Can you drive a stick shift car?

[Huntn]

I don't remember what I learned on. But I can drive a stick on both sides of the road (U.S./England/Japan). When I married my wife she could not drive a stick and that is all we had, a 1975 Fiat Spyder. We lived on a hill in California. When she first started driving it, she would back out of the driveway and all the way down to the bottom of the hill before taking off back up the hill. She does much better now.

 

[Mr. McMac]

Most of the cars I've owned over the past 40 years have been stick

 

[QuarterSwede]

I learned on a stick first and my first car (91 Honda CRX Si ... so much fun!) was a stick. I drove in so much stop and go traffic when it finally bit the dust I bought an automatic. I miss the control and fun of a stick though. One thing I don't miss is having to replace my clutch.

Also, I disagree with the automatics are largely less efficient than sticks thought. Even without DCTs, automatics can switch so much faster than a human can that any fuel consumption it uses is offset by it's quickness. Autos have been more fuel efficient or at the least the same as manuals for a long time. I find that the size and type of tire can make a bigger difference in fuel economy anyway.

 

[MacHamster68]

i too have no problems with gear sticks on both sides of the road , i actually prefer to have the gear stick on my left side , despite i learned to drive with that gear stick to my right as i lived then in Germany and all cars i had had been fitted that way ..until i crossed the channel and bought a car in the UK


but the future is automatic as in 10 years only people with a income of over £100000pa will be able to afford to run a fossil fuel powered car (prediction for europe with in latest years 30pence/cent annually increase in mind i guess liter price of £5 in 2020 )anyway and electro engines need no gear sticks at all

 

[Pink∆Floyd]

Yes I can, it took me only a weekend to learn.

Overall, it's far more enjoyable to drive stick as opposed to an auto.

 

[vincenz]

I can't drive stick, but I really want to learn one day. They look like fun when not in traffic.

 

[maclaptop]

I've never owned an automatic. I'm addicted to driving a sports car with a manual gearbox.

After owning several I simply cannot imagine anything else. I enjoy driving too much to drive an automatic sedan.

 

[QuarterSwede]

I've never owned an automatic. I'm addicted to driving a sports car with a manual gearbox.

After owning several I simply cannot imagine anything else. I enjoy driving too much to drive an automatic sedan.

You probably aren't carting around kids.

 

[Dmac77]

Yes I can drive one. I also think that if you can't drive one, you shouldn't be allowed to drive period. Automatics are just things to get you from point A to B, whereas a standard transmission car is something you use for fun, with getting from point A to B just being a side effect.

-Don

 

[heehee]

My fiancee and I both have stick shift cars.

 

[yg17]

Yes I can drive one. I also think that if you can't drive one, you shouldn't be allowed to drive period. Automatics are just things to get you from point A to B, whereas a standard transmission car is something you use for fun, with getting from point A to B just being a side effect.

-Don

I definitely think driving a manual makes me a safer, more attentive driver.

I'm against crap that makes people lazy like adaptive cruise control, auto headlights and auto wipers and stuff like that, I suppose an automatic can fall in there too. That stuff makes drivers lazy and inattentive because they don't have to concentrate on the road.

 

[jmann]

I've tried to drive a stickshift when I was test driving a car. It was interesting. I did okay at it. I've never driven it full time though.

 

[MacHamster68]

I definitely think driving a manual makes me a safer, more attentive driver.

I'm against crap that makes people lazy like adaptive cruise control, auto headlights and auto wipers and stuff like that, I suppose an automatic can fall in there too. That stuff makes drivers lazy and inattentive because they don't have to concentrate on the road.

hmm interesting as the same argument could come from the automatc driving fraction , as because you dont have to concentrate on all these gear changes , wipers headlights ...you could concentrate more on traffic

and after all you are using a Mac and OSX too or ? because it works automatic

 

[steviem]

Conventional torque converter auto's still sap more power and fuel than sticks. But, with DCT's entering the market, the advantage of the manual transmission went out the window.

That has killed interest for me at least for a stick. Unless you like rowing your own gears, DCT's are the way to go. They can get the same or better in performance and fuel economy.

Well, the weight advantage of a manual transmission is still there. Although in sports cars, sequential gearboxes are best.

Cars seem to have grown to be huge since the 80s. Look at a BMW 3 series from the late 80s compared with a modern 3 series now. That new 3 series is the size of a 5 series and the 1 series is just about the same size as an old 3 series.

I love manual transmission, my first two cars didn't even have PAS, power steering or ABS, the first car was a pile of crap, but the 205 GTi was so nice and quick that it didn't need any electronics in it.

