# Choosing to Drive a Stick Shift. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 11, 2006, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choosing-to-drive-a-stick-shift/372346 "2006-09-11T22:04:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2006, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choosing-to-drive-a-stick-shift/372346/61 "2006-09-12T18:44:38Z")
[QUOTE=Mr2001] Keeps other people from wanting to drive my car. [/QUOTE] [QUOTE=yellowval] 5. It keeps other people from trying/asking to drive my car. [/QUOTE] Exactly. šŸ™‚ [QUOTE=yellowval] 4. Guys dig chicks who know how to properly handle a stick. [/QUOTE] I made up a bumper-sticker-type-sign for the back window of my old car that said, ā€œReal women know how to handle a stick.ā€ It got a lot of admiring comments. šŸ˜ƒ ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2006, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choosing-to-drive-a-stick-shift/372346/62 "2006-09-12T19:02:41Z")
[QUOTE=Misnomer] Exactly. šŸ™‚ I made up a bumper-sticker-type-sign for the back window of my old car that said, ā€œReal women know how to handle a stick.ā€ It got a lot of admiring comments. šŸ˜ƒ [/QUOTE] :: nods :: Real women also arenā€™t afraid of or know how to handle electronics, art supplies, paintbrushes, power tools, mathematics, science, programming, and/or martial arts. Culturally-imposed powerlessness is for insects. šŸ™‚ ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2006, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choosing-to-drive-a-stick-shift/372346/63 "2006-09-12T19:25:21Z")
[QUOTE=Mama Zappa] Another downside of stick shift: cell phone usage. Yeah, I know, you shouldnā€™t use cell phones while driving, or at the least hands-free. But if you forget about that and attempt to answer the phoneā€¦ lessee: one hand for the steering wheel, one for the shifter, one for the phoneā€¦ unless youā€™re a mutant, this will not work :smack: You _ **need** _ a headset or other hands-free tool if you own a cell phone and a manual transmission car. [/QUOTE] I find driving a stick is a wonderful excuse not to answer my cell phone. Actually, I have lots of reasons I never answer my cell phone, but driving a stick in traffic is definitely one of them. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2006, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choosing-to-drive-a-stick-shift/372346/64 "2006-09-12T19:39:39Z")
I love the way you folks talk about ā€œdriving a stickā€. Itā€™s a car! [This](http://n0nick.net/img/actionfigures/samantha.png) is what pops into my head when I see ā€œdriving a stickā€. ---
**Author:** ![yellowval](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/919ad9/32.png) [@yellowval](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowval)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2006, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choosing-to-drive-a-stick-shift/372346/65 "2006-09-12T20:01:33Z")
[QUOTE=Colophon] [This](http://n0nick.net/img/actionfigures/samantha.png) is what pops into my head when I see ā€œdriving a stickā€. [/QUOTE] You mean thatā€™s _not_ what weā€™re talking about? Iā€™m so embarrassed. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2006, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choosing-to-drive-a-stick-shift/372346/66 "2006-09-12T20:51:50Z")
[QUOTE=Kalhoun] Stick rocks. Except on hills. [/QUOTE] [QUOTE=gonzomax] Driving in a hilly town ,nofun. [/QUOTE] These sentiments are ones I canā€™t understand. Anywhere hilly is where I most notice the lack of control a manual gives you, both in preparation for acceleration into a hill, and low-gear engine braking on descents. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2006, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choosing-to-drive-a-stick-shift/372346/67 "2006-09-12T21:14:20Z")
[QUOTE=Colophon] Itā€™s a car! [/QUOTE] You obviously donā€™t drive a stick. šŸ˜‰ > [@](#): > > [This](http://n0nick.net/img/actionfigures/samantha.png) is what pops into my head when I see ā€œdriving a stickā€. Thatā€™s _riding_ a stick ā€¦ completely different. šŸ™‚ ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2006, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choosing-to-drive-a-stick-shift/372346/68 "2006-09-12T21:41:17Z")
