TheFLY

Yeah, or just hold in the clutch and it's just like neutral... I had an excellent link on shift technique that helped me learn a lot when I first got my car...

Do a google search...

At first don't worry too much about the clutch -- it's better not to stall the car... you won't stall as long as you keep your RPM's high so it's ok to be driving around at high rpm's when you're just learning it won't harm the car... Once you get past the basics, practice hills -- I found a service ramp at a loading dock -- at night these are perfect and can be very steep -- you need that practice so you don't hit somebody from behind at a stoplight. Once I was at a light on a very steep hill and I had to wave the traffic around me because I was still having problems stalling... The trick to steep hills is of course stay in first gear, rev the shit high and grind the clutch good -- that's always the safest bet -- don't bother with the whole emergency brake thing on hills that is for fags and will just be more nonsense to break your concentration... If you're in slow moving traffic stop and go traffic up say a bridge (very common in NYC) -- you're pretty much going to be riding the clutch -- it's good practice anyway so when you are in the situation you don't freak out. Also remember if you parked or moving slow into fast traffic on a steep road... getting up to speed into fast traffic (like in LA somewhere) -- always remember to use a lower gear than you think you need -- you may need the extra torque when you least expect it to pass, etc... I almost got in an accident like this.

Practice spinning your tires out of reverse into 1st so you can always make a quick getaway

Practice changing gears without changing your speed... You can do this just while driving down the road in traffic -- shift from 2nd, 3rd, all the way through and back down without jerking the car too much, skip 1 gear, skip 2, skip back, etc. It's fun -- this will teach you to feel your engine so you can know intuitively how much to rev the engine for each gear given your current speed... This will allow you to pass people like a maniac.

After you have hills mastered, practice your downshift -- try to use your brakes as little as possible -- on my car it's tricky to downshift into first... This will give you a really good intuitive feel of your car so you have a sort of wierd second nature when shifting all kind of crazy turns... Think about it -- if you are using your brakes to slow down into a turn -- that's kinda gay -- if you are using a lower gear to slow down for a turn -- now you have all this badass torque to launch out of the turn with

I'd say last -- practice getting your RPM's measured so you barely need the clutch to change gears... This will save wear on your car... and also some chicks will bitch if you are jerking the car around all the time... but driving your stick like a fucking maniac will sometimes get you road head... The more whiplash the better