# How good are you driving stick? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 2, 2017, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-you-driving-stick/785720 "2017-05-02T15:26:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2017, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-you-driving-stick/785720/41 "2017-05-02T18:58:34Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > Are the pedals in the same locations for a right hand drive or are they reversed? As **jz78817** said, the pedals are in the same place, but the stick is on the other side. ---
**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:** [May 2, 2017, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-you-driving-stick/785720/42 "2017-05-02T18:59:39Z")
The answers given don’t adequately answer the question in the title. I am excellent at driving stick. As of the last year when I bought my latest car I was done with the stick and bought an automatic. So after driving a stick for several decades I am more than just competent but I currently don’t prefer it. That may change down the road. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2017, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-you-driving-stick/785720/43 "2017-05-02T19:03:50Z")
Drive stick only. Manuals might as well be driverless. ---
**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:** [May 2, 2017, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-you-driving-stick/785720/44 "2017-05-02T19:06:02Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > This results are really surprising to me. I expected a much higher results for no idea how to do it and could do it if forced. > [@Corry\_El](#): > > Results would seem to be a _far_ outlier from the general driving population, in the US at least. Remember this board skews _older_. This is just one more example of that. Message boards are dinosaurs in social media and are populated _by_ dinosaurs :). I bet if you polled people on how many learned to type on typewriters vs. computers you’d get a surprisingly high response as well. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2017, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-you-driving-stick/785720/45 "2017-05-02T19:11:23Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > This results are really surprising to me. I expected a much higher results for no idea how to do it and could do it if forced. . I suspect that’s sampling bias. People who don’t know how to drive a stick at all probably won’t even open this thread. People who still _do_ drive a stick, however, didn’t end up that way by accident. We chose to do so, bought cars with manual transmissions on purpose, and enjoy it. And we’re probably a lot more likely to open a thread on the topic like this one. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2017, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-you-driving-stick/785720/46 "2017-05-02T19:14:33Z")
I’ve drove and sometimes still drive a stick truck, but see it as old obsolete technology, sort of a novelty, fun for a bit, but don’t really care to own one. Even in europe, home of the stick, renting a car I got a automatic hybrid without asking. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2017, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-you-driving-stick/785720/47 "2017-05-02T19:22:11Z")
In 40 years of a stick daily driver, usually used car with high mileage from the start, I never wore out a clutch once. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2017, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-you-driving-stick/785720/48 "2017-05-02T19:24:02Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > I suspect that’s sampling bias. People who don’t know how to drive a stick at all probably won’t even open this thread. People who still _do_ drive a stick, however, didn’t end up that way by accident. We chose to do so, bought cars with manual transmissions on purpose, and enjoy it. And we’re probably a lot more likely to open a thread on the topic like this one. Yeah, something like that would be my guess. My impression is that people who drive stick are far more interested in “stick or automatic?” conversations than people who drive automatic. > [@Jophiel](#): > > Never learned. Out in the flatlands of Illinois and in Chicago traffic, there’s no real reason for it. Yeah, I’ve never learned either, because I’ve never seen any point. I’ve never felt like anything was missing from my life or my driving experience. Why make driving more complicated than it has to be? ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2017, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-you-driving-stick/785720/49 "2017-05-02T19:25:01Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Drive stick only. Manuals might as well be driverless. :dubious: Did you mean “Automatics might as well be driverless?” ---
**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:** [May 2, 2017, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-you-driving-stick/785720/50 "2017-05-02T19:39:43Z")
I learned how to drive in the early '80s, when sticks were still fairly common; though I initially learned to drive in an automatic (the battlestar that was our 1977 Cadillac Sedan DeVille), I learned stick soon after on the family’s second care (a Plymouth TC3). When I bought my “midlife-crisis-mobile” six years ago (a red Mustang), I got a stick (six-speed manual); it was the first time I’d regularly driven a stick in nearly 20 years, but it very quickly came back to me. And, now, I drive stick every day. ---
