I’ll only drive automatic. No desire to work harder at driving in the city.
What, you don't want to shift gears endlessly while stuck moving between 10 mph and a dead stop on the freeway for three hours?
Hear me out for a second...
Maybe, just maybe, it's spending 3 hours in stop and go traffic that's the problem, not the transmission.
Agreed, but having lived it myself with a manual transmission, it's rough with a manual. It's one of the few scenarios where I don't prefer it.
For me the only reason to drive manual was becase automats used to be less effective. With current generation, the computer with its 12 gears is much more ecological then my macho hand lovingly stroking my cars stick can ever be..
My biggest thing is that they make people pay more attention. I dont think better drivers drive stick, i think the stick makes YOU a better driver.
Less eating, drinking, phone holding, texting etc. You have to know speeds and rpms for which gears. It keeps me from speeding knowing this street is a 4th gear street. When i end up driving a auto car, i will often loook down and wonder how i got to the speed i am at, though that may also be due to the fact its not my car and im just not used to the sensation of speed.
On another note, i think on average manual trans are less prone to failure. I know alot of cars that have essentially been junked due to an auto trans problem, but a manual just needs a new clutch every one and a while. Though this might be less common on newer cars compared to 90's and early 2000's cars.
i think the stick makes YOU a better driver.
It doesn't make me a better driver, it's a continual distraction. I recently switched from a manual to an automatic car and I now have far more available headspace to pay attention to the world around me.
And with the rise of EVs auto transmission failures will be a thing of the past. Except for the few sports EVs that for some reason have a multiple gears.
I drive a manual because all through the 90s a manual was a lot more reliable and cheaper to fix than an automatic. I also hated the automatic gear selection. It was always in a gear I didn’t want. I recently had a rental car which was a Ford with a 10-speed automatic and yeah they have come a long way. I’ve only ever owned manuals but I think my next car will be an auto. I hear reliability is good now.
Handbrake start is for noobs. Learn to use your clutch.
Roll backwards into the person behind you to establish manual dominance.
On a steep hill, your clutch will thank you for using the handbrake. Especially in stop and go traffic towing a trailer. Ask me how I know.
Handbrake start is what's taught in countries where the the driving test isn't "Press go pedal, press stop pedal, congrats you passed"
In upward inclines it's better for your clutch too.
Not having the coordination to use both feet and both hands independently of each other is what's for noobs
Cars are for nubes, real chade walks🫡. Talking about the true manual here.
I got pulled over a couple of months ago and the cop told me to put it in park. I wiggled the stick back and forth to show it was in neutral and they thought I was fucking with them and kept saying to put it in park. Idiots
"Sorry sir. I was in airplane mode."
I do, too, and drove one for many years. I'll be the one to splash cold water on the conversation, though.
Driving a stick arguably requires the use of both hands and legs, which is great and partly the reason why so many enjoy it - that sense of engagement. It's far less boring.
But here's the deal. Injure any one of those appendages and driving a manual becomes a whole lot less fun. In some cases, you can get by, but it's less than ideal. Having your arm closest to the shift in a sling, for example, makes your vehicle undrivable.
It won't matter to most people... right up until the moment it does.
Clutch with left foot
stabilize steering wheel with right knee (if necessary)
reach over with left hand and engage gear
grab steering wheel with left hand
drive normally
Me drinking coffee in the morning, a tutorial.
I'm a manual aficionado, but my mother hasn't driven a stick, despite teaching all her children how to, since I was born due to her arthritis. Apparently her knees don't like having to clutch constantly. I'd rather have her mobile and active as she is now, than have her stuck at home reliant on my dad to give her rides.
All of these people responding that they prefer auto so they can eat or otherwise not pay attention in the car are the best (only?) argument for why everyone should drive manual.
Whatever your transmission preference is, if you're not engaged in driving you shouldn't be on the road!
I just got a car with no transmission instead
I rented an electric car over the summer and the acceleration damn near pushed my eyeballs back in my head. No gear shifting at all, just continuous acceleration. An electric grocery getter will blow the doors off nearly everything you can throw at it from the previous 50 years. Will not be looking back fondly on my manual transmissions.
Every car I've owned has been manual and I hate my latest decision since 99% of my driving is stop and go. Honestly I'd prefer no cars at all.
Spent all my life driving manual cars and I am completely comfortable and at ease with their pending demise due to hybrids and full BEVs. I wouldn't be surprised if some EVs get phony gears and broom broom noises for people who can't cope with just having to set a direction and push a pedal to make things happen.
I went from a inline 6 BMW diesel manual engine I drive for 10 years to my current Mazda 6 2.5L with automatic. Its easier and more luxurious to drive the automatic, but when I going for drive enjoyment I still have the habit of grabbing the shift lever when downshift is needed, and I often miss the feel and control of the manual when I edging it on curvy roads, even when my automatic has shift paddles, its just not the same.
But in a traffic jam in a city, for sure I will any day take an automatic over manual...
Nah, dude/dudette, I'm done churning butter. If you have to change gear every two seconds because the bellend infront of you couldn't navigate a straight road it just gets annoying.
Also handbrake start at a hill is for amateurs who don't know their transmission (⌐■_■) yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah
It is very difficult to find manual transmission in a passenger car in the US now. I would like one but good luck finding what you want used. Even new, very few models have a manual option. And I think it costs more for a manual transmission now. It used to be cheaper.
Car won't start? Push it down a hill, avoid running over my foot, and climb in before it pulls away from you.
This is how I got to nursery school on at least one occasion I can remember.
I love manual transmission, and miss it badly. It was awesome getting out of both mud and snow. Plus, I felt like I was actually driving the car, not guiding it.
Where's my manual electric car?!
What do you mean electric motors have no transmissions?!
The the car I drive for work has a volume knob and I hate it with a passion.
Those piss me off for reasons beyond manual supremacy - they're bad UI design too. A knob is for controlling something (like volume) which varies continuously over a range. It is not for selecting from a short list of discrete options!
Manual transmission is half arsed. If you really want manual, ride a bike.
My car is a stick shift. I love it.
But our pickup and my wife's car are both automatic. Those are fine, too. Stop and go traffic - I'm gonna want an automatic. The pickup is for towing our trailer, and while I understand theoretically a stick would be better for that purpose, I'm glad to have the automatic and not have to worry about it. Plus then my wife can occasionally drive it as well.
I've driven fast automatics, and I've driven slow stick shifts. It's never just ONE thing about a car.
Wow. #1 'get off my lawn' post of the day. There is nothing wrong with auto... It's the drivers.
Bought my first automatic this year (VW ID4). Will never drive a manual ever again. So much easier to drive automatic.
I learned to drive in an automatic.. in the 1980s. Pretty common here in Australia. Yes can drive a manual as well but prefer auto as I have arthritis. Many disabled people prefer auto.
Automatic transmissions existed before computers were controlling them. The 3 speed auto in my 68 Ford is entirely hydraulicly operated. No computer control. I can roll-start it no problem in second gear.
Come at me bro - I TEACH people to ONLY drive automatic cars. Muahaha! I get paid more to do it than manual instructors AND I don't have to worry about learners constantly making bad gear changes, bunny hopping and stalling my car all the time!
