Sessions (one to one)

One 60 minute session as driver..

Sequence Constraint

As this is optional, it could be introduced any time after Lesson 6. However, since only two lessons have been allocated to this topic, it would be wise to introduce manual transmission once the student has mastered the rudiments of driving an automatic transmission vehicle..

Overview

What You Do

1. Drive your student to a quiet, straight road.
2. Demonstrate starting the vehicle, moving off on the flat, stopping, and engine shutdown.
3. Have the student driver start the vehicle, move off, stop, and shut down the engine.
4. Demonstrate shifting to higher gears.
5. Have the student driver shift to higher gears.
6. Demonstrate uphill start and downhill start.
7. Have the student driver start uphill and downhill.
8. If feasible, have the student driver drive back to base.

Lesson Content

• starting the vehicle
• moving off on the flat
• stopping
• engine shutdown
• shifting to higher gears
• downhill start
• uphill start

Learning Objectives

Performance Objectives (Do)

• Start the vehicle, shift to first gear, move off smoothly, stop the vehicle smoothly, and shut down the engine - all in the proper order (four successful repetitions).
• Shift from first through to high gear smoothly and at the appropriate time (four successful repetitions).
• Carry out and describe the sequence for an uphill start (four successful repetitions).
• Carry out and describe the sequence for a downhill start (two successful repetitions).

Knowledge Objectives (Know)

• How to start the vehicle properly.
• How to use the clutch and accelerator to move the vehicle.
• How and when to shift up.
• How to carry out an uphill start.
• How to carry out a downhill start.

Attitudinal Objectives (Believe)

• When moving off, you must hold the clutch for three seconds.
• Do not ride the clutch with your left foot.
• Always pause in the middle of a gear change.
• If the revs are right, all gear shifts should be smooth.

Rationale

The purpose of this lesson is to introduce the student driver to driving a manual transmission. The student should know how and when to carry out the various activities, and should have a moderate level of proficiency in executing the activities.

If there is a desire to improve the level of proficiency, this can be simply remedied by spending more time with the student driver and increasing her/his ability in the activities in this lesson.

By introducing the manual transmission at this point, it is presumed that the student driver already has the decision making and fundamental control components of driving well in hand. The student is then free to concentrate on clutch use and gear shifting.

Teaching Techniques

1. Demonstration.
2. Withdrawal technique.

Instructional Aids

1. Diagrams of how a clutch works.
2. Diagrammatic explanation of gears.
3. Sequences in the student driver notes.

Situational/Environmental Requirements

1. A quiet, straight, preferably long road.
2. A hill.

Activity Delineation

Drive to Location

Instructor Activity

1. Drive the student to location.

Demonstrate

Instructor Activity

1. Demonstrate starting the vehicle:
   • declutch with left foot;
   • shift to neutral;
   • turn key until the engine starts and then release; and,
   • remove left foot from clutch.
2. Demonstrate moving the vehicle off. The first thing to understand is the clutch. The job of the clutch is to gradually transfer the mass of the vehicle on to the motor. If the motor has to take the whole mass of the car at once, it will stall.

   The way the clutch works is that one disc is connected to the motor, and another disc is connected to the drive wheels of the car. When you push the clutch down, you push these discs apart and the motor can run independently of the drive wheels.

   As you bring the clutch up, the two discs come closer together until they reach the point where the disc is attached to the engine and begins to rub against the disc attached to the drive wheels. This is called the "friction point", and is the point at which the power of the engine begins to be transferred to the drive wheels.

   To move a vehicle on the flat, you need to bring the clutch up until the friction point is reached and then hold it there for a while until the disc attached to the motor and the disc attached to the drive wheels are travelling at the same speed. Then you can take your foot off the clutch.

   The procedure below assumes that you have done the appropriate checks and that you know how to enter a road and where to look. Unless otherwise mentioned, you have taken off the handbrake and the vehicle is ready to move.

   In detail, the procedure for moving off is as follows:

   • Press down lightly on the accelerator and hold your revs constant, at some point above idling.
   • Raise the clutch to the "friction point"; you will know that you have reached it when the vehicle begins to move forward.
   • Hold the accelerator and the clutch still; the vehicle will move slowly forward - count to three seconds.
   • Release the clutch completely; put your left foot in the bracing position against the firewall.
   • Accelerate.
3. Demonstrate stopping the vehicle. The clutch should be depressed when the revs are just above the normal idling speed. When driving in first gear, as soon as you take your foot off the accelerator, the revs will drop to about idling speed. So the sequence, when driving in first, is clutch first, then brake.

   When driving in second or high, the usual sequence is brake first. When the revs drop to just above idling, declutch.