**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:** [May 2, 2017, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-you-driving-stick/785720/51 "2017-05-02T20:05:00Z")
I haven’t driven a stick in 30 years, but probably could pick it up again if needed. ---
**Author:** ![Lowdown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c57346/32.png) [@Lowdown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lowdown)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2017, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-you-driving-stick/785720/52 "2017-05-02T20:13:01Z")
I won’t buy an automatic transmission for myself. Vehicles in manual are getting rarer every year, which kind of sucks, buuuuuut (so far, anyway) vehicles for people who like to drive tend to be keeping the stick, so that helps. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2017, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-you-driving-stick/785720/53 "2017-05-02T20:57:57Z")
I drove a manual transmission pickup thru the 90’s, but then have had all automatics, until 2 years ago when we got a used 2010 Mazda 3 as a third car (for me). Took a few weeks to re-adjust to things, but now it is “automatic” as a poster above says. The car is a lot of fun to drive, actually, and is the first car I have owned where you can accelerate thru corners. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2017, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-you-driving-stick/785720/54 "2017-05-02T21:03:38Z")
I don’t like manual transmissions. I’ve never owned one and probably have under 200 hours of drive time on them. ---
**Author:** ![stillownedbysetters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/41988e/32.png) [@stillownedbysetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stillownedbysetters)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2017, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-you-driving-stick/785720/55 "2017-05-02T21:27:41Z")
I learned to drive farm trucks as a kid and they were manual, so a manual tranny has always been the tranny I am most comfortable with. I bought my first automatic vehicle when my sons came of driving ages I believed it would be easier for them to learn to drive an automatic. I caved and bought another automatic in 2012 when I bought my present car. Severe arthritis in my left foot made it increasingly difficult to maneuver a manual tranny in rush hour stop and go traffic. I drive my roommate’s pickup at least once a week and it is a manual, so I am sure I could still drive smoothly on any manual vehicle out there. ---
**Author:** ![UncaStuart](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uncastuart/32/404_2.png) [@UncaStuart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncaStuart)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2017, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-you-driving-stick/785720/56 "2017-05-02T21:59:08Z")
I marked “competent” but I currently prefer automatic. From 1963 to 1986 I drove sticks, a mix of mild and wild from GTOs to a Vega station wagon, with a heavy dose of British sports cars. While working with my dad I had the opportunity to drive 10-, 13-, and 15-speed Peterbilts, Freightliners, Kenworths, Macks, and Whites. By 1986 I was tired of being stuck in Silicon Valley commutes in a TR7, so I bought a 1986 Pontiac with an automatic (and AC, and power windows, oh my). For the last 30 years it’s been all automatics. Perfectly happy. ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2017, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-you-driving-stick/785720/57 "2017-05-02T22:45:58Z")
Driven a manual my whole life … though my current rig is automatic … you’d think after four years I’d have figured it out … hell no … to this day I still put the fool thing in the wrong gear … it’s COMPLETELY anti-intuitive for pushing the stick forward to mean back-up, and pulling the stick back to mean go forward … that’s just WRONG !!! ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2017, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-you-driving-stick/785720/58 "2017-05-03T00:56:47Z")
My last car (we’re a one car family now) was a stick. But literally 97% of my driving was around town, and whatever fun I might have had driving it was completely negated by stop-and-go shifting. ---
**Author:** ![JerrySTL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e274bd/32.png) [@JerrySTL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerrySTL)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2017, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-you-driving-stick/785720/59 "2017-05-03T01:29:29Z")
I’ve driven both left- and right-hand drive cars with manual transmissions. I’ve even driven the old three-on-a-tree with an unsynchronized first gear. One of my current vehicles has 30-speeds. It’s a bicycle! ---
**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:** [May 3, 2017, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-you-driving-stick/785720/60 "2017-05-03T01:33:29Z")
I’ve owned about ten cars in my life, and every one of them has been a manual transmission. Not only does it make driving more fun, but they are less likely to be stolen, and your friends never ask to borrow them! Current vehicle: a 2005 Scion xA with 40k miles on it (all by me). I had to wait six months for the dealer to get ahold of one with a stick. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-you-driving-stick/785720.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-you-driving-stick/785720.md?page=4)