Joshua Graham begins Teaching You how to Drive a Stick Shift; Part One

Joshua Graham takes a break from philosophizing and reading to teach you how to drive a Highwayman with a manual transmission. Its important to get around in this day and age.

AI voice by ElevenLabs, original writing by me.

Transcript:
"So...here we are...have you ever ridden in a Highwayman before? ...A 'right to repair' car; rugged... reliable... carburetor instead of a catalytic converter and these days barely an integrated circuit to be found. An 'every-mans car', it could be said, if everyone was a mechanic... And you need to drive it without popping the clutch into a wall or trashing the transmission in an attempt to accelerate beyond ten miles an hour...
In this I can help you.
Similar to lock picking you have to learn to 'feel' the clutch, visualize the transmission gears, pay attention to RPMs, and listen to engine. Either next to or on the top of the gear shift will be a diagram of what position relates to which gear.
So let us practice what we can with the engine off and the transmission in first gear...right foot for gas and brake, left for clutch. Keep your left foot relaxed to the left side of the clutch and your right resting on the gas...Good.
Now slide your left foot onto the clutch pedal, push it to the metal and gently, slowly lift your foot up and down by the ankle a dozen or so times. Feel how there is a subtle change in resistance near the end? When you can pinpoint that change, that is where you start pushing on the gas pedal, as gently as you first begin to lift off the clutch. Remember to never attempt shifting unless the clutch is pressed down, or 'engaged'...
Measure the force you use by your big toe, you will need less than you think you feel at first...
Too much gas too soon and you'll over-rev the engine, let go of the clutch too quickly and you'll 'pop' it. This usually involves the car shooting forward a few feet, so keep the handbrake engaged. Better to destroy the brakes instead of the car or whatever is in front of it. This saved me from ramming the front of my first car into my father's workbench when I was first practicing.
When you learn where the clutch's 'sweet spot' is, that is when you start to apply the gas... Slowly lift up on the clutch, in gear, and just as it's resistance begins to weaken begin adding an equal level of push to the gas. Think of it as passing a torch with pedals. The holder comes to an equilibrium with the receiver to smoothly to make the pass. The holder lets go and slows down while the receiver takes hold and speeds up. This is practiced beforehand to build muscle memory, just as I am teaching you how to do now...
Remember that you must learn the car... listen to and feel the function its parts... Like with any computer these days not every manual car will drive, feel, sound the same way, or have the same parts in the same conditions that you are learning on.
Next time we'll go over shifting practice with the engine on and see about overcoming the hardest part...shifting from first to second gear without grinding the transmission."