# Can you competently drive a manual transmission car? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 24, 2017, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-competently-drive-a-manual-transmission-car/799774 "2017-10-24T23:45:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2017, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-competently-drive-a-manual-transmission-car/799774/1 "2017-10-24T23:45:09Z")
Just curious. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2017, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-competently-drive-a-manual-transmission-car/799774/2 "2017-10-24T23:46:18Z")
Yep ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2017, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-competently-drive-a-manual-transmission-car/799774/3 "2017-10-24T23:46:46Z")
I haven’t driven one in like eight years, before that, it was the main thing I drove for almost 2 decades. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2017, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-competently-drive-a-manual-transmission-car/799774/4 "2017-10-24T23:47:06Z")
Never tried. Will very likely never need to. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2017, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-competently-drive-a-manual-transmission-car/799774/5 "2017-10-24T23:47:53Z")
First car was a “three on the tree,” Plymouth Valiant. ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2017, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-competently-drive-a-manual-transmission-car/799774/6 "2017-10-24T23:49:36Z")
Learned to drive on a tractor and then a pickup and finally a car. When I got my license in Illinois if you took the driving test in an automatic you got a restricted license. No farm kid wanted one of those! ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2017, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-competently-drive-a-manual-transmission-car/799774/7 "2017-10-24T23:49:57Z")
yes. learned to drive on my dad’s Spirit R/T, my first new vehicle was a diesel Ram 2500 with a stick, later I got an SRT-4, and had a 2010 and 2012 Mustang with stick shift. ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2017, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-competently-drive-a-manual-transmission-car/799774/8 "2017-10-24T23:51:11Z")
My wife can too. One of our sons drives, and we’d like him to learn. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2017, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-competently-drive-a-manual-transmission-car/799774/9 "2017-10-24T23:53:23Z")
I’ve had only 2 automatics in my life; the first junker my Dad bought me when I got my license, and our current XTerra. The current one would have been a manual if we could have found one, but we were lucky to find one at all. Still have the Z3 for fun summer driving. I love manuals. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2017, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-competently-drive-a-manual-transmission-car/799774/10 "2017-10-24T23:54:30Z")
Learned to drive on a stick. I don’t have any vehicles with a stick anymore, but i used to end up stomping my left foot on the floor looking for the clutch when I would switch to an automatic. Driving a stick is not something I’ve had to be conscious of for many many years, my right hand and both feet just do the work without any active thought. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2017, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-competently-drive-a-manual-transmission-car/799774/11 "2017-10-25T00:00:03Z")
It’s been years, but several of my cars were manuals. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2017, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-competently-drive-a-manual-transmission-car/799774/12 "2017-10-25T00:04:11Z")
Most of my life I drove sticks. But when I got my current car ten years ago, the stop sign forests in my town finally defeated me. But I am still perfectly capable of it. My wife was too back in the days she drove. She has refused to drive for the last 35 years. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2017, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-competently-drive-a-manual-transmission-car/799774/13 "2017-10-25T00:10:26Z")
My car is a VW Passat with a manual transmission. I’ve owned a number of motorcycles in my lifetime, all of which had manual transmissions. As far as I know, nobody makes a motorcycle with an an automatic, not since the failure to sell much of the Hondamatic in the late 70s. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2017, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-competently-drive-a-manual-transmission-car/799774/14 "2017-10-25T00:11:26Z")
I learned on an automatic, and my first car that I owned was an automatic, but when I was about 22, a friend taught me to drive stick, and after that, I got a stick, because the next time I had to buy a car, it was the cheapest thing on the lot. From about age 25 until last year (age 49), I exclusively owned manuals. I wanted to buy a manual when I bought my car last year, but the only ones I could find were used ones with high mileage, and sports cars. I wanted a new economy car, and ended up with a Chevy Spark automatic. I miss driving stick. I can VERY competently drive stick, though. I know lots of women who can. I’m not sure what the thing about men and stick is. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2017, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-competently-drive-a-manual-transmission-car/799774/15 "2017-10-25T00:12:12Z")
Yes. I started driving in 1955, and I never owned an automatic until 1995. Ive driven for a week or more in three RHD countries, with stick shift. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2017, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-competently-drive-a-manual-transmission-car/799774/16 "2017-10-25T00:19:22Z")
Yes, I’ve never owned a car with an automatic transmission. Not only is the manual more fun, but you don’t have to worry about friends wanting to borrow it. Or someone stealing it. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2017, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-competently-drive-a-manual-transmission-car/799774/17 "2017-10-25T00:22:54Z")
> [@P-man](#): > > My wife can too. One of our sons drives, and we’d like him to learn. why? ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2017, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-competently-drive-a-manual-transmission-car/799774/18 "2017-10-25T00:46:52Z")
My current car has a six speed manual transmission. We just bought our first automatic in thirty years just last year. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2017, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-competently-drive-a-manual-transmission-car/799774/19 "2017-10-25T00:51:11Z")
I haven’t done so in decades, but in my youth I drove a variety of manual transmission cars in cities and in mountains. Even in San Francisco. ---
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2017, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-competently-drive-a-manual-transmission-car/799774/20 "2017-10-25T00:55:35Z")
My company cars have been automatics, but I have no say in what they give me. My cars and trucks have always had standard transmissions. My current car is a 2011 Jeep Wrangler with a 6 speed. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-competently-drive-a-manual-transmission-car/799774.md?page=2)