Manual or Automatic

[AlCzervik]

Poll question: Manual or Automatic

My friend calls me this morning and asks me if i would teach her 16 year old daughter how to drive a car with a manual transmission. I say ok and then she says that her husband thinks it's a waste of time because no one drives a stick anymore. I guess that makes me no one.

[Misunderestimator]

1. I drive a stick...

[Magrittes Pipe]

13. But I thought you...

...nevermind. :evilgrin:

[Misunderestimator]

26. LMAO

Hey... I have nothing against sticks... especially the removable kind. :evilgrin:

[kermujin]

2. standard all the way!

i *hate* auto transmissions. just one more bloody thing to break down...

learning on a stick is a way better way; you actually get to *drive* the car, rather than turning it on and trying not to hit anything.

[AlCzervik]

3. I will be giving him the poll results

i think he can't drive a manual and doesn't want to admit it.

[Ron Green]

4. Learning to drive with an automatic is not really learning to drive a car.

There is a subtle relationship among the engine speed, road speed, hands and feet that ought to be mastered as part of the process, IMHO.

[Kellanved]

5. Manual

While the new automatics use indeed less gas than a manual car, this does not hold true for older cars.
I do not see any harm in knowing how to drive a manual car, and one never knows - one day she might need it.

FWIW automatic transmissions are rather unusual over here and people using them are regarded as "granny" drivers.

[AlCzervik]

8. Thats her Mom's theory as well

she might not get a manual tranny but it always good to know how to drive one. I have only had one car with an automatic in 19 years of driving.

[Vitruvius]

46. Exactly. One MUST learn to drive a manual to be able to drive in Europe

or England or Australia or the third world. But if one will never drive outside the US, automatics are not a problem -- apart from wasting gasoline, needing repair more often (more parts to break), and not giving the control of a manual.

[MrSandman]

6. Manual transmission close to doubles...

The brake life on my vehicle. I can drive on our winding roads with nearly no brake pedal in a manual, not an auto.

IME, if you can drive a Manual, you are not limited when buying, borrowing a vehicle for one-time use, etc.

[IronLionZion]

17. ah, but only if you don't burn out the clutch

a clutch job is a lot more than a brake job

[MrSandman]

24. Well, this vehicle

I have put over 100K Miles. Plus over 100K on each of two other Manuals. I yet to lose a clutch.

Did drop clutch linkage in traffic once. Had to shift w/o the clutch until I could find a spot to get stopped to make a temporary repair. About two miles of reall big drops of nervous sweat. In the end, I only ground the gears once. Back in the early '70s transmissions had a little more slack.

[MrSandman]

33. You are not talking about using a clutch to...

Hold a vehicle on a hill at a stoplight are you?

[IronLionZion]

40. I was talking about downshifting to slow down

Either one can't be good for the clutch. I think it's retarded that Subaru is the only one with a hill-holder clutch. You don't want to be rolling backwards when the light turns green.

[MrSandman]

42. No problem with either one...nt

[tnlefty]

7. I like manual. We got rid of a gas guzzling Windstar in May that I refused

to drive for 2 yrs. We replaced it with a 5-speed, 4 cylinder Saturn Vue and I'd prefer the gas mileage to be better, but it's a heck of a lot better than what we traded or the automatics we looked at.

[Philostopher]

9. Didn't learn to drive a stick shift until I had to, though.

My dad didn't think it was anything that would be useful to me twenty-mumble years ago, either. He didn't own a car that had a standard transmission, and hadn't for a quarter-century (my mother never drove a stick very well, she says they were really hard to handle when she finally got tired of it).

Finances make a big difference in your choices, however. First hubby and I were contemplating a cross-country move. The car we had definitely wasn't going to make it across the country, and we thought buying a small station wagon would allow us to carry more of our stuff than a sedan or hatchback, so we started hitting the 'payday' lots. The only small wagon we could find was a Toyota wagon, and it had a 5-speed. I was upset about it, at the time, but I bit the bullet -- and I haven't owned an automatic transmission since.

