Do you still drive a stick shift? Did you ever?

hollydolly said:
there's 7 gears now... a lot different to the 3 in the past...
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Climb up into an older 40 ton truck and you will see why they are now automatic.
trucker2.jpg
On the gear stick is a smaller lever, this is to change gear ratios, not actual gears. There are two sets of gears, high and low ratios. You change from one to the other with the help of the clutch pedal.
trucker1.jpg
In all there are sixteen forward gears, but you don't need to use them all, for the most time the driver will be in 16H or sixteen high ratio.
No wonder automatic is much more preferable, and these days the onboard computer can sense downhill movement and assist with controlled braking by lowering the gears.
 
horseless carriage said:
Climb up into an older 40 ton truck and you will see why they are now automatic.
View attachment 338343
On the gear stick is a smaller lever, this is to change gear ratios, not actual gears. There are two sets of gears, high and low ratios. You change from one to the other with the help of the clutch pedal.
View attachment 338342
In all there are sixteen forward gears, but you don't need to use them all, for the most time the driver will be in 16H or sixteen high ratio.
No wonder automatic is much more preferable, and these days the onboard computer can sense downhill movement and assist with controlled braking by lowering the gears.
Click to expand...
I know all this ... once upon a time I was a transport scheduler.. been out on many HGV's in my time...... Scanias' mainly..
 
Mike said:
Horseless carriage, you didn't mention the
headlight dip switch, I can see it!

Mike.
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Well spotted, for those without Mike's amazing eye sight, there's a small circular switch on the floor next to the clutch pedal, it operates the main/dipped beam.
 
horseless carriage said:
Climb up into an older 40 ton truck and you will see why they are now automatic.
View attachment 338343
On the gear stick is a smaller lever, this is to change gear ratios, not actual gears. There are two sets of gears, high and low ratios. You change from one to the other with the help of the clutch pedal.
View attachment 338342
In all there are sixteen forward gears, but you don't need to use them all, for the most time the driver will be in 16H or sixteen high ratio.
No wonder automatic is much more preferable, and these days the onboard computer can sense downhill movement and assist with controlled braking by lowering the gears.
Click to expand...
Many years ago, horseless carriage, I drove a large
Volvo, with those gears, plus it had another high/low
switch on the dashboard, why anybody would want
or need so many gears is beyond me, I think that the
design was for other countries and sold here as a
vanity project, at the time the gross weight here was
on 32 tons.

I did use them a few times to see if I could manage
them, but you have to concentrate.

Mike.
 
No, we don't have one now. Yes, I did drive a Volkswagen Beetle for many years...you had to shift those 'a lot' with only 80hp! But the gas mileage was great...and they were great in snow and ice with the rear engine...I lived in Colorado.
 
Timewise 60+ said:
No, we don't have one now. Yes, I did drive a Volkswagen Beetle for many years...you had to shift those 'a lot' with only 80hp! But the gas mileage was great...and they were great in snow and ice with the rear engine...I lived in Colorado.
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we have /had a Vintage VW Bay camper... now 53 years old, and still going strong...

van2-1-jpg-original.jpg
 
I started out learning on a stick in driver's ed. But when I kept shifting from 3rd into Reverse, the instructor said some people just weren't made for a stick. Somehow I got a US Navy drivers license. Then they threw in a truck and said " drive". Well, it was their truck, so I drove- wasn't pretty, at first. I did get a stick shift car after I got out. But for some reason I always got stuck trying to parallel park on a super steep hill. So enough of the stick.
 
I learnt to drive in a Triumph Herald manual 4 speed box (four on the floor) but my first car was a Vauxhall Cresta with three on the tree!
Always had manuals right up until last year but bought a Honda Jazz CRV. Wish I'd changed years ago!
 
fuzzybuddy said:
Years ago, I learned to drive a stick shift in the US Navy. I had a Toyota Tercel with a stick for a few years. Supposedly, I got better milage with a stick. But today, it's hard to find a stick passenger car. Maybe sticks still work for trucks, but I think, otherwise sticks are vanishing.
Do you still drive a stick shift? Did you ever?
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Coming from the UK, yes, I drove a stick shift. When I went to the US, I got an automagic. Damn, I've never gone back. Automagic is amazing, and just makes perfect sense.

