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What do I need to know before I start learning stick?
Home » Automobiles » Stick Shift Manual Transmission » What do I need to know before I start learning stick?The first thing you should do is get to know the car. Driving a manual transmission is a lot different than driving an automatic. Make sure you know the following differences:
• The clutch pedal is located to the left of the brake and is used when moving up or down from one gear to another. The clutch is disengaged when the pedal is pushed to the floor.
• When the car is in neutral - or, not in a gear - you can rev the engine as much as you want, but you're not going anywhere. You'll know it's in neutral because you'll be able to wiggle the shifter left and right.
• For most cars, second gear is the workhorse. It will get you up (and down) steep hills as well as through congested downtown. It's also where you'll usually want to be coming out of corners, depending on your speed.
• Reverse gear is somewhat different from the others: it has more range than first gear, but don't go in reverse for too long or too fast. Also, the reverse gear varies from car to car more than any other gear. Make sure you know where reverse is and how to get the shifter to that position.
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