# Why do you prefer a stick-shift over an automatic transmission? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 28, 2020, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-prefer-a-stick-shift-over-an-automatic-transmission/919279 "2020-08-28T21:59:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![eschrodinger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschrodinger/32/122_2.png) [@eschrodinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschrodinger)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2020, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-prefer-a-stick-shift-over-an-automatic-transmission/919279/101 "2020-08-30T01:35:04Z")
I had a broken right wrist while I had a Mazda MX-6 manual. I had to drive about a mile and a half to and from classes every day. I just put the thing in 2nd, revved a little extra starting out, and I could push it up into third if I needed to. When I came to a stop, I’d use my left to reach over and put it back in 2nd. Not recommended. I could have shifted with my right if I absolutely had to, it just hurt like hell. Obviously not the same as having a leg out of commission. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2020, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-prefer-a-stick-shift-over-an-automatic-transmission/919279/102 "2020-08-30T02:09:35Z")
> [@eschrodinger](#): > > I had a broken right wrist while I had a Mazda MX-6 manual. I had to drive about a mile and a half to and from classes every day. I just put the thing in 2nd, revved a little extra starting out, and I could push it up into third if I needed to. When I came to a stop, I’d use my left to reach over and put it back in 2nd. > > Not recommended. I could have shifted with my right if I absolutely had to, it just hurt like hell. > > Obviously not the same as having a leg out of commission. I badly sprained my left ankle once in college, and was unable to bear any weight on it whatsoever. My car was a manual-transmission Mazda GLC, so I made arrangements with my grandmother to borrow her automatic-transmission Buick for a few days. (She didn’t drive much.) But I had to get to her house first to switch out vehicles. I accomplished this by operating the clutch of my Mazda with one of my crutches. 🤨 It was cumbersome and not particularly smooth shifting (especially starting from a stop), but it worked. I didn’t think it was particularly unsafe, as I figured if I had to do a panic stop, I could brake the car normally with my right foot, and if the car stalled, so be it. ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2020, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-prefer-a-stick-shift-over-an-automatic-transmission/919279/103 "2020-08-30T02:25:35Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > A lot of people who aren’t experienced at driving _manuals_ slip back in them when they stop on hills, but I don’t have that problem. I can come from a dead stop on a hill without going backwards. I’d like to see you demonstrate that skill in San Francisco. As I remember, there is at least one intersection on Nob Hill that, when stopped at the stop sign, when looking out the windshield, all you see is sky (you literally had to take a leap of faith for the first few feet of the intersection). I _always_ used the parking brake to get started into that intersection. Are there similar Indiana “hills”? ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2020, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-prefer-a-stick-shift-over-an-automatic-transmission/919279/104 "2020-08-30T02:34:39Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > There are two very notable downgrades on the road up and back to Flagstaff, and I see people riding their brakes the whole way down. I used to lock the car into a low gear on my previous car, but this car accelerates when you shift down (I mentioned that I’m only driving cheap cars). The burst of acceleration when you or it downshift is generally good (although still jerky compared to a manual, this car is not as bad as the previous model), but it’s not what you want when you’re looking down from the top of a hill. Also, I didn’t slip backwards on hills or driveways, but on a modern car designed for automatic as standard, who knows? Driving a power steering car without the power for the steering is a lot of work, but cars designed without power steering weren’t like that. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2020, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-prefer-a-stick-shift-over-an-automatic-transmission/919279/105 "2020-08-30T02:36:15Z")
> [@TheCuse](#): > > Just because you think it’s a hassle and keep saying it’s a hassle doesn’t mean it’s a hassle. It seems a lot of folks in this thread disagree with you. the handful of people talking about it in this thread have no relevance to the 15-17 million new vehicles sold every year. drop the consensus bias. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2020, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-prefer-a-stick-shift-over-an-automatic-transmission/919279/106 "2020-08-30T02:39:46Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > the handful of people talking about it in this thread have no relevance to the 15-17 million new vehicles The handful of people talking in this thread are the people you are talking with. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2020, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-prefer-a-stick-shift-over-an-automatic-transmission/919279/107 "2020-08-30T02:46:59Z")
And they’re exactly the people whom I, as the OP, invited here to share their opinions. So why the derision? ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2020, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-prefer-a-stick-shift-over-an-automatic-transmission/919279/108 "2020-08-30T02:48:50Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > I think downshifting an automatic was taught in Driver’s Ed, but most people were sleeping through that. I had to show my wife how to do it. In flat as a pancake USA, they mentioned it. They stressed how to regain control when the car slid in winter more. We visited friends in Moab UT who showed us around…he was constantly shifting his automatic, said he’d grown up in an area with steep grades and knew better to overheat the brakes. > [@JRDelirious](#): > > Eh, half of the onetime advantages of manuals have been mooted by current high-tech automatics/DCTs/CVTs (though substituted with how a high-tech automatic costs an even greater bundle to repair than a traditional Auto and depending on type can have a lot more things to break). Old tech is more reliable and yeah, probably cheaper to fix. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2020, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-prefer-a-stick-shift-over-an-automatic-transmission/919279/109 "2020-08-30T03:57:45Z")
