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and which is it more related to, stopping the car or starting it?

 
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alowing you to shift the gears.....

 
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When you press the clutch pedal in you are separating the engine from the transmission kind of like being in neutral. This allows you to change gears. It's related to both starting and stopping.

 
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You need to push the clutch in to start the car and it engages the clutch to the flywheel.































It doesn't do anything to stop the car unless you count engine braking but thats stretching it.































The clutch allows you to shift gears mostly.































Why are you asking?

 
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Pressing down "disengaging" the clutch pulls apart the clutch "plates", separating the engine from the transmission so the gears can be changed by moving the shift lever, the clutch must be pressed in before the manual transmission car comes to a complete stop or it will stall. After the engine is started, the clutch must be pressed in to be able to select a starting gear.

 
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well, neither actually. i have used it to slow down the car by downshifting and releasing the clutch to make the gearing (lower gear) to slow me. there may be a need to depress the clutch pedal when starting because of a safety switch mounted behind the pedal which allows power to flow through to the starter. if this switch is not incorporated in your vehicle (like a Nissan 240sx) then you only need to make sure that your transmission is in neutral.































i hope that helped.