My 2022 7-speed manual Bronco:
One of my favorite places in all the world.
I’ve never had stick shift, never known how to drive one. Automatics since I got my learner licence. So no, I’ll in answer to the OP, I’ll never buy a stick shift.
That article did not mean anything to me. It was very odd reading an article about something that obviously meant so much to the writer, but left me completely … uninvolved? unaffected? I could not understand what he was lamenting. For me, no emotional connection whatsoever to the theme of the article. Just very odd.
(Not meaning to critique the purpose of this article, just trying to give a different perspective on the issue.)
I can agree that the article could be meaningless to you on that particular subject. But is there something in your life that is analogous? Do you prefer to do something, own something, that others might consider dated? Something that is a bit more labour or mental intensive than a more modern solution?
The article went into emotional territory. I prefer a manual transmission for more prosaic reasons. Getting unstuck for instance. But do like automatics for ease of use.
I wonder if some vinyl record users have opinions on manual versus automatic? If it seems to skew a particular way?
It’s interesting that this thread popped up on my radar recently. My current rig is a 2016 Jeep Grand Cherokee which I’ve had since buying it new that year. It is my first Jeep product, and after my last car which was a 2001 Honda CR-V (a rare one since it had the 5-MT tranny, BTW) that was so bullet-proof reliable and lasted me 225,000 miles before selling her while she was still running great, I was a little leery about its reliability.
It has an automatic transmission, an 8-speed, and mated with the diesel engine it is pretty fuel efficient. I have 137,000 miles on it and plan to drive it until the wheels fall off. I’d love to get 500,000 miles, maybe even 1,000,000 miles.
Since I’ve grown to love this Grand Cherokee, I’ve started looking at 1993 models of it — the 1st generation. Only about 1,500 were built with a 5-MT, otherwise all the Grand Cherokees ever sold in the US have automatics through 5 generations now.
The 1993 Jeep Grand Cherokee with the 5-MT tranny came with the base engine, the 4.0L straight 6. I’m a fan of straight 6 engines because they have perfect primary and secondary balance, and therefore are very smooth. With this model, everything is basic. Nothing is powered. Window cranks are manual, as are the seat adjustments.
To me the 1993 Jeep Grand Cherokee model ZJ, for 1st-gen, with 4.0 I6 and 5-MT is the holy grail of Grand Cherokees.
I bought a VW T4 in December '21, if that’s close enough. Stick to be sure.
You aren’t the only one who feels that way about those Jeeps.
Stick shift is still the normal here, though auto is becoming more common. Utilities will invariably buy the stick shift model (at one time in the 1990s I remember the one I worked for bought the model without a radio, because they could shave a few pennies off the price that way)
Wow I had no idea. I read an article about it and put it on my search list. I didn’t know there was some GCs out there with manual trannies.
Would be fun to test drive one!
Another fun fact: Chrysler actually offered the first and second generation Caravan/Voyager with a manual transmission. They too were pretty uncommon. I suspect they offered mostly just because it was the norm in the 1980s and early 90s for most vehicles to have a manual transmission on the base model, with luxury cars being the exception.
They may have been trying to appeal to people who had previously driven Volkswagen vans, which were typically manual.
Interestingly I have heard that the reason Chrysler felt it was acceptable to put a four cylinder engine in those vans for the first few years*, which of course made them extremally slow, was because they figured it’s only real competition was the VW Vanagon, which was even slower.
*The V6 wasn’t available until around '87.
I have always have driven manuals (until I got an EV).
The times I’ve driven an automatic (mostly rentals)
I always felt out of control driving in hilly/mountainous terrain.
How are you supposed to control the speed in an automatic driving up or down a mountain?
You approach a turn, release the gas: and the thing shifts UP : you brake, go through the turn, hit the gas : wait for the thing to realize it is in a totally inappropriate gear, wait for the gearshift : and we’re moving again.
What am I doing wrong?
Driving an automatic.
Never driven one, but I believe most automatics (well, in the last 30 or 40 years) have a mode exactly for this - you move the lever past “D” into “3”, “2”, or “1” as needed, and it will hold the chosen gear rather than shifting. This allows you to control things better in the conditions you describe.
It varies by model.
Some automatics have gear selections that limit the top gear, i.e. selecting ‘2’ may mean no higher than 2nd gear (will automatically switch between 1st and 2nd only). Others fix the gear.
And still other, more modern, models have options to allow you to upshift or downshift by a gear (+/-) while you are driving, either on the stick or paddle shifters. Sometimes these are true shifts but other times, it’s still a limit on the top gear.
YMMV, literally
Most of my vehicles have been manuals, I just prefer the extra level of control it gives. And it has saved me about $1,000 per car.
It has become so ingrained I don’t think about it, even in stop and go traffic.
Pinto Wagon was a 4 speed stick
Then 2 automatics
Ford Ranger was a 4 speed stick
Honda Civic was a 5 speed stick
Honda Accord was a 5 speed stick
Toyota MR2 was a sequential 6 speed manual - that did take some getting used to.
Kia Spectra 5 was a 5 speed stick
Honda Fit was a 6 speed stick - had to go well out of my way to find one
VW GTI is a six speed stick - 40% of GTIs sold are manual
But that my be the end of the line, if something happened to my GTI; I think I would go with the new Prius prime
For very hilly roads, that’s what gears like 1 or 2 or even 3 (depends on car) help with. Or many cars these, as mentioned above, will have a manual selector if you knock the stick either to the left or right or D, and then you can shift up and down manually. Or you can slam the throttle all the way down to get it to downshift on all automatics (at least that I know.) Some call this a “passing gear” but there is no separate gear—it’s a forced downshift. Still takes a second (or less) to engage.
I much prefer hills in a manual, but even basic automatics are fine with me.
That’s what I was thinking too. I learned to drive a stick on one, a 1975 VW Microbus just like this one.
I found that my new Bronco has almost no engine braking. The turbo 4 cylinder engine makes a lot of power, but doesn’t slow the truck very much going down hills, even in 3rd gear.