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I drove trucks for a living for the last 12 years and they were all manual transmissions; 8 speed, 10 speed (most often) and 16 speed gearboxes. That made it so it was rather a chore to drive a stick the rest of the time, so I prefer an automatic, however I will drive what comes into my hands whatever it is. It is good to have the skills to work as many different machines as possible.

Truckers knows this...

But to everyone else, do ya'll know how to "speed shift"? That is, the art of shifting without disengaging your clutch?

I can do this in just about any manual cars, and freaks some folks out.

I can drive a manual, it's a good skill to have, I prefer an automatic though.

Manual every time. I owned a Chrysler Grand for 4 years and hated every second of it, the auto-box on that was shocking. Dim-witted and slooooww.... It took nearly 5 seconds for it to kick down when I wanted to overtake something, which left me hanging like a tool whenever I tried to overtake and made every move dangerous. The only reason I stuck with it is because the wife enjoyed driving it......

Thankfully it died a spectacular death on the way to work yesterday. The Aux Drive belt snapped which killed the power steering, the temperature control for the radiator and the aircon went haywire. Due to the temp control dying a death, the engine got hot enough to melt diamond and the radiator cracked, spewing vital fluids on the road and causing the engine to seize.... I was a happy happy bunny and am going car shopping this friday

I don't get this whole "nuisance in traffic" thing for manual gears. I regularly drive around in London rush hour trafiic, including right through the centre of town. I don't believe anything in US cities is worse than that. (Though I'll grant your "freeways" can be annoying) What are you so busy doing with your spare hand that you can't use the gear stick anyway? Chatting on your mobile? Applying makeup? I am constantly changing gear as I drive in London, and I don't even notice it most of the time. I think the problem is that because you have never become accustomed to using a gear stick, it does not feel natural to you, whereas it does to me. Infact, I get a little freaked when I have to drive an automatic. Is it a fear of not having both hands on the wheel at all times, perhaps?

As for hill starts being harder in a manual... WHAT?! You have next to no control as you are sitting on a steep hill in an automatic. In a manual, as long as you have enough revs and can find the bite on your clutch in first, you are sorted. And if you can't find the bite, you shouldn't be driving. Also, when coming onto a motorway, don't you like being able to accelerate into your lane?

Driving a car with power-steering, ABS and,worst of all, automatic gears feels more like being on the dodgems at the fair ground than driving an actual car.

List of justificable reasons for driving an automatic:
* Only having the use of one arm (true story - my Great-Uncle had a stroke, so had a car modified so he could drive it one-handed, with a weird 360-degree rotate-y attachment on the steering wheel, and fully automatic gears that he could change with one finger)

I like driving a standard, although both our cars are automatics right now. I especially liked the standard when the roads were icy and covered in snow.

 Fifty wrote:
I don't get this whole "nuisance in traffic" thing for manual gears. I regularly drive around in London rush hour trafiic, including right through the centre of town. I don't believe anything in US cities is worse than that. (Though I'll grant your "freeways" can be annoying) What are you so busy doing with your spare hand that you can't use the gear stick anyway? Chatting on your mobile? Applying makeup? I am constantly changing gear as I drive in London, and I don't even notice it most of the time. I think the problem is that because you have never become accustomed to using a gear stick, it does not feel natural to you, whereas it does to me. Infact, I get a little freaked when I have to drive an automatic. Is it a fear of not having both hands on the wheel at all times, perhaps?

I'm afraid you've misdiagnosed, sir. I drove manual exclusively for many years. The annoyance I found in heavy stop and go traffic wasn't the hands, but the repetitive strain on my ankles from shifting so often for an hour or more at a time. I don't have any personal experience driving in London, though I have heard that it's bad. Probably my record for being in stop and go traffic in a manual was about four hours, one day commuting back from Boston to NH when I was 18. It's still bad nowadays, but the old pre-Big Dig elevated central artery was insane.

