Ask Lemmy

Most modern cars have hill assist, but it might still be a help to use the handbrake when starting on a hill, or at least know how to do it.

When you start the car on uphill roads, press release the clutch slowly and press the accelerator at the same time. Balance it.

Agree with the other posters about clutch work. A small hill or parking lot with an incline may also help with clutch feel / practice.

That is what helped me get a better feel for using a clutch.

Accidentally stopping the engine is no shame. Whatever anybody thinks. Focus on not making collisions. You can always just start the engine again. Nothing bad happened. Collisions are the real headache and what is important.

The hardest part will be learning how to properly feather in the clutch. Find an empty parking lot and practice stopping fully then starting out with someone who has driven stick before and can give you feed back.

Starting out in second gear can sometimes help prevent your tires from slipping on slick pavement. Also useful if you ever drive a pickup truck with a "granny" [first] gear, which is only intended for getting you moving from a dead stop under heavy load.

Vehicles with manual transmissions have a backup starter if you find yourself with a dead battery. If you can get it rolling, you just put it in at least 3rd or higher and let the clutch out . Should normally start right up.

Learn how to stop and start going up a steep hill. Depending on where you live, it may not happen for a long time. But when it does, you'll want to be prepared. It's done with a quick but smooth motion. You "feather" the clutch, allowing it to drag enough to hold the vehicle in place but not so much that it stalls the engine. Then you let off the brake and simultaneously accelerate and let the clutch out until you're moving up hill. Takes a little practice but not too hard to get down.

Speed is controlled with the gearbox and engine, brakes are for stopping (this is broad advice, obviously)

Don't push in the clutch and coast when you're stopping, you should be engaged in case you need to throttle out of a situation

Try not to cruise in neutral. Better to be in gear whenever possible to reduce brake wear/make it easier to brake and ensure you have power to the wheels when you need it (e.g. an emergency situation).

Also, as fun as popping the clutch is, it’ll eventually kill your car.

Some advanced stuff since everybody else probably already covered the beginner stuff:

When you get the hang of driving stick, which you will pretty quickly, you can try matching revs on downshifts to smooth things out and then you can try heel toe with matching revs.

When you get really good you can shift gears without engaging the clutch just by rev matching, but don’t try that til wayyyy later. Can mess up the gears.

When approaching a light or stop sign, smoothly press down the clutch and break pedal together. If it's a red light where you might be for a while, pop the gear into neutral and let go of the clutch.

I was taught (rightfully or not) that holding down the clutch too long can damage it.

Don't money shift it, pay attention to the road.

Don't money shift it. That's when you feel like racing and you slam it into second from first, then from second into what you think is third but is actually first again.