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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

#611

Post by Nursie »

LeonM wrote: post #568

In Europe, the manual/automatic situation is quite the opposite of that in the USA. Here all standard, cheap cars are manual, and only the expensive luxury cars have automatic transmissions. (At least in the Netherlands) driving lessons/tests must done in manual cars, unless you have some medical reason not to (then you'll also get a note on your license, prohibiting you from driving manual cars). Automatic transmiss…

In the UK you can elect to do your test in an auto, but then you are not allowed to drive a manual, so very few people do.

Personally though, I find driving an auto much more fun. I also have a car with paddle shifters that I never use!

Re: How America lost its love for the stick shift

#612

Post by QasimK »

billpg wrote: post #610

My advice to British learner drivers - just take the test in an automatic car. Yes you won't be able to drive manual cars but who cares about that? It's 2018 people! Leave obsolete technology behind. You want to learn how to drive a horse drawn cart too? EDIT - This was meant as a reply to a related comment. Oops.

My advice to British learner drivers - take the test in a manual car and do your utmost to get an automatic car. Especially so if existing family cars are manual.

The vast majority of cars around are manual, unfortunately. This means that you won’t be able to drive most cars around. In the case of one person I know, they had to retake their driving test a couple of years later because they were forced to drive a manual car. In addition, if you are buying a car as a young adult, it is likely that price matters, and the number of cheaper, used manual cars vastly outnumbers cheaper, used automatics.

It isn’t much extra effort to learn manual, and you can let the skill atrophy afterwards.

Re: How America lost its love for the stick shift

#613

Post by sparkzilla »

billpg wrote: post #610

My advice to British learner drivers - just take the test in an automatic car. Yes you won't be able to drive manual cars but who cares about that? It's 2018 people! Leave obsolete technology behind. You want to learn how to drive a horse drawn cart too? EDIT - This was meant as a reply to a related comment. Oops.

Totally agree. After driving an automatic for years in the US, I came back to the UK and had to hire a manual for a week. Even though I learned in a manual it was a horrible experience. Hill starts are a nightmare, and you're driving with all your arms and feet, like an octopus. After that, my wife, who had learned to drive in the US and had to do the UK test, opted just to take the automatic test, passing in just a few lessons.

Re: How America lost its love for the stick shift

#614

Post by handzbagz »

ali_af wrote: post #411
skywhopper wrote: post #343

I love driving stick, but I have no illusions that I make better decisions about what gear to be in when than good automatics/CVTs, and I know I'm not saving gas the way I drive. Now, many automatics still bother me or even feel dangerous with their sluggishness, but there are great ones out there that I am happy to drive. But the American market is definitely to the point now where it makes total sense to just elimi…

My issue with automatic transmissions is that while they may be able to predict optimal settings in specific conditions, they cannot understand the overall conditions of traffic and operate accordingly. An example is bumper to bumper traffic moving at high speed. Traffic may momentarily slow down abruptly, then pick up again. All automatic transmissions I have driven react the same when I release the gas, and then pr…

You really shouldn't put the car in neutral if you're approaching upcoming traffic as you aren't in full control of the vehicle if you suddenly need power to get out of a developing situation.

You're also not getting the advantages of engine braking especially as most modern cars won't be pumping fuel to the engine if there is no load, instead your car is just idling in neutral.

Re: How America lost its love for the stick shift

#615

Post by hcayless »

Fifer82 wrote: post #579
J-dawg wrote: post #574

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the UK you don't need a medical reason, you can simply choose to take an automatic test. But then of course you can only drive automatic cars, just like in the Netherlands. Ironically I believe an American who has never driven a manual would be able to come here and rent one, because (please correct me if I'm wrong) their licences don't distinguish between the two. I think manuals are slowly on the way out here as…

What if I have an Automatic Driving Licence (UK) and I go to America and rent a Stick Shift then the Police pull me over? Also could I go to a developing country, get a licence there, then it is valid in the UK and America? These questions came to mind when I read your comment.

I think you’d have quite a hard time finding one. Maybe at a specialty rental place, but not one you’d likely find at an airport.

Re: How America lost its love for the stick shift

#616

Post by VBprogrammer »

singingboyo wrote: post #173
VBprogrammer wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably somewhere between that and me not trusting it do it's own thing.

One thing that sticks out to me is that you say you were trying to get the gear you wanted - having driven various automatics, that's never really been what I'd care about. I just aim for a speed. Older automatics you end up noticing gearing sometimes, but just incidentally, and on CVTs, which is what I have now, you really don't care about 'gears' (which don't exist for CVTs anyway). That said, I have driven automat…

Yeah, I'm sure that's the correct way to drive with an auto in general. The problem was a v8 E350 is horrifically noisy when it's revving hard. Moving from a steep down grade onto a flat it would often refuse to change up. Similarly, when moving from a flat onto a steep down grade getting it to change down fast enough to avoid using a lot of braking was tricky.

Re: How America lost its love for the stick shift

#617

Post by ForHackernews »

yhoneycomb wrote: post #603
ForHackernews wrote: post #601

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you might be getting downvoted for using an abbreviation for 'transmission' that also happens to be a homonym for a slur against transgender people. You've written a good, informative comment drawing on your specialist expertise, so it seems a shame to have it lose visibility. You might consider editing to change the word that could be upsetting some people.

>You might consider editing to change the word that could be upsetting some people. Are you serious right now?

I'm not being sarcastic, if that's what you're asking. It seems silly to to lose a worthwhile comment to censorious flagging.

Re: How America lost its love for the stick shift

#618

Post by lagadu »

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'm on the other side of the fence. My previous car had an automatic, a lovely one too: the 7-speed getrag dual-clutch that bmw puts almost exclusively on the M models. When I bought it I thought that because the car was so good and it had so much power I would be ok with having it.

Nope, I was bored out of my mind and the paddle shifters were no replacement. Sold it after 6 months, bought a manual again and am never going back to automatics. Yes, they're slower and less fuel efficient but they're so much more fun; like Hammond said "changing gear is a vital form of self-expression".

Probably helps that I don't drive in traffic, only for fun.

Re: How America lost its love for the stick shift

#619

Post by davchana »

LeonM wrote: post #568

In Europe, the manual/automatic situation is quite the opposite of that in the USA. Here all standard, cheap cars are manual, and only the expensive luxury cars have automatic transmissions. (At least in the Netherlands) driving lessons/tests must done in manual cars, unless you have some medical reason not to (then you'll also get a note on your license, prohibiting you from driving manual cars). Automatic transmiss…

In India & Middle East too, if you take driving test in Manual, you can drive both Manual & Automatic. If the licence says Automatic, it is Automatic only.

Same with prices, repairs; Auto are expensive than Manual.

Re: How America lost its love for the stick shift

#620

Post by dangerface »

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…

> as someone who has owned a number of sports cars > stop and go traffic

Well theres your problem, you wouldn't take a tractor on a track day why would you take a sports car into stop and go traffic? buy a small manual, sit in second problem solved, will pay for itself with the petrol you will save.

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