I've previously learned how to drive manual but its been a while. When my uncle was teaching me yesterday he told me to release the clutch and not press the gas. Every time I did this I would stall. I 'm driving around my neighborhood until I get comfortable driving on main roads. However when I get the car moving I just release the clutch and give the car some gas. I never really stalled when I did my method. But yet when I do the "no gas method" I stall.

So what I'm wanting to know is that is my method good or bad for a manual car?

It is fine. I always give the car alittle throttle when releasing the clutch. 4 and 6 cylinder gas engines dont have to torque for the "no gas method" to be efficient. Diesels and v-8s usually have enough torque at idle to get the car moving.

I only teach the "no gas method" to those who have never driven stuck before cause I think it helps them understand the feel of the clutch better. Basically "if you can get the car moving without the clutch, you can do it with the clutch"




"A car just isn't a car without a little blood, sweat, and beers." -- Shadowfire

I always give mine gas when I take off but just barley. the biggest thing is learning the catch point of you clutch, get your self farmiliure with it by slowly releasing the clutch till you feel it start to move and drop rpms. that's the only hard part about learning to drive standard, getting to know your catch point. when I teach somebody that's always were I start, was able to teach my girl in 5 mins :-)


I Love My J ♡

Only reason I would tell someone to try the no gas method, would be to learn where the engagement point is on the clutch pedal travel..

Matt Linke wrote:I only teach the "no gas method" to those who have never driven stuck before cause I think it helps them understand the feel of the clutch better. Basically "if you can get the car moving without the clutch, you can do it with the clutch"

Yep. This.

It sounds like he just didn't take enough time with you to get past this part and left you with bad info.

When I'm teaching someone how to drive a manual, I start with the "in-class" portion which is a whole spiel about what's happening when you're using the clutch until they understand the basics of how stuff under the sheet metal works. Then they start off as mentioned... getting the car running around a parking lot without ever touching the gas.

This will teach someone how to control the engagement of the clutch and how to know where it starts grabbing and what not. But you'd NEVER drive like this on the street.

When you want to get going, give it a bit of gas and then let out the clutch as quickly as you can while keeping it smooth. Honestly... you can get all sorts of advice in writing here but you really need to find someone that knows what they're doing and have them take you out again and teach you properly. How you interpret words on the internet may not be at all how they're meant and you don't want to develop any bad habits.

On the inside my car looks like a fighter jet.