Mind you, I was never a boy-racer.
 
My car is a 2008 Ford Focus. It has a standard transmission. My last car was a 1993 Ford Tempo. It also had standard. I go for them because they were in pretty good shape as used cars go.
 
My first car was a 1955 Chevy Del ray 210 Coupe. It was Cream with a dark blue roof. It was my Dad's first car in 1955, that he bought at "Marty McFly's New Car Lot"!:unsure:

I remember taking my driver's test on an overcast, rainy day. I was inching along in a long line of cars, when just as we were getting close to my turn, the car in front of me stalled and they couldn't start it again. A group of people pushed it out of the line. My knee bounced, as I worked the clutch..... and then a giant of a State Policeman in a huge yellow rain coat got in the car. His first words were: "Do you have windshield wipers on this vehicle"? I managed to 'weather the storm' and passed my test..... you could say I came through in a clutch!"

In later years, I realized what a great gift my Dad had given me. (I had paid $100 for his ten year old car) His real gift was helping me to move on in life.
 
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Were not most cars stick shift many years back? My first car was a stick and I have owned a few more since. I believe an automatic transmission was not standard so many new cars were sold without it. Now, they are as rare as hens teeth and make it difficult to sell since so few younger folks can drive them. In my driver’s ed, we all were taught to drive a stick.
 
debodun said:
My first car was (Fiat). Never again!

Now most vehicles are CVT, whatever that is.
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CVT is continuously variable transmission. It uses many gears as opposed to 4 or 5 gears. It gives better gas mileage but is known for failure and expense to fix, probably due to its complexity. I specifically avoid any car with CVT.

But if you have the CVT serviced at frequent intervals, you can minimize problems.
 
I still drive a manual car.. the vast majority of people in the Uk drive manual cars... we don't have long stretches of roads in the Uk , where an automatic would be pleasant to drive. Our roads are all stop start very traffic laden.. full of traffic lights and rounabouts, so manual cars are better controlled....

That said, Automatics or semi automatics have become much more popular in recent years... particularly with larger SUV's...

My daughter drives a Rav 4 Automatic..
 
Sorry @hollydolly, as someone who lived in N. VA with it's bumper to bumper traffic and drove a stick shift, it being easier is or better is so far from the truth. It was misery to constantly stop, hold the clutch down, raise the clutch, shift however many times I got a chance before the whole stop thing repeated. I learned to both upshift and downshift my car dealing with that mess. Wide open spaces in a standard is just fine. No different than an automatic.

I still drive a stick. My tractor is a 9 speed.

And while I'm here, one other thing I don't like about today's standard shift cars, the hydraulic clutches. You can't "feel" when the clutch engages.
 
robin416 said:
Sorry @hollydolly, as someone who lived in N. VA with it's bumper to bumper traffic and drove a stick shift, it being easier is or better is so far from the truth. It was misery to constantly stop, hold the clutch down, raise the clutch, shift however many times I got a chance before the whole stop thing repeated. I learned to both upshift and downshift my car dealing with that mess. Wide open spaces in a standard is just fine. No different than an automatic.

I still drive a stick. My tractor is a 9 speed.

And while I'm here, one other thing I don't like about today's standard shift cars, the hydraulic clutches. You can't "feel" when the clutch engages.
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yes but it's not just that... we have very narrow roads, very hilly and full of bends especially in the countryside.. where a manual gear change is a much better way to navigate bad blind bends in our country roads...
 
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Pappy said:
Learned on this. Need I say more?View attachment 338268
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That looks like a '36 Ford Coupe. My gut feeling is that it's actually something else so I guess my memory is fading.
I still drive a manual although Wifey's car is an auto and we've had a few autos now. When I was getting used to driving an auto I used to curl my left leg up and sit on it to prevent myself from seeking the clutch pedal.
 
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