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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: DUMBGRUNT

Stick shifts and parallel parking confused almost everyone under 30.


21 posted on 04/10/2022 3:32:28 PM PDT by Michael.SF. (Never do anything illegal, when you are doing something illegal. )
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To: DUMBGRUNT

Many people want them now because they deter car theives. Most younger criminals don’t know hoe to drive them.


22 posted on 04/10/2022 3:32:41 PM PDT by dforest
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To: fhayek

I learned stick shift on my 1998 Jeep Wrangler. It rusted out by early 2014, and I haven’t driven stick shift since then, but I know how to.


23 posted on 04/10/2022 3:32:50 PM PDT by EvilCapitalist (I pledge allegiance to Hedy Lamarr)
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To: DUMBGRUNT

Every one in my immediate family drives a stick shift. Was very adamant about that when I was young and they didn’t like it. However, they ALL now are able to drive a stick shift. Never know when it’s going to come in handy. I still drive one to this day and so do others in the family.


24 posted on 04/10/2022 3:32:58 PM PDT by MeneMeneTekelUpharsin (Freedom is the freedom to discipline yourself so others don't have to do it for you.)
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To: DUMBGRUNT

I recently bought a BMW 440I. I chose a 4 year old one because it was cheaper to buy a used car but just as much because the one I bought was a stick shift and they stopped offering that car in stick 2 years ago. I have never owned anything but a stick shift and never want to. I like the direct control. Its so much more fun to drive than an automatic.


25 posted on 04/10/2022 3:33:08 PM PDT by FLT-bird
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To: DUMBGRUNT

I learned how to drive one when I bought my first car, a Firebird Formula.

My current vehicle is auto, but mr. mm’s and DS’s are sticks and I can still keep in practice with those.


26 posted on 04/10/2022 3:33:19 PM PDT by metmom (...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith….)
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To: fhayek

My first vehicle was a 75 GMC pickup with three on the tree.
I was 19 years old and paid $1500.

Pryer to that I had a Yamaha 125 emdoro at 14.
I sold that and bought a Kawasaki KDX 175.
I was a six speed made to cross the Baha at 75 mph in top gear.
I sold that and bought a Kawasaki KZ 650 custom
Eventually replaced the the rings and board it out.
With a Kerker Four into one it topped out at 125 mph

It was the smaller version of the four cylinder bike Mad Max


27 posted on 04/10/2022 3:33:37 PM PDT by woodbutcher1963
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To: dforest

Probably most hoes don’t know how to drive one either.


28 posted on 04/10/2022 3:33:41 PM PDT by MeneMeneTekelUpharsin (Freedom is the freedom to discipline yourself so others don't have to do it for you.)
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To: DUMBGRUNT

No one taught the author how to drive stick.

No one taught the author proper grammar or journalism either.


29 posted on 04/10/2022 3:33:55 PM PDT by Celerity
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To: DUMBGRUNT

Interesting that it’s still 80% in Europe.


30 posted on 04/10/2022 3:34:10 PM PDT by Yardstick
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To: cyclotic

Mine learned while working in Ireland. He, Along with his coworkers who are sent there have no choice as the company vehicle is stick. Apparently, the transmission has had to be replaced with so many people learning how to drive stick on the company car.


31 posted on 04/10/2022 3:34:47 PM PDT by HollyB
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To: cyclotic

My son calls the stick in his 15 year-old Toyota a Millennial Anti-Theft Device.


32 posted on 04/10/2022 3:35:13 PM PDT by Rebelbase
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To: newfreep

—”Every car I’ve purchased had 3 pedals including my current car.”

Going into the depths of Chiraq many days to earn my keep, each year pushing the clutch became more distracting AND I rode the train in bad weather.

Now looking forward to FULL SELF DRIVING...

JUST BUCKLE IN AND TELL THE CAR WHERE TO GO!


33 posted on 04/10/2022 3:36:11 PM PDT by DUMBGRUNT ("The enemy has overrun us. We are blowing up everything. Vive la France!"Dien Bien Phu last message)
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To: DUMBGRUNT
I always liked driving a car with a manual transmission. Two things changes that over time:

1. Driving in traffic became more commonplace for me. A manual transmission is awful for that type of use.

2. Automatic transmissions have become so much more advanced that many vehicle models are now more fuel efficient with an automatic transmission than a manual one. It used to be the other way around.

34 posted on 04/10/2022 3:36:26 PM PDT by Alberta's Child ("Mr. Potato Head ... Mr. Potato Head! Back doors are not secrets.")
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To: AFB-XYZ
I like stick shifts. Slightly safer when driving in icy/snowy/slushy conditions, because you can downshift.

Exactly. I've had manual shift my whole life and I've been driving since the mid-80s. It has been so much easier for me to control speed in those conditions, especially growing up in the snowy upper Midwest.

35 posted on 04/10/2022 3:36:32 PM PDT by Mozzafiato
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To: FLT-bird

I like the direct control. Its so much more fun to drive than an automatic.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I’m with you on that. Sticks are just more fun. I’m always glad to get back to my stick shift cars after driving a rental car.


36 posted on 04/10/2022 3:38:40 PM PDT by Yardstick
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To: Fresh Wind

—”The article without the paywall:”

Also in the last line of the first comment.

Not to worry, as you know, no one here reads much past the headline.


37 posted on 04/10/2022 3:39:09 PM PDT by DUMBGRUNT ("The enemy has overrun us. We are blowing up everything. Vive la France!"Dien Bien Phu last message)
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To: DUMBGRUNT

You are not much of a journalist if you can’t get the gist of the story crammed into the headline...


38 posted on 04/10/2022 3:40:41 PM PDT by fhayek
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To: DUMBGRUNT

I drove stick shift til the Atlanta rush hour finally got to me and I moved into my Honda CRV but Mr. GG2 still has his 6 speed manual Dodge Ram 2500.


39 posted on 04/10/2022 3:40:42 PM PDT by Georgia Girl 2 (The only purpose of a pistol is to fight your way back to the rifle you should never have dropped)
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To: DUMBGRUNT

I haven’t driven a stick in years, and I wouldn’t want to have to do so in steep terrain, but I could in a clutch.


40 posted on 04/10/2022 3:43:02 PM PDT by PAR35
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