[Voodoochile]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jashugan Actually, in Europe you're required to know manual gear transmission to pass your driver's license.

They should adopt that stateside as well!

My wife and I both drive a stick. It's a principal feature for me. Seems like for a while there it was hard to find anything with four doors and a bit of room that did not have an automatic. Now there seem to be many more choices. I love to drive, love driving a manual, and take the winding, hilly backroads to and from work each day.

 

[mjg]

i can do all those while popping the clutch and smoking the tires. Don't think being lazy has anything to do with someone striving to do as little physical labor as possible. Laziness can be a virtue, especially if motivates one to make an activity easy enough that they no longer have to do it the long, and tedious way.

Automatic transmissions are a conveniance of modern day living, not a necessity. I drive a manual out of preference, with many years (10+ years i consider many) of driving, i feel at this point i enjoy the manual shifts. It makes perfect sense in typical commuting someone not have manual if not needed....

As far as this being due to laziness, well you tell me, if you commute everyday, have buisness to do, and sit in bumper to bumper (do you guys have that over there???) why not have your attention divided if your going no where fast?

 

[Edwood]

Yup, my first car was a stick, and my current one is as well.

Although, drving a stick in LA traffic really really sucks.

I got leg cramps the first time.

-Ed

 

[stevesurf]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Edwood Yup, my first car was a stick, and my current one is as well.

Same here. Many people I know think it is quite silly to own one - I just could not think of just driving an auto transmission car I own. Thanks to my brother-in-law, Leigh for teaching me how to drive a stick in his (68?) Beetle, I've actually gotten 115,000 on one clutch ('80 Scirocco).

 

[krmathis]

I sure can.
Have driven manual transmission cars for 15 years.

 

[Spiritboxer]

My first car was an MGTC and now that I think about it, I've never owned an automatic.

 

[KYTGuy]

Did you buy it new?

 

[HiWire]

Manual driver.

The automatic and paddle-shifting transmissions will eventually exceed stick shifts in performance (e.g. Ferrari), but a computer chip will never give you exactly the control that you want.

 

[Spiritboxer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by KYTGuy Did you buy it new?

Nah, I'm not quite that old. Bought it in 1963, don't remember what model year it was but it was on it's 15th squirrel. Also ended up with two MGA's eventually, a '59 & a '61. Most unreliable cars I've ever owned.

 

[SunByrne]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jmmmmm I saw a porsche 911 once that was an automatic. I almost threw up. That car should never be offered as an auto.

Porsche sells more cars in the U.S. with autos than with manuals, and has for like 20 years. It's a crime, I tell you...

 

[mjg]

Aint nothing wrong with an automatic porsche. My father has one, i whip it now and then.
93' 911 C2.

 

[D-EJ915]

I can drive a manual, but I don't own a car x.x I have driven around in one before, but as for being proficient...that's a completely different thing. Can = yes, Proficient/Confident = no

.

 

[pbirkett]

I've always driven a manual, as other say its pretty much the done thing in the UK, but even if I had the choice, it would still be manual. For me, I feel much more in control with a manual car, but then I consider myself to be a driving enthusiast who also likes fast road driving, and for that a manual seems to be the most fun option.

However, I usually dont like anything that takes away from the drivers control - things like traction control, power steering, ABS and all that sort of thing. Thats why I drive around in a 1990 Mk2 Golf GTI (known as a VW Rabbit to you yanks), such fun to drive - a relatively small but powerful engine in a very light car, manual stick, no PAS, no ABS, no traction control, just sorted suspension and brakes, and I can tell you I have a big grin every time I get out of it

 

[nikongod]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rauer (Coming to think about it, don't the F1 drivers actually have some sort of a semiautomatic system without a clutch?)

im pretty sure that f1 cars are FORCED to have a driver controlled manual gearbox by rules. if nothing else, they are forbiden from having a torque converter (i doubt one could be made to hold up at 12000+ rpm....) the torque converter is the root of all evil anyways. if given a choice, i would chose an automatically shifted manual box over a stick shift anyday. sadly i dont have $70k to dump into a car that will break every 3 days, and have the MANUFACTURER say "its borken, we dont know why" as an answer.... they are supposed to be AMAZING to drive when they work though.

 

[daycart1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SunByrne Porsche sells more cars in the U.S. with autos than with manuals, and has for like 20 years. It's a crime, I tell you...

This has always been true of Corvettes as well (unless things have changed recently--very doubtful as automatics keep getting better).