Manual Transmission cars?

[Brandon]

The only downside I found to driving a stick shift is the constant shifting when stuck in traffic or when driving in urban areas.

Because I am so used to the congestion, having to shift does not bother me at all.

It's not too bad for a 10-15 minute traffic jam, but really annoying for a two-hour stop-and-go crawl. You try for that rare chance to slide into 3rd gear, which makes one feel a sense of accomplishment.

Tell me about it.  That's how I felt on the Tri-State Tollway Wednesday morning due to some moron deciding it was a good idea to have a crash up by the Rosemont Exit.  Went from 1st to 2nd and back again from the Cermak Road cashbox up to there. 

[DSS5]

I did I lot of my learning how to drive in my grandfather's old van and it was a manual, so I know how to use them and I have needed to on occasion, but my car is an automatic.

[Duke87]

So, since you've never driven a stick, just out of curiosity does it bother you when a car is between gears when driving up a hill? Or do you not even notice?

What does "between gears" even mean?

I do notice that sometimes my car doesn't kick into higher gear as desired when I'm trying to accelerate and instead just revs up (often a hill is involved). The remedy for this is to push down on the gas more. Then the transmission gets the message.

[signalman]

What does "between gears" even mean?

What he's refering to is because of the speed of your vehicle and the incline the transmission is constantly upshifting and downshifting.  A driver on that same hill in a manual transmission car would remain in the lower gear and keep a firm press on the throttle and not upshift until cresting the hill.

I noticed the constant upshifting and downshifting on the minivan I rentted this past weekend.  It also waited too long to downshift (I'd lose 5-6 mph from the 72 I had the cruise set at before it would downshift to pick up speed).  It began to really irk me after a while.  I then flipped over into the paddle shifter and did the shifting myself.

[1995hoo]

The only downside I found to driving a stick shift is the constant shifting when stuck in traffic or when driving in urban areas.

It's all I have ever had - and I drive a lot in the (often congested) Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.

Because I am so used to the congestion, having to shift does not bother me at all.

Same here. I find my right leg gets more fatigued from constantly holding the brake pedal than my left leg does from the clutch, mainly because if I'm stopped in traffic I'll put it in neutral and take my foot off the clutch. Holding the brake would be something you'd do regardless of transmission type (unless the traffic is so bad you wind up setting the handbrake, of course).

[SteveG1988]

I have had two stick, and 3 automatics, in order AUto,stick,auto,auto,stick. my current car is a 2003 Eclipse GS with a 2.4L SOHC 16V 4 cyl and a 5 speed stick, with that motor you want a stickshift so you can keep it up in the rev band.

[Compulov]

What does "between gears" even mean?

What he's refering to is because of the speed of your vehicle and the incline the transmission is constantly upshifting and downshifting.  A driver on that same hill in a manual transmission car would remain in the lower gear and keep a firm press on the throttle and not upshift until cresting the hill.

I've only ever owned autos, though I've driven a friend's manual Cavalier a few times. It's fun, but I like having the ability to not worry about shifting if I need to. That said, my car has a manumatic (and it won't force upshift, it'll let you hold the gear until you bounce off the rev limiter if you wanted to), and I find myself often sitting in 2nd or 3rd gear (4 speed... really hankering for another gear between 2nd and 3rd) when I'm in slow moving traffic. I also like any transmission which at least gives you the option of forcing a gear, because sometimes you need to be smarter than the transmission. Case in point, I was driving the family Explorer up CA 79 and 78 on the way towards 86 this week. It never did seem to pick the proper gear in the curves and hills, so I just picked 2nd or 3rd manually. It was useful for climbing, and it was useful for keeping my speed under control while descending as well. If left to its own devices, the transmission would keep forcing itself up to 4th (or even 5th) if I even let up on the gas a little bit.

I personally would like to see ferrari-style clutchless paddle systems on more vehicles. It has a clutch, so you get rid of the power-sapping torque converter, but it still has computer control if you want it, so you can leave it in auto if you don't feel like constantly shifting. I've also become a bit of a fan of CVTs. I had a loaner Subaru Legacy with a CVT while my car was in for service. It's amazing how much better the same engine (2.5L N/A H-4) felt with the CVT compared to the 4-speed auto on my Outback. It was like night and day. Acceleration was awesome... you'd floor it to merge or pass, and it would get the engine into its peak power band and just hold it there until you let up on the gas, so you were constantly accelerating.

