Posted on 06/01/2012 7:23:21 AM PDT by US Navy Vet
Go to any given dealership with 100 new cars.
On average, just four of the 2012 models will have manual gearboxes.
The trend of the vanishing third pedal is nothing new, notes The Detroit News.
Even a decade ago, just 8.5 percent of 2002 models were manuals. The paper’s own automotive reporter even confesses she never learned to drive a stick shift until it essentially became a job requirement.
It’s more than a little contradictory to automotive reviews (including many you’ll read here) extolling the pleasure of enthusiastic driving with a true manual gearbox. Likewise, purists gravitate to manuals for tackling their favorite twisting road or occasional track day. It’s the original form of in-car connectivity.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
“How many here can drive a “Stick”?”
I have never purchased a new car with an auto trans. My wife and 2 kids all drive manuals and LIKE IT!
This is what I learned to drive a “Stick” on:
http://www.tractordata.com/farm-tractors/000/2/9/291-farmall-m.html
They want to get rid of all those independent minded hot rodders...
Learned to drive on a stick and loved smashing that pedal on highway 9, 17 and the 280.
Nothing feels so good as downshifting as go into a curve and slamming it up coming out of one.
Vrooom!
A recent book on four-wheeling (I think the title is "The Four Wheeler's Bible"--but I'd have to rummage around my bookshelves to find out the title for sure), says that auto transmissions are superior for off roading, because they can respond faster to changing conditions than a human can shift a manual transmission.
/johnny
Learned to drive on a stick and loved smashing that pedal on highway 9, 17 and the 280.
Nothing feels so good as downshifting as go into a curve and slamming it up coming out of one.
Vrooom!
No.. it’s actually easier to do burn outs, rockfords, doughnuts with a automatic ;)
Ya don’t need 3 feet :)
A stick is fun in a sports car.
For day to day driving in rush our traffic I much prefer an automatic. Get stuck on the expressway because of a wreck and you’re hatin’ that stick and that clutch.
Who buys a 4-door Honda Accord with a stick? Nobody in their right mind.
Who buys a Corvette with an automatic? Nobody in their right mind.
Back about 1995 or so, I won a (used) car from a radio station. I had to drive to a dealership about 30 miles away to pick it up, and was dismayed to find out it was a stick.
Luckily my passenger could drive one, so he drove it home, where it sat outside my apartment for two weeks. One day I got into it, looked around and said this is ridiculous. I started it up and taught myself how to drive a stick.
I love driving them. They are definitely more fun than an auto.
since high school..and back then my Dad even told me not to buy any car with auto or he’ll disown me.
LOL! Its called multi-tasking. Brings back memories.
But if you really want to multi-task, pilot an airplane.......IFR.
Just lost a twelve year old Toyota (through accident) with 244,000+ miles and the original clutch. It was heart breaking.
I can attest to the lack of availability of the standard transmission as I attempted to replace my totaled car. Subaru and Hyundai still offer them in their SUV lines.
Unfortunately, neither met my needs so I had to accept an automatic transmission. My left foot is still reflexively steps on the floor.
So is mine. There is a real advantage to driving a Jeep with a stick down a steep, narrow trail at 10,000 feet in the mountains. Put it in compound low and first gear and crawl down the road without having to touch the pedals.
A Jeep's auto tranny can overheat in those conditions and the brakes will get hot from constantly hitting them as the auto won't hold you back like a stick will.
Most newer cars have electronic transmissions and they are way more fuel efficient than manuals..
Never learned. Growing up around the hills and hollows of Western Pennsylvania they never proved to be very practical (for sure you don’t want to be sitting too close behind one at an uphill stop light).
I prefer a stick and miss it terribly. My first car, a B210, was a stick. Then two Spitfires ('71 and a '69), followed by a '85 CRX. With the exception of the 210, all were fun to drive. The only stick I never really enjoyed was dad's '89 Silverado 4WD. That thing was a beast.
And that can be done left-handed, while undoing a bra-strap with your right hand. ;)
I wasn't always a celibate.
/johnny
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