quote:

Originally posted by senza nome:
FUN is driving a right hand drive stick in England!

Yes! When I was living there in the mid 80s and flogging that Morris 1300 for all it was worth (which wasn’t much) they had more cars per mile of road than any other country in the world. It was a hoot getting a license there. One of the possible demerits on your driving test was “failure to proceed”. If you stopped at a stop sign, had a window to go and didn’t take it, you lost points. A K-turns backing into a driveway or intersecting streets was a required element. Good times! The best part was the driver’s license I got back then doesn’t expire until sometime in the 2030s.

ETA: Driving roundabouts there really spoiled me for driving roundabouts in CA, where nobody seems to have a clue how to do it.

For reasons unknown, somebody with a Toyota Tacoma put the shifter from a five-speed transmission (they have different reverse positions) in his six-speed truck. Until I realized it was a V6 engine and therefore a six-speed, I kept putting the truck into fourth gear trying to back up.

If its something I want to own and you can get a stick I do. I don't drive in bumper to bumper traffic for hours. And the idea that its cheaper is probably wrong at this point. But the sad part is the number of vehicles you can get with a stick is down to just a handful and falling fast.

quote:

Originally posted by senza nome:
FUN is driving a right hand drive stick in England!

Amazing how quick you get used to it when there's no other option. I can get in a rental in Ireland or the UK now and just drive. The toughest transition for me is looking up and left instead of up and right for the inside rear view mirror.

I haven't owned a stick since 2004 and probably will never have another. My wife can drive stick and we had a teenager with us back then and she learned to drive stick. I'll have to ask her if she has since.

In the late '80s, I had a Mustang GT, stick. A former employee held me up at gunpoint and went to steal my car, couldn't drive stick, he even left the keys in it.

Haven't had one in 20 somewhat years.
My last toy was a 1973 914 2.0. That was a fun car.

13 speed in a Peterbilt, didn't need to use the clutch unless you started
or stopped. First big truck I drove was a Diamond Reo , 10 speed, then a U model
Mack, only a five speed but you had to double clutch. Oh yeah, and no power steering.

We let our 911 go (reluctantly) 8 months ago, and currently don’t have a manual transmission car in the garage. I’m always on the lookout for another, but prices for sports/collector cars are stupid right now, so it may have to wait. We go to BCS, Mexico quite often and I’m always pleasantly surprised that the Toyota and Mercedes vans down there are all manuals.

I can drive a manual just fine. BUT: Outside of having a sports car and liking that extra connection to the car / road. I ask a question? Why bother in a regulars ole commuter? I think my Genesis G80 I sold was a 8 speed automatic? They can cram so many gears and so much efficiency in modern transmissions.

quote:

Originally posted by senza nome:
FUN is driving a right hand drive stick in England!

Sure is. I've done it a couple of times, and the first few minutes after picking up the car from the rental place can be pretty intense. Especially the first time you negotiate a four-lane roundabout!

I've no need for anything more complicated about getting from A to B. In fact, driving for me is the necessary crap I have to do to get to where I would rather have already been.

Gimme a reliable transporter pad Ala Star Trek and I'm on it like white on rice.

quote:

Originally posted by myrottiety:
I can drive a manual just fine. BUT: Outside of having a sports car and liking that extra connection to the car / road. I ask a question? Why bother in a regulars ole commuter?

I can say living in a snowy area having a 5spd hatch for a commuter (Honda Fit) the ability to start off in 2nd gear is a big win !
Huge fan of this car , we tow it behind the motorhome, my wife & I share it as a work car.
Both of our other vehicles stay in the garage as this racks up 17,000 miles a year.
But then again I’m the guy that does blacksmithing and hand carved signs so maybe I just like traditional things.

My Jeep's a 5 speed and it's fun making the little squirrels go, but I'm glad everything else I own isn't. Stop signs and traffic lights every fifteen feet.

Time for another manual transmission thread? Ok then. I still prefer manuals, but if your daily drive involves lots of stop-and-go traffic, I totally understand why you wouldn’t want one. I’m able to avoid that sort of driving for the most part, so a manual isn’t a problem.

I have noticed that the number of non-sports cars available with a stick continues to dwindle in the US. If you just want an average car or SUV, pickings are increasingly slim. Also, it you want anything more fancy than the base model, you are out of luck. My CX-5 could have really used a backup camera, but it wasn’t offered on the base model that had the manual. At least I was able to get one while manuals were still an option. I don’t think Mazda even offers a stick in the CX-5 anymore.

I’m going to teach my kids to drive stick, but won’t be surprised if they never buy anything but automatics on their own.

- Bret

The other angle with them for me was always that the transmissions last a long time and clutches while no fun to change, aren't terrible to do.

Ha!

Of course with modern cars and front wheel drive cars, that notion is long outdated and very incorrect.

My avatar has reached one-of-the-family status and my wife insists it stays until we can’t get fuel. Yes it’s a 6-speed behind an 8400 rpm V8. When we met I was in a bug, she a Fiat 131, both manual. Been something like that ever since.

Well without the oil leaks and 48HP or whatever.

quote:

Originally posted by bob ramberg:
...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.

Oh, boy, does that remind me of something. My brother and I shared a '69 VW Beetle, stick, of course, when we were teenagers. One day out on the highway he showed me he could double-clutch and drop it into second gear going 60 mph. I knew how to double-clutch, but I never thought to do it at that speed, and from fourth to second. You can imagine the mighty roar when he let out the clutch. I, of course, had to try it myself another day when I had the car. It wasn't difficult; just conscious timing and throttle control. I'm sure neither of us did it very often, or we'd be looking for the transmission out on the road. I know I did it a few more times just to do it--get it into second-- without actually letting out the clutch. That was a fun car.

When I was in Drivers Ed there was supposed to be a certain % of cars that were manual, and you were supposed to drive one on the range at least once. It didn't happen for most of us.

I learned how to drive a stick in a 1974 Mack Triple Combination Class A Pumper with a Pierce bed, 500 gallon tank and a big Detroit Diesel. You HAD to double clutch that apparatus. We did have one guy that once out of the station, could shift by manipulating RPM and never touch the clutch. His shifts were like butter.

No..... never mastered that but I did manage to single clutch a few times and get away with it.

quote:

Originally posted by Rightwire:
When I was in Drivers Ed there was supposed to be a certain % of cars that were manual, and you were supposed to drive one on the range at least once. It didn't happen for most of us.

I took drivers' ed in 1959, in a 1957 DeSoto with a 3 speed column shift, and I used the same car to take my driving test for my license. Fully licensed in 1960, at age 14 (which used to be allowed by law in TX if you took drivers' ed). I've driven a manual ever since, currently a 2010 4 cyl Tacoma PreRunner, 5 speed manual. One thing not mentioned that I saw, and at least the way I use it, a manual can be much easier on the brakes.

quote:

Originally posted by henryaz:
One thing not mentioned that I saw, and at least the way I use it, a manual can be much easier on the brakes.

I agree!

Had a 91 toyota pickup 5 speed manual transmission that I bought new. When I sold it at 172,000 miles it still had original rear brakes and front brakes made it to 150,000 something. I've never come close to that with an automatic transmission vehicle.

We have a lot of big hills here in western oregon, western washington so automatic transmission vehicles can really eat up the brake pads.