[QUOTE=Mama Zappa] For future reference, the parking brake is useful in this situation. You have one hand on the wheel, one hand on the parking brake lever (which youā€™ve set to on). The parking brake keeps the car from drifting back when you move your foot from the brake to the gas. You start revving the engine while the clutch is pressed, and you start to let out the clutch. Just as the clutch starts to catch, you release the parking brake with practically zero backdrift. [/QUOTE] Yeah, I kinda figured that out sometime after my first week and before my 15th year of driving it. šŸ˜‰ Actually, I got good enough and comfortable enough with the clutch and the gas that I didnā€™t even have to use the hand brake. Never once rolled back into anyone or anything. I was just grateful that the nice person behind me that day was patient with the newbie. He was pretty šŸ†’ about it. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2006, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choosing-to-drive-a-stick-shift/372346/69 "2006-09-12T21:43:31Z")
[QUOTE=GorillaMan] These sentiments are ones I canā€™t understand. Anywhere hilly is where I most notice the lack of control a manual gives you, both in preparation for acceleration into a hill, and low-gear engine braking on descents. [/QUOTE] Moving up or down a hill is good. Stopped at the top or middle of a steep hill waiting for the light to change is sheer terror. For me, anyway. Iā€™ve driven a stick most of my driving life. Itā€™s only the really steep ones that get me. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2006, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choosing-to-drive-a-stick-shift/372346/70 "2006-09-12T21:48:58Z")
Ah, **Shayna** ā€™s post has made me realise why you lot donā€™t like hills. Bloody hell, hill starts arenā€™t _that_ difficult. I think Iā€™m right in saying that not being able to do one will fail you in a British test, including when performing a three-point turn on a cambered road. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2006, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choosing-to-drive-a-stick-shift/372346/71 "2006-09-12T23:23:02Z")
[QUOTE=Jimson\_Jim] Both of our cars are manuals. Both my wife and I prefer manuals for mileage, control and maintenence costs. There are far fewer things to go wrong with a manual transmission. And personally I donā€™t understand anyone who buyā€™s a 4x4 with the intent to use it off road or in rough weather (lets say winters in Madison WI) and doesnā€™t get a manual transmission. [/QUOTE] My understanding is that for personal plow trucks, an automatic is recommended. Back and forth constantly pushing snow on a steep drive burns out clutches fast. My plow truck is an automatic, and I have had to rebuild the tranny once. Itā€™s a '76. 30 years old. It really gets abused where I live. Long winters, chained up on all four wheels. Before it was my plow truck I took it jeeping/off road lots. It did fine. Iā€™ve also had manual 4x4ā€™s that have had a lot of off road abuse. They did fine too. Learned to drive on a ā€˜3 on the treeā€™. First car was an auto, then another (my current plow truck from high school), then 4 manuals and now an automatic. I will say that if you have bad feet and ankles like I do (sprains, planters fasciitis, and an occasional flare up of gout), an automatic is nice. I guess Iā€™m in the camp that does not really care. Didnā€™t have a choice with my new Pathfinder. Itā€™s an auto. Probably would have gone that way anyway. ---
**Author:** ![brendon\_small](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brendon_small/32/17101_2.png) [@brendon\_small](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brendon_small)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2006, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choosing-to-drive-a-stick-shift/372346/72 "2006-09-12T23:38:10Z")
I have always driven a manual, and when I got with my girlfriend, she had a 95 camaro that was an automatic. I refused to drive it at first, but finally, when I did, I felt like I was doing nothing. I also felt like the car shifted funny because thatā€™s not the way _I_ shiftā€¦ I know itā€™s only because of what I was used to, but I love my standard and will (hopefully) never own anything elseā€¦ plus it really is more fun! Brendon ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2006, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choosing-to-drive-a-stick-shift/372346/73 "2006-09-13T00:15:26Z")
Manuals are considerably cheaper to fix. When an automatic transmission goes south, itā€™s really expensive to repair. ---
