Less likely to get stolen that is one good reason and cheaper. Last I looked there were none on the lot. (Before the pandemic}.

Only around 18% of American drivers can handle a manual transmission, according to U.S. News and World Report. You know: the clutch pedal and the stick shift—three on the tree, four on the floor or, I don’t know, five to drive maybe. Different gears, manually engaged.

Growing up in the South Dakota countryside, I rode in vehicles that didn’t have automatic transmissions: farm equipment, old pickups, floorboard-rusted Fords from days gone by. I assumed I knew basically how to drive a car with a manual transmission.

Turns out that “basically” isn’t the same as “actually.” When my father’s Oldsmobile died this month, my family replaced it as the backup car with a used Chevy. Since I’m the backup driver, I climbed in, stepped on the clutch, started the car, stepped off the clutch. The engine promptly stalled. Only by grinding the gears, smoking the clutch and jerking forward in jumps did I finally get moving.

In 1980, some 35% of cars produced in the U.S. were manuals. Today that figure is closer to 1%, and only 3.7% of Carmax sales are for stick shifts—shockingly low considering that 80% of cars sold in Europe have manual transmissions. Some car makers, including Audi, no longer offer manual transmissions in the U.S. market at all.



So why would anyone want one? Your car is less likely to get stolen, for one thing. Thieves prove as incapable of using a clutch as any other American. There have been multiple reports over the past year—in Cleveland, St. Louis, Detroit and Pleasantville, N.J.—of carjackers unable to drive away.

Using a manual transmission might even make you a safer driver. A study from the National Institutes for Health found that manual transmissions enhance the attention and driving performance of adolescent males with ADHD. The study concluded that “objectively, participants drive safer in the manual transmission mode.”

Manual-transmission cars are also easier and cheaper to repair. Although the latest automatic transmissions are more fuel-efficient than older versions, Consumer Reports suggests that manual transmissions can improve gas mileage by 2 to 5 miles a gallon, partly from the decreased weight of the car. The purchase price of a new car often runs $800 to $1,000 lower.

All of these are selling points, I suppose, but only if one can actually drive a car with a stick shift. It’s not too hard to learn, provided there’s no one in the car with you to criticize your stutters and stalls or shout “Downshift! Downshift!” while gripping the dashboard overdramatically. These are the people who say at stoplights, “Are you sure you don’t want me to drive?”

I caught on eventually, and I know that Mario Andretti would have been proud of the way I handled the sloping S-curves through the Black Hills on my way back, with two logging trucks, an SUV and an old pickup crowding behind me. You learn quickly when annoyed drivers don’t have much patience and you need to get home.

link: https://www.wsj.com/articles/t..._opin_pos_6#cxrecs_s

I drove a 6-speed Mini Cooper S for 2 years and was glad to get rid of it after a brutal daily bumper-to-bumper commute of 45 minutes each way.

Driving a stick in that kind of traffic BLOWS

I have a 2009 Subaru Legacy, that I refuse to sell, because it is a 3 pedal model. And it only has 70,000 miles on it.

My wife and I had to go car shopping last year. And there was a 4 door Tacoma with a 5 speed in the parking lot. I told my wife, if it wasn’t sold, I’d teach her how to drive a stick. This vehicle was for her anyways. Sadly, it has already been sold.

There are still vehicles that can be found with a manual. Sports cars, most Subaru’s, Toyota trucks. But they are hard to find, and you can’t hesitate when you want to buy. It will be gone in an hour. Our Toyota dealer had people flying in from out of state to buy a truck.

They kept trying to push EV and hybrid vehicles on us. Nope. Not what I want.

I know my insurance rate dropped from $208/mo in my automatic V6 Mustang to $130/mo in the BOSS 302.

That's right, I went up 2 cylinders, up 130+ horses, and into a limited edition sports car, and my insurance went DOWN by almost $80 because it's a manual. I'm not complaining, I was just kind of baffled.

A few years ago that was all we owned. A Honda Fit 5 speed, a Honda Accord 6 speed and a Honda S2000 6 speed. Now we only have the S2000. I love a manual.

On my last deployment to Bagram, all the vehicles were manual. It'd been over 10 years since my last 5 speed Mazda. But I climbed into the Tacoma, checked the travel, play and stiffness of the clutch, fired that sumbitch up and drove off. Spent the next 2 days teaching several millennials the skill. They had a ball!

