Poll: Can you drive with manual transmission?

[ILPPendant]

I remember the first time I drove an automatic. I didn't like it one bit since I really felt like the car was driving itself. However, once I got the hang of it and stopped pressing the gas and brake at the same time in a desperate imitation of clutch control I found it rather dull since there was so little for me to do. If I had to take it through rush hour traffic I'd fall asleep!

Oh of course Trolly McTrollerson, and here I had forgotten that I seem to swerve all over the road whenever I drive because I have absolutely no control over my automobile.

My fuel efficiency seems fine, even if the difference is anything considerable I have no trouble paying for petrol and considering my income is from part time work at a retail department store my car must be doing something right.

As for RAKtheUndead, thank you for actually answering the question, as opposed to stroking your E-ego like the above poster.

But in both cases I still don't see the need for a manual car or license, its a personal belief, and if control is the best argument then I want to make it very clear that as long as I control the speed and the direction (which I obviously do) I have all the control I need. Anything more than that would serve only to make things more complicated than needed.

Ha ha, so maybe I was being a little facetious there. Anyway, when I mentioned control I wasn't talking about swerving and going off at strange angles I was talking more about keeping very tight control over the revs and (to an extent) the power delivered to the wheels. Since none of the cars I've seen connects the accelerator to the steering wheel I naturally didn't associate swerving about with the absence of a clutch - I guess I was too busy "stroking my E-ego" to think of that - instead I was working more along the lines of how I could stop the wheels spinning out if I'm stuck in snow with only nominal control over transferred power.

The efficiency gain isn't usually anything to write home about as it's only around 10%. I personally am quite happy to do a bit more work if I can save that extra fuel.

 

[Rascarin]

Of course. I've never driven anything else. Automatic cars are for the lazy (i.e. my dad) or the disabled (i.e. a friend of mine who has completely lost the use of one arm).

 

[ae86gamer]

Yup. I prefer manual transmission. Automatic cars feel weird to me now. And for racing anything other than manual transmission is frowned upon.

 

[AbsoluteVirtue18]

No. My uncle David tried to teach me, but he's not that good of a teacher.

 

[Fairee]

I can't drive yet, but I've got my provisional license and when I eventually book lessons I will learn to drive a manual car.

 

[messy]

In Britain "stick-shift" is standard and although I haven't taken my driving test yet and officially drive, I can drive manually.

 

[jimduckie]

being a mech tech i love manual , people should drive stick ,even new drivers should learn , just don't ride the fuck'n clutch

 

[Britisheagle]

Yes, of course, i'm irish. only our farm vehicles have automatic transmission. is american now the default nationality for the human population or sumthing? i think i was having a smoke when that memo came in...

What the man above me said, everyone in Scotland owns a maunal as does most of europe and Asia probably, why would you learn to drive in an automatic anyway? If you can drive a shift you can drive anything.

And that's exactly why I learned in a manual. If you learn in an automatic you have to re-sit your test for manual but not the other way round.

 

[Redlac]

English, so yes. For about 10 years now. It's not as difficult as people say it is. It's a bit like, I dunno... the controls for CoD4. At first you struggle but eventually you get to the stage where you're chucking grenades and crouching and firing all without thinking about it.

 

[munx13]

Yes I can. Have no idea how to drive with an automatic one though. I learned on a manual and passed my driving tests on a manual.

 

[Arkenium12]

when i got my car, 2005 Scion xB, it was a stick and i didn't know how to drive it. so i had to learn before i could drive anywhere in my own car.

 

[Low Key]

It's not like our car industry is doing worse than yours, ours generally consume less fuel (due to higher power output/cc of cylinder volume) without a noticable loss at power or speed. Oh, and let's not forget that ours also look better (though this is purely personal opinion).

In all fairness, we drive slightly bigger cars than the rest of the world because of safety regulations packing cars full of air bags and re-enforced beams. More weight=less power.

