Can you drive a stick shift car?

Dmac77 said:
I don't think people are pumping it up at all. I personally think that people who can't drive a standard transmission, are just lazy (and that goes for my mother, and her habit of doing her makeup while driving). People only get autos, because they don't want to have to "inconvenience" themselves with pushing down on the clutch and throwing the car into the next gear; because doing so requires them to stop shoving food down their face, or to get of the damn phone. I also hate to hear people moan about how inconvenient a standard transmission is during stop and go traffic; I mean it's not that bad, and I recently took my standard transmission accord to chicago and drove in stop and go traffic for over two hours, and it was not as annoying as some would make it out to be. People are just too willing to sacrifice the fun of driving for convenience.

-Don
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having driven a manual for over 10 years, it gets annoying quite often...
 
I drive a non-syncronised 10-speed stick with a hellacious clutch pedal 6-days a week, or about 105k miles a year. Even the worst backing situations, where I'm feathering the clutch a LOT, aren't enough to get my leg tired anymore. The clutch pedals in most cars feels like stepping on a rotten plumb to me now.

With enough time you can learn to float the gears(clutchless shifting) with any manual transmission, yes, even the synchronized ones. Once you learn it you'll find that it takes less force to get it in gear than when you use the clutch. Most of my missed shifts in the big truck or the car are from my hand slipping off the lever from having too loose of a grip on.

Even after all the time in the big truck I still prefer my personal vehicles to have a manual. I did just buy a car with an auto though, but at $825 you can't be too picky about what trans it has. :D
 
I love driving manuals. Don't have one currently, because I needed to trade it in for a minivan. After this is paid off in a year, I'll be looking to purchase a MT car again.
 
I have drove stick since i was 16. I had an automactic for 3 months after i got my license then bought a stick shift mitsubishi eclipse. Have drove it since. I am now 18 years old
 
I can drive a 18 wheeler but I haven't tried a manual car or pickup yet. I think its different. LOL
 
Rodimus Prime said:
That explains a lot. being 16 means he has very little real experience in driving and a pure rookie at it. The joy of driving is still in his system. Now days most of the time driving for me is a way to get from A to B.
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I'm 32, still love driving, go to empty parking lots in winter to drift my Subaru around for fun (freaked out my girlfriend when I did it to her then brand new, sub-1000 km Kia Soul last January, which parking-brake drifted like a champ, even pulling a donut around another car, to much screaming and freaking out from the owner/passenger).

In the summer, I rip through country back roads for the kick of it, though nowadays, it's on my Harley rather than in my long lost loves (the 2.2L VTEC integra or the WRX) often leaving in the cold air of dawn to come back as dusk settles over the fields around my house.

You don't quit driving because you get old, you get old because you quit driving.

Rodimus Prime said:
Driving in traffic every day like i said really made me consider going Automatic. hard to do a low speed crawl in a manual.
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I find playing around with the clutch's friction point much easier than constant braking/not braking. Not to mention these days, on the motorcycle, what the hell is traffic anyhow ? You mean the obstacle course I use as a playground riding back from work to the gym ?
 
While I know how to drive a car with a manual shifter, here's a BIG problem nowadays: the quality of the shifter has really gone downhill in recent years.
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Unless you're driving a BMW, Honda or Porsche, gear shifters on modern cars either are too "notchy" or overly-vague in terms of finding a gear, and the result is not very pleasant, especially in city driving.

Besides, automatics and dual-clutch gearboxes--thanks to modern computer controls--have gotten really good in recent years. This is especially true with automatics that sport six to eight forward gears, which allows for a lot smoother automatic shifts between gears during acceleration. I've test-driven a 2011 US-market Hyundai Elantra saloon with Hyundai's own six-speed automatic and note how smooth the shifts are even during hard acceleration.
 
I learned how to drive with a stick shift car. Although I had access to an automatic transmission vehicle, I found a stick shift more fun to drive.

My current car has an automatic transmission, but a manual would be my first choice for a sports car.
 
