Quirkbag Collection #18 – 24.10.25
It’s drizzling. The carpark is gradually filled with random Singaporeans of varying ages all with the same purpose. They are here for a driving practical lesson. I was anxious. I was thinking about how this anxiety felt.
“How hard can this be?”
Driving a manual transmission car for the first time is hard. Duhhh. But here’s how you can make it easier for yourself.
Why Can’t You Just Drive Off?
Driving a manual car means fiddling with a clutch and the gearbox. For my first lesson, this animated instructor said that ‘the clutch and the gearbox are brothers’ and they must work together.
Yes, I got the point.
But the big problem I faced, like many learners, is called ‘stalling’. This is when your car engine just gives up on you because of your absolute lack of skill. It’s telling you that you failed to control the clutch properly.
I stalled many times. In fact, I stalled more in my second lesson than my first. What a learning curve.
Now I know you’d think ‘I’m different’.
You think ‘I won’t have that problem’. Let’s find out when you sit and step on the pedals. ‘Stalling’ is practically a rite of passage when learning.
So why can’t you just drive off easily when you drive a manual car for the first time? Well, now you know. It takes more than a strong leg and a fast gearshift when driving a manual car for the first time.
‘Stalling’ Teaches You Something?
To fix this problem, the instructor told me to ‘love the clutch’. It meant to slowly and smoothly let the clutch pedal up instead of releasing my feet quickly, as is the usual instinct for beginners.
If you’re struggling with it, check out this British driving guy’s video below. Credit to my friend who shared this channel with me.
See more of his tutorials and guides here. His instructions and explanations can help make your learning curve gentler and far less confusing. And who doesn’t appreciate a British accent?
Finding the biting point first is universally correct. That’s the way the car works. So releasing the clutch slowly, while counter-intuitive, is the way to drive off. So I told myself to release it SLOWLY.
And your guess is correct….I did not.
Somehow that is not an immediate correction. Your body and mind will not cooperate as one in the first or second lesson. I proudly told myself to release the clutch slowly, and proceeded to stall many more times despite it.
You will keep ‘stalling’ over and over as a pattern until your leg masters the control and sensitivity of the pedal.
But that’s normal. It’s called learning.
‘Stalling’ taught me that practice is probably more useful than knowledge when driving a manual car for the first time.
Driving Is Fun…Right?
Yes. Driving is fun when it is new, safe and interesting. (God forbid you drive like you’re playing Mario Kart. There aren’t any prizes here.)
Driving is one of those rites of passage that Singaporeans go through for some reason. It’s only getting more costly, but it is nonetheless popular.
As a passenger of a car practically flying at 100km/h on the highway, to drive at a ‘measly’ 10km/h in the training circuit feels awfully mundane.
Or that’s what I would have thought.
When you are driving a manual car for the first time, flustered with hands and legs all over the place and your mind unable to multi-task, 10km/h feels pretty damn fast. Driving is fun not because you get to drive like Lewis Hamilton, but because you get to think you can drive like him in a real car.
Learning to drive manual transmission cars forces you to learn the pace and pattern of the car. To ‘listen to the car’ as my instructor told me.
True enough, let the car’s performance guide your steering and speed can help you grasp how to control it. It’s a practice of judgement.
Driving is fun when you learn to control the clutch.
It’s fun when you learn to steer well and stop smoothly, like that chauffeur you had who was actually your sibling or parent. But it’s also fun when you pass the final Traffic Police test to get your license.
I’ll leave that to a later date when I cross that bridge.
Have a Break
Like a KitKat, have a break once in a while. It’s good advice when it comes to driving. But it also applies to life and work. I would also love a break from having such tough luck getting more driving practical lessons. Seriously, anyone taking practical lessons for driving would concur.
Driving is such a rite of passage that I won’t be surprised if the proverbial passage is now clogged with people.
Nonetheless, I shall continue to learn driving, and like what Ed Sheeran sings, I’ll simply ‘pedal down and drive’.
Anyway, I recently took a trip down south to Australia. Let me tempt you with Kangaroos and Koalas here. You know you want to see them.
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