# Stickshift v. Automatic **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 21, 1999, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stickshift-v-automatic/16636 "1999-06-21T20:33:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 1999, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stickshift-v-automatic/16636/41 "1999-07-24T00:28:00Z")
Given a choice, I would never drive anything but a manual. why? 1. IMO safer: You must pay attention to your driving, (and its impossoble to use a cell-phone) 2. more durable: manuals generally require less maintenance and can tolerate more abuse. For most driving styles, a manual will last _far_ longer.(clutch excluded) 3. simpler: when something does go south, a manual can be repaired with ordinary tools and common sense. a slushbox requires a degree in black arts (and a lot of luck). 4. cheaper: With a manual, the only thing you should ever have to change is the clutch (less than $200). (unless you really beat the car) 5. I’m an idiot: I leave my lights on at least once a month. Push-starting is a godsend. (also useful when the starter goes out) 6. power: Although the newer autos are better, a manual will always waste less engine power through parasitic losses. 7. FUN: learn to do a heel-n-toe into a 90-degree corner at 30+mph and you’ll be a convert too. And, a properly executed power-shift (preload the lever and kick the pedal a glancing blow) at 6300 rpm is literally better than sex. Disclaimer: (this last maneuver should not be tried unless you are comfortable with the probability of _major_ breakage if you do it wrong.) Just for the record; yes, I am a gearhead. Please don’t judge me based on that alone. I try to think as well. WOTSB ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 1999, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stickshift-v-automatic/16636/42 "1999-07-25T06:12:00Z")
I prefer manual. Mostly because of the control issues already stated, but to add to them, I prefer better control in all kinds of adverse weather, rain, sleet, snow, high winds. I have driven in Southern Cal, Guam, IL, and VA/DC and I grew up in SW Va. I’ve driven on cross country trips and everywhere I go, I have found my preference has enabled me to out drive most of the reflex-challenged masses, most of who don’t seem to grasp the concept of foul weather degrading road/tire friction. I currently live in Dallas TX and work as a field service tech and put in a couple of hundred miles per week on the job in and around the DFW metro area and every day I’m glad to be in my “work car”, a 93 Geo Metro 5 speed, since almost every day I run in to “adverse” conditions (most of them behind the wheel of other cars). I just love the drivers around here, a little snow/ice or a couple of inches of rain, and most of them don’t seem to know how(or when)to downshift to maintain control on slick surfaces. And to all of you who love those automatics with the high tech ABS systems; It aint worth shit on a road covered with slick ice. And pmh, yes you can use a cell phone while driving a stick, I do it all the time and I would bet I’m a safer driver than most. and before you flame and say that I’m not a safe driver, I’m 34 and I have only been in 3 accidents while I was driving, in all three I was rear-end while stopped in traffic. wduty ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 1999, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stickshift-v-automatic/16636/43 "1999-07-26T15:53:00Z")
pmh, You wrote: > [@](#): > > 1. IMO safer: You must pay attention to your driving, (and its impossoble to use a cell-phone) This is a bad argument on a couple of accounts. Just because more attention is required, doesn’t mean that it will be given. In the case of the American driving public, I think the opposite is demonstrated on a daily basis. If most people behaved rationally, then you might have a point. People will use their cell phones no matter what the obstacles. I saw a report in the U.K. (where 95% of the cars on the road are manual transmission) that said that nearly 20% of all the traffic accidents reported in 1998 were attributable to cell phone usage… > [@](#): > > 1. more durable: manuals generally require less maintenance and can tolerate more abuse. For most driving styles, a manual will last _far_ longer.(clutch excluded) Definitely not true. If you know how to properly drive one a manual transmission **MAY** not have a shorter life than an automatic, but for the larger driving public the automatic is more forgiving, less prone to abuse, and significantly more reliable. I agree with most everything else you say, except for number 4 “cheaper”… statistics may catch up with you. On a per repair basis, manual transmissions may be less costly to repair, but on a cost over the life of the car, automatics generally fare better. (based on [admittedley] apocrophal evidence from a mechanic friend of mine) ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 1999, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stickshift-v-automatic/16636/44 "1999-07-27T11:54:00Z")
> [@](#): > > If the driver of a stick is > incapacitated at a light the car will just stall. If the same happens to > the driver of an automatic, the car will proceed inti the intersection > of its own accord. What if the driver of an automatic puts it in neutral at a light? > [@](#): > > 1. I’m an idiot: I leave my lights on at least once a month. > Push-starting is a godsend. I’m an idiot: I leave my lights on at least once a month. Lights-on keys-out warning is a godsend. > [@](#): > > But on that day when > the federales are shooting low and you and your baby’s only chance > for escape is to drive away in a straight stick, it would do a lot for > your chances if you have actually driven one before. Um… Good point. When I decide to become an outlaw I’ll keep that in mind. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 1999, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stickshift-v-automatic/16636/45 "1999-07-28T22:31:00Z")
JoeyB: I conceed your point on the safety issue. Never underestimate the stupidity of the general populus. However, I stand by my statement that manual gearboxes are, in general, more durable. This statement is based on my own experiences, and I am open to discussion. I cannot find any stats on failures/milage in non-performance applications, but I contend that in otherwise identical vehicles, driven comperably, the manual will outlast the automatic considerably. The cost over the life of the car issue is directly related to durability, so I won’t argue that seperately. note: I don’t consider the clutch to be a part of the trans. If we do (and I suppose we really should), then you win hands down. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 1999, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stickshift-v-automatic/16636/46 "1999-07-29T02:01:00Z")
This probably doesnt apply to yall car drivers, but its still kinda intresting… Freightliner (they build semi-trucks (eighteen wheelers) ) Offers a 10 speed transmission wich, with the push of a button, can be completely automatic, completely manual, or can be shifted manualy with a keypad on the dash. Sure, its a very expensive accesory, but if you are very hard to satisfy with transmissions, this ones for you. * * * “In wildness is the preservation of the world, so seek the wolf inside thyself” ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 1999, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stickshift-v-automatic/16636/47 "1999-08-01T13:07:00Z")
I personally prefer an automatic because thats the only type i have ever driven. For me, the car is not a toy or a device to race people, it’s something to get me from point a to point b. I dont give a shit if a stick is more fun. I fear driving (Well not really but i just dont think of it as all that much fun). I also dont think the maintenance of the gear box is any more than with a stick. We have had our '95 Grand Prix for about 5 years, and we havent had one problem with the transmission (it has over 100,000 miles on it too…mostly from my brother). Mostly the alternator and starter are the problems i’ve had with it :). I can beat almost anyone at a stop when i start going in that car. Also the battery in that car has never been drained from leaving the lights on because it has a warning that the lights are on when the engine is off. God i love that car… * * * “Let me show you something that you’ve never seen before like a light im gonna shine on you forever is a word i dont often get to say but if you say it loud enough i’ll say it too” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stickshift-v-automatic/16636.md?page=2)