My older sister does know how to drive a manual, although she prefers not to. Mom can't, she says she wouldn't even try. My younger brother opted out on learning it, though my first hubby offered to take him out and teach him. Second hubby also prefers a standard, so all our cars have stick shifts now.

Funny, though -- it took three weeks, a few years back, to find a secondhand RAV4 (or other mini-ute) in our price range, with a five-speed. We were looking at several-year-old mini-utes because we have a small dog we like to take on trips with us, but at the time, there wasn't a satisfactory new car alternative. We must have looked at a hundred and fifty different vehicles on car lots, just in passing. We found about seven of them with 5-speeds, one of which we bought. I find it funny that when I didn't want a stick shift, the only car available had one -- but now that I prefer to drive one, we had to spend weeks looking.

[Lady Effingbroke]

19. By 2012, only 6% of all vehicles sold in US will have manual transmissions

"The stick shift — an automotive mainstay since the invention of the “horseless carriage” — is slowly going the way of the tailfin and carburetor.

Thanks to technological advances and drivers looking for an easier way to navigate congested roadways, the old standard manual transmission doesn’t come standard much anymore.

“One more generation and you’ll probably have people who have absolutely no idea what a three-pedal car does,” said Bill Visnic, senior technical editor of Ward’s AutoWorld, an automotive trade magazine.

By 2012, just 6 percent of all vehicles sold in the North American market will have manual transmissions, according to a forecast by Germany’s ZF Industries, the world’s largest independent transmission maker."

http://tinyurl.com/6z4hv

[Philostopher]

39. We have, on occasion, talked about how we'd like ...

to move to Chicago. If the Nownows did, by some chance, move to Chicago we probably would buy one small hybrid with a CVT and have done with it. As long as I'm driving in ordinary traffic, not total big-city gridlock, I prefer a manual -- but if I had to drive in traffic every single time I got in the car, like many Chicagoans must, I certainly would lose my fondness for the clutch fast!

[Ilsa]

10. My current car is automatic, but I drove manual for ages

before that. I've driven both the H-stick and the four on the floor and five on the floor.

Last one I drove was a test around town in my friend's BMW convertible. That little car was hot to drive! Gave me middle-age crazies!

[Lady Effingbroke]

11. manual!

Out of all the cars I have owned, only two were automatic, my first car and a pickup truck which I owned briefly. If given the choice between automatic and manual on a particular make/model of car, the car with a manual transmission will always be my first choice.

[luzdeluna]

12. I have never owned an automatic...

every time I have to rent a car I end up almost eating windshield.

My first impulse is to use my left foot on the cluch (not there) and I slam on the breaks instead.

[Lady Effingbroke]

22. I, too, suffer from "happy foot syndrome"

on the rare occasions when I drive a car with an automatic transmission!

[prole_for_peace]

14. I feel more involved in the whole driving process with a standard.

It isn't just start and go. You have to think about driving. Also, my car has more get-up-and-go than the automatic models.

[sushi]

15. Manual

I drive an automatic now, but it's best to learn to drive in a manual. Then you can do both!

[Magrittes Pipe]

16. I never learned to drive stick, so now I have no choice in the matter.

She should learn on manual, and also have some experience driving automatic. It's best to have options available to her as she goes forward in her driving life.

[AlCzervik]

20. Both her parents have automatics and have taken her out plus

she has drivers ed in school, thats why she called me, i'm the only person she knows that droves a stck shift.

[Flammable Materials]

18. Learn to drive stick ...

... and you can drive anything.

In an emergency, this is important.

[kerryin2004]

23. 18 wheeler ya think??

They don't drive like the manuals you are used to:)

[IronLionZion]

21. I have an automatic but next car will likely be a manual

It's good to be in control of what gear you're in, especially if you have a 4 cylinder on mountain roads

[miss_kitty]

25. I love my manual transmission

this sentiment, however started a flame war about 2 weeks after i started posting here...i got PILED on...glad to see the Saturday am crowd KNOWS why Manuals are much mo betta...