4. Demonstrate shutting down the vehicle. When you come to a stop, you will be in gear with the clutch and the footbrake depressed. To shut down, proceed as follows:
   • shift to neutral and release left foot from clutch;
   • engage handbrake;
   • switch off engine; and,
   • put car in gear (first if the car is facing uphill, reverse if the car is facing downhill).

Student Starts, Moves Off, Stops, and Shuts Down

Instructor Activity

1. Have the student driver start the vehicle.
2. Have the student driver move off.
3. Have the student driver stop.
4. Have the student driver shut down.

Once he/she is reasonably proficient in starting and shutting down the vehicle, the engine can be left running to practise moving off and stopping.

Demonstrate Shifting to Higher Gears

Instructor Activity

1. Demonstrate how to shift to higher gears. Shifting up means changing to a higher numbered gear. This also means that the vehicle will be moving faster. You shift in sequence: 1, then 2, then 3, etc. When you move the gear lever, there are three parts to the action: shift from the gear you are in to neutral; pause in neutral; and shift to the new gear.

   You will get smoother shifts if you shift when the vehicle has reached a constant speed, rather than when it is still accelerating.

   To shift to a higher gear:

   • ease off the accelerator;
   • declutch;
   • shift, pausing in neutral; and,
   • release the clutch and accelerate lightly at the same time.

After a while you can tell when to change gears by the sound of your engine. There is one general rule: Low gears (small numbers) - low revs; high gears - high revs.

Student Shifts to Higher Gears

Instructor Activity

1. Have the student driver shift from first gear to high gear then stop.
2. Repeat this activity until the student driver has met the performance objectives.

Demonstrate Uphill Start and Downhill Start

Instructor Activity

1. Demonstrate uphill start:

   The difficulty with starting uphill is that when you take your handbrake off, you roll back down the hill. You can not hold the car with your foot brake, because you need your right foot on the accelerator. You can get out of this situation in two ways: the first way is by using your handbrake.

   • Pull the handbrake up a little and hold the handbrake fully on, but with the release button pressed down.
   • Press down lightly on the accelerator, slightly more than for starting on the flat and hold your revs constant.
   • Raise the clutch to the "friction point". You will know that you have reached it when you hear the revs of the engine drop.
   • Hold the accelerator and the clutch still; release the handbrake.
   • Accelerate a little more, then keep your revs constant.
   • Raise the clutch a small amount until the vehicle begins to move forward and hold the clutch and accelerator constant while you count to three.
   • Release the clutch completely; put your left foot in the bracing position against the firewall.
   • Accelerate.

   For small hills, you can start without using the handbrake:

   • Put your right foot on the footbrake and push the pedal down.
   • Raise the clutch to the "friction point"; you will know that you have reached it when you hear the revs of the engine begin to drop.
   • Move your right foot from the brake to the accelerator.
   • Accelerate a little, then keep your revs constant.
   • Raise the clutch a small amount until the vehicle begins to move forward and hold the clutch and accelerator constant while you count to three.
   • Release the clutch completely; put your left foot in the bracing position against the firewall.
   • Accelerate
2. Demonstrate downhill start:
   • Start in second gear.

Student Starts on Hills

Instructor Activity

1. Have the student driver start uphill using the handbrake.
2. Have the student driver start downhill.

Instructor Drives Back to Base

Instructor Activity

Drive back to base. If you believe that the student driver is capable of doing so, have him/her drive back to base.

Evaluation

1. Complete the student driver evaluation form as the lesson progresses. Do not, however, look down and fill in the form while the vehicle is in motion.
2. At the end of the lesson have the student driver initial the evaluation form.
3. File the evaluation forms daily.

Manual Transmission II (Optional)

Sessions (one to one)

One 60 minute session as driver.

Sequence Constraint

Must follow Manual Transmission I.

Overview

What You Do

1. Have the student driver drive to the location.
2. Demonstrate downshifting when slowed.
3. Have the student driver downshift when slowed.
4. Demonstrate downshifting and slowing.
5. Have the student driver downshift and slow.
6. Demonstrate preparation for corners and curves.
7. Have the student driver prepare for corners and curves.
8. Have the student driver drive slowly and parallel park.
9. Have the student driver drive back to base.

Lesson Content

• downshifting when slowed
• downshifting and slowing
• preparation for corners and curves
• moving slowly and parking

Learning Objectives

Performance Objectives (Do)

• Downshift smoothly, when slowed (four successful repetitions).
• Downshift and slow smoothly (four successful repetitions).
• Downshift smoothly in preparation for a curve, with proper timing (four successful repetitions).
• Drive the vehicle slowly, riding the clutch for ten seconds, without fully engaging the clutch (two successful repetitions).
• Parallel park with good clutch control (four successful repetitions).

