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The Dying Art of Driving a Stick Shift
WSJ ^ | 27 Mar 2022 | Faith Bottum

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 ...


TOPICS: Chit/Chat; Humor; Travel
KEYWORDS: automotive; doubleclutch; manualtransmission; stickshift; stickshifts
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To: Secret Agent Man

Somewhat fortunately the pedals remain in the same order.


161 posted on 04/10/2022 6:49:41 PM PDT by Paladin2
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To: DUMBGRUNT

I learned to drive a stick shift in the 60s with Jackie Stewart at Monza in an F1 car.

(The part up to “60s” is true)


162 posted on 04/10/2022 6:51:12 PM PDT by steve86 (Prophecies of Maelmhaedhoc O'Morgair (Latin form: Malachy))
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To: Michael.SF.

In the early 90’s I was going to night school and working full time driving hoopie trucks (single axle, 24 foot box vans, manual trans). One day I offered to transport some furniture for a friend using my truck. These were the largest trucks one could drive without needing a CDL (I don’t know if this is still the case).

We got into town and decided to grab some lunch. Naturally, parking choices were limited. The only space anywhere near the restaurant required me to parallel park - and it was on a slight grade.

My passenger was skeptical - she was the type who avoided parallel parking like the plague. I pulled it off in one try leaving my passenger and several restaurant patrons amazed. I explained to her that my delivery route was downtown Seattle where you had to know where all four corners of your vehicle were at all times if you wanted to survive.


163 posted on 04/10/2022 6:52:22 PM PDT by rockrr ( Everything is different now...)
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To: aMorePerfectUnion

“In Italy many stick shifts require you to lift the knob up to put it in reverse - not push down.”

My Ford Fiesta ST with the Getrag 6 speed is like that.


164 posted on 04/10/2022 6:56:12 PM PDT by steve86 (Prophecies of Maelmhaedhoc O'Morgair (Latin form: Malachy))
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To: DUMBGRUNT

I learned to drive on a 1959 Triumph TR-3 and a 1965 VW Bus. Both were manual. When I had to do the obligatory 6 hours on-the-road for drivers ed I had no idea how to operate the automatic shift. I still own a manual but this ones a six-speed.


165 posted on 04/10/2022 6:57:44 PM PDT by muir_redwoods (Freedom isn't free, liberty isn't liberal and you'll never find anything Right on the Left)
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To: DMZFrank

The new GM Hummer electric weighs just a smidge under 10,000 lbs., but does 0-60 in 3.0.


166 posted on 04/10/2022 7:02:59 PM PDT by steve86 (Prophecies of Maelmhaedhoc O'Morgair (Latin form: Malachy))
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To: chickenlips

Though all my cars and trucks had manual transmissions, none were column shift.
Might take me a while to master the change.


167 posted on 04/10/2022 7:12:37 PM PDT by SisterK (recognize and resist tyranny)
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To: T.B. Yoits

Your electronically shifted manual “future option” already exists and has been around for a few years, and I’ve owned two such cars (a Ferrari and an AMG GT).


168 posted on 04/10/2022 7:20:08 PM PDT by dinodino ( )
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To: steve86

FIVE TONS??? Good god. I bet 1 ton of that weight is batteries....


169 posted on 04/10/2022 7:31:13 PM PDT by DMZFrank
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To: Wally_Kalbacken

Before i ever owned a car, the military had me take a course to learn driving 2.5 ton trucks with high and low ranges.

We would play trucker sometimes and shift between high and low gears while accelerating. Also learned how to shift without using the clutch, which came in handy years ago when the clutch linkage broke on my Corvette miles from home.


170 posted on 04/10/2022 7:31:21 PM PDT by doorgunner69 (Let's go Brandon)
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To: fhayek

As a gal my first lsson driving stick shift I barreled down a hill on a back dirt road straight into a flock of ducks.....none were hurt but the ‘teacher’ was shouting what to do when i had no idea where anything was! You have to know where the gears are and the clutch and the break before someone’s yelling instructions down a hill!


171 posted on 04/10/2022 7:35:03 PM PDT by caww ( )
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To: DMZFrank

Sorry, just over 9,000.

https://www.thedrive.com/new-cars/44917/2022-gmc-hummer-ev-first-drive-review-rolling-decadence-that-goes-like-hell


172 posted on 04/10/2022 7:37:36 PM PDT by steve86 (Prophecies of Maelmhaedhoc O'Morgair (Latin form: Malachy))
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To: Yardstick

Tiy cars and fuel economy drive that no doubt. Automatics take a big chunk out of performance and mileage.


173 posted on 04/10/2022 7:43:11 PM PDT by doorgunner69 (Let's go Brandon)
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To: DUMBGRUNT

And I am one of a tiny percentage who can drive a stick shift on the steering column!!


174 posted on 04/10/2022 7:51:38 PM PDT by bort
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To: DUMBGRUNT

I learned how to drive a stick, but was not good at it. Too uncoordinated. I greatly prefer the car to handle the shifting for me.

I really enjoy driving a Nissan with a CVT transmission - have had no trouble with it after 130 K miles (though I have read where that is unusual).


175 posted on 04/10/2022 8:03:03 PM PDT by Some Fat Guy in L.A. (Still bitterly clinging to rational thought despite its unfashionability)
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To: steve86

Just over 9,000 lbs? That is bad enough. Does it come with one of those yellow NATO military load classification symbols? It might be too much weight for some of those old back roads bridges...


176 posted on 04/10/2022 8:21:23 PM PDT by DMZFrank
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To: Bryan24

I learned to drive manual on farm tractors by the age of 7. No syncronizers on those old John Deere, JI Case, and Olivers. Shifting on the go was handy when going down the road with a full load of hay, but if you missed a gear, you would often have to stop and start over.


177 posted on 04/10/2022 8:26:55 PM PDT by Zuriel (Acts 2:38,39....Do you believe it?)
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To: DUMBGRUNT

My Husband’s true love aka his 1998 Corvette has a stick. I’ll take it out for a spin once in awhile just to keep my stick skills up to speed.


178 posted on 04/10/2022 8:33:14 PM PDT by CaptainK ("If life's really hard, at least its short")
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To: newfreep
Every car I’ve purchased had 3 pedals including my current car.

You know what else you will have? Computer that knows when you are speeding, pedals that connect to nothing but a sensor. you pull up behind a car and you slow down until you change lanes, push on the gas pedal as much as you want and you will stay behind the the car until you change lanes. My wife went to town last week and the car texted me every time she was speeding. Just a matter of time until they just start sending speeding tickets in the mail. Even easier they will just bill your new digital money account as soon as they get that established.

179 posted on 04/10/2022 8:34:37 PM PDT by itsahoot (Many Republicans are secretly Democrats, no Democrats are secretly Republicans. Dan Bongino.)
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To: fhayek

“A real man should know how to drive a stick shift. One of those skills that you may never need, but when called upon, you don’t want to look like a pajama boy wanker.”

Not just drive a stick shift. Drive a stick shift truck while towing backing and launching a boat off a ramp then pulling that boat back up that ramp out of the water without sliding backwards into the lake or stalling trying to climb the ramp. That’s man work with a clutch.

I learned to drive stick in a F100 with three on the tree while pulling the boat out of the water because grandpa had too many on the water and my great uncle did too. Grandma would see use pull up me.behind the wheel and know we had been “fishing” all day. Good times good times.


180 posted on 04/10/2022 9:16:30 PM PDT by JD_UTDallas ("Veni Vidi Vici" )
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