# Can You Drive A Stick Shift? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 24, 2019, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-drive-a-stick-shift/830128 "2019-02-24T18:15:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2019, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-drive-a-stick-shift/830128/1 "2019-02-24T18:15:43Z")
Simple and straightforward: can you drive a stick, and if you want to elaborate, do you drive a stick? I _can_, but I don’t, considering that both of my vehicles are automatic. Nevertheless, I learned to drive on a manual (a late 70’s or early 80’s Honda Civic, to be specific). Just to make sure I got the full experience, Mammahomie took me out to the country to drive on hills.\* \*OK, so we’re rather thin on hills in Central Illinois, but we do have roads with slight differences in elevation. We’re not Florida flat. Poll to follow. ---
**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:** [February 24, 2019, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-drive-a-stick-shift/830128/2 "2019-02-24T18:19:13Z")
I know I’ve said this before but when I got my drivers’ license if you took the test on an automatic you got a restricted license forbidding you from driving a stick. As a farm girl, that would not do. But my mom’s car was automatic and my dad refused to let me practice parallel parking with his truck. So I borrowed the driver’s ed car from the school to take my test. Driver’s ed assumed you wanted to know how to drive stick. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2019, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-drive-a-stick-shift/830128/3 "2019-02-24T18:20:57Z")
I learned on a standard VW Bug. I think it’s one thing every teen should learn. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2019, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-drive-a-stick-shift/830128/4 "2019-02-24T18:21:09Z")
I can, and I do on a daily basis (my car is a Mustang with a stick). I learned how to drive stick when I was in high school, in the early '80s, as one of our family cars was a little Plymouth hatchback which had a stick. But, up until buying the Mustang in 2011, I hadn’t driven a car with a manual transmission in at least a decade. As sticks are becoming increasingly rare, even on performance cars, I wouldn’t be surprised if this Mustang is the last manual transmission I’ll drive. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2019, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-drive-a-stick-shift/830128/5 "2019-02-24T18:24:15Z")
My current car is the first automatic I’ve owned. Stop and go commute just got to be too much. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2019, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-drive-a-stick-shift/830128/6 "2019-02-24T18:24:36Z")
Every car I owned from 1970 to 2014 was a stick. I finally got tired of doing all that work – especially in bad traffic – and got an automatic last time. It took me a while to stop from hovering my hand over the gearshift lever all the time, but now I’m in the groove. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2019, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-drive-a-stick-shift/830128/7 "2019-02-24T18:42:21Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > My current car is the first automatic I’ve owned. Stop and go commute just got to be too much. Same. My current car is a 2016. For the first time In decades I bought an automatic. I just realized that the commute was getting annoying. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2019, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-drive-a-stick-shift/830128/8 "2019-02-24T18:43:46Z")
Not American: yes. Although technically Canada is part of the American continent, and we all drive the same type of vehicles. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2019, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-drive-a-stick-shift/830128/9 "2019-02-24T18:50:17Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > Stop and go commute just got to be too much. > [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > . I finally got tired of doing all that work – especially in bad traffic > [@Loach](#): > > For the first time In decades I bought an automatic. I just realized that the commute was getting annoying. Yep. Drove a stick for the first ten years of owning cars, but local traffic broke me of the habit. Probably will never own one again. There is little advantage these days other than whatever fun factor you can coax out of them and they are getting harder to find in the U.S. anyway. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2019, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-drive-a-stick-shift/830128/10 "2019-02-24T18:54:51Z")
Not just yes but also a “3 on the tree”, a “jimmy shifter” for trucks, and a “4 on the floorboards” as well as tank-slappers for motorcycles. And in case anyone cares I am also a helluva double-clutcher for the really old stuff and when my syncromesh goes out. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2019, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-drive-a-stick-shift/830128/11 "2019-02-24T18:55:36Z")
I can, but haven’t in a very long time. Shifting gears is a solved technological problem. I can’t think of any reason to do it myself when a computer can do it better. ---
**Author:** ![Heracles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heracles/32/487_2.png) [@Heracles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heracles)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2019, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-drive-a-stick-shift/830128/12 "2019-02-24T18:57:18Z")
I took my lessons on an automatic but my hubby taught me to drive a manual when we moved in together, shortly before I bought my first car (a manual Suzuki Swift). When I got my Civic Hybrid in 2009, it came with an automatic (CVT) gearbox. I hadn’t driven anything with a manual gearbox since then, but in 2018 we rented a tiny manual Hyundai while on vacation and I found I could still drive just fine, even on unfamiliar, hilly roads. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2019, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-drive-a-stick-shift/830128/13 "2019-02-24T18:58:10Z")
Work vehicles were all sticks, personal vehicles(other than motorcycles) were automatics. ---
**Author:** ![Alpha\_Twit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alpha_twit/32/265_2.png) [@Alpha\_Twit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alpha_Twit)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2019, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-drive-a-stick-shift/830128/14 "2019-02-24T19:03:23Z")
I can drive a shift and I do like to maintain a basic level of competence but I don’t find it enjoyable. With that being said, every third or fourth vehicle I buy, I try to buy one with a manual shift. With luck, I’ll be replacing my everyday driver this summer and I’ll be looking at manuals. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2019, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-drive-a-stick-shift/830128/15 "2019-02-24T19:05:30Z")
I could about fifteen years ago, I assume I would still be able to manage. ---
**Author:** ![BrickBat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@BrickBat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickBat)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2019, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-drive-a-stick-shift/830128/16 "2019-02-24T19:05:35Z")
Yes. Pretty much every vehicle I’ve ever owned over the past 39 years was manual transmission. An car with close gear ratios, a smooth and precise shifter, and smooth clutch on a nice curvy back road is one of the nice pleasures of life. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2019, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-drive-a-stick-shift/830128/17 "2019-02-24T19:09:30Z")
I didn’t learn stick when young, but in 1985 (when I was 36 I bought a stick VW Golf. I had no problem learning. 15 years later when I replaced it I got an automatic as my left knee was giving me problems. I assume I could drive a stick shift with no problems if I had to, but have no real desire to try for any length of time. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2019, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-drive-a-stick-shift/830128/18 "2019-02-24T19:32:04Z")
Yep, three on the tree, three, four, five and six on the floor, from itty bitty sports cars up to 24’ box trucks. Unfortunately, I now have a messed up left knee and a frozen right shoulder so I don’t think I’ll be owning another manual. Which is a bummer because I do like them quite a lot. Both my kids (in their 40s) drive stick and one of them was a semi driver too so I did make sure the knowledge didn’t end with me. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2019, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-drive-a-stick-shift/830128/19 "2019-02-24T19:32:46Z")
I’m surprised so many Americans can drive a stick. Only sports cars and bottom of the barrel economy cars are manual anymore. Around 95% of cars are autos. I can drive a manual, but I’ve never owned one. However my dad likes them so I learned anyway when I borrow his car. ---
**Author:** ![CoastalMaineiac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e8c25b/32.png) [@CoastalMaineiac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CoastalMaineiac)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2019, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-drive-a-stick-shift/830128/20 "2019-02-24T19:36:11Z")
I’m an American living in the State of Maine, and can and do drive a stick shift. In fact, have never owned anything with an automatic transmission, although I have driven plenty of them. I don’t like the way automatic cars handle, nor do I trust them from a reliability standpoint, especially since most of the cars I buy have in excess of 100,000 miles on them when I buy them. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-drive-a-stick-shift/830128.md?page=2)