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To: stevio

For 60 years, I owned/drove a manual.

My current car, the last 3 years, is a 6-sp automatic with “Manual Mode” and steering wheel paddles.

I definitely prefer my current automatic/manual w/paddles...but 60 years of left leg/foot muscle memory still waiting/wanting to push the clutch pedal.


97 posted on 10/02/2025 8:08:13 AM PDT by newfreep ("There is no race problem...just a problem race")
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To: newfreep

I learned driving in a 1962 VW Bug so knew how to drive a stick from an early age.

I remember a safe-driving article in Popular Science magazine in the late 60s that said people only used their right foot for both gas and brake because the left foot was occupied with the clutch. It pointed out that, in cars with automatic transmissions, it is far safer to use the left foot for brakes and right foot for gas. The theory is you can hover your left foot over the brakes in dicey situations, thus reducing your reaction time to get on the brakes. I took that advice to heart and taught myself how to drive both a manual (left foot clutch and right foot brake and gas) and an automatic (left foot brake, right foot gas). I still instinctively hover the left foot over the brake when in congested areas, intersections, slowdowns on the freeway, etc. You just have to be careful to leave a small air gap between your left foot and the brake pedal so you don’t ride the brakes.


101 posted on 10/02/2025 8:19:07 AM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom
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