My girl friends dad had a Plymouth wagon and I got to "play" with the buttons when I drove it...
Posted on 06/01/2012 7:23:21 AM PDT by US Navy Vet
Go to any given dealership with 100 new cars.
On average, just four of the 2012 models will have manual gearboxes.
The trend of the vanishing third pedal is nothing new, notes The Detroit News.
Even a decade ago, just 8.5 percent of 2002 models were manuals. The paper’s own automotive reporter even confesses she never learned to drive a stick shift until it essentially became a job requirement.
It’s more than a little contradictory to automotive reviews (including many you’ll read here) extolling the pleasure of enthusiastic driving with a true manual gearbox. Likewise, purists gravitate to manuals for tackling their favorite twisting road or occasional track day. It’s the original form of in-car connectivity.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Oh, I was thinking more in line with coming to a stop light/sign, not going down a hill or from great speeds. I have never had to replace a transmission, a clutch once at 175K with a VW Transporter, I did buy it when it had 75K, so can’t say if it was done before that.
My its just the way I drive in general, don’t know.
That's your problem. Starting off in high gear every time is murder on the clutch, you've got no torque multiplication from the trans.
I do that when I drive the wife’s rig. Except about half the time I stomp on the brake - haven’t caused a wreck yet, but I won’t be surprised. It’s interesting to consider the subtlety one uses when applying the brake - tap/tap/slowly depress - and then compare that action to the clutch - quickly shove all the way to the floor. When the clutch action is applied to the brake, hilarity ensues...
Love it!
Wife won’t even try.
Best part is the valet at our favorite restaurant won’t touch it either - saves me the tip and I get a good spot by the door to boot.
I have a three on the tree 64 Valiant that is coming out of the barn this fall.
I promise.
Really.
Just like I promised last summer.
But this time, like, really.
The automatic in my R/T was worn out when I got the car. The engine (440 Magnum) wasn’t in much better shape. The car had been sitting idle in a field for years.
When new, the car had been a graduation present for the brother of a good friend of mine. He literally drove the hell out of it and then put it out to pasture with 140,000 very hard miles on it. The body and interior were in excellent condition, but the drivetrain had had it.
Years later when I was going thru a divorce and was without wheels, my buddy sold me the charger for $500, telling me to pay him when I was able. We put a new battery in it and fooled around with it for hours one long hot day in Houston and finally got it running.
I needed to get from there to Fayetteville, Arkansas, a 500+ mile journey. A trip to Wal Mart for one case each of re-refined motor oil and ATF, and I headed north. The old Dodge got me there, but only after the humongous Carter AFB carb had sucked down a lot of gasoline at the rate of about 7 to 8 mpg. I even had a 6 quarts of engine oil and a couple of quarts of ATF left over when I got there! LOL.
In Fayetteville, I met a guy who had a nearly identical ‘68 RT, except his had black interior, and mine was white. The engine and Transmission on his car had been freshly rebuilt, but the body was badly rusted and the interior was ratty. So I sold him my R/T for $500 and sent the money to my buddy to pay him back.
The guy who bought my car put his engine and tranny into into my car with the good body and interior, and he had him a really sweet ride. He even put the worn out engine and trans into his R/T and found someone willing to give him $150 for it.
Good times, good times.
Absolutely. Mine had great pick up, a very tight turning radius, and in the city I could park it almost anywhere. Not to mention it got great mileage on the highway. I wish Honda still made them.
“That’s your problem. Starting off in high gear every time is murder on the clutch, you’ve got no torque multiplication from the trans.”
?...what I mean is, when I come to a stop light for example, I don’t sequence through the gears. I just put it in neutral, and use the brakes.
The biggest problem was that he had been driving for three years as a careful and temperate driver — it was entirely the clutch and the imprecision of it all.
If it was part of his initial exposure, he might have handled it better.
That's exactly what I did. About 3 weeks after my father "sold" me the 69 Beetle the engine seized. He felt obligated to get me a new (used actually) one I remember us putting the car up on concrete blocks and dropping the engine block. I was 17 and my introduction to auto repair.
Do you remember changing the belt on the generator? (There was no alternator) You had to dismantle half the engine to get to it.
Yes, I was taught to drive a stick by an older British fellow in the 60s.
I can still remember him saying brake pads are cheap and easy, clutches much more difficult.
My girl friends dad had a Plymouth wagon and I got to "play" with the buttons when I drove it...
I can.
I learned to drive (like all my 8 brothers and sisters) in a 1963 Chevy Bel Air Station wagon,"three-on-the-tree", with a clutch that took all your strength to depress. Dad would watch my left foot on that clutch and G*d forbid if you EVER rode that thing.
"Brake first, then clutch at the very end only. Get your foot off the clutch. I can't afford to keep putting clutches in this thing."
Dad used to say if you could learn to drive THAT clutch you could drive ANYTHING. He was right of course. Amazing how smart that man became when I moved away to college...but I digress.
I have found that most people have NO IDEA what a clutch is and how a clutch works, and thus have NO IDEA how to drive one. Get the learning driver to understand the basis of what it is and how a clutch works, THEN you can teach them how to drive one.
Oh, BTW, never, EVER under ANY circumstance, try to teach your wife or girlfriend how to drive a clutch. Let a father or disinterested friend do it.
Ask me how I know....
Every car I’ve had since 1977 has a stick. I now have a 2012 Hyundai Veloster. It is becoming very difficult to find that as an option especially if you venture away from “sporty” cars.
I’m sure the at some point the aholes if government will mandate an autopilot unless the nanny state is slowed down or stopped...
VW beetles and The compleate Idiot.
Now THAT was a match made in heaven. I LOVED that book, and still have one of the ORIGINAL books written.
Me, I have had the pleasure of owning three bugs and a bus. First was a 1967 Bug. I loved it-first "upright" lights, 12v vs 6v etc, 1971 Bug (BIG 1600cc with the "dual port heads"-now THAT was cool; and then later, I rebuilt a 1968 Bug "pan up" as they say and sold it. Now THAT was a learning experience. My other VW was a 1971 Bus-that was one I wished I still had; a beautiful orange bus that was complete, and everything actually worked. I put a lot of miles on that one, and again spent a lot of time with The Compleate Idiot. Also spent a lot of time in junkyards running down original parts like oil filled air cleaners, etc.
Ahh good car memories abound today!!!
Old dogs, new tricks you know!
You don't know what you are talking about... the new electronic automatic transmissions are more fuel efficient than manual tranny's.
You are comparing 1950-1990's technology... I'm comparing modern automatics versus manuals..
I learned to drive on a manual (”three on the tree”), and I can drive pretty much anything. But I’ve never been able to juggle a manual and a beer on a winding road. Did I say “beer”? I don’t drink and drive, I meant cell phone. Did I say “cell phone”? I don’t text and drive, I meant makeup. Did I say “makup”? I’m a guy, I meant, um, map! Did I say “map”? I have gps, I meant.... ah f it, I meant beer.
I’ve got a sports car and an SUV. The sports car is a 6 speed manual. The SUV is auto transmission.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.