> [@peccavi](#): > > I’d like to see you demonstrate that skill in San Francisco. As I remember, there is at least one intersection on Nob Hill that, when stopped at the stop sign, when looking out the windshield, all you see is sky (you literally had to take a leap of faith for the first few feet of the intersection). I _always_ used the parking brake to get started into that intersection. > > Are there similar Indiana “hills”? I dunno if it actually compares to Nob Hill (it is in flat assed Texas, after all), but I’ve been through Brown Blvd. and Collins in Arlington (and other steep stops) in the aforementioned 65 F100. Using the parking break to hold the hill would have been sketchy, as operating the weird t-handle parking brake would probably put my face in the middle of the steering wheel, where I could see nothing but the horribly inaccurate (off by nearly 20 MPH at 35) speedometer. With that gutless 300CI six and a 4000lb truck, it was easier to rev the engine with your toe while you held the brake with your heel, and let the clutch out pretty hard while you let off the brake. It’s the same thing hill holding does in modern cars (and using the parking brake does basically the same thing), but smoother. In every other manual transmission vehicle I’ve driven without hill holding, which all had a more favorable torque/weight ratio than that truck, it’s enough to be quick with the throttle and the clutch. Really, unless you’re driving a kind of unresponsive vehicle or are scared of launching a little hard, a hill isn’t a giant problem. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2020, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-prefer-a-stick-shift-over-an-automatic-transmission/919279/110 "2020-08-30T04:03:32Z")
Shifting has become so easy. I love the feel of shifting with just one finger on the knob, the mechanism just draws you through the process so effortlessly. People still think of shifting as using force to overcome resistance, and they do it with a clenched fist. My 2000 Sentra shifted lihe a dream, I can’t imagine what they are like now. I like having to be reactive to my car, conscious and aware of its mechanics. If there is a radio, I refuse to have it on while I’m thinking about directing my car. How would you like to be operated on by a surgeon listening to a talk show? ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2020, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-prefer-a-stick-shift-over-an-automatic-transmission/919279/111 "2020-08-30T04:25:01Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > How would you like to be operated on by a surgeon listening to a talk show? Not much, probably. I’d prefer they listened to Baroque music, but hard rock seems to be what surgeons like most.\* \*while they’re good songs, “Rock You Like A Hurricane” and “Break On Through (To The Other Side)” are things I’d rather not know are blasting through the O.R. while I’m in surgery. > **[Here's What Music Surgeons Listen To While You're Under The Knife](https://gizmodo.com.au/2017/08/heres-what-music-surgeons-listen-to-while-youre-under-the-knife/)** > > When surgeons listen to music they like, they are both more efficient at closing incisions and their technique improves. It’s a fact. But what exactly are surgeons listening to while you’re under the knife? Thanks to Spotify, we have the answer.... ---
**Author:** ![Brayne\_Ded](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Brayne\_Ded](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brayne_Ded)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2020, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-prefer-a-stick-shift-over-an-automatic-transmission/919279/112 "2020-08-30T09:22:30Z")
It comes to all of us eventually. 😬 ---
**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:** [August 30, 2020, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-prefer-a-stick-shift-over-an-automatic-transmission/919279/113 "2020-08-30T09:59:34Z")
Automatics are reactive. They only start doing something _after_ the process has started. But in a manual I can anticipate my needs and prepare for it. For example, passing a car on a two lane road–in an automatic there will always be some delay when I floor it. But in a manual I can downshift in advance and only then ease out to pass. I don’t have to wait for the car to figure out yes, I really do want to accelerate as quickly as possible. Anyway, I drive an electric now and the response time is even better. I didn’t love the shifting, I loved the feeling that the car did what I wanted as soon as I asked it. Worse than an automatic is my parent’s PHEV Fusion. When you floor it, it doesn’t just take time to downshift–it has to start the whole bloody engine (it uses the electric motor for low accelerations, but if you need more power it has to start the ICE). It takes at least an extra second to both decide that I want more power and to start and engage the engine. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2020, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-prefer-a-stick-shift-over-an-automatic-transmission/919279/114 "2020-08-30T10:39:43Z")
Yeah, there sure are. There are also lots in the East, and I have driven around New York and Pennsylvania in a manual. In fact, I lived on a hill for a a while in Indiana. It wasn’t a bad one, but I had to back out, then shift into first on the hill _every day_– sometimes with another car coming up behind me, exceeding the speed limit. So I got lots of practice. For a while I did it in a 61 Falcon with no parking brake. The cable was bad, and I couldn’t find a replacement. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2020, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-prefer-a-stick-shift-over-an-automatic-transmission/919279/115 "2020-08-30T10:54:58Z")
Even if they didn’t add up to 180%, the survey would be useless without the responses of the same-age general public’ for comparison. Notice, none said talk-radio. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2020, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-prefer-a-stick-shift-over-an-automatic-transmission/919279/116 "2020-08-30T15:58:09Z")
