Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Can you drive a stick shift car?
- Thread starter senseless
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
When is the last time you were in an automatic and what year/make/model was the car?
Automatics these days are generally a LOT better than they used to be. This is coming from someone who really loves driving a stick on country roads and likes the control you get from one.
I'm starting to think most stick drivers are blind to how much automatics have changed.
Yes, obviously the thick sarcasm and the pointing out of P R N D 2 1 means I've never stepped in and driven an automatic
I was kidding about not knowing how to drive automatic if it still isn't clear.Really, is there even someone who doesn't know how to drive an automatic ? It's pretty self-explanatory, not much of a learning curve shifting from Park to Drive and hitting the gas. Of course, if one were to put it in Neutral not much would happen and Reverse is a very bad thing if you're looking to go forward.
I think we have a winner for the "humor impaired post of 2011".
Coupes are just awkward. Give me a good hatchback or wagon anytime. The agility of a coupe, the interior room of a light SUV.
Subaru doesn't make coupes, that should tell you something. No need to sacrifice all that interior space to get a sporty feel. Heck, a WRX feels much sportier than a damn Hyundai Tiburon and is much more convenient to boot (god I miss that car... stupid TS wagon I'm stuck driving these days...).
Last edited:
Coupes are for anti-social people. IMNSHO.
And two-seaters??
Well, let's not go there.
Miata's are actually very good driving cars.And two-seaters??
Hey, my Street Bob is a 2 seater.
Right.
Foul owl on the prowl. http://www.rockpeaks.com/video/j/Jones-Quincy/In-The-Heat-Of-The-Night-1967/Foul-Owl-on-the-Prowl
Yes, and excellent value for your dollar.
If I could afford a second car, just for sport, I would try to wedge myself into one.
But I really want an S-2000.
When I was in University my buddy told me the following story - he swore it was true.
His mom drove a manual (and had only every driven manuals), and he had an automatic. One day he was driving her back from the garage where she had left her car for servicing and mom asked if she could drive his car because she wanted to see what it was like.
Naturally, it took her all of 30 seconds to figure it out (though he did note that mom kept trying to depress the clutch, even if she wasn't trying to shift.) Everything was fine, they were sailing through the traffic, and then mom wanted to stop at a store and run some errands. This meant parallel parking since they were still in town. He was a bit worried, because trying to parallel park a strange car is always a bit challenging, and sons always think their mothers are not the best parkers.
And this is what she did. She pulled up right next to an open spot, put on her turn signal, and put the car into (P)ark. She then started goosing the gas. My buddy was looking at his mom, quizzically. Mom was staring at the open spot next them intently, and revving the engine. Finally he asked her what she was doing. It seems she thought that the (P)ark meant that the car 'automatically parked' itself by moving 90º to the side. You told the car which way to go (left or right) via the turn signals.
My buddy explained that that was not how it worked. Mom sighed - pulled up a 1/2 car length, popped it into (R)erverse and parked his car smooth as butter - turned to him and commented that if an "automatic" car with (P)ark couldn't park itself, then what was the point.
Far as know, she drove a manual for the rest of her life. I don't know if he was ever sure whether is mom was pulling his leg or not.
The last car I sold had manual transmission, and the one it replaced did as well. I now have automatics, and later this year will be buying one with that "fancy" shifting. On the one I'm planning to get, it's called Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT). I test drove it and thought it was a novelty, but fun to do after having only conventional automatics for a few years now.
It is only a question of how fast you can shift and how good your are with the clutch and the throttle. There is no need to use all three pedals at once, when you know what you are doing. If you want proof, come over to my place and I will go fast with you on some country roads with and you won't even notice that I am shifting gears, except from the different noise the engine is doing.
In the old times "Heel and Toe" was interesting especially for Rallye drivers who wanted to get the RWD car into a controlled drift by using the throttle and the brake at the same time. Something you will not be able to do with a FWD Golf anyway.
I honestly cringe at the thought of driving an automatic at this point. I learned on an auto but i've driven a stick for the last 7 years (much of that in Los Angeles traffic) and when I wasn't in my car I was on my motorcycle (love sequential gearboxes). I like the control I have over the car and even in a car that isn't fast it makes driving more fun as long as the box isn't crap.
However I find myself looking at a lot of cars that don't even offer a manual these days and I am going to be getting myself something relatively new in the next year or two (though it quite likely will be another Triumph motorcycle)
However I find myself looking at a lot of cars that don't even offer a manual these days
and I am going to be getting myself something relatively new in the next year or two (though it quite likely will be another Triumph motorcycle)
Last edited:
CVTs have nothing to do with "tiptronic" or "paddle" shifters. CVTs are just a new breed of automatics. Semi-automatics can be had in many flavors, including both the traditional automatic and the CVTs.
That's fine if you like using compression, but if you don't want engine braking, you still need to throttle up on downshift and if you happen to want to slow down some at the same time, then you still need all 3 pedals, unless you're simply going to trust your rev-matching and go clutchless.
Heel and Toe is used for much more than that. Heck, just coming out of a turn at apex with the best acceleration will require some of it to prevent the engine from braking the car while it catches up to the transmission in the lower gear.
Of course, we're way past "nice sunday drive" techniques here, which is what these modern street cars are aimed at.
There's nothing hard about driving a manual, it becomes second nature. Any automatic driver would get used to it within a couple of days. Don't limit yourself by what car you can drive. And if you're thinking of learning, learn in a manual.
As others have said, they are far from rare outside of the USA. Personally, I've driven several automatic cars (both over here in the UK and in the USA) and much prefer a manual gearbox: I like the better control and flexibility to change up when I want to rather than when the car thinks I should.
With a manual box, you don't have to think about "sport mode" or "economy mode" settings for gear changes: you just do it when you want to
The only time I think an auto works is on a diesel car / truck: Diesel engines have such a poor power range that with a manual you find yourself constantly changing gear just to keep the thing moving (I personally hate diesel cars with a passion but that's a different debate
)Agreed and it has transformed my view of autos. I can't change as slickly as the DSG manages in my Audi. That being said, it still needs a bit of help coming into roundabouts or sharp bends and I miss having a biting point when stopping at traffic lights uphill. Fuel economy is as good as a manual, surprisingly enough.
Currently driving an auto Mercedes, whilst mine is in the workshop. Nowhere near as slick.
What a wonderfully US-centric view you have there.
In the UK if you pass your test in an automatic then you are only allowed to drive automatics. I've never met anyone who has done this (there must be a few out there though!)
Currently own a 2007 Toyota Yaris manual transmission and LOVE it! Average 33 MPG, best MPG to date: 46!!!
But I really want an S-2000.
YES. I want one of those so bad, especially an '03 or slightly older, before they changed them. Although the newer ones did look better.
Learned to drive using a manual transmission and for about 15 years afterwards all of my cars were manuals. Been driving automatics for the past several years - it's fine, but I do miss the "fun" of driving a manual and would love to have one again. As some have noted, it's getting more difficult to find manual transmissions in the US, especially with the suburban "mom" cars I drive these days
I recall going over with a friend to the UK and renting a car to drive from London to Edinburgh to Wales and back to London again. It was a manual transmission and at first I was at the idea of driving a stick with my left hand, but it actually worked out quite fine.
I recall going over with a friend to the UK and renting a car to drive from London to Edinburgh to Wales and back to London again. It was a manual transmission and at first I was
at the idea of driving a stick with my left hand, but it actually worked out quite fine.