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I’ll only drive automatic. No desire to work harder at driving in the city.
What, you don’t want to shift gears endlessly while stuck moving between 10 mph and a dead stop on the freeway for three hours?
Hear me out for a second…
Maybe, just maybe, it’s spending 3 hours in stop and go traffic that’s the problem, not the transmission.
Agreed, but having lived it myself with a manual transmission, it’s rough with a manual. It’s one of the few scenarios where I don’t prefer it.
I’m one of the weirdos who wouldn’t mind this. I’ve been dailying my '97 Prelude for most of the summer since I bought it. I didn’t think I’d want to drive it in traffic, but honestly, it’s not the stop and go that ruins the experience for me. It’s the fact that if I get hit by just about any of the trucks on the road, I’m getting a faceful of bumper and best I can hope for is to retain the use of my arms. It’s basically a motorcycle that I can’t lowside.
But I totally get that I’m a fringe case. I completely understand why this would just be too much for someone to want to keep up with in stop and go traffic. Besides, all that starting is bad for clutches. Autos with torque converters handle it a million times better.
Most people aren’t car enthusiasts and enthusiasts need to come to terms with it. Manuals are dying. It’s just the way the world is moving. Let’s enjoy what we have now and appreciate we get to be a part of something we love.
Am I like the only one who just got used to traffic in a manual? It became a complete non-issue after a year. I guarantee we are going to go through this in a few years when one pedal driving in electric cars becomes much more commonplace
I think cars may have something to do with traffic but not sure.
Burn the witch!
There are correlations sure, but I’m not aware of any studies proving a causal link between cars and traffic.
I could just as plausibly say that 95% of cars in traffic have automatic transmissions. And so, just speculating here, but if they all switched to manual transmissions, we may see a significant reduction in traffic.
Yeah something about induced demand and forcing people to mobilize by car because everything is spread out so much and not having dedicated bike paths or bus lanes or really any reliable public transportation that could reinvest in the community well-being…
It kinda makes everyone both have to drive and have to deal with traffic and poorly maintained infrastructure because the costs of maintenance are not equally shared between rich and poor communities, it really exacerbates the issues.
I’m all for you driving, provided, I can take a train/tram/bus or just walk, because that would be preferable.
So… Is a manual transmission not the correct solution? should I move so I can drive a manual?
One way or the other. Cars are the real problem there.
Manual transmission or not, yes, I would confidently say that moving or changing jobs is the best solution to address a 3 hour commute. Bonus point being that you will better be able to enjoy your manual transmission.
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I dunno what kind of car you’re driving, but mine will do 10mph in first quite comfortably. I wouldn’t be “shifting endlessly” in that scenario…?
Also, just leave a decent gap between you and the car in front and idle along at 2mph without stopping and starting all the time.
There’s a winning attitude…
Better hope you never have to drive outside of the USA
For me the only reason to drive manual was becase automats used to be less effective. With current generation, the computer with its 12 gears is much more ecological then my macho hand lovingly stroking my cars stick can ever be…
Handbrake start is for noobs. Learn to use your clutch.
Roll backwards into the person behind you to establish manual dominance.
On a steep hill, your clutch will thank you for using the handbrake. Especially in stop and go traffic towing a trailer. Ask me how I know.
How I know?
I know you’re being funny, but to answer the question I posited: every summer, after people came back from towing their caravans up through the mountains, my dad’s shop would be replacing loads of clutches with people complaining about the weird smells their car started making. Or the sudden trouble they had shifting.
There’s a nightmare scenario if I ever heard one.
Handbrake start is what’s taught in countries where the the driving test isn’t “Press go pedal, press stop pedal, congrats you passed”
In upward inclines it’s better for your clutch too.
Not having the coordination to use both feet and both hands independently of each other is what’s for noobs
Not having the coordination to use both feet and both hands independently of each other is what’s for noobs
Laughs in knowing how much clutch pressure to apply to start your car uphill without grating cheese
I’ve been taught to balance between brake and clutch for inclines. Or is that the same thing?
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Aye even my poverty-spec car locks the manual transmission on a hill until the clutch bites
Didn’t even know it did it until I’d had it for over a year 😂
Cars are for nubes, real chade walks🫡. Talking about the true manual here.
true! although wouldnt manual be walking on ones hands ?
