Posted on 01/02/2014 9:54:08 PM PST by Impala64ssa
There are some driver training courses here in the UK for 11 year olds and older. I took my daughter to one at Brands Hatch raceway, 2 hours in the classroom, and 2 hours seat time, she had a blast, and now is proficcent driving a manual, and asking to get into karting while waiting to reach 16 and do her provisional test.
And yeah, whoever did that conversion spent some time to do it right. Everything is very nicely proportioned and spaced right.
Imagine my disappointment in 1989 when I tried to buy my second Eddie Bauer Bronco II, that the dealer could not trade for a five speed gearbox anywhere within 500 miles.
For us hardliners, there are still the semi-manual autos, which I still use. While it's not really the same, when you feel the absolutely wussified "response" of the latest eco-boosted "shifting," it's tough to let the computer make the decisions.
In congested traffic just throw it in neutral and let the auto tranny’s hill gear of the car behind push you until you can actually drive. Problem solved.
I also have an a/t Escape that always manages (when cruise control is on) to downshift just at the top of a minor hill on the freeway. Very annoying. If it is even minorly hilly, I have to cut out the cruise and go to (manual) constant throttle position.
You raise an interesting point. The article mentions the Model A. Wouldn't the Model A have a non-synchronized transmission? Driving the "modern day" synchronized transmissions is a whole different ball game.
It always seemed to me that one reason for the success of the model T must have been because it wasn't as hard to shift gears as in other cars of its day.
At any rate, I doubt that they were really teaching people to double clutch (or float gears) at the event mentioned in the article.
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My biggest issue with right hand drive here in The UK after 20+ years driving in the US, is that it just feels wrong to look to the left for the rear view mirror. That, and being in a hurry, jumping in the car without thinking and realizing the steering wheel isn’t there...damn, get out and walk around to the other side and hope nobody noticed.
The really annoying part about your criteria is that you can get that vehicle at Audi.de, VW.de, BMW.de, etc. Just not at their corresponding USA sites/dealerships. And much of the reason is over-regulation from NHTSA and EPA.
I took the driving test for my first drivers license in a car with manual transmission many years ago and the testing guy made me parallel park between two cars on a steep hill. He must have been a sadist.
Nevertheless, I was able to do it and passed.
I think every new driver should have take their driver’s
test on a manual. And all driver’s ed vehicles would have to
be manuals.
LOL! I had that down pat.......This summer I bought my first automatic trans vehicle since 1977. I'm still trying to figure out what to do with my left foot.........The least they could have done was leave the headlight dimmer switch on the floor.
I learned on a ‘65 Plymouth Belvedere with 3 on the column. Near the end of it’s life it was a true manual shift. You had to get out, open the hood and manually lift the linkage to get it back into first.
I learned to drive on old trucks wherein the term “double clutching” described a coordinated foot work that would make Fred Astaire swoon.
Texting? Using two hands and two feet sometimes wasn’t enough on the old floor shifts when the shifter had to be chased down as it flopped around like a fresh caught fish.
Automatics? I wouldn’t have anything else!
When my daughter was 16 she learned to drive in a manual first. She is probably the only one of her friends that can even drive one. so sad.
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