Manual Transmission cars?

[jwolfer]

Who still drives a stick-shift?

I do.  But now at least here in the US over 80% of new cars are automatic.  Many models are not even available with a manual transmission, that you would think would at least have the option ( ie  Nissan Titan Pick-up) Even those that have a base model with a manual, its hard to find one at the dealership.  We bought a 2007 Hyundai Sonata and we wanted a 5 speed.  The local dealers would have 1 or 2 in the back of the lot and the sales people were almost shocked that we WANTED a 5 speed.


I have a 2002 Hyundai Elantra GT that is a 5 speed.  I like driving manual transmission.  I think that it makes you pay a bit more attention to the road and gives some additional control.  Gas mileage differential between automatic and manual is not an issue like it was in the past.  But having a stick shift is almost like an additional security; car thieves don't know how to drive stick shift.  There was the episode of bait car where the criminal was dumfounded by the stick... couldn't figure out how to put in drive.  A lady I worked with told me about her brother having an attempt to steal his BMW from the parking garage at work... the kid was bucking and jumping until the cops got there

[silverback1065]

I prefer automatic, I'm terrible at driving stick, but I can see how people like it over automatic, you have a little more control over the car.  I'm more comfortable driving an automatic, less things to think about. 

[1995hoo]

All three of ours are manuals (2004 Acura TL and 2003 Acura RSX Type-S both have 6MT,* 1988 Mazda RX-7 has 5MT). I've never owned a car with an automatic and have never had any interest in owning one. When I do drive one, usually a service loaner from the Acura dealer, I find I'm uncomfortable because of the unfamiliar kick-down feature and because my left foot has nothing to do. I learned on a manual almost from the beginning–when I got my learner's permit, my mom had a Volvo sedan with an automatic and my dad had a Honda Accord with a 5-speed. I drove the Volvo maybe twice before Dad started teaching me the manual. Aside from learning to start on a hill, the part I found hardest was mastering the 5th-to-4th downshift.

I did, however, take the DMV road test in my mother's Volvo precisely because it had the automatic. It was one less thing to screw up. (Plus my 16th birthday was on a Wednesday and my father had driven the Accord to work anyway.) The other thing is, technically it's illegal in Virginia to shift into neutral as you coast to a stop at a stop sign or red light because doing so means you're "coasting in neutral," which a statute prohibits. Of course just about everyone who drives a manual does that out of habit, but I didn't want some overzealous DMV employee flunking me for it. I understand in the UK, and in some other countries, that you get a restricted license if you pass the test driving an automatic, but I've never heard of any US state having that rule.

The RX-7 is parked on the curb around the corner and I sometimes have to jumpstart it. When I do, I use a spare key and then I take the portable jumpstarter back to the garage or I pull the other car back to the garage; in either case, I just leave the car running and lock the keys inside. I could probably just leave it unlocked, though, for precisely the reason "jwolfer" mentions–joyriding kids and thieves don't know how to drive a manual.

The other cars I've owned were a 1977 Ford Granada (4MT), a 1982 Honda Accord (5MT), a 1986 Acura Legend (5MT), and a 1997 Honda Accord (5MT). After learning to drive on the 1982 Accord, adjusting to the Granada was damn difficult. Much longer-throw shift. I stalled it umpteen times when I first tried to drive it because I was used to a much tighter shift pattern. A few years later my father sold me the Accord and got himself a 1991 Accord with a 4AT (because my mother preferred an automatic). I remember it being funny to watch him sitting on his right hand to try to break himself of the habit of basically always having one hand on the shifter.


*"xMT" being standard notation I see on car fora to distinguish from "yAT," the former denoting "x-speed manual transmission" and the latter denoting "y-speed automatic transmission."

[on_wisconsin]

Flappy-paddle gearboxs FTW! (even though I don't own a car with one)

cough: https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=4006.msg89194

[Crazy Volvo Guy]

Flappy-paddle gearboxs FTW! (even though I don't own a car with one)

cough: https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=4006.msg89194

Cannot agree.  I much prefer the act of shifting, including using the clutch; flicking a flappy paddle doesn't cut it, it's one step away from an autotragic.

