Manual Transmission Cars

[Reep]

Ive been driving manual for about 3 years with my 04 Corolla, i learned how to drive auto first and then i learned manual a few weeks after i could do auto confidently. Haven't owned an auto since and i dont want to.

Manual is simply the way to go in my opinion, i cant even drive an auto because i start daydreaming since there's no movement to keep me interested.
And this is from someone who does rush hour traffic for half the week, the difficulty during rush hour is counterbalanced by the times where i can drop down a gear and hit it.

 

[Woodsey]

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Like, most people in the country? Am I missing something here?

 

[Private Custard]

My opinion, if you can't use a manual transmission then you can't really drive properly.

They're just not fun either!

 

[Fridge]

So, who's got em? My friend got a new Pontiac Solstice and it's a manual. He drives me to school every day so naturally we talked about it and I started to take an interest in it. It looks like a lot of fun, and he's told me enough so that I know how to drive one, I just haven't actually done it lol. Both of my parents drove them when they were a lot younger, but they suggest not getting one here in New Jersey because of so much congestion.

So what do you guys think of them? Would you like one, do you have one, are they a waste of money, would you only buy it in certain places, etc.

Well I'm quite sure in my part of the world a manual transmission is pretty standard. Personally I would recommend it, but I suppose in the States it makes more sense to get an automatic since your roads are well... easier.

 

[Felgy76]

I enjoy off road driving, and while autos are capable, they are not as versatile as a manual.

 

[Fridge]

Manuals are great and fun to drive. The only downside of them is you are going to be using all your limbs to drive. So if you gonna be answering cell phones, eat some fries, touch the leg of your are date/GF while she is wearing a dress, etc. well it's just gonna be that much more difficult.

I agree manuals are much more fun to drive than automatics although I do have to say I drive a manual and I never have trouble with any of what you listed. Mind you my gf doesn't often wear a skirt and using a mobile while driving is illegal and I really don't need the police on my ass).

 

[Cain_Zeros]

I fucking hate manuals... Way too many hills where I live and I don't have the patience to deal with them. Push gas pedal, move forward, that's how driving should be.

 

[Elhueno]

Manuals are the way to go, yes they are harder to learn, but after a couple days driving them, they become automatic. you dont realise what your doing and it just happens.

The disadvantages the people have said.

Firstly, hills.
Hill starts are not hard once you are confident with your starts. Handbrake on, bit of revs lift off the clutch till you feel the car straining against the brake, drop the brake, maintain the revs and your off.

Congestion.
In my car (1989 Daihatsu Charade) all I have to do is drop it into first and take my feet off the pedals, the car pulls itself along at a nice constant slow pace that I have found moves at the exact pace of a traffic jam. Its great.

Also, knowing how to drive a manual means you can drive almost any car in the world, while only being able to drive automatic, significantly reduces that number.

 

[MagicMouse]

That's not really a good analogy. Fact is, some jobs are just better done by hand. I prefer to liken driving a car well to playing a musical instrument well, and you'll never convince me that a machine can do that job better.

Except nobody's life ever depended on your ability to play an instrument with more feeling than a robot. Yes, manual transmissions provide more control, and yes, they can be more fuel efficient, but the real reason they are superior, the sort of precision handling that a manual transmission can provide that an automatic simply can't hope to replicate?

• 99.9% of us will never actually need that, because we're not professional race car drivers.

Even proponents of manual transmissions will (and have in this thread at least several times so far) point out that they have definite downsides (hills, stop and go traffic), and those are not exactly uncommon obstacles for a great many drivers. The upside to those very real detractions? It's "more fun" and you'll "feel more in touch with the road". Well that's just great, but since when was operating a very heavy moving death machine supposed to be fun? Lives hang in the balance each and every time you get behind the wheel - why use the system that allows you to completely screw it up when there's one that does it correctly all the time, if slightly less efficiently?

Driving is fun, I don't care what you say lol. Also, I fail to see how being in the wrong gear could be in any way deadly on the road.

Hills and traffic are annoying yes, but prove no actual problem to someone decent with the technique. I can start on a hill every time without rolling,and navigate in heavy traffic using only second gear.

I think that manual cars are in fact SAFER. They prevent you from getting distracted with other things (phone, radio, people) and keep your brain set on driving instead of spacing out.

 

[Wadders]

I'm a Brit so pretty much every car over here, including my own Ford Fiesta, is manual.

The only person I know with an automatic is my grandad. My Aunt made him get one because he drove too fast in a manual, so the auto helped slow him down a bit.

Personally, I love driving and I dont see how an automatic would improve the experiance a whole lot.

That's not really a good analogy. Fact is, some jobs are just better done by hand. I prefer to liken driving a car well to playing a musical instrument well, and you'll never convince me that a machine can do that job better.

Except nobody's life ever depended on your ability to play an instrument with more feeling than a robot. Yes, manual transmissions provide more control, and yes, they can be more fuel efficient, but the real reason they are superior, the sort of precision handling that a manual transmission can provide that an automatic simply can't hope to replicate?