Knowledge Objectives (Know)

• How to downshift when slow.
• How to downshift when slowing.
• How to prepare for corners and curves.
• How to use the clutch to move slowly.

Attitudinal Objectives (Believe)

• You must slow down before downshifting, in preparation for a corner or curve.
• When the vehicle is slowed, you get a smoother change if you flick the accelerator in the middle of the change.
• Driving a manual transmission vehicle well means making smooth gear changes.

Rationale

Again, the aim of this lesson is to give the student driver an understanding of what he/she has to do and give some minimal proficiency in gear changing. If chosen, this lesson can be extended by giving the driver more practise, and by extending the types of parking and reversing situations in which the driver is given practice.

Teaching Techniques

1. Demonstration.
2. Withdraw from direct teaching.

Instructional Aids

1. Diagrams of downshifting.
2. Diagrams of preparation for a corner.

Situational/Environmental Requirements

1. Reasonably straight stretch of road on which few stops are required.
2. Stretch of road with corners or curves.

Activity Delineation

Drive to Location

Instructor Activity

1. Have the student driver drive to location reviewing what has been learned in the Manual Transmission I lesson.

Demonstrate Downshifting When Slowed

Instructor Activity

1. Downshift (shift to a lower gear) in two situations:
   • The first situation is where the vehicle has already slowed down, for example, on a hill, and the shift is to select a gear which gives more power.
   • The second situation is to prepare for slowing down, such as for going around a corner. In this case, changing down gives the power needed at a lower speed necessary for negotiating a corner.
2. Demonstrate downshifting when slowed. The procedure is as follows:
   • Declutch and release the accelerator.
   • Shift to the lower gear, pausing in neutral.
   • Release the clutch letting it off slowly around the friction point and move gently on to the accelerator.

   You will get a smoother change if, while you are in neutral, you tap the accelerator.

Student Downshifts When Slowed

Instructor Activity

1. Have the student driver slow the vehicle, either by driving up a hill or by releasing the accelerator to the point that it is necessary to shift to a lower gear.
2. Begin the downshifting in top gear and
   • downshift;
   • speed up and shift up to top;
   • slow the vehicle;
   • downshift; and,
   • repeat the procedure.
3. Downshift to lower gears, stopping at second.
4. Practise stopping the vehicle to shift to first.

Demonstrate Downshifting When Slowing

Instructor Activity

1. Demonstrate downshifting when slowing.
   • Brake gently and continuously while the vehicle is in a straight line;
   • Continue to brake and declutch;
   • Continue to brake and shift to the lower gear pausing in neutral;
   • Continue to brake and release the clutch, but release it very slowly around the friction point; and,
   • Move your right foot to the accelerator and move your left foot to the bracing position on the firewall.

Student Downshifts When Slowing

Instructor Activity

1. Have the student driver brake to slow the vehicle and downshift to a lower gear.
2. Begin the downshifting in top gear and
   • downshift;
   • speed up and shift up to top;
   • slow the vehicle;
   • downshift; and,
   • repeat the procedure.
3. Downshift to lower gears stopping at second.
4. Practise stopping the vehicle by shifting to first.

Demonstrate Preparation for Corners

Instructor Activity

1. Demonstrate and describe the selection of the gear appropriate for corners and curves.
   • For most vehicles, right angle corners should be taken in second.
   • Depending on the speed and the angle of the curve, the curve can either be taken in third or higher gear.
   • It is important to begin to brake and downshift early so that the vehicle is slowed and the downshift is completed before the vehicle reaches the corner or curve.

Student Prepares for Corners

Instructor Activity

1. Have the student driver prepare for right, right angle corner.
2. Have the student driver prepare for left, right angle corner.
3. If possible, have the student driver prepare for corners or curves that require downshifting to a gear higher than second.

Demonstrate Driving Slowly and Parallel Parking

Instructor Activity

1. Demonstrate and discuss riding the clutch, with minute movements to move the vehicle or hold it stationary.
2. Demonstrate fully declutching to let the vehicle roll down inclines.
3. Demonstrate clutch control when parallel parking.

Student Drives Slowly and Parks

1. Have the student driver drive the vehicle slowly forward, riding the clutch.
2. Have the student driver parallel park, riding the clutch to move the vehicle slowly, and declutching fully once the vehicle starts to roll.

Evaluation

1. Complete the student driver evaluation form as the lesson progresses. Do not, however, look down and fill in the form while the vehicle is in motion.
2. At the end of the lesson have the student driver initial the evaluation form.
3. File the evaluation forms daily.

Notes: