYTHING goes wrong with your iPhone battery, you can’t just swap out the old one with a new battery like you can in other devices — you have to get a whole new phone. And in an AT car, a whole new transmission will run you $1500+ if any part of it fucks up. MT cars are of course manual and in that sense easier to work on and cheaper to repair because you can isolate problems and prevent situations that warrant full replacement. (Downside: Also means they’re easier to wear out, and no transmission is cheap. Just don’t suck at driving stick and you’ll be all set!)

And a couple lesser benefits that can’t go without mention…

1. Looking like a complete badass at all times.
2. Being able to drive literally any vehicle.

(Yup — these, too.)

Given these many logical arguments in favor of purchasing a manual transmission vehicle, why are 97% of cars sold today sold with automatic transmissions?

BECAUSE PEOPLE ARE FUCKING PUSSIES.

What follows here is my attempt to help you man the fuck up and finally conquer the two (2) main enemies that stand between you and driving stick like a dignified human being. Once these two obstacles are conquered, I guarantee 90% of any anxiety you have about driving stick will disappear and perhaps you, too, will be able to reap the long list of benefits it brings (that extends beyond what I’ve listed above).

HILLS

The trick is to not stop if you don’t have to. How do you not stop if you don’t have to?

Keep the momentum going.

Imagine this nightmare stick-driving scenario:

You are driving uphill. You see a red light 0.25–0.5 miles ahead. Nobody is between you and where you’d need to stop for the light. MORE OFTEN THAN NOT, with this amount of distance, and the amount of time it takes a stoplight to change (this is why I love California’s sensor stoplights) you *should* be able to avoid a stop altogether by slowing down as slowly as you can without making everyone behind you angry. And even if they are angry, fuck them, because not stalling out is more important than the 1 second that got added to their commute because of your gentle driving habits.

This avoids the alternative, which is bad. You’d continue at full speed until you have to come to a complete stop at the light, requiring you to start on a hill, which is by far going to be the hardest thing for anyone driving a stick. It requires careful maneuvering and carries the risk of stalling for even the most veteran of stick-drivers.

…but what if you have to stop?

Match your movements.

The hill will require you to either a) give your car extra leverage by engaging the parking brake as you engage the gas so that you don’t coast backward into the idiot on top of your bumper behind you, or b) have that whole process automatically mimicked by your modern vehicle’s “hill-start assist” feature on hills > 3 degrees, which, glorious as it is, still ain’t easy and also comes with an awesome burning smell.

Match your movements with the car. If you’re on a semi-steep hill, you won’t need to gun the gas taking off from a stop as much as you would trying to come up a steeper hill. Your car is falling backwards with more force the steeper the hill, so match that force on the gas. It requires experience with hills to know how much, and you WILL fuck up a time or two no matter how good you are. Hit the gas wrong and that’s it — your car is stalled, and if you happen to be in Boston, you now also lie on the pavement murdered by the angry motorists behind your stalled car.

See how simple it is to avoid hills? You should be able to avoid the challenge of hills enough that you don’t worry about the 1 time you hit a challenging hill every day/week.

Let gravity and physics do the work for you by doing the same in reverse — when going downhill, let your foot off the brake while the car is in neutral, gain a bit of speed, then shift into 1st. Remember: If the car is moving, you’re not stalling.(+)

All of this effort at avoiding a complete stop saves on your clutch leg fatigue of course as well, especially if you are the type like me who (usually) instead of slowing by downshifting throws the thing into neutral whenever the grade allows for it. More on clutch leg fatigue to follow.

BONUS: And possibly why manual transmission vehicles on the whole get better gas mileage — the longer you are not pressing on the gas, the more cash you are saving. Save yourself the gas of having to accelerate from a dead stop when you can.

TRAFFIC

Same idea: Avoid complete stops.

Added factor in this scenario is potential for clutch leg fatigue. Constant stop-and-go means your clutch is almost constantly engaged, unless you do what I do, which is to coast in 1st or 2nd (whatever 5–15 MPH is on your car) with plenty of room between you and the car in front of you so you can look ahead and see if you ACTUALLY have to stop for good. Mind you, people will go into the lane ahead of you as you leave space between you and the car in front of you. Let them. You’re tired and completely fine staying in 1st for the next 50 miles.

I realize that sometimes traffic is indeed so horrific that your clutch leg is going to get tired. My recommendation?

Sit pretty.

Spend some serious time on getting the driver’s seat-to-pedal ratio just right. And don’t let other drivers fuck with your car’s seat position, that shit is grounds for #murder too. If your clutch leg is getting shaky, I guarantee you’re sitting too far back. You’re making it so that you require more force to completely depress the clutch, as you are farther away. Stop doing that. Move forward and your leg should ease up.

Congratulations!

You now know how to drive stick like a mothafuckin’ boss. The rest is just details, really.

*Physics was never my forte, so don’t quote me on any of this, but I think it’s more or less like the gears on a bike — the smaller the gear, the larger the rotor (circular thingy inside your engine) is operating, thus giving your car greater torque. What we refer to as “1st gear” is actually a large, circular piece of metal inside your engine that powers your engine, that circle is MUCH larger than the one for “6th gear” (or 5th or 4th or whatever your top gear is). This is why if you are losing speed going up a hill, you downshift to allow your engine greater power — the bigger circle in a lower gear means your engine has a greater surface area to use for torque/power.

**Unless you live in San Francisco, cuz even I’m inclined to say FUCK. THAT. SHIT. (Conquered hills notwithstanding.) Just not fun risking stall-panic every day of one’s life. Good way to make driving no longer fun.