Last 2 cars have been German manuals (BMW 528e, Audi A4), for 14 years of driving time. My wife has a VW passat wagon which is automatic, and it’s a fine car, but I have a lot more fun driving the stick.
Just curious - why do you downshift to first? You can just take the car out of gear if you’re stopping, and as long as you’re rolling second gear is fine to keep you moving. You really only need to engage first gear on the way up. And it’ll save you clutch wear too.
(bolding mine)
why are you making that assumption?
40-something male here, been driving manual since my first car. 78 MGB, 74 Fiat 124, 90 Mustang GT, 98 Contour, 91 Mustang GT, 08 Mazdaspeed 3. All manuals. The Mazda even has 6 gears. I like manual because it keeps me more engaged in driving and gives me more control of the vehicle, both accelerating and stopping. If I see a hill or curve coming up I can downshift instead of letting an automatic transmission figure out when to downshift. If I’m going down a long grade I can downshift and let the engine slow me down.
Because I’ve never driven an MT car where that wasn’t the case, unless perhaps on a rather steep uphill grade. Most cars in my experience can even start from a dead stop in 2nd if you’re very careful with gas and clutch.
Because he/she is downshifting while slowing down, presumably. So either the car is rolling or has come to a stop. And there is no reason to “downshift” into first when you’re stopped.
I always owned a manual. But now I have knee problems, so my current car is an automatic. I feel more like a “rider” than a “driver,” but it’s one of the trade-offs of aging.
I understand the love for manual trannies, although I don’t share it. I guess I’m one of the few agnostics on this issue. I can drive one, and have owned several. I don’t actually prefer it for daily commutes and Seattle’s hills. Now that I’ve shifted (heh) to electric. vehicles, it’s no longer an option. I don’t mourn the loss.
I take the stance, mainly because I drive either manual or in manual mode, for the purpose of enjoyment. Sitting in traffic is counter to this, and easily the worst possible time I could spend in a car, regardless of what my left foot is doing-- however, it’s less work to just let the computer shift in those situations, as well as the practical benefit.
Outside of this, whether it be a clutch or a paddle, manual is akin to riding a bike. It’s secondary with a lot of muscle-memory involved, so while it’s not difficult in casual driving, it’s when I’m actually able to drive, that I can do so with maximum enjoyment. And when doing this, I more focus on the totality of driving, as opposed to shifting, for the sake of it (which is what I do in traffic).
The family cars have always been automatics but my personnal cars or trucks have been sticks. About 10 years ago I went automatic because of traffic. I still shift my automatics like sticks when driving mountains. I hate burning up brakes.
Every car I’ve owned has been a manual, I will NEVER own an automatic, I HATE them
A majority of my miles (lifetime) have been motorcycles or sticks. Automatic tranny cars less than 100 miles maybe? And last time out with one I was cruising along when traffic started to build in front of me ---- so I pushed in the clutch to pop neutral and coast. Ooops. No clutch. But this big brake pedal. And another car suddenly in my trunk.
In the US and Canada, there are stop signs at virtually every intersection not traffic-lighted. Mostly, stop signs in every direction. In my little suburb with relatively little traffic it is hard to go more than a block without having to stop. That is why, after have driven stick shifts all my life I finally got an automatic five years ago.
From when I was in Europe, I know that, while yield signs are common, traffic lights are much less used and stop signs are nearly non-existent. Most intersections such as are in my suburb would be “priorité à la droite”. I have seen no evidence that that is less safe, but it certainly makes stick shifts pleasanter. I suspect there was some feedback here. Americans went for automatics in larger numbers so there were fewer complaints about all the stop signs, so more people bought automatics, so even fewer complaints,…
I drive a stick and always have and I drive it in a city notorious for bad traffic (DC). I actually feel kind of nervous when I’m driving an automatic, just a low level anxiety that something is “off.”
41, female, American: I haven’t had many cars, but they’ve all been manuals ('81 VW Rabbit, '94 Mitsubishi Mirage, '02 Nissan Sentra, '08 Maza RX-8, '11 Honda Accord V6 coupe). I’ll drive 'em until I can’t find 'em anymore.
Real women know how to handle a stick!
Quoted just so I can say “Dude! Welcome back!” 
Agreed: I was surprised at how long it took to find my current car (the Accord coupe) in a stick. And it’s a good thing I didn’t care about getting the OEM navigation system, because it wasn’t available for manuals. :dubious:
I refer only to figuring out what gear to be in. Other aspects of driving, let’s just say there’s a reason I refer to most of the local “driving” population as “Crackerjack” drivers. 
Definitely a manual driver.
The transmission is the most underrated part of the driving experience. It makes or breaks it, imho. Manuals give you a certain touch that I prefer.
I currently drive a '10 Jetta and had a '01 Golf before that. VWs aren’t perfect vehicles, but in the price range they have good manual transmissions from my experience. Unfortunately, I don’t really like their automatics.
How I learned to drive a stick: The first one I got was a Mazda pickup in the early 90s. The guy who sold it to me took a half hour and taught me how to drive it, and I drove it home. I have loved them ever since.
Thanks! Nice to be remembered.
Always driven manuals in the past and greatly prefer it. I guess that’s entirely natural as that’s how I learned. However, since moving to London, where average traffic speed is about 10mph and VERY stop-start I’ve been very happy to switch to an auto.
By the way, in the UK, passing the driving test in a manual qualifies you to drive both auto and manual, passing the test in an auto qualifies you to drive autos only.
Does that work the same way where you live?
How you doin’?
Yeah it is really difficult to find a non-4-cylinder car with a stick that’s not a muscle car. I drove ~120 miles to another state to get my V6 5-speed Contour. I also helped a friend find a 6-speed 6-cylinder Camaro, that had to come from halfway across the USA.
For my current car I settled on a 4-cylinder turbo with my Mazda. It’s been a great car, except Mazda had to replace the turbo because it had leaky seals that made the car smoke. At least it was under warranty.