If you drive a stick shift car , why ?

Toomuchstuff

Toomuchstuff

Member
Location
Wisconsin
I tried driving a stick shift once . I couldn't do it ! I wasn't coordinated enough LOL. But then I thought , why would people want to go through all that shifting when they can just sit back ,put it in drive and go ? From what I've read , standard and manual transmission get about the same miles per gallon , so why go through all the trouble ?

Besides , how can I put on makeup , text,eat my hamburger ,fix my hair & floss my teeth when I have to worry about shifting ???
(I'm kidding!)LOL
:D:p
 

In our area, snow and ice is the main reason, even though auto 4wd has taken suma the anxiety out of it for a lot of folks, I prefer to exercise my options

learned at 13, three on the tree

then

the ultimate...4 on the floor
16 yr olds, in the sixties

Now?
Yeah, I prefer auto
in summer
 
Sure I can drive a standard shift car, as can my son and grandsons, etc., but I now have an automatic. My mother, on the other hand, never could figure it out. There were 3 pedals, and she only had 2 feet, and was always 1 pedal behind
 
Where I grew up, if you couldn't drive stick shift, it was noted as an exception on your driver's license. My dad bought a log wagon of a Ford station wagon that had no power anything and then he hired my brother's nerves of steel friend to teach me. He was an excellent teacher and when he was finished I could drive in nearly any road conditions.

I think it's what you get used to. I've always driven stick shifts and I still do.
 
Of the 27 cars I've owned since 1952, 17 were standard shift, either 3 or 4-speed. My '34 Plymouth and my '36 Ford had 3 on the floor.

My first car with an automatic was a 1949 Oldsmobile "Rocket 88", with a 4-speed Hydramatic transmission.

My present wheels is a 2012 Mazda 3 with a 6-speed auto, with "Sport Shift", which I only use when climbing the steep Cajon Pass Summit, where I leave it locked in 4th or 5th.

Hal
 
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I really don't think there is a why? When we were younger it was just more fun ?, more control on twisty roads. IMO as we age it becomes a preference for one or the other ? I still prefer a standard shift, but my current F-150 is automatic.

That said, in heavy traffic...an automatic is a blessing...:)

If things keep going as they seem to be, it will all become completely automatic , and perhaps sooner than we think.....I'm talking about autonomous cars.

Hell, we already have autonomous vacuums ........we're getting lazier.
 
We've been driving cars/trucks with manual transmissions for decades. My husband used to always prefer them because you have more control on rough, off the beaten path dirt roads, mountain passes, steep hills, snow, etc. Way back in the day, I had to pop the clutch with instruction from my husband when a car wouldn't start due to a weak battery, etc. I drive a Jeep Cherokee every day and our truck that we use for travel/vacations is a Dodge Cummins diesel, both with 4WD and manual trannys.

I agree with rgp, driving in heavy stop and go traffic in the city is easier with an automatic, luckily I'm rarely in that position. :drive:
 
I don't have a stick shift but my son just bought a new vehicle and I asked him if it was stick shift.

He said. Yes. I knew ahead of time he liked stick shift.

I asked him why. He said "because it's fun to drive".
 
I grew up on a farm and by age 12 or so I could drive an old standard transmission farm truck or my brother's souped-up old '65 Chevy with 3 on the column. My first car was a used Triumph GT6 fastback with a 5-speed. Six cylinders and 2300 pounds...how do I remember that?? That little car would fly.

Last manual transmission we've owned was a Mazda 6 around 1990.
 
When I learned to drive sticks ruled. If there were any automatics I don't recall them I liked shifting sticks and all my early cars were stick shift. Now, automatics are just fine with me.
 
I never learned to drive a stick shift car in Driver's Ed, simulation or otherwise for some reason.....too long ago to remember.
 
I've driven trucks with a 5x4 transmissions (5 speed main box with a separate 4 speed box) 10 speed road ranger transmissions, 13 speeds, and 18 speed transmissions. Whew.. Nowadays it's all automatic and I love it.. :untroubled:
 
HazyDavey said:
For years I drove trucks with a 5x4 transmissions (5 speed main box with a separate 4 speed box) 10 speed road ranger transmissions, 13 speeds, and 18 speed transmissions. Whew.. Nowadays it's all automatic and I love it.. :untroubled:
Click to expand...
The last two years I worked it was with an automatic Kenworth...
.
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When I learned to drive, I didn't know anyone who owned an automatic.

The last stick we had was a 1973 VW camper.

I find that a stick is a nuisance in heavy traffic.
 
When I learned to drive there were mainly Stick Shift cars,
Automatics were very expensive and not very good, they
also used a lot more fuel/gas.

I drove cars, buses, both coaches and double deckers, also
trucks that you call 18 wheelers, all Stick shift.

I see now-a-days that even the big trucks are automatic,
but you can drive them as a stick shift, if you select "L" it
will hold the gear that you are in.

Mike.
 
I grew up with "3 on the tree" and then later "4 on the floor", and a few 5 speeds as well. Being a car nut (still am) I thought they were more fun to drive, and back then most were faster than automatics. My vehicles are automatic now, they have come along way and now typically deliver better mileage, and in today's muscle cars are faster than a standard transmission.
 
Have you ever tried to push start an automatic? It's easily done with a stick. If you lose a gear in a stick, you can usually get around it, say you lose second, you can go a few rpms higher in first, then go straight to third. When you lose a gear in an automatic, it generally (most usually) means you've lost the transmission altogether. Often when hauling or towing something, a stick provides options an automatic doesn't. Our '93 Toyota pickup is a 5 speed stick (with 3L V6). My wife and I both like manual transmissions but they're getting harder to come by as the younger generation prefers fluid drive, and now you have to pay extra for manual. Years ago, you had to pay extra for an automatic, imagine that.
 
I have two vehicles; one a stick shift, one an automatic. I like to drive the stick shift. When I get old I will probably prefer the automatic.
 

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