# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![Corry\_El](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecae2f/32.png) [@Corry\_El](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corry_El)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2017, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-you-driving-stick/785720/101 "2017-05-04T02:14:23Z")
> [@anomalous1](#): > > As far as I know it’s only to get a few extra RPM’s out and some better performance for racing. Being that I live in Chicago with awful traffic sometimes, I have no desire to get stick. I am probably wrong though, is it just a matter of preference? Or just for extra performance? There might be a residual argument made in favor of performance or mileage for stick for little under powered cars. But a number of people have said if they ever got a sports car they might go stick. But for any kind of serious sports car the automatics/automated manuals outperform manuals in every way. If you buy a Porsche with manual it’s purely preference, plus saving like $3k for the ‘PDK’ automated manual option, but you’re adding 0-60 time and subtracting mpg’s with the manual. And why skimp on $3k if you’re buying a car like that. For something like a Miata it’s part of the retro style of the car, again preference. For a ‘sports sedan’ like my BMW328i you’re going to have much less selection going manual now (I’m assuming they theoretically existed when I bought mine but I never saw one in dealer’s inventory in my area of the US), and again giving up performance. I loved my '67 and '73 beetles long ago, but then I needed more practicality for some years. And now I like a little performance but I don’t see a reason to give any of it up to have my knee kill me from constantly working the clutch in heavy traffic where I drive a lot of the time. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2017, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-you-driving-stick/785720/102 "2017-05-04T02:31:08Z")
> [@anomalous1](#): > > I am probably wrong though, is it just a matter of preference? Or just for extra performance? Preference. I would wager almost all automatics (ETA: these days) would out-perform manual in the vast majority of driving situations for the vast majority of drivers. It’s just more fun for me to drive, even in traffic. It gives me something to do. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2017, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-you-driving-stick/785720/103 "2017-05-04T04:28:23Z")
I’ve only ever owned stick shifts. I’d never buy a fuckin’ slushbox. Granted, I haven’t tried the clutched automatics, but the traditional torque converter style sucks. I like to accelerate reasonably hard but also want to keep engine wear low. On an automatic, flooring it downshifts the transmission. I don’t want that; I want maximum acceleration in the gear I’m in. I can choose the rate of acceleration by choosing the RPM I shift at, while keeping the throttle wide open. I also generally like the feel of the engine directly connected to the wheels. Slushboxes slip under acceleration; you can hear the engine revving way more than it would if there were a direction connection. This offends my mechanical sensibilities. My next car will only have a single gear, so I’ll manage to have avoided automatics forever, even past the point where I might have started to get sick of shifting in traffic. ---
**Author:** ![Driver8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5a626/32.png) [@Driver8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Driver8)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2017, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-you-driving-stick/785720/104 "2017-05-04T05:34:18Z")
I voted “competent”. I learned to drive and spent my first five years driving in South Africa. At the time ~90% of cars sold were manual. I’m not sure if that is still true. My mom was the exception to the rule and somehow went through life in South Africa only driving automatics, so I did drive her car sometimes. That car really was a slushbox that would put you off automatics, unlike the modern better-than-a-human versions. Since moving to the US I’ve only bought automatics. My wife did have a manual Honda Civic some years ago which I sometimes drove. It was pretty clear comparing that to the manual rental I drove visiting South Africa that I’m much better at driving manual right hand drive cars. I guess I developed the muscle memory in my left hand because it came back very quickly and was very natural, but I always felt I was a little more on the clumsy side doing it in the US Honda. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2017, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-you-driving-stick/785720/105 "2017-05-04T07:44:45Z")
“Competent.” I would have said I prefer the stick, but actually now I prefer my Prius, and I don’t even know if they come with manual transmissions. Or transmissions. ---
**Author:** ![Pabitel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bbce88/32.png) [@Pabitel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pabitel)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2017, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-you-driving-stick/785720/106 "2017-05-04T12:19:43Z")
The majority of cars I have owned have been manual. I don’t have one right now because they are harder and harder to come by. They also don’t have the gas savings they used to due to vast improvements in automatic transmissions. ---
**Author:** ![Krouget](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b38774/32.png) [@Krouget](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Krouget)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2017, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-you-driving-stick/785720/107 "2017-05-04T12:39:56Z")
> [@drewder](#): > > So fewer and fewer cars are being made with manual transmissions. How well are you at driving stick? Do you currently drive a car with it? Would you prefer a car with it? I’m fine with driving manual, though I won’t be as smooth as someone who daily drives their vehicle, given its been a while. I don’t currently drive a manual car and sold the last one. I have no real interest in going back, _unless_ its a light weight, low-powered car, strictly built for fun (like the current MX-5), where I’d use it as a dedicated course car. Driving a manual in traffic is largely junk driving, for me, and no more engaging than automatic, since it’s all secondary/muscle memory activity, at that point. So aside from the above exception, I prefer manually shifting _via paddles_ (not the types which just hold gears, but actual shifting), with the ability to place it into auto for residential/commuter driving. A modern, performance-built automatic with locking torque converter is where its at, for me. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2017, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-you-driving-stick/785720/108 "2017-05-04T15:43:18Z")
I have no idea how to drive a stick. I’ve never driven one, nor been in a position where I had to learn it. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2017, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-you-driving-stick/785720/109 "2017-05-04T16:44:59Z")
I drove mostly sticks for the first 25 years, now I prefer the automatics, they tend to spoil you. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2017, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-you-driving-stick/785720/110 "2017-05-04T17:27:38Z")
