Posted on 04/10/2022 3:21:08 PM PDT by DUMBGRUNT
I drove sticks for years, some in leased cars, but I eventually learned that the sticks were more expensive to lease than the automatics (value at lease end). So I now have an automatic, but at least it has a manual selector which can be used as a stick to upshift or downshift—comes in handy on downgrades/mountains and gradual braking.
Manuals are definitely no fun in traffic. Too bad no one ever figured out how to implement a “creep” mode so you could stay off the clutch.
I wonder how many transmission shops are able to work on manuals these days.
Ummm, you can downshift in an automatic also.
—”Slightly safer when driving in icy/snowy/slushy conditions, because you can downshift.”
My wife’s Prius V has it covered. Six years going and I like it!
What Does the B Stand For In A Prius?
Simply put, the Prius B mode stands for “braking.” This position is for shifting into a lower gear and increases the engine’s drag to help slow your vehicle down.
https://exclusivelyhybrid.com/prius-shifter-b-mode/
My first car was a Ford Fairlane with a 3 speed, on the column shifter.
I cut a hole in the floorboard and turned it into an on floor shifter.
How many today could do that!?😆
I five a four on the floor while working at a campground when I was 12. Had to slide down the seat to depress the clutch, but always made it five miles to the dump and back.
Moved up to an old double-clutch tractor with no brakes when I was 14.
I have five motor vehicles here. Only one is auto trans, but that is a very nice Allison truck transmission behind a diesel engine.
Double-clutch? In a pinch.
It’s been engineered that way. I have gotten as high as 56 mpg on my 2009 Cobalt xfe. 5 speed manual. Avg 60mph over 84 mile course. L.a. to Santa Barbara. Overall decrease in altitude about 1400 feet. Final drive ratio on Cobalt xfe was engineered for better mileage
Ever try push starting , or using the downward slope of a hill to start an automatic?
—”1941 Indian Scout. It had a left handed throttle, stick shift, and foot clutch.”
And spark advance on the right twistgrip.
It has been many years...
I came from the era when most everyone’s first car was a VW.
I also had to master parallel parking to get my driver’s license.
Guess I’m dating myself
Y’all whining about driving a stick in traffic got nothing on me.
I tore my left Achilles’ tendon and had to wear an air boot for a while.
I got real good at shifting without clutching.
—”Stick shifts and parallel parking confused almost everyone under 30.”
A friend has a Ford Expedition that parallel parks itself... and an automatic trans.
Driving a manual on the column one more time is on my bucket list. I have found memories of my old Chevy van with the 3 on the tree.
I learned to drive in a 1945 surplus jeep made by Ford. It didn’t have an automagic transmission.
Then I graduated to our 1962 Mercedes Sedan with a 4 on the tree.
We now have a ‘99 Subaru Outback with a 5 speed. My son no longer uses it, but I don’t want to sell it for a variety of reasons, one of them being that I can get a stick shift fix (say that five times really fast) any time I want.
In Europe, cars with auto trans cost at least $1000 more.
The small cars popular in Europe, VW Golf and the tiny Peugeot 208 and clones lend themselves to manuals with their small engines.
“My first car was a Ford Fairlane with a 3 speed, on the column shifter. I cut a hole in the floorboard and turned it into an on floor shifter.”
My first car was a 1962 Corvair Monza. 3-speed, on the floor. Next car was a 1965 Ford Mercury Comet Caliente, 3-on the column.
I can remember driving a stick in stop-and-go rush hour traffic so bad my leg was trembling and cramping until I finally got to an open stretch of expressway. But otherwise I enjoyed driving manual so much I’d still have one, except for the fact my wife never got completely comfortable with it, and that severely limited our flexibility to share cars.
Same here. Learned in High School way back in 1962 Carlsbad NM.
While going through Tulsa with my old Chevy PU I found stopping at each light did put some shifting wear and tear on my old bones. Then in 1980 I bought my first automatic IH SCOUT.
Now all I have are automatics except my old CJ-5 Jeep which I still take out and run around on my property.
Then there is my old Case tractor....
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