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How America lost its love for the stick shift

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Re: How America lost its love for the stick shift

#431

Post by briffle »

Someone1234 wrote: post #48

There's little argument for manual transmission anymore except in larger vehicles. There used to be an efficiency gap, in that a good manual driver was more efficient than an automatic. But two things have happened since then, we have computer controlled transmissions and CVTs. Manual drivers were more efficient because they learned when the vehicle would need to shift, and shifted preemptively. A computer controlled…

They are rare in larger vehicles as well. Only Ram still makes a manual for their deisel heavy duty, and they detune the engine by 200 ft/lbs of torque. Automatics HD trucks do not disengage/spool down the turbo when shifting, which is important when you are pulling large loads up a hill.

Re: How America lost its love for the stick shift

#432

Post by King-Aaron »

t0mbstone wrote: post #163

Speaking as someone who has owned a number of sports cars with manual transmissions, I can tell you why I finally made the switch to automatic: Adaptive cruise control in stop and go traffic. I used to have to deal with a six-speed manual transmission in stop and go traffic for an hour every day, and it was pure torture. I mean, sure, it was fun for a weekend drive in the mountains, but it sucked the rest of the time…

Why not both?

I have two manuals and an auto, the auto is used for the commute to work while I have a racecar and a four wheel drive (to take the racecar to the track). The auto is lovely when you have a coffee on the go, and the manuals do a far better skid.

They all have their merits, it's purely down to individual choice and don't see any need to try and justify it.

Re: How America lost its love for the stick shift

#433

Post by Retra »

emodendroket wrote: post #349
ketralnis wrote: post #291

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You may not be able to imagine it, but the GP is saying that they actually do

Yes, he's sharing his experience. I am sharing mine. I'm not seeing the issue here.

Your inability to imagine something is hardly an experience worth sharing.

Re: How America lost its love for the stick shift

#434

Post by emodendroket »

Retra wrote: post #433
emodendroket wrote: post #349

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, he's sharing his experience. I am sharing mine. I'm not seeing the issue here.

Your inability to imagine something is hardly an experience worth sharing.

"I rarely use cruise control" was in the first place a parenthetical concession until someone felt like "correcting" me.

Re: How America lost its love for the stick shift

#435

Post by raydev »

trentmb wrote: post #422
int_handler wrote: post #313

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Driving a manual car isn't about efficiency. It is about driver engagement. Yes, you can row your own gears with paddle shifters, but no automatic will ever give you the same kind of engagement or connectedness with the car as a manual with three pedals will. But yes, if there is a smoking gun for the death of the manual in America, it would be our crumbling, congested roads and absurdly long daily commutes.

> but no automatic will ever give you the same kind of engagement or connectedness with the car as a manual with three pedals will. Good- I'd rather you focus on the world around you.

Maintaining the appropriate gear requires that you're focussed on the world around you.

Re: How America lost its love for the stick shift

#436

Post by city41 »

inferiorhuman wrote: post #378
stouset wrote: post #358

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I don't at all understand this mentality that stick shift is a burden in stop and go traffic. I've since switched to a motorcycle, but when I used to drive stick I can't say I ever really noticed or paid attention to the fact that I was having to shift, even in stop and go traffic. After you've gotten comfortable with shifting it just fades completely into the background.

> Yeah, I don't at all understand this mentality that stick shift is a burden in stop and go traffic. It's a burden if you're stuck in bad traffic, if you've got a heavy clutch, or if you're crawling up a hill. Worse if you've got more than one of those compounding factors.

I do think the clutch is a factor. I've driven more "pure" sports cars and often their clutches require a lot of force. But I've never owned a car with a clutch like this. So yeah, maybe my comment was a bit naive.

For me, motorcycles in traffic has been painful due to having to hold a heavy clutch in with your hand.

Re: How America lost its love for the stick shift

#437

Post by bacon_waffle »

BeetleB wrote: post #231
jedberg wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Engine breaking just means slowing down by letting the foot off the gas. You aren't really slowing down that quickly. Someone has to really not be paying attention to miss it. It would be the equivalent of someone merging.

>Engine breaking just means slowing down by letting the foot off the gas. Given how often I've driven on stretches of road where engine braking is prohibited, I beg to differ. Engine braking is usually braking by shifting to a lower gear.

Engine braking is prohibited due noise from large diesels using compression brakes aka "jake brakes" - specialised engine braking hardware. They make engine braking much more effective, so that trucks can slow down more without heating the regular brakes as much, but they can be loud.

The parent is essentially right; engine braking is using the engine to slow the vehicle down.

Re: How America lost its love for the stick shift

#438

Post by bacon_waffle »

jacquesm wrote: post #242
UncleEntity wrote: post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep, one of my favorite ways to mess with tailgaters was to drop a gear or two and drop the clutch. *of course not recommending anyone ever do this since it's dangerous as hell.

Idea: have the brakes come on when the car decelerates independent of whether or not the brakes are engaged. Simple a sensor that detects deceleration in excess of 'X' Gs will enable the brake lights.

These exist, for example:

https://gearbrake.com/collections/shop/products/gearbrake-sm...

Re: How America lost its love for the stick shift

#439

Post by hateful »

chrisdhoover wrote: post #345
t0mbstone wrote: post #163

Speaking as someone who has owned a number of sports cars with manual transmissions, I can tell you why I finally made the switch to automatic: Adaptive cruise control in stop and go traffic. I used to have to deal with a six-speed manual transmission in stop and go traffic for an hour every day, and it was pure torture. I mean, sure, it was fun for a weekend drive in the mountains, but it sucked the rest of the time…

I just do like the truckers do, leave it in second and crawl. It helps to not be concerned with maintaining a 6 inch gap with the car ahead. I truly believe that stop and go is caused by automatics. All of the brake tapping tends to bunch people up at the end of long lines forcing them to a complete stop. In a manual just let off on the gas a little and the engine brakes a little, no brake lights to create cascading…

Keep in mind that slightly depressing your brake pedal without pushing it down turns your brake lights on but you do not actually brake. This is used to warn cars behind you of possible danger ahead.

Re: How America lost its love for the stick shift

#440

Post by emodendroket »

JshWright wrote: post #425
emodendroket wrote: post #402

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From what I have observed, many people do not, which would explain how they talk about their legs killing them. I don't like driving in heavy traffic, but I don't like it any more in an automatic car.

It's more effort to push the clutch in and out between stops (keeping the pedal in doesn't take much effort, it's moving the pedal that takes work).

I guess it depends on what you're driving, but that certainly hasn't been my experience.
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