• 99.9% of us will never actually need that, because we're not professional race car drivers.

Even proponents of manual transmissions will (and have in this thread at least several times so far) point out that they have definite downsides (hills, stop and go traffic), and those are not exactly uncommon obstacles for a great many drivers. The upside to those very real detractions? It's "more fun" and you'll "feel more in touch with the road". Well that's just great, but since when was operating a very heavy moving death machine supposed to be fun? Lives hang in the balance each and every time you get behind the wheel - why use the system that allows you to completely screw it up when there's one that does it correctly all the time, if slightly less efficiently?

Yeah, only it's not really dangerous at all if you know how to use a manual to any degree of efficiency, which should not be beyond anyone with a few lessons worth of driving experiance with an instructor and a passed driving test. Once you're used to driving a manual, it's pretty hard to screw up. Sure you might stall once in a blue moon, but a stall isnt exactly life threatening, just a little embarrassing

 

[BonsaiK]

Would you like one, do you have one, are they a waste of money, would you only buy it in certain places, etc.

My first car was a manual, they were all automatics after that.

I didn't really want a manual but I got it because it was cheap and I couldn't afford to spend big dollars on my first car. In fact, I haven't spent big dollars on any car since. I guess I don't really like cars much except for the convenience factor.

Manual cars tend to get slightly better fuel economy if you drive them sensibly. Other than that I don't see any meaningful advantages for the sort of driving that I do. If I was a rally driver or something I'm sure it would be different, but all I ever do is drive into the city and out again.

 

[Mechanix]

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Like, most people in the country? Am I missing something here?

Here in America and Canada, automatic is more common than manual, thus less people here can drive manual.

 

[Pielikey]

I don't actually have a license (Hoping to get my permit in a few months, though!) but when I do I hope to drive a manual transmission car, because I hope to enter in some sort of amateur racing league. Also only cool bros drive a stick-shift.
Although they're becoming very rare here in the US.

 

[individual11]

Manual transmission for the win. Manual + Rear Wheel Drive + LSD = Epic win.

Automatics are slushboxes, they make for lazy, incompetent and expensive driving.
The car drives you. Manual means you have full control of the vehicle.
It is also more fun, so you may find you don't have to distract yourself to avoid boredom.
I don't even have a head unit in my car, and doubt if there will ever be one.

Competent manual driving sounds better, no matter the shite-spec of the car.
Big Bore exhausts on automatic cars mean you are a try-hard, and only want people to pay attention (mostly negative). Any proper performance car within a regular human's reach is a manual. The ones that can turn corners anyway. Sorry America.

By the way, that's 'Limited Slip Differential', not 'LySergic acid Diethylamide'.
If you're driving while tripping, You're Doing Both Wrong.

 

[Hashime]

Our 2004 Civic SE is a manual. I love driving it, only issue is that the clutch is going. It does have 200000km on it though.

 

[tso0001]

This is just MY opinion:

Manual cars do indeed provide you with much more control hence it being "safer", but safety is dependent on the DRIVER. I mean there are unsafe drivers who can drive a manual (i.e. me).

Manual cars are indeed more fuels efficient but if your car is a sports car (or one with more then 6 cylinders) it will still consume a significant amount of fuel. Not to mention if you?re driving fast you'll end up wasting petrol anyway.

Automatics are better because easier to drive and most importantly easier to PARK and they are more practical in everyday driving.

Anyhoo, it may seem hypocritical of me but I will learn a manual so I can drive both types of vechicles, but I'll switch to an auto as soon as I get my license. Although if I ever get to drive a high powered sports car, it will be better on a manual (<one of the very few pros of manual). And I guess having 'fun' while driving is really dependent on the driver.

Well if there isn't anything I haven?t covered about why autos are better, let me know so I can rebut all your arguments.

 

[Adremmalech]

I had a manual 2003 Toyota Matrix and I loved it to death. Well I crashed it to death, and then I replaced it with an automatic 2003 Toyota Matrix, same color even!
So I have the unique perspective of driving the same car two way.

I miss my stick-shift. I live in LA so I don't miss it hen there's traffic, but I miss it the rest of the time. I miss being able to drop a gear and blast past a semi on the highway. Now I have to push the pedal to the floor and wait for the gearbox to think about it, then decide to drop a gear. It's like having an assistant you have to telling everything twice to.

and I got news for those folks who put on makeup, eat french fries, and read books while driving. When the automatic transmission was brought onto the market, people thought it would produce a more attentive driver, with more attention for the road. Instead, they distract themselves with texting and a million other things.
I think we'd all be better drivers if we were had to shift our own gears.

 

[Soxafloppin]

I live in the U.K, so its mainly manuals here, i learned to dive in a manual and passed my test in one, i drive an automatic Fiesta at the moment though, thats because i share a car with my mum and she has a bad leg, meaning she cant use the clutch.