[agentsteel53]

right now, my car is an automatic, but I can drive stick.  I'll be getting a Jeep and that will have a manual transmission.  that's a necessity for going off-road.

[Doctor Whom]

I prefer to drive with a manual transmission.  In addition to giving me greater control over the vehicle's operation and generally more of a driving experience, it reduces the maintenance headache.  Of the seven new vehicles I've had in my life, two have had automatic transmissions, only because they could not be ordered with manual transmissions in the US.

[Brandon]

I prefer to drive a manual transmission.  My current car has a manual transmission (5-speed) (2011 Dodge Caliber), and sips gas fairly well, but I can pull the power out of its engine (2.0L) rather well.  I don't really find it all that hard to drive in heavy stop and go traffic either.

I learned on a manual, 1981 Dodge Aries, but took my driving test (Secretary of State in Illinois) in my parents' 1993 Dodge Spirit.

[Takumi]

Both my current cars (both Preludes, as I'm sure you all  know) have manual transmissions; the Type SH was only available with it. The 93 has a stock clutch and a short throw shifter, while the 97 has a much heavier clutch with a stock shifter, so they're two different driving experiences. My first two cars were automatics...I don't really miss it.

[corco]

My current car is an automatic (2002 Jeep Liberty), but two of my prior cars (1997 Jeep Wrangler, 1990 Dodge Colt) were manuals and I vastly prefer driving them. I inherited the Liberty, so I can't complain, but I do strongly dislike automatics.

I'm going to be buying either a Ford Focus, Chevy Cruze, or Chevy Sonic this summer and will insist on a manual during that purchase.


When I drive cars with flappy paddles/autosticks I always forget to shift. If my left leg isn't involved, I just assume drive an automatic.

[Truvelo]

Does anyone actually use the paddles or manual override? All the automatics I've driven I've left the stick in the D position and had no need to intervene.

[RoadWarrior56]

My '02 Honda Civic EX has a 5-speed manual transmission.  I love to shift, been doing it since I learned a stick in my brother's Pinto in 70's while still in high school, and my primary car has been manual since the 70's.  Unfortunately since I am now in my 50's and since my knee sometimes gets a bit sore in stop and go traffic in the Atlanta area, my next car will probably be an automatic.

[Dr Frankenstein]

I learned manual from day one, so driving automatic just doesn't feel right to me. I don't plan to change in the foreseeable future, and yes, that means some car models get scratched from the list because they don't offer it.

[kphoger]

I wish I had a car with a stick...  My model of choice for the next one we buy hasn't come with a stick in quite a number of years, so I'll likely be stuck with an automatic for some time to come.

Does anyone actually use the paddles or manual override? All the automatics I've driven I've left the stick in the D position and had no need to intervene.

I've switched to lower gears both in mountainous driving and in winter weather.  And it's an especially good idea when you find yourself in a combination of the two!

[corco]

I want to make sure to buy a stick on my next car, because after that I'll hopefully have a family, which pretty much requires an automatic because you can't really get practical family vehicles with an automatic or I'll either way probably want to get something with more utility. I suspect in the car after that, it'll probably be impossible to get a stick.

So I'm insisting on getting a stick this time around, because odds are stacked against ever buying another new car with a manual.

Does anyone actually use the paddles or manual override? All the automatics I've driven I've left the stick in the D position and had no need to intervene.

I use them on mountain passes and in snow sometimes- especially useful for driving uphill without ending up in that RPM range where the transmission constantly shifts back and forth and for descending steep, icy grades.

I prefer a true manual in snow, especially deep snow though- being able to modulate the torque going to the wheels with the clutch is hugely helpful.

[1995hoo]

Does anyone actually use the paddles or manual override? All the automatics I've driven I've left the stick in the D position and had no need to intervene.

I tried using the paddles in a 2012 Acura TSX service loaner. I found it distracting.

When I took the DMV road test, I did shift the automatic down into first gear. The route went through a trailer park where the speed limit was 15 mph. Putting the automatic in first helped prevent me from inadvertently exceeding the speed limit.

