Moving Forward in First Gear

Press the clutch to the floor and move the gearstick into first gear. It should be the upper-left position, and there should be some kind of visual layout of the gear pattern on top of the gearstick.

Gear patterns can vary, so take some time beforehand to study your car’s gear layout. You may want to practice shifting through the various gears with the engine switched off (and the clutch engaged).

Slowly lift your foot up from the clutch pedal.Continue until you hear the engine speed begin to drop, then push it back in. Repeat this several times until you can instantly recognize the sound. This is the friction point.

When you’re shifting gears to start or keep moving, this is the point at which you’ll want to have the accelerator depressed enough to provide power.

Let up on the clutch while pushing down on the accelerator. In order to get moving, lift your left foot up from the clutch pedal until the RPMs drop slightly. At the same instant, apply light pressure to the accelerator with your right foot. Balance the light downward pressure on the accelerator with slowly releasing pressure on the clutch pedal. You will probably have to do this several times to find the right combination of up and down pressure.

Another way of doing it; is to release the clutch until the point the engine revs down a little, and then applying pressure on the accelerator as the clutch engages. At this point the car will start to move. It is best to have the engine rev just enough to prevent stalling as the clutch pedal is let up. This process may be a little difficult at first because you are new to the extra pedal in a manual car.

Release the clutch fully (that is, slowly remove your foot from the pedal) once you start moving forward under control in first gear.

Expect to stall at least a few times when you’re first starting out. If you release the clutch too quickly the engine will stall. If the engine sounds like it is going to stall, hold the clutch where it is or push down a bit further. If you do stall, depress the clutch fully, apply the handbrake, put the car in neutral, switch the engine off and restart the car as normal. Don’t panic.

Revving the engine while the clutch is between fully up and fully depressed will wear out the clutch parts prematurely, resulting in slippage or smoking of the clutch parts at the transmission. This is called riding the clutch and should be avoided.