Poll: Escapist: Can you drive a Manual?

[Elementary - Dear Watson]

I think the OP is going to be surprised at the demographic of the Escapist forums... and that most countries have cars (as opposed to go-karts) as standard!

I am British... I can count the number of Automatic cars I have seen in my life on one hand.

 

[DanielBrown]

Yes I can. Pretty much all cars in Sweden are manual. It's fun to drive stick and not as hard to learn as a specific country(*cough*) seem to think. Gives you great control on the road, is more fuel efficient and I assume it's a bit kinder on the environment as we can gear down rather than use the breaks to slow us down.

For those afraid of the extra work in the car; it can feel overwhelming in the beginning, but know that you'll do it automatically once you've learned it.

 

[Squilookle]

I filmed my drive home from work yesterday.

I think this video sufficiently sums up my thoughts on the matter.

 

[elvor0]

I'm from the UK and I drive automatic - GOSH! I know! My thought process was kind of like this. "So, you can let the car change gear for you and people still do it the hard way? Yeah no thanks.... Seriously why are people so determined to make it harder for themselves? I get there is a macho culture about driving the 'right way', but to me a car has only ever been something that will get me from A - B, and having an automatic is a godsend in stop start rush hour traffic. Yeah I think this is something our American brothers got right.

It's not just about being macho. The inherent control advantages manual offers you are what clicks it for most people, that and almost all the cars in Britain are manual. Hills feel much better with manual, overtaking, country road driving at more than 10 miles an hour because you're a spaz who can't operate their automobile, even rush hour trafic isn't that bad. But the most important thing is snow. Snow is a fucker, and you've got to have as much control as possible in it, which I'd rather not leave to an automatic gear box, because you want a /higher/ gear with less revs. I'd rather have better hill, speed, snow and wet and overtaking control with rush hour hassle than the opposite.

I mean if you live /just/ in a city and don't ever leave it, then yeah automatic might be a bit better, but otherwise, manual is just better for driving in Europe.

 

[Henkie36]

Whenever I get a chance to drive my dads car instead of my own, the automatic is a big reason to. You know, outside of the fact it is more comfortable, faster, more powerful, has a better stereo and I can actually hook up my phone to it. Bottom line, I like the automatic, but driving a manual is no problem for me.

 

[Guffe]

Been driving manual all the years I've had a drivers license.
Got to try an automatic a few times, it's easier than manual of course. But it doesn't take long to learn manual either.
Driving schools in Finland all teach manual to my knowledge.

I'll just leave this here

 

[KoudelkaMorgan]

I picked 42 as I cannot drive, and most of the people I know that say they can drive a Manual don't seem to know what they are doing. At least judging by their chronic transmission problems and general car trouble that come up with every car I've ever seen them own lol.

 

[Kingjackl]

Yes. I learned to drive a manual, it's what I prefer. I can handle an automatic, but for long stretches of driving, it just doesn't feel right. That said, I can see the advantages of both.

 

[MercurySteam]

Sure do. I drive a six speed manual 2014 Mazda3. From what I can tell the auto gearboxes in them were shit anyway.

 

[not_you]

Australian here...
I drive manual... Only ever have owned Manual cars and I hate driving automatic...

It's just so boring driving auto... There's nothing to do in it besides, well... accelerate... brake... accelerate....
yeah, manual!

 

[Denamic]

The driving lessons and test are always on manual cars here, so yes. If you have a driver's license, you should know how to drive stick.

 

[Uriel_Hayabusa]

I've yet to drive an automatic and have been driving for well over 5 years. So yeah, I know how to drive stick.

 

[erykweb]

Manuals are tiring for long trips. In the US, many individual states are larger than the UK, and it becomes a literal pain to have to constantly shift gears because of changes in traffic. Also, in the US you very rarely have to worry about some idiot rolling back and hitting you when trying to go at a stoplight because their foot slipped on the pedal. Low speed control is so much easier on an automatic (take your foot off the brake, it moves forward slowly- great for really poor traffic) and backing up is much safer (for the same reason, you don't need to apply any gas to move). You can even control when your car switches gears by letting up on the accelerator slightly to increase, and braking to decrease. It is a good skill to know, to drive a manual, in case it is ever needed, but honestly there is very little true advantage to a manual that you can tangibly feel on an everyday basis. No design of anything is ever made safer by having additional moving parts, or more integral human input.

 

[TheDarklite]

Well I am *aware* of how to drive a Manual, but I cannot legally do so. Back when I was on my Learner Permit my instructor decided to take a holiday right when the practical assessment was due - With next to no forewarning. The only car I had available to me because of this was my own, which was an Automatic. Naturally, if you take the test in an Automatic you will be restricted to Automatic vehicles via your license.

So yeah, I was learning in a Manual, but because of the evil space-time gods I was unable to sit the test in one.

And so began the age of reckoni - I mean, my restriction.

 

[Jodokh]

Well I enjoy driving manual, learned on tractors, old trucks and a 1978 Kenworth that tranny isn't even synchronised.
But you can't buy a modern full sized pickup with a manual anymore, which is lame.

 

[Techno Squidgy]

I ride a bike mostly, but I can drive a car with a manual gearbox, just not particularly well. I'm more of a two wheels kind of guy. I don't have a car license, I was just taught how to drive a car before I decided to get a bike.

 

[FPLOON]

Kinda... I mean, the only person I know who drives manual is my grandmother, who decided to surprise me one day by make me drive her manual car to and from her chosen destinations... (Let's just say that I'm so glad we did not decide to go on the freeway at any given moment that day...)

Other than that... I mostly drive automatic, but would usually drive manual during any driving-like simulator since it's something that's cool in its own right... Plus, on the bright side, whenever I got nothing better to do, I ask my grandmother if I could borrow her car for a little bit...

 

[Flames66]

I drive a manual car and do not want to drive an automatic. I didn't like the lack of control in the auto cars I have tried. Manual is the standard in the UK anyway so most used cars are cheap manuals.

I don't get why the rest of the world is so attached to manuals, last time my family was looking at new cars we discovered manual cars weren't really any cheaper than automatics with the same features (in fact, the automatics usually came with more and for the same price). And they only seem to cause trouble. They have a hard time idling and moving in heavy city traffic, and the hills around here are ridiculous, so seeing them stop at intersections on hills is just sad (and a bit frightening if you're right behind them). I really don't understand it at all.

I don't have any problems with city traffic in my local area. I imagine if I were to drive in London it would be a different story, but I would never drive in a crowded city if I could help it.

What sort of "extra features" are we talking about?

 

[Grouchy Imp_v1legacy]

Poll needs an "I'm not American, so of course I drive a manual" option.

Seriously though, UK resident and manual driver here. I think I only know one couple who have an automatic around where I live (Lake District) - the default for driving around here is manual.

 

[Saippua]

Im pretty sure you cant even do a driving test with automatic in my country