No, that would be handual.
yeah but manual is an adjective often meaning ‘to do with hands’ or whatever. like a teeth are dental
BTW, I think you can technically drive a car with only hand, but that sounds like a bad time in most cars.
Yes, it comes from the latin word for hand
Using your third foot…?
You let the clutch up until the rims start to drop a tiny bit, at this point you can let off the brake and move your foot to the gas. You shouldn’t move backwards as long as you are slow and feel for the engine to not stall
You get the car rolling with just the clutch. Quite the pain, not a fan of driving stick myself.
Tell me you are a diesel driver without telling me. By the time you get an average gas car moving the light is red again if you don’t rev it to at least 1500
Ah, you mean that because diesel cars have more torque, you can do things like starting uphill with just the clutch.
I was wondering, because I certainly didn’t opt for a handbrake start for the fun of it. My car’s engine simply died, if I lifted the clutch too far without accelerating and ‘too far’ was far below getting enough torque to not roll downhill.
You give it a bit of gas while letting the clutch pedal go up though. Or a bunch of gas if you lease a car because who gives a shit.
Tips for a learner? My stompy parking brake won’t play nice right now, so I kind of need to figure this shit out in my new old truck. Lol.
Well, it’s just a trick you need to get the feeling for. Start one foot on the break, and other on the clutch. Let clutch go halfway, without stalling the car, and quickly move your right foot from brake to gas. Press on gas pedal, while releasing clutch. If you do it right, the car starts driving forward, even on a upwards hill. It takes practice, and every car feels different.
A good indicator for learning this – especially if you don’t have the feel for your clutch yet – is to watch your RPM counter. If it starts to dip, the clutch is starting to engage. From there on, continue as described.
If you’re on a really steep incline, you’ll have to press both the brake and gas pedal at the same time using your right foot, while feathering the clutch with your left. I’ve heard this called the “heel toe” technique.
If your engine has enough torque or if the hill isn’t steep enough, you can ignore this and just ease off the clutch while transitioning from the brake to gas.
Heel-toe is used during downshifts to match rpms
Yep. I also used it a lot when starting on a hill on vehicles without handbrakes.
Awesome. Thanks. I’ve down Heel-Toe before in an automatic up a mountain road in the snow, so I’m familiar with that a little.
Mine has a brief brake assist, about 1.5 seconds it won’t roll backwards on a hill start.
It’s so subtle and I’ve had the car so long, I completely forget about it.
Any time I drive a car without it freak out when I come off the brake and the car starts moving backwards.
I always stall it with those brake assist features. I’m coming off the clutch and the damn computer still has the brakes on, so it cuts out.
Y’all can keep your computers. I’m keeping my carburettors for now.
Ever drive in Seattle?
No, but my family hails from the Ozarks.
good point
If you can’t hold the brake with your right foot and roll start with the clutch left foot without touching the gas, you need more practice.
exceptions given for fully loaded old as dirt pickup trucks that don’t like to idle properly, those you can heel toe… not that I’d know anything about that of course.,
I haven’t driven a whole lot of cars and none of them were old as dirt pickup trucks but I’ve seen enough where the idle gas was not enough to get the car rolling on an incline without stalling it. Sometimes you just need a good handbrake start
The car doesn’t need to start rolling. You need just enough clutch to keep from rolling backwards.
On flat ground, agreed. On a hill, my car just doesnt have the power to do that without some gas.
I got pulled over a couple of months ago and the cop told me to put it in park. I wiggled the stick back and forth to show it was in neutral and they thought I was fucking with them and kept saying to put it in park. Idiots
I do, too, and drove one for many years. I’ll be the one to splash cold water on the conversation, though.
Driving a stick arguably requires the use of both hands and legs, which is great and partly the reason why so many enjoy it - that sense of engagement. It’s far less boring.
But here’s the deal. Injure any one of those appendages and driving a manual becomes a whole lot less fun. In some cases, you can get by, but it’s less than ideal. Having your arm closest to the shift in a sling, for example, makes your vehicle undrivable.
It won’t matter to most people… right up until the moment it does.
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Clutch with left foot
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stabilize steering wheel with right knee (if necessary)
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reach over with left hand and engage gear
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grab steering wheel with left hand
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drive normally
Me drinking coffee in the morning, a tutorial.
That’s how they all do it in Britain anyway.
Hey I do that too!! There’s a skill for moving from 1st to Reverse with the left hand while the right looks for the cup holder with the coffee in hand.
