I can see the “just an A to B appliance” argument, but I don’t buy it. By far the vast majority of the driving I do is of the “going to work / picking up some milk and bread / dropping Aunt Edna off at church” variety. I’m not out on some mountain road, with the wind in my hair, as I deftly whizz through a racing gear change with sharp heel and toe work to impress the glamourous European catwalk model sitting next to me. But that’s precisely my point: I want that little metal box in which I sometimes spend hours a day to at least provide some sort of mental stimulus. For you it might be a powerful car, or an expensive stereo system. For me, it’s a manual gearbox.
JRD, as far as attitude goes, I’m just about the most anonymous driver out there. I’ve got a little Corolla hatch, with standard everything. No racing wheels, spoilers, loud exhaust systems or other such toys. I don’t drive aggressively (usually). But I’ll be inside that car quietly enjoying my driving. To borrow the Mazda slogan: Zoom Zoom!
Do any of you manual transmission zealots think that maybe the reason you don’t get good performance out of an automatic is because you drive teeny-tiny pieces of econobox crap with eensy-weensy engines? If I had a car that was so underpowered, I’d want a manual, too…
But my automatic shifts just fine. It goes when I want it to. Of course, I have a V8. Maybe that’s the difference.
In the UK everyone drives with manual transmission. Ok, not everyone, but most. Automatics are pretty rare and most people will learn to drive using a manual, because otherwise their licence will not permit them to, and they’d have no choice but to use an automatic for the rest of their lives. Hire companies at airports have quite a few though, to help out those poor 'mericans who can’t really drive a car.
I once drove an automatic. Freaked me out. Way too much was happening without me being in control of it. I’d probably get used to it, but I didn’t like it much. I want to be the one picking the gear and when to be changing it.
And it’s called a gear lever, not a stick shift. And make sure you pronounce that ‘leaver’, not ‘levver’. OK?
Not only do I get better gas mileage, i’s just less boring than driving an automatic.
I first decided to get a stick due to some games my ex boyfriend and I used to play on the back roads. Basically, it was a game of hide and seek with our cars.
Little did I realize how that training would help me later with what appeared to be some psycho following me home late one night (really early morning, but who’s counting?)!
There are times, during much stop and go traffic, that I wouldn’t mind an automatic - or when I want cruise control, but other than that, I’ll stay with stick until I’m too old to use the clutch and stick!
Myrr21 brings up a good point: coasting down hills. Maybe someday I’ll relate the story of how I dropped my automatic transmission doing that on my first car…
*Do any of you manual transmission zealots think that maybe the reason you don’t get good performance out of an automatic is because you drive teeny-tiny pieces of econobox crap with eensy-weensy engines? If I had a car that was so underpowered, I’d want a manual, too…
But my automatic shifts just fine. It goes when I want it to. Of course, I have a V8. Maybe that’s the difference.
*
One of my cars is a Honda Civic. It has a manual, and
I make that thing tear with the manual. An autobox
would make it even slower!
My other car is a Nissan 300ZX twin-turbo. No shortage
of power in this baby. It’s a stick, naturally. I’ve driven an auto version. Oh my ghod what an incredibly waste of
such a great car! To me, stick zealot that I am, an
auto on a powerful engine is even worse!
-Ben
I drive an automatic right now, and I’d much rather have a stick…Sticks are so much more fun, and you guys are right, there’s more power and such in them…
Next car or truck I get is going to have a stick…And the dealership damn well better have one…
Stick. I learned on a stick and love driving it. My car is now a stick and I’m not sure what I’m going to do when I need to get a “family car”. Maybe I’ll make my hubby get one instead
Hell, why not get rid of automatic transmissions? They’re a lot flakier than manuals, and a lot harder (and costlier) to fix. I finally killed my clutch around 90k miles. Cost to replace? $400. My parents minivan’s auto crapped out at 60k. Cost to fix? $2600. And it still doesn’t work right.
So I say hell, stop making cars with automatics. It’ll save a little (well, a lot) of gas. It ain’t like people are going to stop buying cars or driving if forced to use a manual, they’ll just get used to it.
I don’t have a problem with other people driving automatics. No skin off my nose.
And oddly enough, I do look on cars as appliances, as transportation. And most of my driving is commuting and errand-running.
But even appliances can do their job well, or just barely do their job. When our previous toaster broke, earlier this year, I realized we had a toaster in a box in the basement. I think we’d been given it as a wedding present, but had just never pulled it out.
It turned out to be a real piece of crap - short, narrow slots (I think that’s why we never put it into use before), always either not toasting much, or burning - so after putting up with it for several weeks, we got a new one and ditched the old. The new one’s a honey - does everything right, and looks really great on the counter too.
It’s still just an appliance, and I don’t really think about the new toaster’s quality that much now that I’m used to it. But I really appreciate it when my appliances work well.
And ModernRonin2, thanks for the explanation of why the slushy acceleration on automatics. I’d been wondering.
