අපි මුලින්ම කාර් එකක් පදවන හැටි ඉගෙන ගනිමු.

Did you walk through the right of passage as an 18 year old or maybe even as a middle aged citizen who didn't find the time to get your hands on the license “paper”..? since license holders have been deprived of their card for years and have been burdened with carrying a A4 piece of paper along with them only to realize a copy of it is only valid depending on the emotional status of the police officer that shun a flash at you. Did you receive the highest honors in this passage discovering a third pedal, a stick shift and a chip over the shoulder of automatic only license holders. If you don't already know, carsguide will be your backseat driver today in covering a few yardsticks with the luxury of every middle class Sri lankan, The Alto.

The ever so important Seat adjustment

Before fiddling around town in your all new luxury of an Alto,mind how you sit because you don't want take the pedal to the metal with your feet actually not reaching the metal as much as you thought. Find a comfortable position where your right foot can pivot around the accelerator and the brake while your left is confident in pushing the clutch pedal all the way down ,adjust your seat height and distance depending on your height and reach for optimal view distance. Don't get too attached to the steering column and space back and adjust to ensure that you'll be comfortable in the long run.

The middle class hero,'Alto' is a novice and a great starting point for anyone new to stick shift, with a clear example of it being visible with the use of the alto for nearly all the driver learning institutes based around the island.There is a clear distinction of space between the clutch and brake along with the accelerator for easy use, almost mocking the level of the driver.

The Fearful clutch balance

Now you're all prepped up with the seat belt on ready to go but no idea how to. Make sure the handbrake is on as you press on the clutch with your left all the way down making sure it reaches the metal and take your stance on the gear shift. Notice how there is a shifting pattern embossed on it which moves in a typewriter format ranging up to down and left to right. In between all those along the central spine of that pattern you'll find yourself in neutral and notice that it is considerably free moving from left to right and feel free to do a customary shake left to right before you start up your engine. Hit the keys and you're already halfway there.

You've started your car and now waiting around on an empty road, take the left foot to the clutch and press the pedal all the way down. Remember the clutch should always be pressed completely down before you do anything with the gear shift. Clutch in, gear to the first,handbrake down,break in and slowly start moving your foot up on the clutch little by little until you feel the vehicle starting to feel lighter and a sudden inertia as you're reaching this position give it the slightest bit of gas at first.When you're not on the accelerator your right foot should always be on the break.Study this point where the clutch feels like it bites on and gains inertia. synchronize reaching that point with a touch of the gas pedal and you've got yourself clutch balance.

If you're making a mistake then the engine would probably turn off and if you panic and unsure if what to do just clutch in and brake.In a few simple steps it's always clutch in ,gear in,braking in,handbrake off,slowly releasing the clutch and feeding gas.After the vehicle gains some momentum, slowly and completely let off the clutch and do not rest foot on the clutch pedal.

The name of the game - Speed

You've barely learned to get it going but now you want to step on the gas all the way down , well there are quite a few steps before reaching that.Remember the faster you go the higher your gear needs to be. So build some speed a little bit less than when your engine sounds like it's getting loud and then clutch in,switch to second and let off the clutch easily. You've got yourself in second gear enough to keep up with a pacing human.

Take your time to identify the speeds your vehicle needs to be in order to switch gear or take a look at the rev counter next to your speedometer, and switch when you reach an average which is lower than 50% at first.Speeding up and slowing down are essentially the same only switching lower among the gears .When coming to a full stop you need to clutch in and come to a stop followed by switching to neutral.A full stop always need to be clutch in or neutral otherwise you're going to find out that your car will make sudden leaps forward the hard way.

How to come to a stop

As mentioned earlier slowing down means you need to switch through the gears moving down with slower you go until eventually you reach close to coming to a full stop where you clutch in and brake.Then to switch to neutral, handbrake in and let up on the clutch and brake.

Now you yourself can have a chip on the shoulder over the automatic drivers as you can get moving with a manual vehicle. Don't take the chip to be too heavy and mess up your clutch and car trying to go around the world in 80 days. Practice a few times and get comfortable along empty streets. Your backseat driving lesson is complete and you can get someone else in the driving seat by sharing it around your circle with those automatic drivers.