Flaming stickshifters:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=1602606

On Edit: A Spell Bad

[AlCzervik]

27. Manuals are a whole lot more fun to drive

plus the control is much better.

[miss_kitty]

28. no foolin'

the control is awesome. the scariest manual i drove though was my ex BFs 47-48 Plymouth, 3-on-the-tree. CRAZY!

[AndyTiedye]

29. Manual is Best in the Mountains

Engine braking is a good thing.

[jpgray]

30. Yes! You can teach her the parking brake trick

My dad was obsessed with 'teaching' me the parking brake trick--just to screw with him I would always roll backwards almost to the point of ramming another car before applying the gas. Good-naturedly driving my dad nuts was my sole purpose during my teenaged years. :D

[LondonAmerican]

31. I'm not butch enough

for manual. I just want the car to take me where I need to go in the easist way possible; I don't particularly care about dominating it. :)

[jonnyblitz]

36. LOL., me either.

my butch sister swears by them though. :thumbsup:

[Lady Effingbroke]

32. I test-drove an automatic YUGO some years ago,

when I was looking for a cheap, economical car. I was sold on manual transmissions from there on out! (No, I didn't buy it!)

[Dzimbowicz]

34. I've been a licensed driver since 1972

and I have never owned a car with an automatic. For some reason automatics make me feel like the car is taking me for a ride and I'm no longer in charge.

[skygazer]

35. Firm believe that everyone should be able to drive a stick

In an emergency, you'll be able to drive anything if you can drive a stick.

Besides, for me, I much prefer it. There's something special about feeling like you're really controlling the speed of your car.

And if you lose your brakes, you can at least use the gears to slow down while you look for a hill (sound like the voice of experience? It is).

[jonnyblitz]

37. too much effort for me!!

I don't see why people snark on those who prefer them though!! I know MANY people who drive them. You aren't alone...:hi:

[juslikagrzly]

38. All my cars have been manuals

except for two. Much prefer them, but as I get older :) an automatic is easier in traffic on the old knee joints.

[Placebo]

41. NONE OF MY FRIENDS HAVE A FREAKIN' MANUAL!!!

You people are crazy, stick-shift is going awaaaaaaaaaaaaay, and good riddance to bad rubbish I say, none of my friends know how to drive stick, and none of us have cars that are manual, SCREW THAT!

Who the hell wants to be constantly monitoring and working at driving? I am in the car because I don't WANT to be doing any work!

Put it in D and go! :P

[patdem]

44. Well, I do hope you have your eyes on the road and your hands on the wheel

and you are NOT shaving and reading the morning newpaper after you put it in D...There ARE other people on the road after all!!!

[bigwillq]

43. I have an automatic but

I would love to try manual. Anybody wanna teach me?

[frylock]

45. both..

manual in my Toyota PU, auto in my Grand Prix.

[SmileyBoy]

47. I can't drive a stick.

Automatic for me. Also, with the geographical terrain I live in (flat as a billiard table), a stick is not necessary.

[jukes]

48. i *drive* my vehicles

not ride in them...

[terrya]

49. I can't drive a stick. I wish we were taught manual in driver's training.

in high school.

[AlCzervik]

52. My Dad taught my to drive a stick but Grandpa taught me

the rules of the road in his grand Marquis.

[flvegan]

50. Both...Tiptronic style automatic

Meaning I can use it in auto, or shift it myself, clutchless...

I learned on a manual...ahhh, to be 16 again.

[DoNotRefill]

51. Ever tried to push-start an automatic?

it ain't happening.

[SmileyBoy]

53. I wanna concentrate on the road. Not concentrate on things in the car.

I don't wanna be focusing my attention on what I'm doing in the car. I need that for watching the road.

Manuals suck for people with ADHD.