Not only do I prefer manuals, but I’ve driven them very well both from the left and the right-hand side of the car, and I can ride and shift on a motorcycle too. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2017, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-you-driving-stick/785720/111 "2017-05-04T18:22:21Z")
I much prefer a manual transmission–so much more fun to drive! (except in bumper to bumper traffic, which I suffer through on part of my commute). When I got my CX-5 they only had a stick on the model with the smaller engine and now they don’t offer a manual at all in the US. CX-5s do have a “manual shift mode” but I don’t like it at all. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2017, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-you-driving-stick/785720/112 "2017-05-04T19:08:29Z")
Its been 9-10 years since I last used a stick shift, before that I had driven stick exclusively. But when I turned in my old Honda Civic my wife wanted me to get a car she could drive so I’ve been on automatic since then. I liked the stick except in the sort of start/stop rush hour traffic we get here where holding your foot on the clutch between starts could lead to muscle cramps. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2017, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-you-driving-stick/785720/113 "2017-05-04T19:22:05Z")
> [@Una\_Persson](#): > > Not only do I prefer manuals, but I’ve driven them very well both from the left and the right-hand side of the car, and I can ride and shift on a motorcycle too. That’s the one thing I was surprised by: getting used to driving them in Britain wasn’t at all difficult for me. I thought there would be some weird muscle memory thing going on that would screw me up, but I found the transition seamless. That said, my spatial awareness on the other side of the car took a little getting used to… (I managed to whack the passenger-side/left-side mirror against a pole or something on the way out of the car lot. Luckily, no damage–it just caused the mirror to flip inward like it does when you want to park in a narrow street and not have it stick out into traffic, but it was disconcerting that my spatial awareness was off by that much that it happened.) ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2017, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-you-driving-stick/785720/114 "2017-05-05T03:35:43Z")
I drove a couple of manual cars when I was younger but that was 30 years ago. I didn’t have a car when I lived in Tokyo for the first 20 years and then we needed to get a car my wife could drive as well. Same as when we moved here. It’s like riding a bike, so I have do doubt in my ability to get in one and go. Driving a rental in the UK was OK. A little different but got used to it. I was living in Japan at the time so driving on the left side wasn’t a problem. ---
**Author:** ![MikeF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MikeF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeF)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2017, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-you-driving-stick/785720/115 "2017-05-05T16:49:01Z")
I got my first auto when I was in my 40s. No real preference except in stop and go traffic. ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2017, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-you-driving-stick/785720/116 "2017-05-05T18:23:40Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > And I think people who \*\*prefer \*\*to have to do so much to make a car function are insane. You know, it occurs to me that mandatory stick shifts might reduce the number of people texting while driving. ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2017, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-you-driving-stick/785720/117 "2017-05-05T20:29:09Z")
I’ve been driving a stick shift for the past 2-1/2 years, after 10 years of riding a motorcycle and realizing the clutch work was part of the feeling of being “one with the machine”, so why not try it in my car? BTW, I see references here to leg and knee strain when working the clutch reportedly in slow moving traffic. I don’t get the “leg in the air” bit, which I have tried but cannot control finely enough to be smooth. Instead, a friend of mine showed me a technique of releasing the clutch by rolling my left heel to the floor, then releasing the clutch using the ankle and the ball of the foot, lifting the foot up and away to the dead pedal after the clutch is out. The clutch pedal kind of slides up the foot as it comes up. It works great for smooth shifts in gears 1-3 while driving around local streets or in slow traffic. The only downside is some squeaking when my shoes are wet from rain or snow, but that goes away eventually. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2017, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-you-driving-stick/785720/118 "2017-05-05T20:36:09Z")
I’ve only owned manuals and prefer to drive them. That said, when I rent cars (especially overseas), I rent automatics. I’ve heard/read too many horror stories of Americans renting manuals, being given crap cars, having the car fail 5 minutes off the lot, and being told “it’s because you Americans don’t know how to drive cars with a manual transmission. Here’s the bill for the new transmission and loss-of-use fees.” It’s worth it to me not to have to deal with that potential headache on my vacation. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2017, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-you-driving-stick/785720/119 "2017-05-05T22:04:02Z")
> [@amarinth](#): > > I’ve only owned manuals and prefer to drive them. > That said, when I rent cars (especially overseas), I rent automatics. I’ve heard/read too many horror stories of Americans renting manuals, being given crap cars, having the car fail 5 minutes off the lot, and being told “it’s because you Americans don’t know how to drive cars with a manual transmission. Here’s the bill for the new transmission and loss-of-use fees.” > It’s worth it to me not to have to deal with that potential headache on my vacation. You mean the clutch fries, and the rental company tries to pin it on you? That sucks. I’ve gotten used to checking the oil in my international rental cars. On vacation in Budapest a few years back, with a car having about 30,000 miles on it and I had 1,200 miles to cover for my trip, I found the oil to be 2 quarts low(!). I topped it up and we completed the vacation without incident. But it would’ve been a royal pain if the engine failed due to insufficient oil, having to wait on a replacement and arguing with the rental company over fault. I prefer to drive MT for smaller cars. For bigger cars I prefer AT. I’m very comfortable driving MT so I voted I prefer MT. ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2017, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-you-driving-stick/785720/120 "2017-05-05T22:11:08Z")
> [@GrumpyBunny](#): > > You know, it occurs to me that mandatory stick shifts might reduce the number of people texting while driving. Don’t you believe it! I’ve seen some amazing jugling acts behind the wheel - Shaving, putting on makeup, reading, drinking coffee - several such items at once! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-you-driving-stick/785720.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-you-driving-stick/785720.md?page=7)