Yea if a person lives in a large city and has a twice a day commute in rush hour traffic you CANNOT own a stick shift vehicle.I'm sorry,you just cant. You will soon grow weary of working that clutch and shifter every 4 seconds.
It all comes down to the interaction between the clutch (left foot) and the acceleration petal (right foot). I usually don't wait until the left foot is completely off the clutch before pressing on the gas. That will stall the car. So the best way is to press the gas while your left foot is disengaged about halfway on the clutch. This will allow more uniform speed while downshifting.
Oh, don't do that. This will wear down your clutch a lot faster. Also this won't work on steep hills. No traction whatsoever. Only time I recommend starting from 2nd gear is when stop-and-go on snow.
The first gear is the most difficult to get used to. Even when you only drive manual cars and get a new car, you still need some time to get the feeling of your foot on that gear. A trick I used to teach my wife was to go to a place where you can stop and start several times, like a parking lot around a comercial center. There you can practice the clutch. From a stopped position release the clutch first slowly until you see the point that the car is vibrating, a that point the gear is about to engage and needs to move. You move the gear by using the acceleration pedal. It is about finding that sweet spot between the clutch and the acceleration. It is just practice, just try again and again until you get it.
omg Hey Raincap..... What are you doing here? Going for the "This week's most viewed post" thing? Christ almighty.... just drive the bitch..... trust me.... you'll figure it out.
Your manual gearbox car must be very old. The clutch & gearbox are probably worn out already. Practice on a straight road for many days.
For someone who drives anything that moves (except articulated and engineering vehicles), in whatever side of the road... This is a funny thread lol Just learn by practice where the car clutch cut off is. Be gentle on accelerator. You could slowly drive a car and switch gears up, by barely touching accelerator. Only use the first gear when the vehicle is not moving. Don't be embarrassed of a bit of "clutch burning" revving sound when you are out there. At a light/roundabout that is better/safer than stalling the car. I think 3, 4 seconds is a long a time for a gear switch... Unless you are driving a big old truck. After some practice, one should feel and learn by heart where the exact cut off point is, and it will become as easy as riding a bicycle. Similar for motorcycles.
OP, just ask chatGPT or Youtube, I bet plenty of videos showing how to do it. If nothing else, you could hire a driving teacher for an hour.
Did it for multiple years on multiple cars (well my first 3 cars anyway). First one was an 8 yr old Audi I had for 3 more years. Next 2, a new Audi and a new Honda each of those 3 years. Traded them in "good as new" as new as a 3 yr olds would be. Got to know what you are doing. I was taught by a pro, but not a race car pro lol. A "drive like you stole it" pro. ;-) First time behind the wheel of a car with a clutch was in NYCity afternoon rush hour traffic - the Bronx and I've lived in Queens. Talk about learn fast phew. Many laughs years later but other drivers around me were not laughing at my unintended antics. Don't believe someone's else gospel. There is so much of that when it comes to cars. I had a friend once who ....... + + + Side note: shifting "heal and toe" is the way to go.