Me too. I learned to drive at 17 on an automatic (72 Chevelle), but when I was 21, a friend taught me to drive stick, and the next car I owned after that was stick. I exclusively owned stick, and drove automatic only when I rented a car until last year, when I traded in my 1994 Integra for a brand new car with 26 miles on it (Chevy Spark). When I was looking for a car, I looked for a manual, but couldn’t find one. The only ones were some used cars I didn’t want, and things like Corvettes.
I love my Spark, except for it not being a manual.
As my husband says, driving an automatic “isn’t driving, it’s steering.”
Yes, to the extent that I am pretty religious about rev matching on the downshifts, including using the heel and toe technique. Can pretty much nail the revs now thanks to years of repetition.
All of my vehicles are automatics. All of my vehicles are for work, so aren’t particularly fun to drive. I like manuals and am very competent at using them, if I find myself with extra money to blow on a sports car I’d probably opt for a manual.
Professional level with the trophies to prove it. And no, that isn’t just a jest.
Of all the vehicles I’ve owned only one has had an automatic tranny; and that only because I couldn’t find the right classic/antique manual to swap out and convert it.
Out of 20 cars since '78, 11 have had manuals (including my current 3 vehicles) and 9 automatics. My main ride now is a loaded '13 Hyundai Elantra GT. The only option I didn’t get was the automatic.
I am starting to get a hankering for a new land yacht, however. I drove a Grand Marquis for a few years, and it was sweet in the mountains and in interstate slowdowns. Stop & Go sucks with a clutch.
I prefer manuals in general but I don’t hate automatics. I’m not fond of stock automatics for the most part, I prefer a crisper shift. And I don’t like the behavior of automatics when coupled with underpowered engines (particularly the way they shift to a lower gear and ROARRR when all you’re trying to do is climb the damn hill without losing speed). I was on good terms with my old GM turbo-hydramatic in my '65 Pontiac. Automatics are far more pleasant than manuals when you’re embedded in a traffic jam and have to inch and lurch and stop every 14 feet for a couple hours. Clutches don’t like that environment. All things being equal, though, manuals are just more fun and I like directly controlling what gear my car is in and when it shall be shifted.
I never learned, the theory doesn’t appeal to me at all, and I have no idea where I’d find a car to practice on anyways.
This board is not exactly a random sample of the population, and beyond that, this is one of those topics where only one side gets a lot of gratification from their choice. Threads about computer operating systems will be dominated by Mac users in the same way.
I prefer a stick. I’m a bit of an airhead. Driving a stick forces me to focus. I have more awareness of my acceleration, , front and rear traffic, braking speed, and my surroundings when I drive stick.
My mind tends to wander when driving an automatic.
I learned to drive on a manual-transmission 1972 Volvo, which also had no air conditioning (and I was in Florida), itchy olive-green wool seats, and a hand-crank sunroof. I think it’s a cool car still.
My vehicle in college was a mid-1980s Mustang, which was a four on the floor.
I said that I’m competent, but in truth I’d prefer a manual transmission vehicle. However, I have a bum left knee that would occasionally *really *disapprove. I may get one anyway as my second vehicle once the SUV is paid off. I want another Mustang. Why yes, I’m trying to relive a tiny bit of my youth.
ETA: My most recent “kids today!” moment was finding out that no one under age 35 at my office could drive a standard shift…except the ones from overseas, who all learned on a manual.
I’ve driven manual all my 25 years’ driving, and indeed you won’t get a full driving licence in the UK if you don’t test in one (you can take an ‘automatic only’ test).
However, your poll didn’t give me the option I prefer - I can drive a manual without thinking, but have grown to prefer automatics, if only because I sit in slow driving traffic twice a day and sit there - with throbbing clutch knee - feeling very envious of my wife’s lovely Lexus automatic.
I don’t love ALL automatics - drove a horrible Citroen as a hire car in France last year which I was thrilled to give back, as it had such a lag between ‘automatic’ gear changes. But the Lexus is a dream to drive.
Both of my cars have been manuals, but I wouldn’t say I “prefer” it anymore. They’re fun at times, but they make day to day commuting a bit more annoying than it would otherwise be – especially when in stop and go traffic. My next car will likely be an automatic.
I learned to drive stick on a 15-year-old Volvo that had been all over Europe, Seattle, Phoenix, Texas, DC, and then Florida. And never wore out a clutch…though my stepmum was sure that I’d do so.
Learned to drive a manual in Air Cadets on some soon to be retired military Jeeps. No syncro on first. It was a blast! I’ve alternated each of my vehicles with auto and manual and the next one will be a manual. The only reason my current ride isn’t a Legacy GT with a 5 speed was because my wife was also driving (and co-paying) it at the time and refused to drive a “stupid stickshift” (even thought she knows how, she doesn’t like them). WRX or Focus RS with a 6 speed manual? Yes please!
I learned to drive and took my driving test in a 64 Belair with a column stick shift. That was in 1970. Most of the vehicles I drove up until 2006 had stick shifts. When I have had occasion to drive a stick since 2006, things went pretty smoothly right away, so I think I’m still competent.
Me too. After many lessons, I can make the car go forward. No one wants me to do this outside an emergency situation because I’m not able to do this will any degree of skill whatsoever. I have trouble with making right turns or getting above 3rd gear. And I think people who **prefer **to have to do so much to make a car function are insane.
I’ve driven manuals almost exclusively the last 20 years, but I don’t have a real preference - it just works out that way. For example, my current vehicle is a “fleet-spec” Dodge Dakota pickup truck, and those have almost no options - manual windows, manual transmission, cassette player - not even cupholders.
Where I do have a preference is motorcycles- manuals only. The automatic bikes I’ve ridden are horribly slow, but I’ll concede I haven’t tried the new DCT versions or an electric.
DCTs (in my experience) go from “meh, I guess it’s alright” to “this thing is a piece of crap.” They’re OK so long as they’re shifting sequentially through the gears, but if they need to skip ratios (e.g. 4-2, or 5-3) they’re staying on the same input shaft and are horribly slow at shifting.
EVs don’t really need multiple gear ratios at all, so they just pull. it’s one of the reasons they feel so quick.
