A vehicle drive system is provided with an engine, a manual transmission capable of changing a gear position, a clutch arranged between the engine and the transmission, and a control device that performs drive control of the engine. During an inertia running in which torque transmission between the engine and an axle is blocked, when the clutch is opened and the gear position of the transmission is changed to a forward position, if the gear position after the change is lower than an optimal gear position corresponding to a vehicle speed, the control device executes fuel cutoff for the engine.