Just out of curiosity, how many of you know how to drive a stick shift? I do, though I haven't had one since back in the early 2000's.
@GaryPoole I do! Or I did. Not sure I could anymore.
@GaryPoole Been awhile, but yes.
@GaryPoole current car is a manual.
Like the wind. I had red 5-speed Nissan pick up in CO. She could climb right up on the snow if I weighted her bed. Never got stuck anywhere.
My favorite vehicle ever.
@LnzyHou @GaryPoole I actually loathe having to get a new car someday. Start / stop technology, lane warnings, electric steering and automatic breaking which kicked in to hard in my cousin's truck that when his daughter backed up it was jarring inside the cab.
@LnzyHou @GaryPoole Not a fan of the half a laptop display now ubiquitous in every new car either. I'm going to run my Escape till some texter plows into it and totals it with a mere small dent.
@LnzyHou @GaryPoole Oh and maybe it's just me but the commercial where you have to put it in auto cruise to clap to we will rock you? I wish the commercial ended with you careening off the bridge into the water.
@LnzyHou @GaryPoole Rowing the gears was a lot more fun when there wasn't mind numbing traffic. Nothing worse than clutching in a traffic line, you don't like it and neither does the clutch.
@GaryPoole But what would be the point though?
Is there a likelihood that she'll need to drive a stick?
I grew up just outside Detroit. My father would have never had standard trans.
My husband had to teach me as I frequently had nightmares that I had to escape and couldn’t drive a stick.
I'm with your wife. No point in it.
@GaryPoole I used to live outside of motor city. Home of the lighter fluid soaked and ignited cheese, OPA! 😂
@GaryPoole I passed in a manual but have driven an automatic for years. Would need refresher lessons to get used to a manual vehicle again due to co-ordination. I was insistent about passing in a manual, as I expected to always be too dirt poor for an automatic. Luckily prices dropped enough to get an automatic.
@GaryPoole
Yes, learned to drive on a five-speed. Been a little while, but I could still do it.
@grayman @GaryPoole
I drove a ten speed first 🚲😂
@GaryPoole current is a manual, as were all previous cars.
At this point I know that fancy computer-controlled dual-clutch gearboxes can shift way faster (and more precisely) than any human, but I'm not looking to give up my clutch pedal anytime soon.
It makes me feel much more connected to driving, and I don't want it any other way.
Plus it makes my left calf strong.
@GaryPoole
I still prefer manual, especially my 5-speed! I actually had a driving dream last night involving up-shifting as I gained speed on a fast road.
@GaryPoole 2 out of 3 of our cars are stick. Auto is great for stop ‘n go traffic, but I prefer feeling connected to the car and the road.
I am totally ambivalent about manual vs automatic, but since an automatic still costs about $1k more on every car brand I've looked at, I stick with the manual.
Plus, it's a life skill that may matter someday - like land a plane, sail a boat, give CPR, learn to swim, apply a tourniquet etc.
You'll never regret knowing how.
@GaryPoole I learned to drive on a sketchy Fiat 500 with a manual 4-speed.
I love a stick shift!
@GaryPoole Been quite a long while and I miss it. You are so much more engaged in the driving process. It's exhilarating.
@GaryPoole Learned how to drive with a stick.
When I was seven.
The seventies was a different country.
@GaryPoole Drove nothing but stick across 7 cars, from 1989 until this April. And the only reason I went automatic in the new car is that my left knee's gotten tricky over the last couple years.
The 8-speed automatic in the new car is nice, but I do miss feeling like I'm in total control the way I did with manual.
Driving with both hands and both feet is the only way to go! It really feels like you're getting something done.
But yes, the creepers in city traffic drive me absolutely bonkers.
@GaryPoole
Surprise surprise! Back before I drove busses for a living, I drove 18 wheelers! So, ya I know how to do that, and double clutching too. However, in 2016 when I owned a fiat, my left foot began to cramp up every time I drove it. I traded that puppy in for a Nissan Versa with an automatic transmission & haven't driven a stick since. I agree with your wife, btw, whats the point?
Ok, ok, I know. It's muscle cars. I was a surfer, not a greaser.
@GaryPoole: I grew up in the 1970s and learned to drive in the early 1980s. Automatics cost more and were not then standard in cars. So I grew up learning to drive in a 1970 Cheyenne pickup and a 1980 Chevette. Truck was R-1-2-3, and the Chevette was a R-1-2-3-4, both sticks. Truck's was on the steering column, and Chevette's was between the seats. My uncle gave me his 1979 loaded T-Bird when I went to college, and that was my first automatic.
@GaryPoole still drive stickshift. To be honest I don't know how to drive automatic 😬😅
My wife, who grew up just outside of Detroit, has never driven a stick. She doesn't see the point.