**Author:** ![Throatwarbler\_Mangrove](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8c91f0/32.png) [@Throatwarbler\_Mangrove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Throatwarbler_Mangrove)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2006, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choosing-to-drive-a-stick-shift/372346/74 "2006-09-13T00:17:31Z")
Gallantly assisting hapless damsels like **kalhoun** and **Shanya** when they are outperformed by their cars - The only reason why I know how to drive stick. šŸ˜› Once when stuck on a hill in line entering a parking lot, I somehow managed to put my car into neutral with my foot on the brake, and forget about it when the line finally started moving. The girl behind me was scared out of her wits when she saw the car in front suddenly start rolling towards her, engine revving like crazy. and only screech to a stop 3 inches away from her bumber. I got her good, I did! šŸ˜ƒ ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2006, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choosing-to-drive-a-stick-shift/372346/75 "2006-09-13T00:19:50Z")
Add me to the pile of people who choose to drive with a manual transmission over an automatic every time (and my husband, too). The car shifts when _I_ want it too - if I was a brand-new driver, this might not make a difference, but I know exactly what I want my car to be doing. I want to undershift sometimes, and I want to overshift sometimes, and sometimes I rev it really high in winter to warm the engine up faster :D. And when you drive a Toyota Corolla, every extra little bit of jump you can get out of it is good. Driving without a tach makes no difference to me. I learned to drive manual without one, and I almost never look at mine now. Like **gfloyd** said, you know what the engine wants. ---
**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:** [September 13, 2006, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choosing-to-drive-a-stick-shift/372346/76 "2006-09-13T00:41:26Z")
my jeep wrangler would not be nearly as fun to drive with an automatic ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2006, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choosing-to-drive-a-stick-shift/372346/77 "2006-09-13T00:50:02Z")
Soā€¦ I do not know how to drive a manual. Anyone want to show me? Are there driving schools that will teach this specifically? (Last time I raised this with my friend, he lent me his car. After seeing what I was like trying to drive it, for some reason he never wanted to lend me it again. That was 15 years ago.) ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2006, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choosing-to-drive-a-stick-shift/372346/78 "2006-09-13T03:24:14Z")
I drive both. In stop n go traffic even. If ya getā€™s yer ass up off the couch and take the stairs, your clutch leg will thank you. šŸ˜‰ Iā€™ve also found (by watching truckers) that if you give a lot of leeway to the folks ahead of you, you could put the car in 2nd and just wander around without shift a whole lot. (Try it sometime, I can let the car get down to 800 rpm or so and with _light_ throttle, pick the speed back up without causing the motor to strain.) First gear is good for about 6 mph at idle, and 2nd is good for 10-12 mph. Itā€™s _rare_ that you canā€™t use those two in stop n go traffic. Now, If you drive Lombard Street, all bets are off! ([http://home.iprimus.com.au/rspenz/Lombard%20Street%20The%20windiest%20in%20the%20World%203.JPG](http://home.iprimus.com.au/rspenz/Lombard%20Street%20The%20windiest%20in%20the%20World%203.JPG)) ---
**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2006, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choosing-to-drive-a-stick-shift/372346/79 "2006-09-13T03:41:30Z")
[QUOTE=Unintentionally Blank] First gear is good for about 6 mph at idle, and 2nd is good for 10-12 mph. Itā€™s _rare_ that you canā€™t use those two in stop n go traffic. [/quote] On a side note, some parking lots and private roads have a posted speed limit of 5 MPH. If you actually observe those, an automatic transmission might be better so you can ride the brakes instead of the expensive clutch. ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2006, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choosing-to-drive-a-stick-shift/372346/80 "2006-09-13T03:46:29Z")
[QUOTE=Mr2001] On a side note, some parking lots and private roads have a posted speed limit of 5 MPH. If you actually observe those, an automatic transmission might be better so you can ride the brakes instead of the expensive clutch. [/QUOTE] Nah, then you just goose the clutch to get the car rolling, then drop it into neutral and coast. I spend an unusually high amount of time in neutral. Besides, the clutch is a wearable item, itā€™s kind of the cost of driving a car. Like Tires or car insurance. If you pull out the value card, why arenā€™t you driving a vespa? Face it, thereā€™s _nothing_ high value in any car, just varying degrees of financial waste. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choosing-to-drive-a-stick-shift/372346.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choosing-to-drive-a-stick-shift/372346.md?page=5)