This is the way.
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put in first gear with right hand
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activate starter motor with right hand
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accelerate with right foot
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hold wheel with right knee
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Pull stick out of first. Gently slot into second as engine speed drops to the perfect RPM. Feather throttle if necessary.
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accelerate through second
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pull stick out of second, gently slot into third as engine speed drops to perfect RPM as above
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to decelerate, pull stick out of third, raise RPM then release throttle. Drop into second at perfect engine speed. Apply brake. Throw into neutral before stopping. Switch engine off.
Driving manual with one foot, one knee, and one hand (while completely screwing your baulk rings): a tutorial.
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I’m a manual aficionado, but my mother hasn’t driven a stick, despite teaching all her children how to, since I was born due to her arthritis. Apparently her knees don’t like having to clutch constantly. I’d rather have her mobile and active as she is now, than have her stuck at home reliant on my dad to give her rides.
As someone with a manual and bad knees, I feel for your mom. One day I’ll probably have to do the same, thankfully that day hasn’t come yet.
I was a manual purist, until I move to a large city and had to drive in it often.
I still miss my manual cars, but god damn it was a pain in the city.
I love driving stick. Or I did up until the day my left knee fell apart. Now it’s just not an option for me.
I used to be an
advstick driver like you, but then I took an arrow to the knee
Having your arm closest to the shift in a sling, for example, makes your vehicle undrivable.
I broke my right shoulder and spent two months driving my stick shift SC2 (in the US) entirely with my left hand. It’s doable, you just have to shift really quickly and get your hand back on the steering wheel. Not having the use of both feet would probably kill the deal.
If you get the RPM just right, you can absolutely shift gear without a left leg. I used to drive the paddock bomb around the farm as a kid with my left foot on the dashboard. This is not advisable on the freeway.
Well, I still drive a manual (I’ve never owned an automatic except for my school bus) so if I ever fuck up one of my feet I’m sure I’m going to try that.
This happened to me in highschool. I got a bad skiing injury, my leg wasn’t broken but I pulled my ACL, and they put my leg in a brace. My parents had to come pick me up at 10PM and drive my car home for me. Nobody was happy about the situation.
All of these people responding that they prefer auto so they can eat or otherwise not pay attention in the car are the best (only?) argument for why everyone should drive manual.
Whatever your transmission preference is, if you’re not engaged in driving you shouldn’t be on the road!
I assure you, as someone who has been driving a manual for years now, I can definitely eat a burger and drive while my mind wanders heh
You don’t need to assure me of the blatantly obvious. My point wasn’t that you can’t eat and drive manual at the same time, it was that all these people claim automatic is a better transmission on the basis it facilitates their choice to drive distracted shouldn’t be on the road. I didn’t see a single person saying “oh I like driving manual better because it makes it easier for me to be an irresponsible road user”.
Jesus Christ, I’m just goofing around, what the fuck is up with people on this website being so goddamn serious all the time?
You came across as super patronizing so I responded the same. It’s not that big of a thing man, chill out.
But I even put the heh T_T me big American eat cheeseburger and drive car… How could it be patronizing?
I can drive my manual and eat at the same time just fine, thankyouverymuch :) I think I once submitted a pull request while on the road…
git driving: not even once
true. when did the chad drink driving get replaced with soy ‘distracted’ driving
This is why I trust motorcyclists more than cars. A manual doesn’t change this problem, a motorcycle does.
Ah yes those trustworthy cyclists going 30mph above the speed limit while weaving through traffic
That’s how you know they’re paying attention!
That’s a different problem (that doesn’t really exist where I live)
only to get rear ended by a 2 ton Nissan Altima with no bumpers doing 140
yea I actually do cause he probably has more skill then the rest of the drivers on the road and plus he ain’t gonna kill anyone but himself if he crashes horribly
“he came outta nowhere officer I didn’t even see him!”
Won’t kill any other people nah, just cause irreparable traumatic damage to the car driver and the schoolbus of kids that drive by.
You can eat and not pay attention with a manual transmission, I don’t know why we’d pretend you can’t. If you’re just on the highway cruising both are just going to be in one gear all the time.
Either way, the problem is that people have to drive even if they don’t want to engage. The popularity of automatic transmissions proves that (to most Americans at least) cars are an appliance and something people do because they have to. Fuck cars.
