Not completely true. An automatic will always shift as high as it can (probably to get better gas mileage)- on downhill stretches the car could run away from you even if you don’t have your foot on the gas. But you can, as you suggested, put it in 3 (if it exists), 2 or 1, and it will not shift higher than that gear.
Freiheit, as manual gearboxes get older, the teeth wear in and get more rounded. When you shift to another gear, the worn teeth mesh together more easily, and you don’t have to put the clutch in. If you try it in a new car, the teeth will be too pointy and probably won’t mesh, rendering a nice steel on steel grinding sound. (ahem) Not that I’ve ever done it, you know.
Well, uh . . . I got a stick shift because it was cheaper and more fun. I figure one of these days - like if I ever have kids - I’ll go the automatic route, but why spend the extra dough now?
But the thing is, it’s not hard. It’s not macho posturing (except for those people who would engage in macho posturing in everything they do).
I drive a little bog standard Corolla manual. It’s much more fun to drive than faster, bigger automatics I’ve owned - so much for macho posturing. My girlfriend drives it too. She absolutely HATES driving automatics, where I simply mildly dislike it.
As I said, it’s not difficult to drive stick. Many automatic drivers will be familiar with getting lost in a train of thought whilst waiting for a light to flip green, and when they snap out of it, they find they’ve driven safely in heavy traffic for several miles, simply because driving is so second nature. Well, guess what? Driving stick is the same. You don’t think about the brake and the accelerator when you drive an automatic, just like you don’t think about moving your feet when you walk. You think more along the lines of - “I want to go in this direction, and at that speed”. Well, guess what? Clutch and gears are the same. They are not a mystery held in great secrecy by the Ancient Guild of Stick Shifters. Just another control, and the difficulty is equivalent to bicycle riding. The first little while it’ll be so counter-intuitive and inaccessible that you’ll be close to tears. After a day or so, something will “click” in your brain, and it’ll be as easy as farting in bed.
The point is this: any added level of difficulty in driving stick is so utterly marginal that it’s not even a consideration given the benefits.
Far from showing off, I often catch myself witnessing to the unconverted simply because I have friends and family whom I know very well, and I just know they would love driving stick. To be a true stick snob, I’d be doing the opposite - maintaining the mystique, and telling them how jolly hard it is.
LOL! Not that I’m aware, I only do it in our truck because it’s the only stick shift around.
As far as I know, it’ll work with any standard transmission.
The trick is to either know the exact RPMs at which each gear has to shift, or to know the sound.
I do the sound method, I’m not that great at math.
Once it gets to that “perfect” sound, or RPMs, you just shift as you would if you were clutching. It takes some practice, and granted, the vehicle I learned in was an old jeep.
I don’t know if it works in first or not, I usually only do it when already moving, because said work truck is cranky in first as it is.
My 1977 Morris Marina never turned off its own lights; nor did my 1968 Austin Mini; nor my 1986 Toyota Corolla. Thank goodness they were all manual transmission!
OK, I drive a stick. I actually wanted an automatic transmission, but everything atuomatic I test-drove had shit for pick-up. The automatics just flat-out lagged. The manual transmissions, on the other hand, had plenty of pick-up. That’s important when you live in area with steep hills…
Hmm, well I think sticks are a pain in the ass, but then I’ve only driven beaters:
an '86 Chevy Blazer that my wife used to drive, which we eventually gave to her brother and he sold it for about $400
a '70 Volkswagen bus, in which you had to use the parking brake when stopped on a hill
an 80s Ford Fiesta, which was less than festive
and my current vehicle, a '91 Toyota pickup. No, not a Tacoma or 4-Runner, just a pickup. Top practical speed is about 70 mph, after that it bounces around too much. Plus, it’s designed for someone about 5’6", rather than my 6’0". Meaning that I have to place my seat somewhere between not reaching the wheel and having my knees in my chest. And when it takes you 2 hours to drive 40 miles, you’ll hate your stick too.
