How Does a Manual Transmission Work?

A manual transmission is simply a mechanical transmission. That means the gearbox in the car is manual. The driver must use a clutch to engage the foot pedal and a hand lever to regulate the torque from the engine, as well as a gear stick which is operated by the foot to switch the car from one gear to the next, depending on how fast or slow the car needs to go. 

Most cars have 5-speed mechanical transmission. Some other types of transmission styles that may be available include automatic, semi-automatic and continuously variable types of transmission. 

Driver-Operated Mechanical Transmission

Manual transmissions feature driver-operated clutches and mover operated gear sticks. Typically on auto manual transmissions the driver can select a forward moving gear anytime they want as long as the car is traveling at a reasonable speed. Manual cars have gear ratios the driver selects by locking the gear pair onto an output shaft which is located inside of the transmissions. This is different from an automatic which usually features a planetary gearbox that the driver controls with clutch packs that automatically select the gear ratio.

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Transmission for larger vehicles including trucks or heavy equipment may have as many as 9 gears so the vehicle can have as much power as it needs to move through many different gear combinations and speed combinations. There are 5-speed automatic transmissions for mechanical cars that are called simply by the number of gears they have. 

Overdrive

Some cars, particularly older cars with 3 and 4-speed transmissions, had a separate unit known as an overdrive, which was housed in the rear of the transmission. This was thrown into gear manually or by pressing a button that was sometimes located on the steering column. Sometimes it could also be activated by living the foot off of the gas pedal while the car was traveling along at a certain speed. These could often be disengaged by flooring the car.