Simple enough question - can you drive a car with manual transmission? Having just learned to drive manual myself, I wonder about my fellow drivers?
(There's a poll attached)
(There's a poll attached)
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Manual or Automatic?
- Thread starter Shacklebolt
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Gotta push the stick unless you're driving a big truck. And gotta avoid driving teh big truck. 
Three words: zen-like oneness.
Three words: zen-like oneness.
Yep, I've always driven manual even when I was learning. That said, the next car I get will be an automatic.
My impression is that Japan is fairly similar. Canada, also, although I think both of them are slightly less stilted than the US (maybe more like 80/20 than 95/5?). I want to say possibly Korea. I'm not sure how many countries beyond that.
automatic.
i've tried to learn manual, but i just can't seem to get it right. i'll admit, i can't go from a dead stop.
i've tried to learn manual, but i just can't seem to get it right. i'll admit, i can't go from a dead stop.
I can drive a manual - but for my purposes (just pottering around town etc.) an automatic is much more convenient.
Of course. I'm British. Almost everyone here learns in a manual. Even grannies drive manuals. It's not seen as some kind of defining driving ability either.
Personally, I'd take a semi-automatic (or semi-manual if you like) over both a manual or an automatic on any day, on any road, on any track.
Manual, and if that proves a bit hard getting used to then find a flappy-paddle gearbox. They're always good for a laugh.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct-Shift_Gearbox
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct-Shift_Gearbox
Well, what can I say - here it is. The vast majority of cars on the road these days are automatic, and the car I took my driving test on is automatic. Personally, I think driving a manual is sweet, and a lot of fun. I'm sure that feeling will abate soon enough when I stall out on some huge hill and drift backwards into a $60,000 Mercedes.
Yup. Manual becomes automatic, so much so, that when driving an automatic, you find yourself reaching for the stick to put it in first.
That wouldn't happen unless you're in neutral or reverse. Hill starts are also really easy once you've learned how to do them. It's all about finding the point at which the clutch engages on whatever car you're driving, but you'll find that just through normal driving anyway whenever you change gear.
The only reason I'd ever consider an automatic car is because I have to endure 1-2 hours of traffic uphill every evening when returning from the U. But that's about it. I like to be able to control everything on a manual car, whereas I feel that I'm not really doing anything driving an automatic.
i've never been to korea, so i can't say for sure, but everyone i know from korea knows how to drive manual. i think it's pretty standard over there.
That's what the handbrake is for!
I'd like a semi-auto though. One which has a sequential gearstick when you want to have fun and an automatic mode for when you just want to relax.
However my big gripe with automatics is both their higher gas usage and that they can start constantly switching gears on some hills. Lower gear to accelerate, then they switch to a higher gear and start to slow down and back down again...
I don't understand the preference for autos maybe in non stop traffic but you give up a lot of control and about 15% efficiency. Still each to their own I guess.
Every car in which I rode in Japan had an automatic transmission and almost everyone else in the U.S.A. seems to have an automatic, though some have the fancy shifters so they can pretend to shift gears.
I learned to drive a manual when I was 9, taught my mum when I was 10, so she could drive her VW Beetle convertible.
Many automatic cars are 4/5 speed these days though, I reckon.
My fiancee's rental car is an automatic Mazda 3, and this thing gets 27 mpg
So yeah, I don't think the gas mileage argument holds AS true as it did maybe 7-10 years ago. Cars are so sophisticated and efficient, it's ridiculous. Her $13,900 Mazda rental is leaps and bounds better than my Acura Integra GS-R, and that was considered a luxury coupe for $23K back in 2001.
My fiancee's rental car is an automatic Mazda 3, and this thing gets 27 mpg
So yeah, I don't think the gas mileage argument holds AS true as it did maybe 7-10 years ago. Cars are so sophisticated and efficient, it's ridiculous. Her $13,900 Mazda rental is leaps and bounds better than my Acura Integra GS-R, and that was considered a luxury coupe for $23K back in 2001.
I'm sure it's part of the different cultures and attitudes to driving, but for me, driving is a means, not an end. Maybe if I had a fancy car I would appreciate the fine control of driving standard, but for now, I just want my car to get me from A to B. I don't care to keep track of gears and clutch and RPM's. I'm already busy enough watching out for signals and traffic and pedestrians and keeping an eye on all my mirrors. So the finer control of a standard, though I understand is fun, is just more than I care to have on a day to day basis.
I guess it's like how Mac people like their computers to "just work" while some die-hard Windows people want complete control over which version of what driver is installed and which card is in what slot for preferential IRQ handling and what bus multiplier works best and all that other fun stuff that most people don't care about.
How do people feel about cars with CVT?
got a have that stick
I just test drove an automatic the other day. Boy was I bored silly!!!
I wanted an automatic because there are times, I that I just don't want to shift another gear in the traffic. But I don't think so now.
When I drove the automatic I thought I was going to fall asleep and my mind seems to wander more.
Give a stick anytime!
I just test drove an automatic the other day. Boy was I bored silly!!!
I wanted an automatic because there are times, I that I just don't want to shift another gear in the traffic. But I don't think so now.
When I drove the automatic I thought I was going to fall asleep and my mind seems to wander more.
Give a stick anytime!
Since a lot of vehicles are going to get automatic transmissions anyway, I'd think a CVT would be a good replacement for a planetary gearbox. You shouldn't be able to feel the gear change in most automatics anyway but the efficiency and flexibility of a CVT would be great.
I'm sure it's part of the different cultures and attitudes to driving, but for me, driving is a means, not an end. Maybe if I had a fancy car I would appreciate the fine control of driving standard, but for now, I just want my car to get me from A to B. I don't care to keep track of gears and clutch and RPM's. I'm already busy enough watching out for signals and traffic and pedestrians and keeping an eye on all my mirrors. So the finer control of a standard, though I understand is fun, is just more than I care to have on a day to day basis.
I guess it's like how Mac people like their computers to "just work" while some die-hard Windows people want complete control over which version of what driver is installed and which card is in what slot for preferential IRQ handling and what bus multiplier works best and all that other fun stuff that most people don't care about.
How do people feel about cars with CVT?
I do understand your metaphor and generally agree,the difference is if I want to get down and dirty with a Mac I can just use terminal.