I drove a heinous VW Vanagon for a while. Some dimrod decided that 1st gear and reverse needed to be in the same place. You had to go into 1st then force it a little to the left to get reverse. It didn’t always go in. In fact, it was about 50/50. Made it difficult to get into and out of parking spaces, to say the least.
I’ve driven both auto and manual, and prefer auto as I live in a land of far too many unnecessary stop signs and traffic lights (Aside to old farts who continually write to Newsday - the phletora of unnecessary stop signs ARE WHY everyone does rolling stops around here…) I’ll stick with automatics. I mean, the auto companies have had over 60 years to perfect them…
Anyway, I’ll be happy when, in 15 years or so, the power trains on all new vehicles are hybrid engines powering electric motors that direct-drive each wheel. No more driveshafts, transaxles, differentials, silly manual vs. auto debates, nothing except kick-ass acceleration and - power!
Best of all, no more greenies whining and whinging about noise and exhaust! Ra!
I drove stick shift cars for about 12 years before buying my first automatic. Now I’ll never, ever buy a stick shift again. It’s just too difficult to drive, smoke and drink coffee simultaneously with a stick shift.
I knew someone would get their panties in a bunch about that comment. You obviously don’t understand the phrase, “the greatest speed you can possibly pull off safely.” Sometimes I do this on twisty mountain roads, and sometimes on a closed track (and hell, when there’s no traffic at 4am, sometimes I do it on the 405N -> 520W interchange). You might even be surprised to learn that if the road is twisty enough, you can do it without breaking the speed limit, so there’s no need to get self-righteous on me.
Regardless, the maximum safe speed for cornering is lower in an automatic because you have the added variable of a machine shifting when you don’t expect it, thus throwing off the vehicle’s balance.
Sorry to hijack, but could you explain how to do this? I have a stick, with no headlight alarm, and boy could I use an alternative to harrassing innocent passerby for a jump…
piaffe, turn the ingition key to the “on” (not “start”) position. Press the clutch, and put the car in second gear. Get a friend to push your car (or simply release the brake if you are lucky enough to be facing downhill). When you are travelling at kinda brisk walking speed, gently pop the clutch, and your engine should fire.
Couple things (well four):
You can still do this if you are alone, but it’s harder. Leave the car in neutral and run along pushing it with the driver’s door open. Then leap in and quickly press the clutch and put it in gear.
Some people will tell you to use first, not second. I guess you can, but I’ve always been told to use second, and it’s worked fine for me. I think the “use second” crowd has the numbers.
It’s a good idea to tell your friends to back off the pushing when they hear you honk your horn to signify you’re about to pop the clutch. Otherwise, they may well faceplant into the back of your car.
You can be tow / push started by another vehicle. This will involve similar co-ordination with horn signals between the drivers. If towed, you’ll need to press the clutch again as soon as your engine fires. honk the horn to tell the other driver to put his car in neutral, and then you gently brake for both cars. If being pushed (with some padding on the bumper, hopefully, when the engine starts, you honk your horn to let the other driver to know to brake. Then you accelerate away.
You don’t want to use first gear b/c in the old days reverse and first were not synchromeshed. IOW, you had to be completely motionless to get into those gears or you’d shear them. These days first and reverse are also synchromeshed, but the problem with first is that you really need more juice (speed) to turn it over, so you may shudder-stall if you try and release the clutch from first gear.
I was so proud of my mom. She had her automatics for years. Then she turns old, and decides she needs a two door convertible. And she bought a manual. With six speeds. It gave me warm fuzzies in my chest.
As far as the standard vs. auto debate, as long as you can drive both, I could care less what you prefer.
But if you can only drive automatic, you need to learn how to drive.
And yes, I offer my car to everyone I know who wants to learn. If they can’t learn on a 98 Saturn well, there is no helping them.
All newer cars dingdingding like crazy should you forget your lights.