Same airbags that come as a stardard this side of the puddle too? Along with the support beams? Some models even have built-in roll cages comparable to rally cars. And while allowing European cars to retain similar speeds and acceleration curves despite 10% or even 20% less cc in the engine?

Really, making a car heavier is not a problem(Just use more iron instead of aluminium and plastics). Making cars lighter while retaining the safety aspects is.

Just face it: Fuel economy hasn't been a factor for American car builders nearly as long as it has been for Europeans.

I was trying to agree with you, but you seem to want to one-up me for some reason.

 

[Stoplesteimer]

I'm an American and I can, I also feel that it is a skill everyone should have.
That said, I understand why people drive automatic, its a choice and automatics are hassle free.

 

[The Shade]

I'm a fully licensed driver in Canada (we have 3 levels of driving, not counting truck and bus licenses and stuff like that) and I still can't drive stick.
Some day I'll learn, but I don't own a car at the moment, so the practical application is a bit hard to see.

 

[Wyatt]

English, so yes.

and to all you euro ........ people, if you built cars instead of oversized golfcarts you wouldnt be needing to shift down going up hills

And if all you yanks built oversized golf carts instead of giant engines on ski's maybe your major car firms wouldn't be filing for bankruptcy

yeah? well if it wasnt for our major firms building tanks 60 years ago you all would be speaking German today


(Jesus dont spam quote me, its a friggen joke)

 

[Zacharine]

I was trying to agree with you, but you seem to want to one-up me for some reason.

Funny way of showing that. To me it looked like you were trying make excuses. I'm not trying to one-up you, I'm trying to tell the truth of the situation and it seemed like you didn't know it.

 

[Gruthar]

Koenigsegg CCX, 800bhp, sequential manual gearbox.
Bugatti Veyron, 987bhp, DSG sequential semi-automatic gearbox.
Porsche 917/30, 1,100bhp, manual gearbox.
Benetton-BMW B186, 1,350bhp, manual gearbox.

Ah, but a sequential gearbox is not quite a manual transmission. Although the gears must be selected manually, the driver has no access to the clutch(es) or actual gear mechanisms. But yes, they are not automatics either. The last two examples you gave are decades old race cars. IIRC, the some of the 917s did have gearbox/clutch problems. I don't know as much about the B186, but I do have to wonder what the lifespan of the gearbox/clutch was.

If you want to cope with serious horsepower, most automatic transmissions aren't even strong enough to cope with that sort of power.

Sure they are. The ancient Powerglides and THM400s are still very much alive in the drag racing world. You still routinely see the Powerglide in cars laying down in excess of 2,000 HP. It's not cheap, but it is possible to build a 'bulletproof' auto trans. You just won't see them in anything that's meant to do more than go fast in a straight line.

 

[Eclectic Dreck]

Yes, and in fact my current car and my previous car were both manual transmission.

 

[Zykon TheLich]

yeah? well if it wasnt for our major firms building tanks 60 years ago you all would be speaking German today


(Jesus dont spam quote me, its a friggen joke)

Awesome! We'd have those cool uniforms and... er, I mean:

Well if it wasn't for us colonising the East coast you'd be FRENCH! HA! Beat that!

(I was well aware of that from first comment, the "" did clue me in, although I suppose you are writing that for the benefit of others)

 

[Wyatt]

yeah? well if it wasnt for our major firms building tanks 60 years ago you all would be speaking German today


(Jesus dont spam quote me, its a friggen joke)

Awesome! We'd have those cool uniforms and... er, I mean:

Well if it wasn't for us colonising the East coast you'd be FRENCH! HA! Beat that!

(I was well aware of that from first comment, the "" did clue me in, although I suppose you are writing that for the benefit of others)

you got me, i quit *snicker* id MUCH rather be German than French.

and yeah it was more or less for others, i had like 3 or 4 replys of 'DEWD Euro cars RULEEE!!11!!' to my first comment.

even had a PM from some nitwit giving me all the reason that the Euro car makers will take over the world and free us oppressed Americans from the evil Big 3 ............ eventualy ..... sometime in the next 2,000 years anyhow.