W1MRK said:
Do you have to double clutch or can you float based on the Tach and Speedometer?
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Naa, the tranny's syncros eliminate the need for double clutching. Technically you can float gears (only if you're quick enough to catch that quick window of time after you lift off the throttle) but I don't recommend it (but hell, if you can rent a cheap stick car for the day I guess you could try it out :D )
 
SactoGuy18 said:
Unless you're driving a BMW, Honda or Porsche, gear shifters on modern cars either are too "notchy" or overly-vague in terms of finding a gear, and the result is not very pleasant, especially in city driving.
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Wow! You've driven every other kind of car as well? Or maybe that's "According to ______, (fill in name of magazine or auto guru)..."
 
iJohnHenry said:
Very humorous. :)
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I don't quite get your comment. What was humourous about my age exactly ?

SactoGuy18 said:
Unless you're driving a ...Honda... gear shifters on modern cars either are too "notchy" or overly-vague in terms of finding a gear, and the result is not very pleasant, especially in city driving.
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Wait what ? Hondas are some of the worst offenders. Their last great shifters hail from the late 90s. Everything ever since has been downhill, at least here in North America.

We haven't even gotten a Civic Hatchback in the last few years. :( Honda is really turning into Toyota these days, dropping any kind of sporty feel and making point A to B cars and it shows in the driving feeling of those bread boxes. I think it's one of the reasons I switched to Subaru for my last 2 cars.

Anyway, the Kia my GF bought seems to have very well defined gates. I don't know if it's because the shifter assembly bushings are still brand new (only time will tell) or if it's because the Koreans are trying to pick up the segment Honda/Mazda left behind (young kids that want "sporty" compacts).
 
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senseless said:
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?
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I think they're only rare in the US. The few times I went to italy the closest thing to an automatic that I saw was a smart car with tiptronic.

Anyway, I drive stick mostly, when I drive automatic sedans I get a little nauseous. I think for me it's the same effect as motion sickness - instead of not being able to make sense of the motionless surroundings and quickly moving background, I don't know what to do with my right hand and left foot.
 
KnightWRX said:
Wait what ? Hondas are some of the worst offenders. Their last great shifters hail from the late 90s. Everything ever since has been downhill, at least here in North America.
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The hondas I've driven from 02-06 (including mine) have all have very good engaging transmissions.
 
KnightWRX said:
I'm 32, still love driving, go to empty parking lots in winter to drift my Subaru around for fun (freaked out my girlfriend when I did it to her then brand new, sub-1000 km Kia Soul last January, which parking-brake drifted like a champ, even pulling a donut around another car, to much screaming and freaking out from the owner/passenger).

In the summer, I rip through country back roads for the kick of it, though nowadays, it's on my Harley rather than in my long lost loves (the 2.2L VTEC integra or the WRX) often leaving in the cold air of dawn to come back as dusk settles over the fields around my house.

You don't quit driving because you get old, you get old because you quit driving.
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Oh do not get my wrong I still enjoy driving but at the same time dealing with the every day grind of putting up with Dallas rush hour traffic was getting to me and making me consider going Auto.

Now that I am back with my parents working on another degree the traffic is not a big deal and I like having my manual. It is great for when I need passing power as I can drop my gear and get it when I want it.

Spec V is a fun car to drive. I am 28 btw.
 
yg17 said:
IMO, if a gearbox has a setting where it will automatically shift gears for you and you don't have to touch it, it's an automatic gearbox.

Sure, some auto gearboxes (DSG) are better than others (torque converter) but they're still automatic.
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I must admit that, other than a couple of times just to try it out, I pretty much never use manual mode on the DSG box.
TBH there is no-way I could manually change faster than this box can.
In my case it`s fitted to a 2 litre turbo-diesel and the 6 speed DSG can keep the engine in the "power band" pretty much constantly if you want it to.

In "Sport Mode" it`s so damn fierce it`s almost undriveable.
I have embarrased many a petrol powered car in this thing :)
 
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