 Mannahnin wrote:

 Fifty wrote:
I don't get this whole "nuisance in traffic" thing for manual gears. I regularly drive around in London rush hour trafiic, including right through the centre of town. I don't believe anything in US cities is worse than that. (Though I'll grant your "freeways" can be annoying) What are you so busy doing with your spare hand that you can't use the gear stick anyway? Chatting on your mobile? Applying makeup? I am constantly changing gear as I drive in London, and I don't even notice it most of the time. I think the problem is that because you have never become accustomed to using a gear stick, it does not feel natural to you, whereas it does to me. Infact, I get a little freaked when I have to drive an automatic. Is it a fear of not having both hands on the wheel at all times, perhaps?

I'm afraid you've misdiagnosed, sir. I drove manual exclusively for many years. The annoyance I found in heavy stop and go traffic wasn't the hands, but the repetitive strain on my ankles from shifting so often for an hour or more at a time.

Mannahnin nailed it here. 1 hour to an hour and a half of stop and go traffic every day will do a number on your ankles, leg, and knees. I'm not 18 anymore...

I drove an manual in rural Louisiana for 5 years and loved it. 8 years in Houston traffic kicked my ass...

If I had some highway driving with lots of sweeping curves, nice hills, some small towns for speeding up and slowing down, and wonderful scenery to enjoy.....I would drive the hell out of a stick and enjoy myself.

This is the first time (while living in the US) that i've not owned a manual vehichle. Unfortunately minivans just don't seem to come with them, so that is a side affect of having hordes of children.

I greatly prefer to drive manuals though.

CptJake wrote:

Or in a place with decent hills. Nothing is as 'fun' (for certain values of 'fun' ) than being stopped at a red light on a steep slope with the guy behind you 6 inches off your bumper, hoping you don't slide back into his car, or stall out, as you try to massage the clutch and throttle when the light turns green.

Use your handbrake instead of your foot-brake. Slowly release the clutch with your right foot on the gas pedal until you feel the engine block go, then release the handbrake and pull up as normal.

...

I actually have more trouble driving an automatic than I do a stickshift.,

Bran Dawri wrote:
I actually have more trouble driving an automatic than I do a stickshift.,

How?

The only problem I had when getting back into driving automatics was stabbing my left foot at the floorboard looking for a clutch when braking.

I can drive a manual, and most of the vehicles I owned up to the time I got married were stick. After that, I had to give it up because the wife and kids demand automatic.

For mountain driving or in bad weather, manual is the way to go... 'cuz, you'd want to slow down with the gears as opposed to breaking.

But in city stop-n-go driving... manual sucks.

My first car was a manual, as is my current one, but I wouldn't buy anything but an automatic if I had to commute. Of course, living in the Midwest, gradient isn't a factor.

Of course the first car I properly drove, but wasn't mine per se, was a column shift automatic.

 Mannahnin wrote:

 Fifty wrote:
I don't get this whole "nuisance in traffic" thing for manual gears. I regularly drive around in London rush hour trafiic, including right through the centre of town. I don't believe anything in US cities is worse than that. (Though I'll grant your "freeways" can be annoying) What are you so busy doing with your spare hand that you can't use the gear stick anyway? Chatting on your mobile? Applying makeup? I am constantly changing gear as I drive in London, and I don't even notice it most of the time. I think the problem is that because you have never become accustomed to using a gear stick, it does not feel natural to you, whereas it does to me. Infact, I get a little freaked when I have to drive an automatic. Is it a fear of not having both hands on the wheel at all times, perhaps?

I'm afraid you've misdiagnosed, sir. I drove manual exclusively for many years. The annoyance I found in heavy stop and go traffic wasn't the hands, but the repetitive strain on my ankles from shifting so often for an hour or more at a time. I don't have any personal experience driving in London, though I have heard that it's bad. Probably my record for being in stop and go traffic in a manual was about four hours, one day commuting back from Boston to NH when I was 18. It's still bad nowadays, but the old pre-Big Dig elevated central artery was insane.

