I’m practicing for my driving licence and I’m going to driving school, just out of curiosity though I’ve looking on YouTube how to start and run a car and I’ve seen at least 3 different methods, I dunno which one is the correct. Things like the order when you release a pedal or when you need to press the clutch keep switching…
The key is to understand what the controls do instead of memorizing a procedure.
When you start the car, you probably don’t want it to instantly lurch forward. So, you need to decouple the engine from the wheels, which you can do either by putting the transmission in neutral or by pushing in the clutch (or both). Once it’s running, either you can let the clutch out in gear to start moving, or let it out in neutral if you want to remain stopped for a while.
It’s not so much that one procedure is “correct;” it’s that you decide what you want the car to do and manipulate the controls to make that happen. It’s only not correct if it does something you didn’t intend.
Instructions unclear, my engine and wheels are sitting on the lawn now, what should I do?
Ah, like this?
The key there is to double-check that all your lug nuts are tight (let alone installed at all, LOL!) when you swap from your street wheels to your autocross wheels, and vice-versa.
Same goes for your motor mount bolts if your engine fell out, I suppose!
(In all seriousness, though, nothing you can do just trying to drive stick is capable of launching the engine out of the car. The worst-case scenario, aside from losing control and causing a wreck, is a money shift – accidentally downshifting to too low a gear and over-revving the engine – but even if it managed to blow a hole in your engine block, the bulk of the thing would largely stay within the engine compartment.)