[kphoger]

We just had two new-hire Arkansas techs come up to our Wichita office yesterday to pick up their work trucks.  One of the pickups was a stickshift, and neither tech knew how to drive stick.  So the boss gave the one guy a quick lesson in the parking lot, had him practice driving around the building and in a nearby neighborhood.  Then they left in the afternoon to drive back to Arkansas, and both guys are running a route today.

Which is all well and good, but....  Learning to use a clutch in flatland Wichita is one thing, coming off the line in the Arkansas hills is another thing.  Cross your fingers, guys...

[1995hoo]

I hope he taught the guy the "handbrake trick" for starting on a hill.

[AsphaltPlanet]

I drive a stick shift, and I don't think I could ever go back to an automatic.

A lot of times when I am stopped at a light on a hill I will try and balance the clutch and the gas so that I am not moving forward nor backward.  I am sure that isn't good for the clutch, but it's fun to try and find the sweet spot.  Plus it helps when I'm stopped on a steep incline and the guy behind me is riding my bumper.

[1995hoo]

It's very bad for the clutch, actually.

[AsphaltPlanet]

^ I know, but I love feeling that connected to my car.

[cpzilliacus]

It's very bad for the clutch, actually.

If I am on an uphill, my technique in my truck (with six speed manual transmission) is to leave the clutch pedal out and my right foot on the brake.  When I see traffic ahead of me start to move, I disengage the clutch, put the transmission in First, and engage gently, so I start to roll forward slowly with no throttle (First has an extremely low gear ratio, it is intended for pulling stumps).  When I get going more than 2 or 3 MPH, I give it more throttle and shift up to Second. That technique has allowed me over 100,000 miles per clutch (and I drive a lot in congested Washington, D.C. conditions).

[corco]

That's great with a granny gear- but yeah. When I lived in Seattle with a stick (streets as steep as San Francisco's, for those unfamiliar), I'd use the e-brake method- shift into first as normal while slowly disengaging the emergency brake instead of the clutch- that works with a hand brake; that would be really hard if you had a foot brake. Fortunately most modern vehicles with foot brakes and manual transmissions are trucks like yours that have a granny gear.

[cpzilliacus]

That's great with a granny gear- but yeah. When I lived in Seattle with a stick (streets as steep as San Francisco's, for those unfamiliar), I'd use the e-brake method- shift into first as normal while slowly disengaging the emergency brake instead of the clutch- that works with a hand brake; that would be really hard if you had a foot brake. Fortunately most modern vehicles with foot brakes and manual transmissions are trucks like yours that have a granny gear.

Never been in the state of Washington, but I have experienced the steep grades in San Francisco. 

Where I normally drive, in and around D.C., there are a few places with pretty steep grades leading up to signalized intersections, such as Wisconsin Avenue, N.W. which runs from the Potomac River in Georgetown up a set of fairly steep hills (not as steep as San Francisco) to Massachusetts Avenue, where the National Cathedral is located. 

Then there's 13th Street, N.W. northbound between Florida Avenue and Clifton Street, which is quite steep (and has a light at the top of the hill - GSV here).

Md. 650 (New Hampshire Avenue) has an assortment of reasonably steep hills between the Maryland/D.C. border and I-495 with plenty of traffic signals mixed-in (GSV here, here and here).

[Scott5114]

I drive an automatic and have little desire to learn to drive stick. If the technology exists for the car to handle all of the details of gear selection, I'd prefer to let it do that and free up my brain to paying attention to things the car can't handle itself, like looking out for other cars and crap in the road and signs and such.

[jwolfer]

That's great with a granny gear- but yeah. When I lived in Seattle with a stick (streets as steep as San Francisco's, for those unfamiliar), I'd use the e-brake method- shift into first as normal while slowly disengaging the emergency brake instead of the clutch- that works with a hand brake; that would be really hard if you had a foot brake. Fortunately most modern vehicles with foot brakes and manual transmissions are trucks like yours that have a granny gear.

Never been in the state of Washington, but I have experienced the steep grades in San Francisco. 

Where I normally drive, in and around D.C., there are a few places with pretty steep grades leading up to signalized intersections, such as Wisconsin Avenue, N.W. which runs from the Potomac River in Georgetown up a set of fairly steep hills (not as steep as San Francisco) to Massachusetts Avenue, where the National Cathedral is located. 