I hate driving in Boston or Ipswitch, with Houstan as a close third.

I can't drive a stick shift.

My parents never owned anything except for automatic's so I never had to learn.

Learned in a manual, drive a manual.

I have driven automatics and I can say that my brain is hardwired into looking for a gearstick. I didn't enjoy the experience, every time I came to a junction I tried to dip the clutch and hit the break by mistake. Not fun.

Automatics are not recommended for off road driving, and down here everything is off road!

Cheers

Andrew

Drove an automatic for years. Then had my car crushed between two 4x4s (that wasn't fun). Replacement car was a manual, so I had to learn quick-smart. Drove that for about a year, and then got my own car, and got a manual 'cause I was used to it.

Been driving it ever since. It's been about 8 years now.

 SoloFalcon1138 wrote:
When I drive an automatic, I tend to forget myself and before I know it, I'm speeding.

Hehehe. Ain't that the truth. Total lead-foot if I ever get into an automatic these days.

 p_gray99 wrote:

However, as an outsider, I can't really see why people would drive automatics unless they're particularly bad at driving and would find it far easier: They're far less efficient for very little in return. When you're driving, you (supposedly) have to be concentrating the entire time anyway, so adding something that requires you to concentrate on driving wouldn't be too much of a hassel?.

Chicago's highway system would like to have a word with you...

Driving a stick in traffic like this is less than fun.

P.S. Yes I can drive a stick, but Most cars sold in the US are only available in automatic transmission.

Before I had my license my grandfather taught me to drive his '48 Dodge Powerwagon. Today I drive automatic.

I was raised on manuals.

 Frazzled wrote:
I was raised on manuals.

Not these?

I much prefer a manual in any situation. You're much more connected with the road if that's what you know. I feel very awkward driving automatics because I'm always searching for a clutch and stick that isn't there.

 whembly wrote:
Truckers knows this...

But to everyone else, do ya'll know how to "speed shift"? That is, the art of shifting without disengaging your clutch?

I can do this in just about any manual cars, and freaks some folks out.

On a track bike I can do this(1up/5down), it eats gears and discs though and is rather unsafe. I sold my car that was manual and bought an automatic bronco and it is refreshing not to have to play the clutch game in traffic anymore. But then again I rarely drive during rush hour, we can split lanes out here in good ol Cali and I take advantage of that as much as possible.

Bran Dawri wrote:

CptJake wrote:

Or in a place with decent hills. Nothing is as 'fun' (for certain values of 'fun' ) than being stopped at a red light on a steep slope with the guy behind you 6 inches off your bumper, hoping you don't slide back into his car, or stall out, as you try to massage the clutch and throttle when the light turns green.

Use your handbrake instead of your foot-brake. Slowly release the clutch with your right foot on the gas pedal until you feel the engine block go, then release the handbrake and pull up as normal.

...

I actually have more trouble driving an automatic than I do a stickshift.,

1995 Toyota Tacoma 4WD, the 'emergency brake' was a pull out next to the stearing column, and stuck like a bastard making it likely if you used it it was gonna stay on....

 Cheesecat wrote:

 Frazzled wrote:
I was raised on manuals.

Not these?

When frazz says manual he isn't referring exclusively to the transmission, he means the entire drive-train.

 Cheesecat wrote:

 Frazzled wrote:
I was raised on manuals.

Not these?

Hey that counts!

I can't and it doesn't really appeal to me to learn. I can see the attraction for car buffs who want to feel that extra level of control but personally I'm fine with my "Babies First Transmission"

I have a car for 5 years now ( bought it when I was 18 ), and I must say that manual is a way to go. It just brings more spirit into it and much higher felling when driving.
Automatic transmission is boring, fr we the people who drive only that don't know to drive at all.