Posted on 04/10/2022 3:21:08 PM PDT by DUMBGRUNT
Only around 18% of American drivers can handle a manual transmission, according to U.S. News and World Report. You know: the clutch pedal and the stick shift—three on the tree, four on the floor or, I don’t know, five to drive maybe. Different gears, manually engaged.
Turns out that “basically” isn’t the same as “actually.” When my father’s Oldsmobile died this month, my family replaced it as the backup car with a used Chevy. Since I’m the backup driver, I climbed in, stepped on the clutch, started the car, stepped off the clutch. The engine promptly stalled. Only by grinding the gears, smoking the clutch and jerking forward in jumps did I finally get moving.
In 1980, some 35% of cars produced in the U.S. were manuals. Today that figure is closer to 1%, and only 3.7% of Carmax sales are for stick shifts—shockingly low considering that 80% of cars sold in Europe have manual transmissions. Some car makers, including Audi, no longer offer manual transmissions in the U.S. market at all.
So why would anyone want one? Your car is less likely to get stolen, for one thing. Thieves prove as incapable of using a clutch as any other American.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
I rented a car in Grand Cayman that had a stick. Didn’t think it would be a problem as I had driven a million miles with manuals. However with left hand drive, I had to shift with my left hand, all the time paying that extra bit of attention to driving on the left. It was a tiring business. Glad that Island isn’t very big.
I tore my left Achilles’ tendon and had to wear an air boot for a while.
I got real good at shifting without clutching.”
A knee injury had me in a “long leg cast”. Seated in the driver’s seat, the cast positioned my right heel where my toes should have been. Nonetheless. I’d just bought my BMW, and was GOING to drive it.
It’s a little tricky, but by pulling my toes backwards, my heel went forward so I could accelerate ok. Braking with my left foot paid dividends in later years when the BMW got “tracked” on a race track, where left-foot braking is useful to keep control in fast turns.
Since I’m on the back 9 of life, my last new car is purely for pleasure and sheer enjoyment in my remaining time on earth.
Learned to drive on a 72 Dodge D100 pickup. 318 with “3-on-the-tree”.
First car was an automatic Oldsmobile Cutlass.
2nd car was a 1984 Ford Temp, 5 Speed manual.
3rd car was a New 1985 Ford Escort, 4-on-the-floor.
4th car was a Ford Ranger Pickup, 5 Speed manual.
5th car was a 1993 Honda Civic LX. 5 Speed manual. Best vehicle I will ever own. 38 MPG for 17 years and would top out somewhere in the 125 MPH range. Got rear-ended and totaled. Still got $4400 for it being 17 years old and 254,000 miles.
Owned 2 Honda Odysseys. Both Automatics, both good vehicles.
Currently own a 2010 Honda Accord, automatic.
My daily drive now is a 2020 Ford F-150 with a 10 speed automatic. Crew cab with 2.7 Eco-boost, getting 22-23 MPG.
The electronically controlled "manual" transmissions are expensive and have a lot of bugs to work out and don't last as long as hydraulic transmission and nowhere near as long as a manual transmission. If not for bullspit EPA fuel efficiency standards, consumers wouldn't be saddled with the costs and problems associated with the electronically controlled clutch transmissions.
One potential future option would be a clutch transmission that a driver could select either computer controlled or manual controlled. In traffic? flip it to automatic. Traffic clears? flip it to manual and drive with better control of your acceleration, control in turns, and control on wet roads.
You also have deceleration with the manual control which you don't have with the hydraulic transmission or the electronically controlled clutch transmission.
“Tough to teach my kid to drive stick when it is hard to find one to buy.”
Two teenagers and neither will even attempt to drive my wife’s VW Jetta with a manual 6 speed.
Paid $16K for that car, it’s model year 2019 with 18,000 miles, and Carvana is offering $18,900.00 for it. KBB says current clean retail is around $25K.
That’s just insane! I think we’ll keep it.
My 16 year-old granddaughter’s other grandpa has been teaching her how to drive his old stick shift truck.
I never even saw an automatic until I was 16, and I’ve been driving since I was 12. I’ve had a number of stick shifts over the years, having sold the last one in 2011. Personally, I don’t miss driving a stick shift, but I could certainly drive one again, if I had to. I also drove a tractor trailer rig in the military, as well as a deuce and a half, so I’m very familiar with double clutching.
My first stick shift was on a 40 John Deere tractor when I was about 6. Had to hold my knee down when I let the clutch out or it would pop.
I have the 6.2L and 10 speed in my Silverado 1500 and it is an awesome engine/transmission combination.
NASCAR got rid of the H pattern shifting with sequential shifting this year. Is nothing sacred?
—”Ps. I passionately prefer manual transmissions and windows!”
Many miles from home and sub-zero the window goes down but does not go up.
A roll of duct tape and cardboard did not hold...
I hate power windows!
I had to replace the side window mechanism in my daughter’s Chrysler minivan. There’s a LOT of parts in the door these days...
Heck, I can ride old British bikes with the shifter on the right. I’ve got SAE, metric and Whitworth tools. I know where to pull on the linkage when a three on the tree gets jammed and my Florida car is a 2005 MR2 Spyder with a rear engine and a five speed stick shift. I even know how to shift an 18 speed Eaton-Fuller although I can’t claim expertise at backing the vehicle it’s attached to into a barn. Now, let’s talk antique farm tractors!
😄👍
—”or if he was celebrating the fact that he had a chance to drive a manual.”
Out of the Parking Garage...30 seconds
https://youtu.be/_S7AyiVfNdA
😄👍
Ps.
Many years ago, in the freezing cold, my Dad and I rebuilt a Gremlin manual transmission on a tiny kitchen floor. Put it together and didn’t have reverse 😄.
Didn’t have time to fix because he worked out of town. So just had to push it backwards when needed and be mindful to not need reverse much for the month before he could come back to town and us fix it with reverse!
🥰👍
But if you are willing to pay for a rebuild on a newer 10 speed automatic DCT you are a better man than me.
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