Then there's 13th Street, N.W. northbound between Florida Avenue and Clifton Street, which is quite steep (and has a light at the top of the hill - GSV here).

Md. 650 (New Hampshire Avenue) has an assortment of reasonably steep hills between the Maryland/D.C. border and I-495 with plenty of traffic signals mixed-in (GSV here, here and here).

My wife's mom hasn't driven a stick in years but she told us about taking her dads car and learning to drive stick on the streets of San Francisco... much different than here in Florida... I have driven stick for 10 of the past 20 years when I worked for a few weeks in Tallahassee last year I had trouble on the hills there, I can only imaging San Fran

[roadman]

Shortly after I got my driver's license, my brother tried to teach me how to drive a manual transmission - on his 1980 Chevy Monza.  These lessons were prompted by the fact I had lost out on a summer job as a phone installer with New England Telephone (yes, during the good old Bell System days) because I couldn't drive a stick.

Hardly the best car for a newbie to learn on.  For one thing, it had the world's deepest clutch (even my brother admitted to that), so it didn't go well.  The lessons ended the day I accidentally pulled the shifter knob off trying to put the car into gear.

I probably remember enough from those lessons that I could move a manual transmission car in an emergency, but not much else.

[agentsteel53]

That's great with a granny gear- but yeah. When I lived in Seattle with a stick (streets as steep as San Francisco's, for those unfamiliar), I'd use the e-brake method- shift into first as normal while slowly disengaging the emergency brake instead of the clutch- that works with a hand brake; that would be really hard if you had a foot brake. Fortunately most modern vehicles with foot brakes and manual transmissions are trucks like yours that have a granny gear.

I did that for the first few weeks of having an '89 Escort before my muscle memory got good enough that I was able to disengage the brake and engage clutch and gas quickly enough as to not roll back more than about 4 or 5 inches, even on a 15-16% hill.  after that, I found it easier to concentrate on 3 things instead of 4.

[1995hoo]

I drive an automatic and have little desire to learn to drive stick. If the technology exists for the car to handle all of the details of gear selection, I'd prefer to let it do that and free up my brain to paying attention to things the car can't handle itself, like looking out for other cars and crap in the road and signs and such.

Funny, as I probably mentioned before that's one reason why back when I was 16 I took the DMV road test using my mom's automatic-equipped Volvo, just to have one less thing to screw up. But since every car I've ever owned has been a manual I've found I seldom think at all about shifting. It's just second nature and something I do automatically. About the only time I think about it is when I switch cars. The shifter in my wife's RSX is considerably stiffer than in either of our other cars and it doesn't always go into third gear smoothly. Beyond that, I think more about it on the rare occasion when I have to drive an automatic, simply because I have to concentrate on stuff like not making the thing kick down except when I want it to do so.

Didn't have any trouble operating a right-hand drive five-speed manual in Scotland, either.

[Doctor Whom]

Shortly after I got my driver's license, my brother tried to teach me how to drive a manual transmission - on his 1980 Chevy Monza.

Hardly the best car for a newbie to learn on.  For one thing, it had the world's deepest clutch (even my brother admitted to that), so it didn't go well.  The lessons ended the day I accidentally pulled the shifter knob off trying to put the car into gear.

I learned in 1983 in a 1971 Triumph Spitfire whose clutch hydraulic system was not long for this world.  It's a long story.

[vdeane]

I drive an automatic and have little desire to learn to drive stick. If the technology exists for the car to handle all of the details of gear selection, I'd prefer to let it do that and free up my brain to paying attention to things the car can't handle itself, like looking out for other cars and crap in the road and signs and such.

Funny, as I probably mentioned before that's one reason why back when I was 16 I took the DMV road test using my mom's automatic-equipped Volvo, just to have one less thing to screw up. But since every car I've ever owned has been a manual I've found I seldom think at all about shifting. It's just second nature and something I do automatically. About the only time I think about it is when I switch cars. The shifter in my wife's RSX is considerably stiffer than in either of our other cars and it doesn't always go into third gear smoothly. Beyond that, I think more about it on the rare occasion when I have to drive an automatic, simply because I have to concentrate on stuff like not making the thing kick down except when I want it to do so.

Didn't have any trouble operating a right-hand drive five-speed manual in Scotland, either.

It's not entirely "one less thing to screw up".  While you do have to worry about the shifting, it's also less tempting to do a rolling stop (which is an automatic fail in NY), so there's a tradeoff.