I don’t live in a traffic heavy area, most of my miles are done on a combination of fast motorways and twisty mountain roads with a side serving of snow and ice thrown in. Those are perfect conditions for a manual transmission. The key point is what Dr.Stangelove said about auto’s being reactive. e.g.Hesitation at junctions, or on a steep hill I can ensure that I’m in the right gear for what is in front of me. I know what I can see and that I’m going to be better in second because the turbo will be spinning, all the power will be available at the point I need it. Same with snow and ice, The last thing I want is a gearbox trying to make a decision for me and changing the torque I have. As for mpg, when given an auto version of the exact same car I have (when I borrow a courtesy car during servicing) and driving the exact same route, I get better mpg with the manaul, quite a bit better. I can _approach_ the same mpg with an auto but only by concentrating on having a very light right foot and driving somewhat more slowly. And this is a modern 6 speed dsg for which the manufacturer quotes better auto mpg than manual. Go figure. If I spent a good proportion of my time in jams and cities I could understand the attraction of an auto but in my current usage pattern they provide very few benefits. ---
**Author:** ![TheCuse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thecuse/32/2854_2.png) [@TheCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheCuse)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2020, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-prefer-a-stick-shift-over-an-automatic-transmission/919279/117 "2020-08-30T16:39:15Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > the handful of people talking about it in this thread have no relevance to the 15-17 million new vehicles sold every year. drop the consensus bias. You do realize this thread is about why folks who drive sticks prefer it over automatics, right? I mean, it says so in the title. It has zero to do with the 15-17 million new cars being sold every year. Besides that–just because more automatics than sticks are sold does not mean that driving a stick is a hassle. That is just your opinion. Nothing more. Nothing less. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2020, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-prefer-a-stick-shift-over-an-automatic-transmission/919279/118 "2020-08-30T16:52:15Z")
> [@lobotomyboy63](#): > > Better mpg. And I used to love the look on the dealer’s face when he said “Yes, that’s the price we advertised…for a manual transmission.” And then I’d tell him to bring it on. I did exactly that. He hemmed and hawed that they didn’t have any… well, he _supposed_ he could _see_ if there was one available… well, here’s one two states away, but you don’t want that, it’d take _forever_ to get here. Well, he could order it, and… it’ll be here in eight business days. This was back in the 'Oughts, and I’d test driven a bunch of tiny cars, and they just weren’t fun. Wanted a Prius, but it was slow and I always had the accelerator floored getting on steep on-ramps. Even the Toyota Echo was a dog, until I called around and got to drive a used Echo with a manual. That had twice the pep of the automatic. Suddenly, I was having a blast. I waited the eight days and got a really fun manual. I could feel the road, feel the engine and the wheels, and here in the frozen tundra, I could drift 180º into a parking spot for four months of the year. I had a decade of stick-y daily driving, 'til it got t-boned by an 18-wheeler… _sigh…_ still miss that manual. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2020, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-prefer-a-stick-shift-over-an-automatic-transmission/919279/119 "2020-08-30T16:58:48Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > \*while they’re good songs, “Rock You Like A Hurricane” and “Break On Through (To The Other Side)” are things I’d rather not know are blasting through the O.R. while I’m in surgery. “Paint it Black” is also the wrong sentiment while I’m being operated on. Hills are a matter of practice. If you’re used to Nebraska, driving around a hilly area is going to be a problem. But if you explicitly practice on hills, you get good at them. You also know when you do need to worry about it and use the emergency brake and when the idiot who has pulled way too far forward behind you should have been more careful. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2020, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-prefer-a-stick-shift-over-an-automatic-transmission/919279/120 "2020-08-30T16:59:36Z")
> [@peccavi](#): > > I’d like to see you demonstrate that skill in San Francisco. As I remember, there is at least one intersection on Nob Hill that, when stopped at the stop sign, when looking out the windshield, all you see is sky (you literally had to take a leap of faith for the first few feet of the intersection). I’d like to take up that challenge. There’s a hill nearby, that’s probably not nearly as extreme, that parents would take their kids to to test if they were competent on a stick. Very steep incline leading up to the sign. And, in any case, there’s no shame in using the handbrake if it’s necessary. > [@scabpicker](#): > > it was easier to rev the engine with your toe while you held the brake with your heel, and let the clutch out pretty hard while you let off the brake. Heel toeing is also a very acceptable technique for starts on hills. > [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > Automatics are reactive. They only start doing something _after_ the process has started. But in a manual I can anticipate my needs and prepare for it. For example, passing a car on a two lane road–in an automatic there will always be some delay when I floor it. But in a manual I can downshift in advance and only then ease out to pass. I don’t have to wait for the car to figure out yes, I really do want to accelerate as quickly as possible. Most modern cars that I’ve driven of late have an “S” mode that allows you to select the gear. I do use that from time to time in exactly those situations as you describe, but not nearly as often as I would if I were driving a manual, and it is something that people probably wouldn’t even think about if they hadn’t driven a stick for a couple decades already. And it’s not as good as the direct linkage, obviously, but it is _something_. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-prefer-a-stick-shift-over-an-automatic-transmission/919279.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-prefer-a-stick-shift-over-an-automatic-transmission/919279.md?page=7)