Posted on 10/09/2014 6:50:15 AM PDT by C19fan
Last year, I had a minor tear on my left Achilles tendon and wore an air boot for a couple months. Made shifting a bit of a challenge. After 35 years of driving manuals, I learned how to get really good at shifting without the clutch. The boot is gone but I do it all the time now. I also do a little hyper mileage stuff sometimes and slip into neutral on long downhills.
Last week I meant to get gas on the way home. There are several 5-8 mile gaps between exits on my commute and of course I remembered about the fuel just after passing an exit. Bring it up to speed and slip into neutral for half a mile, losing 5-8 mph, but still near the speed limit. Did that for 7 miles. No problem.
LoL!
Come to think of it, my wife swore by her manual VW Rabbit for the same reason.
She offered to teach me, but I was too afraid I would blow something.
Mine always said it too hard to reach around and smack the kids cause you had to stop and shift.
A few years ago, I had to move 600 miles away. My family hadn’t arrived yet and I got kidney stones a couple days before Christmas. Ocycodone was doing wonderful things but I was afraid to fly home in case I had an attack. My uncle decided he’d fly in and drive me home.
I had to teach him to drive a stick while passing stones. Yep, that was fun.
I drove many convoys from Austin to Ft. Hood and never used the clutch except after a stop. I drove my dad's farm truck and seldom used the clutch, except for the first start.
YAY!! It’s so good to hear this. I’m teaching all my girls to drive manuals. The eldest daughter loves knowing this skill over other girls (and guys).
I kinda practiced your method....but I had to allow my wife to drive the vehicles, and that led to a....different outcome. :)
Would you mind giving a brief review of the Jetta? I’m considering buying one.
Thanks in advance.
My mom always preached that you drive a stick and you steer an automatic. That being said if I lived in a big city with real traffic I’d totally get an automatic, driving around San Francisco in my stick for one day just about blew up my left knee (which is already a little wonky). So I don’t live in those places.
There’s no time wasted. If you’re good at it you can shift yourself faster than automatics, and less often, so you save time.
Elio is going to be great in the snow, too.
Gotta love that gas mileage too. Plus you can just go to Pep Boys to get it serviced.
I will put my money down once they start production. My current commuter will last well beyond an expected ship date for an Elio.
I do believe they will have an automatic transmission option.
Trust me....when you are stopped facing uphill in Pittsburgh at a red light, the LAST thing you want is for the guy in front of you to be driving a stick.
Love it. It now has over 339,000 mile
It is a 2003 which i think is one of the best in my opinion.
You need to drive a turbo hard to keep it clean.
Mine no longer has that EGR stuff.
Timing belt is important! Every 80,000 miles.
Oil every 5k, fuel filter every 10k, air filter every 15k.
My machanic for tough stuff sees these little TDI’s run 500k miles a lot.
Manual transmission is probably safer because you have to focus on your driving. It’s harder to play with your cellphone and other distractions when you have to keep one hand on the wheel and the other on the shifting knob.
Ah, there or in San Francisco. Point taken.
That was one of my tricks when leaving the house late at night as a teenager.
Thanks for the review.
Very encouraging.
Yes I think you can upgrade to automatic transmission. We will probably take the standard package and try to stick as close as possible to the $6,800. Although I would like to get the backup camera.
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