You can eat and not pay attention with a manual transmission, I don’t know why we’d pretend you can’t. If you’re just on the highway cruising both are just going to be in one gear all the time.
I never claimed you couldn’t eat and drive a manual. I said that people who claim autos are better because they make it easier to choose to drive distracted (alternative phrasing - who choose to drive like a reckless asshole) shouldn’t be on the road.
Either way, the problem is that people have to drive even if they don’t want to engage. The popularity of automatic transmissions proves that (to most Americans at least) cars are an appliance and something people do because they have to. Fuck cars.
Well, yeah, that’s always been the case. There are some enthusiasts sure, but for the most part a car is seen as a more convenient bus. But people riding the bus seldom choose to behave dangerously while commuting, there’s something about the mentality of these people (choosing to drive distracted) that is at odds with normal, acceptable behavior
It’s better to be skilled at distractive driving than being unskilled.
I just got a car with no transmission instead
Every car I’ve owned has been manual and I hate my latest decision since 99% of my driving is stop and go. Honestly I’d prefer no cars at all.
I rented an electric car over the summer and the acceleration damn near pushed my eyeballs back in my head. No gear shifting at all, just continuous acceleration. An electric grocery getter will blow the doors off nearly everything you can throw at it from the previous 50 years. Will not be looking back fondly on my manual transmissions.
Speed has not been the reason to get a manual for a long time.
That’s fair.
My main point was that electric vehicles are redefining the driving experience. Automatic transmissions are now also obsolete, along with internal combustion engines, period. Driving a single electric vehicle for a day: life changing. They are the future.
I miss my MME, but if you are saying ICEs are obsolete then you haven’t explored much of the country. There are huge swatches where it is impossible to charge or far more expensive to change than using gas in a hybrid.
Are you posting from 2015? Range anxiety is also obsolete. Most people charge their EVs at home over night. Way cheaper than gas. There are new charging stations popping up every day as well. I will grant that they are a ripoff, but I expect they will get cheaper.
Might be that the only ev I’ve driven for long was an i3, but I was not impressed by the acceleration
I just read up on that car and, yeah, it’s not known for high performance or range. I was driving a Polestar 2. Nearly double the HP of an i3.
*edit over double the HP.
Yep just got a slow e-2008 looks great and this is a slow one…
I went from a inline 6 BMW diesel manual engine I drive for 10 years to my current Mazda 6 2.5L with automatic. Its easier and more luxurious to drive the automatic, but when I going for drive enjoyment I still have the habit of grabbing the shift lever when downshift is needed, and I often miss the feel and control of the manual when I edging it on curvy roads, even when my automatic has shift paddles, its just not the same.
But in a traffic jam in a city, for sure I will any day take an automatic over manual…
wow nearly the same as you I went from a in-line 6 diesel series 5 bmw manual from 1997 (it felt like driving a mix of a bus and tank) to a Corolla hybrid hatchback automatic. I miss shifting gears sometimes but it’s such a relaxing experience especially when in a hybrid. I actually generally prefer driving now and I believe that those two vehicles are actually comparable in the sense that they are both not built for speed but rather comfort/fuel economy and the Toyota beats it in both aspects. (although the seats in the bmw were like sitting in a sofa).
The early automatics were a nightmare though. It took like almost a full second for them to react to pushing the acceleration pedal.
And when you are waiting for an opportune moment to merge onto a highway lane, a second could mean the difference between life and death.
So glad this isn’t the case with any EVs though. It is just push and go.
Spent all my life driving manual cars and I am completely comfortable and at ease with their pending demise due to hybrids and full BEVs. I wouldn’t be surprised if some EVs get phony gears and broom broom noises for people who can’t cope with just having to set a direction and push a pedal to make things happen.
I wouldn’t be surprised if some EVs get phony gears and broom broom noises
Lexus made one already
https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a42180807/lexus-built-an-ev-with-a-fake-manual-transmission/
No God damn please, dont ruin my Utopia of everyone in 2040 running almost silent cars :(
Sorry to burst your bubble.
“basic traffic noise from highways won’t get perceptibly quieter due to electric cars. Urban road traffic noise below 40 kph likely will, as engine noise starts to dominate at lower speeds. And we can all look forward to fewer and fewer noisy motorcycles and trucks, and no economy cars with broken mufflers.”
https://cleantechnica.com/2016/06/05/will-electric-cars-make-traffic-quieter-yes-no/
Interesting to see if that makes it to production. To me it seems as dumb as someone buying an MP3 player that has a fake turntable, record and needle you need to set down for the music to play.