I haven't driven a stick-shift in over 25 years, but I believe it is kinda like riding a bike - once you train your body and mind to work together, it is imbedded in your psyche to perform without thinking about it.

(Of course, I haven't ridden a bike in over 50 years, so that could be deflator to my ego if and when I get challenged to perform by my great-granddaughter! )

I like a manual transmission for several reasons but no longer have one because of the heavy traffic in places I’ve lived. A stick is not fun in stop and go traffic.

At 14 on the farm I learned to drive stick using a Depression Era modified Model A that had wooden-spoked wheels (truck axle) on the back.
Plowing, planting, and pulling stumps.
When I got my license it was no problem driving stick on the road. Baptism by fire, you might say.

Great fun and fond memories there.

The first new car I ever bought on my own was a 5 speed. That was almost 30 years ago. But I have not owned a manual in over 20 years.

A few weeks ago we were in Sedona and I wanted to rent a 4X4 Jeep for some off road experiences. The only one available was a manual, so I took it.

Let me tell you, doing some rock crawling and steep grades in a manual, when you have not driven one for 20 years made for some interesting times and made me get proficient very quickly.

But it also reminded me, I want nothing to do with a manual. Automatic all the way.

quote:

Originally posted by mcrimm:
Now we only have the S2000. I love a manual.

And the S2000's 6 speed manual is one slick short throwing beauty to boot! Love it!


Given my age it should be no surprise that I've had experience with other manuals like 3 on the tree. hahahahahahaha

Never really had issues with manual transmissions and urban traffic. Yes a lot of engaging - disengaging but I guess I adapted easily.

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
Growing up in the South Dakota countryside, I rode in vehicles that didn’t have automatic transmissions: farm equipment, old pickups, floorboard-rusted Fords from days gone by. I assumed I knew basically how to drive a car with a manual transmission.

Turns out that “basically” isn’t the same as “actually.”

Same here. I've driven manual transmission tractors and 4-wheelers back in my cattle ranch days. So I figure I could "basically" figure out how to drive a manual transmission car if I had to. But I've never "actually" tried it.

A friend's husband died a year ago or so and she decided to sell his car, a 5 speed manual.

She had a hell of a time finding someone who could drive a stick. A number of people came around and said they could, but it turned out they couldn't.

She told them it would cost extra to teach them how to drive a stick.

I always drove manual transmission cars from the time I was fourteen until 2000 (36 years).
Driving in traffic got tedious and I switched to automatic.
Now, being older, I don't really want to have a manual shifter.

I haven't owned an automatic transmission since 1994. All manuals since then and I will continue to drive them until they are unavailable. Current daily driver is a '17 Civic Si 6-speed but I've had WRX's, and other cars in the past.

One reason for lower rates is the reduction in pedal misapplication errors. All "unintended acceleration" claims always result in the same finding - pressed the gas thinking it was the brake and kept pressing. Tiger Woods did it recently. Audi suffered dearly in the 80's over false claims. But it only happens with autos, because making the same mistake with a manual requires too many things to happen at the same time. And you can just hit the clutch and grab the handbrake if the motor is racing and the brakes don't work.

Then there's the fact that manual drivers are generally more engaged in their driving as stated earlier.

For the first 30 years of my driving adventures,
I preferred the stick.

For last 30, auto serves me better

How is some twenty-something tic-tok, YouTube, influencer supposed to take their selfies, update their insta, post on Twitter and then take time to manually shift while not paying attention while driving

I have three cars and they are all 6-spd manual transmissions. Yes, I know that today's automatics are more efficient and faster, but nothing "connects" you to the car and the driving experience like a manual transmission. For those that think driving is something beyond getting from point A to point B, the manual is the transmission of choice.

Adios,

Pizza Bob<-----real cars don't shift themselves

Drove a stick a bit 35 years ago. Not since. I would probably embarrass myself if I tried today.

With the exceptions of two four-door sedans and my wife's cars, all of my cars have had manual gearboxes. They have all been sports cars or sport coupes though. Much more engaging to drive a stick, especially when you get that double-
clutched down shift just right and it drops into the next lowest gear so smoothly that you don't even feel it.