I've used the lockout device on automatic-shift cars fairly often (usually when I was driving one of my mother's Volvos on a particular road near their house that has two steep hills). I found doing that was more akin to controlling the downshift on a manual compared with trying to make the thing kick down a gear. I hate getting stuck on uphills behind people who are very clearly automatic-transmission drivers and who have absolutely no concept of how to force the transmission to select a lower gear going up a hill.

(For that matter, how many of you find that automatic-shift drivers accelerate differently from manual-shift drivers because many of them have no concept of the transmission shifting gears?)

[corco]

(For that matter, how many of you find that automatic-shift drivers accelerate differently from manual-shift drivers because many of them have no concept of the transmission shifting gears?)

This is why I think everybody should be required to learn to drive a stick. If you have a concept of how transmissions work and how gearing works, I feel like you're a lot less likely to burn out your automatic transmission over a short lifetime.

But maybe that doesn't matter...I drove my parents brand new Focus with an automatic the other day, and the transmission shifts are nearly imperceptible.

[agentsteel53]

This is why I think everybody should be required to learn to drive a stick. If you have a concept of how transmissions work and how gearing works, I feel like you're a lot less likely to burn out your automatic transmission over a short lifetime.

how do you burn out an automatic, unless you're pushing to the limiter on every gear?  most people when they accelerate will just give a moderate pressure and the transmission will perform precisely as it is intended, switching up a gear at the top end of the engine's comfort zone (say, 3000rpm when cruising is about 2250 and redline is 5250).

[signalman]

I prefer manual too.  Mostly for the reasons already cited up thread.  I also like it because I know I'll have control of something.  Far too many new cars have too much automatic crap (rain sensing windshield wipers, automatic lights, automatic braking and cruise control adjustment).  I, like others here, feel out of place when I do drive an automatic.  I occasionally catch myself looking for the non existent clutch pedal to depress to keep from stalling as I approach a red light or stop sign.  While manuals can be a bit annoying in stop and go traffic or when I'm tired and don't feel like shifting gears.  But overall, I wouldn't give it up unless I had to.

[jwolfer]

If you watch "Amazing Race" its funny to see Americans get in the European or Asian rental cars and not know how to drive a stick shift... maybe I will win the million dollars if I ever get on the show

[DTComposer]

All of my family's cars were manual...after getting my learner's permit, with only the experience of driving up and down my mom's driveway, my dad made me drive home from the DMV in his manual Volkswagen Vanagon...still one of the most frustrating experiences of my life. Took the driver's test in my mom's BMW (also stick), my first car ('72 Volkswagen Squareback) was a stick, so all the cars I've bought since have been stick (I had a manual '72 Ford Maverick for a couple of years that I inherited from my great-aunt)...I like stick better for all the same reasons people have listed above.

However, as someone else also mentioned, since my next car will be a "family" car, I may very well go automatic for that.

[bugo]

I've owned mostly manual cars: 1977 Ford pickup truck, 1993 Ford Probe, 1992 Mazda 323.  I now have an automatic, but it's the first one in several cars that I've owned.  Growing up, we always had a VW Beetle or two so I got to drive a bunch of them.  We also had a 1973 VW Type 3 Fastback (coupe version of the Squareback) that I put many a mile on.  My dad had a lot of trucks with manuals, both granny gear 4 speeds and 3s on the tree.  We also had a 1985 Buick Skyhawk (Chevy Cavalier sibling) with a 4 speed manual that I drove a lot and that was a lot of fun.

[Darkchylde]

I had two manuals - a 1988 Ford Festiva with a 4MT and a 1987 Honda Civic 4WD with a 6MT. They always outlasted the automatics I had.

The next car I get will have a manual in it if I can help it. However, my next vehicle will likely be a motorscooter with an automatic.

[corco]

Whoa, you had an 87 Honda with a 6 speed?

[Duke87]

I am the opposite of most people here: I have never driven a stick and never really had an opportunity to learn since no one in my family owned one. By now I have had my license for seven years and it has become firmly entrenched in my mind that a car simply accelerates and brakes. The idea of shifting gears beyond P/R/N/D/L just seems weird to me on an intuitive level, even though I am well aware on a conscious level that "D" is actually multiple gears and that the car needs to change its gear ratios as it speeds up and slows down in order to keep the speed/torque relationship in order.