Hell even automatic ICE vehicles have this. Toyota deliberately makes the transmission less responsive in their vehicles because they found that drivers prefer to feel a bit of lurching.
Nah, dude/dudette, I’m done churning butter. If you have to change gear every two seconds because the bellend infront of you couldn’t navigate a straight road it just gets annoying.
Also handbrake start at a hill is for amateurs who don’t know their transmission (⌐■_■) yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah
It is very difficult to find manual transmission in a passenger car in the US now. I would like one but good luck finding what you want used. Even new, very few models have a manual option. And I think it costs more for a manual transmission now. It used to be cheaper.
The cheapest car I know of off the lot is a base model versa which comes with a manual that’s decent.
The noob trap is “upgrading” it to get the automatic. It’s maybe the worst new cvt you can buy.
Nissan Versa?
Does the base MSRP of $15,980 have the manual transmission?
Imma have to test drive that, I think.
Yeah the lowest trim level has a manual (or can be had with a manual). Call ahead to the dealership to make sure they have it in.
christ, a base model Versa for $16k. Thats a nightmare
Can confirm: I drive a Nissan and the CVT is feckin awful.
I could barely find any sticks when I was car shopping, and they were all base models. I finally found a dealer with a manual Impreza but it was actually more expensive than the automatic next to it with a sunroof and heated seats
Your luck may change… Way back when I was car shopping I found a used BMW 328i with the sport package discounted because they couldn’t find a buyer who knew how to drive a manual. I have been driving that car for 12 years now.
>BMW
>12 yearsStop lying.
I didn’t say it was cheap.
Car won’t start? Push it down a hill, avoid running over my foot, and climb in before it pulls away from you.
This is how I got to nursery school on at least one occasion I can remember.
I love manual transmission, and miss it badly. It was awesome getting out of both mud and snow. Plus, I felt like I was actually driving the car, not guiding it.
Where’s my manual electric car?!
What do you mean electric motors have no transmissions?!
I do like manual transmissions but I will happily drive my electric car with no transmission.
If I want to go faster it just goes faster, and faster, and faster. No lag, just faster.
I wish I could afford one 😭
They’re getting cheaper quickly now that the Chinese automakers are ramping up exports. Give it a couple more years.
What do you mean electric motors have no transmissions?
They do though, it’s just that most are single speed reduction boxes (unless you’ve got a Taycan).
The Electrek Uncar had a 4 speed manual transmission. For… some reason. So yes you can free rev it.
Not a lot of information out there https://www.autoevolution.com/news/electrek-uncar-is-a-frankenstein-ev-from-1979-100-zero-emission-ride-165880.html https://youtu.be/FyZd4_2unFM
Here is an alternative Piped link(s): https://piped.video/FyZd4_2unFM
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I’m open-source, check me out at GitHub.
Electric motion makes an electric trial motorcycle with a clutch!
Best I can do 🤷
Ahhh we had a different method - push it until you get to a decending road (don’t know the right term in english lol) put in 2nd gear and start rolling while trying to start like maniac - worked every time lol
Descending works, but “a downhill road” would be the more conversational way to say it
What about… a condescending road?
Nah that’s when the road is like, “that’s some real good driving for a moron”
That’s basically what I described: down a hill. Although in my experience described above, it was not on a road.
So I didn’t catch that, sorry I guess it’s universal lol
You tell your car explicitly where to go, when to start, when to stop, when to accelerate and when to slow down.
Sounds like actual driving to me.You can ride in a taxi and you won’t be the driver even if the actual driver is patient enough to let you tell him explicitly when to start, stop, etc.
Wrong analogy. You command your car, not taxi driver.
But that’s my point - commanding isn’t the same thing as driving. If you’re the passenger in a taxi, you can be commanding but you’re clearly not driving. If you have a car with an automatic transmission, you’re still driving in most ways (you steer, brake, etc.) but you’re no longer the driver of the transmission; you’re just the commander of it.
True, but controlling the transmission gave me an extra layer of sensation, a more direct involvement in the process. It’s a matter of degrees. Plus, there are levels of finesse one gains.
Been able to push start an auto before just a bit fiddly holding in the override detent and jamming it in second
