BlueMoonPics wrote:
I used to drive a stick.  Loved it!
The only time I didn't like it was when driving in Manhattan.
Come to think of it, I hate driving in Manhattan no matter what.

I had a manual in the city for about a year.  That's all I could take.

Actually, it wasn't that bad in the city.  The real dealbreaker was the trip I took down to the Jersey shore.  It took 6 hours in traffic at an average speed of 20 mph.  I wouldn't have liked it in an automatic, but it was hell in a manual.

sospix wrote:
I have 4 to 6 speed manuals in a range of cars, from a '39 Willys Jeep, to a '68 big block Vette, to a nice 6 speed in a 2013 souped up Wrangler, love them all  .  .  .  BUT, I recently drove a 5 series BMW with an 8 speed automatic paddle shift  .  .  .  I might be gettin' old, but, that was pretty fun, especially in "sport" mode  .  .  . 

SOS

Kind of hate the notion of an 8-speed...  It's just a MPG saving trick. 

Once I learned to use a stick, driving in heavy traffic never bothered me (i.e., all the shifting).  I don't really think about it.

Lohkee wrote:
Coffee in one hand. Cellphone in the other. Steering with my knees. Yep. I pretty much **need** an automatic.

You can't do that with a stick?

Click Hamilton wrote:
You can't do that with a stick?

Hue faced the Viet Cong. Do you really think she's going to worry about me waiving a stick at her? We might make it out of the driveway after she finished laughing at me (could take a while).

Lohkee wrote:
Coffee in one hand. Cellphone in the other. Steering with my knees. Yep. I pretty much **need** an automatic.

That's where elbows come in handy.

Click Hamilton wrote:
It's hard to do wheelies with an automatic transmission

This is me leavin' the driveway yesterday mornin'  .  .  .



.  .  .  that Smart car has some REALLY good gears  .  .  . 

SOS

Lohkee wrote:
Coffee in one hand. Cellphone in the other. Steering with my knees. Yep. I pretty much **need** an automatic.

My current truck is the first automatic I ever bought.  I had a company truck stick Pick Up prior and I learned you can't really talk in any kind of traffic with one.

Stephen Fletcher wrote:

My current truck is the first automatic I ever bought.  I had a company truck stick Pick Up prior and I learned you can't really talk in any kind of traffic with one.

Do you shift with your teeth or tongue...? 

Motordrive Photography wrote:
The last slush box car I owned was 35 years ago, and I just prefer driving manuals.
However, the new generation of 7, 8 and 9 speed automatics are as far removed
from a Power-glide as an abacus to a PC.

and most folks, no matter what they think, can't shift as efficient as most automatics.  Most over-rev, slip the  clutch, and do other things that simply decrease the mileage they think that they're gaining.  Plus, how can they possibly text/talk on their phones, while juggling their iced, half caf lattes, and snap selfies with a manual?

Rick Edwards wrote:
and most folks, no matter what they think, can't shift as efficient as most automatics.  Most over-rev, slip the  clutch, and do other things that simply decrease the mileage they think that they're gaining.  Plus, how can they possibly text/talk on their phones, while juggling their iced, half caf lattes, and snap selfies with a manual?

Idea: I had it all typed up, but decided not to send it. Someone, somewhere (likely in the mod room) would say it's too soapboxy. I think it's a good one, though.

Paolo Diavolo wrote:

ya,... i'm never in that part of town, unless im showing a visitor the touristy parts of SF. In which case, i do it like this:

That's how you do it!!!

Top Level Studio wrote:
I liked manual transmissions and only put up with automatics, until I got an ex-police Caprice with the 700R4 electronically controlled 4-speed auto with police calibration.

That was a fun car to drive (5.7 V-8 with fuel injection, cop shocks, cop steering, cop brakes, etc., etc.), and the transmission adapted to my driving, so I could provoke a downshift or upshift at will with the gas pedal.

If we dressed you in black pants, white shirt, black tie, black hat and really dark sunglasses, would you be Jake or Elwood?

David M Russell wrote:
Before I had kids, every car I owned had a manual transmission.

Now I have an automatic, and I will as long as I'm driving kids around.

Why?  I don't get the connection here. Do you view manual transmissions as unsafe or less safe?

I raised 2 kids and had manuals the whole time ( they are both over 21 now). I never had any issues driving them around with a stick...

Fotticelli wrote:
I prefer manual but it's kind of hard to text while driving a manual. Especially when drunk.

Granted, she had an automatic transmission at the time but my sister managed to feed her son (food, that is), look for something on her GPS/phone, eat, swerve across 4 lanes of an interstate (good thing we were the only vehicle there at the time), eat AND get mad when I "accused" her of trying to kill us.  I'm not sure a manual transmission would've helped in that situation as we were going highway speeds so there wouldn't have been any need to change gears.

kickfight wrote:
Living in San Francisco for several years pretty much nullified any interest in manual transmissions. I'll take automatics from hereonin, thank you very much.

However, if I get a yen to power up and down a set of gears, I have several two-wheeled vehicles that are perfect for the task.

This is my exception!!! In San Francisco NO manual transmisisons for me. nooooooo

Robb Mann wrote:
I love, love love manuals. I also live in DC and commute over 100 miles a day, much of it on the Washington beltway. I compromised and bought a VDub GTI with the DSG dual-clutch transmission. It shifts like a demon, and acts like a manual in many situations -- like rolling backwards at a stop on a hill.

This is not fun on a very steep hill.  It has happened to me in San Francisco.

Jerry Nemeth wrote:

This is not fun on a very steep hill.  It has happened to me in San Francisco.

Being able to smoothly start a manual trans on a steep hill w/o using the brakes is a real test of your skill! I learned to drive in a 1981 Oldsmobile Omega with a 4-speed, in a town loaded with steep hills.

Robb Mann wrote:

Being able to smoothly start a manual trans on a steep hill w/o using the brakes is a real test of your skill! I learned to drive in a 1981 Oldsmobile Omega with a 4-speed, in a town loaded with steep hills.

You had a lot of practice!

Lovely Day Media wrote:

If we dressed you in black pants, white shirt, black tie, black hat and really dark sunglasses, would you be Jake or Elwood?

I'm a slim guy, so I'd be Elwood.

MB JenB wrote:

This is my exception!!! In San Francisco NO manual transmisisons for me. nooooooo

I had some scary experiences there!   

Hugh Alison wrote:
You can't hold it in gear up to 7400 rpm in with an automatic gearbox.

The close-ratio 62TE six-speed auto in my Grand Caravan R/T upshifts at 6400 rpm whenever more than half throttle is being used.  And the revs only drop to about 5000 on the first two upshifts, keeping it in the fat part of the powerband.

It's far more fun to drive than I expected it to be.

A performance automatic in an actual sports car should be even more fun.

All Yours Photography wrote:
Last week, the starter went out on my 18 year old Honda.  Since it's a stick, I was able to continue driving it to work until I could get to the junkyard this weekend.  I just had to park on a slope so that I could get it started again after work.

Try doing that with your paddle shifter.

haha +1. popping the clutch is always fun...