When I move to the US though, I will probably be driving an Automatic, it will be simply something to get me from A to B. Rather than over here when I drive around lovely B (country) roads to get to places and a manual gearboxes are just more fun on twisty roads.

Once I can afford it though, I'd like to find a classic car to restore, maybe an MG or something, just to keep some quintessential Englishness in my life!

 

[Fubar1977]

In europe there`s nothing "rare" about a manual `box at all.
In fact, I don`t actually know anyone who can`t drive "stick".
I like both equally but in different circumstances.
Manual gives you better control/economy if you know how to drive it but for stop/start or city driving I`ll take an auto any day.
Just gone back to manual from auto in fact.
If I like the car then I`m not really bothered what `box it has.


That said, VW/Audi`s DSG semi auto`s are excellent.

 

[Kyffin]

Yes, although not legally for the next few months. Can drive a tractor too!

 

[Mac'nCheese]

I had to learn how to drive a stick about a decade ago when we planned a trip to Ireland and found out that most, if not all, of the rental cars would be stick shifts. So, my first big stick shift experience was also on the other side of the road.

 

[ender land]

The only stick-shift I ever drove cost about a quarter million.

Guess I should learn sometime as I would like to get a manual transmission at some point.

 

[Daveoc64]

I've only ever driven a "stick shift".

 

[northy124]

Manual (stick) shift cars are rare today and I'm wondering how many people still know how to drive them. How did you learn and do you have a desire to own one?

Rare? are you serious? please leave America and see how rare they are

I learnt how to drive a Manual from the get go, my licence allows for both Auto and Manual cars Jealous?

 

[steviem]

LOL, that's the thing, Automatic licenses are just Drivers licenses out there. Yes we have Automatic and Manual tests in the UK, but they can learn and take a test in an Automatic and then drive whatever transmission car they like, regardless of whether they know how to work a clutch or not.

Jealous much?

 

[AFPoster]

I don't remember what I learned on. But I can drive a stick on both sides of the road (U.S./England/Japan). When I married my wife she could not drive a stick and that is all we had, a 1975 Fiat Spyder. We lived on a hill in California. When she first started driving it, she would back out of the driveway and all the way down to the bottom of the hill before taking off back up the hill. She does much better now.

When I married my wife I had purchased a 2007 Honda Civic Si (was my gift to myself for joining the military). I tried to teach her but after hearing all the grinding noises I just traded it in and bought an automatic BMW. Now I am oing to teach her how to ride a motorcycle on a 1974 Honda 350XL, we'll see how she does.

 

[johnnyturbouk]

Maybe they are rare where you live. In the UK and the rest of Europe they are more common that automatics.

lol, exactly

the vast majority of drivers i know own and prefer manual cars

i learnt in a manual, but my folks have am automatic so lost the skills a little, but i do miss driving manual cars

 

[Rodimus Prime]

I definitely think driving a manual makes me a safer, more attentive driver.

I'm against crap that makes people lazy like adaptive cruise control, auto headlights and auto wipers and stuff like that, I suppose an automatic can fall in there too. That stuff makes drivers lazy and inattentive because they don't have to concentrate on the road.

The amount of times I see people who do not turn on their head lights at night makes me glad that a lot of cars have automatic headlights.
Way to many people refuse to turn on their headlights until they need them to to light up the road. They do not understand the fact that headlights also make a hell of a lot easier for other drivers to SEE YOU. Automatic headlights solve that issue.

As for adabptive cruise control I will admit I want that because on long drives having to mess with the cruise control settings gets annoying that or if I am following someone on long distance road trips it is hard to use the cruise unless you are the lead car.

As for me I drive a Manual but I also know manuals are a dieing bread as modern Automatics have gotten to the point they remove almost all the advantages manuals had. They can and often times do get better fuel economy due to the fact in city driving they have a computer that can shift exactly at the best point for the given power demand. Something no human can match and then at cruising speed the tranny and the engine are physically lock together just like in a manual so that advantage is gone. Hell they are not putting clutches in automatics that the car controls farther killing any plus the manuals had left.

 

[snberk103]

Both "four on the floor" and "three on the tree". Learned to drive with the "three on the tree" in an old (1968?) Jeep Wagoneer. Big heavy clutch, no power steering. It was brutal in traffic.

However, being able to drive the '3 on the tree' once got me a job at a summer camp - as they had an old Dodge Van (iirc). During the summer I only had to drive that van once (I was the person on the crew who could), and the rest of the time I drove the newer automatic van out and about all over the Catskills of NY, and into NYC as well, picking up and delivering people and stuff.

That was a great summer! If I hadn't been able to drive that standard van, I would've spent the summer cutting grass and weeding the flower beds (which I did enough of as it was ..)