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 ...
Learned, somewhat, when I was knee high to a tadpole. My grandfather let me “drive” the hay truck while he was loading bales. Course it was more steering than shifting as he put it in granny one and instructed me to steer er straight. Sure miss my Grandpa.
Ahh, you went to the Jeremy Clarkson school of driving I see. Flappy paddle gearboxes. Who needs em?
Funny thing is; technology is moving forever forward.
I wouldn’t mind driving a new Vette though. Wouldn’t own one mind you but I’d like to try out that flappy paddle gearbox on some twisties. I’ll still stick with the stick, generally speaking.
Even though sticks are more fun and fuel efficient, I bought my '74 454 Vette with an auto for a couple reasons, DFW traffic and I used to bracket drag race where the auto was more consistent. I won about a dozen trophies at my local track in the street class.
My 1980 Chevy C-10 had three on the tree. Hard to believe that’s over 40 years ago.
“I won about a dozen trophies at my local track in the street class.”
Bracket ET?
Not to worry, most posters here never bother to research and provide clickable links to alternate sites for the same material, especially videos embedded at blog sites that are infested with ads and trackers.
People who are loath to pay tribute to the MSM, or refuse to register at sites we may never visit again appreciate that.
My dad agrees with your second sentence. He said that I may be somewhere where the only vehicle is a stick shift and I might have to drive someone to a hospital. He said, “you just never know what the future may hold.” So, he made sure this girl learned how. And now, I drive stick shifts most of the time.
Keep your damn preaching to yourself.
As I noted, my purchase is based on pure driving & luxury...especially since my time on this earth is nearing an end.
I taught myself how to drive one while assigned to the UK in 1986. I loved them, and owned a manual shift Civic...then regretted it when I got stuck in a 65 mile traffic jam in Belgium in 1998.
“You are not much of a journalist if you can’t get the gist of the story crammed into the headline”
I’ve heard that the authors don’t usually write the headlines.
I wish my iPhone had an automatic transmission.
A car with a manual trans has no real expiration date. A car with an auto trans WILL blow up at some point and require a $3,$4,$5K rebuild.
I got your stick shift right here.
I keep my cars for ever. Auto trans suck. Who needs the $4k bill.
—” WILL blow up at some point and require a $3,$4,$5K rebuild.”
I believe that to be a fact of automotive life.
But others believe in ATF conditioners.
...Lucas Oil’s Automatic Transmission Fluid Conditioner is designed to PREVENT slipping, leaks and wear to provide smooth, quiet operation while conditioning seals to extend the life of the transmission.
YMMV
What?
My first car was an MGB and I ordered it new. My dad had to drive it home for me, then teach me how to drive it. 😃
What a fun car that was!
—”Once they invented great coffee, a stick just gets in the way”
After driving fifty-plus years, and looking forward to FULL SELF DRIVING...
THAT IS A VERY GOOD POINT!
And I can read the paper just like taking the train to work, without the loud mouth cellphone jamokes.
—”Not for those of us who have been driving stick since 1950!”
Being a young septuagenarian, I can only trace my driving back to circa 1960.
Right on bro!
Not only how to drive them, they can’t even start the car.
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