Driving Courses teach on manual gear cars. So, I've learned driving with manual.
However I hate it, I always prefer automatic gears.
However I hate it, I always prefer automatic gears.
Poll: Escapist: Can you drive a Manual?
- Thread starter Daygall65
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I am from the UK too, so yes I can drive a manual. I don't trust these new age automatic mumbo jumbo people drive, they put me on edge and I feel like I'm doing something wrong whenever I have tried to drive one. I feel that there is a lot more control over a manual. I trust when I can feel the clutch of the car.
Manual all the way!
From the humble beginnings of my underpowered Jetta, up to anything else, the only exeption of things I drove that haven't had the gearlever, was a really HP happy Mercedes I had to drive for a night (600HP. O.O).
and once I talked to an engineer, why all those upper class limos barely have manual anymore, he just told me: you know from your first driving days, that false gearshifting, made the car a bit wobbly and shaky, down to engine failure.
if you do that with about 500 or more HP, it may easily happen, that the engine doesn't care, but the gearbox just gives in and crumbles under your car in a nice straight line to broom up. Or break the transmission axels if we're talking about tuned up cars.
Final thing: theres reason for Automatic, but it is just way out of use for me. Gimme manual and I'll be happy.
And yes: Prolly even on trucks with 16 gears (once I would be allowed to drive those).
From the humble beginnings of my underpowered Jetta, up to anything else, the only exeption of things I drove that haven't had the gearlever, was a really HP happy Mercedes I had to drive for a night (600HP. O.O).
and once I talked to an engineer, why all those upper class limos barely have manual anymore, he just told me: you know from your first driving days, that false gearshifting, made the car a bit wobbly and shaky, down to engine failure.
if you do that with about 500 or more HP, it may easily happen, that the engine doesn't care, but the gearbox just gives in and crumbles under your car in a nice straight line to broom up. Or break the transmission axels if we're talking about tuned up cars.
Final thing: theres reason for Automatic, but it is just way out of use for me. Gimme manual and I'll be happy.
And yes: Prolly even on trucks with 16 gears (once I would be allowed to drive those).
Well, since i am European: I learned on stick and 3 of my 4 cars so far has been manual.
(The other one was an automatic because it was first the car of my grandfather, who had a bum leg and couldn't shift)
Newer cars with automatic gearbox are way more numerous though - i can't afford newer cars.
(The other one was an automatic because it was first the car of my grandfather, who had a bum leg and couldn't shift)
Newer cars with automatic gearbox are way more numerous though - i can't afford newer cars.
In my country, your practice driving needs to be done with a manual car. Or, rather, it can be done with an automatic car, but then you get a "limited" license that only qualifies you for driving automatics. And that kinda sucks.
So, yes, I can drive manual.
So, yes, I can drive manual.
Yeah, I drive a manual, but I don't like it. Automatic is clearly superior in all the ways that matter to me, and I hope this is the last manual shift car I ever drive.
Of course. From my perspective, it goes without saying. Everyone here learns how to drive a manual, unless they have some sort of debilitation that prevents them from doing that (and I've never actually met anyone like that).
We have both manual and automatic cars in my family, and while I love driving my Audi with the automatic gearbox, I think it's legitimately silly to not know how to drive a manual car.
We have both manual and automatic cars in my family, and while I love driving my Audi with the automatic gearbox, I think it's legitimately silly to not know how to drive a manual car.
Manuals tend to be more economic (around 10% according to the AA), and they last longer too. So very good reasons to drive manual. I'm UK, which has been discussed to death, manual is the standard. With the price of fuel over here, it's not surprising.
I ride a manual motorcycle, actually, and I find changing gears is a pain in the ass, and I've been riding for about 2 years. I don't really want to do racing or anything, I just want to get from A-B. If I'm ever rich (ha), then maybe, but just for driving around I'd rather something easier that allows me to devote more attention to other aspects of driving.Scrumpmonkey said:
This poll is missing an option between the top two choices.
I have only once driven a car that had an automatic transmission (though I have operated plenty construction vehicles that did)... and it just felt odd / weird / wrong... almost like i'm not 100% in control of the vehicle.
I have only once driven a car that had an automatic transmission (though I have operated plenty construction vehicles that did)... and it just felt odd / weird / wrong... almost like i'm not 100% in control of the vehicle.
Nope.
Just not common enough here in Australia. Of all the cars Ive owned, my family has owned, my partners have owned, the driving instructor I learned with owned, and even my friends have owned as far as I can think of, not one of them has been a manual.
Ive got nothing against learning if I have the opportunity, but theres no point in seeking one out.
As a side comment, Im very bemused by the number of people driving manual who are talking about not liking auto because of the lack of control. It makes it sound like there are huge groups of people out there so borderline in their driving ability that any reduction and theyre out-of-control. I understand that it does give you more control over the fine details, but Ive never felt like driving was particularly complex for me to need more control. As a personal preference, sure, but not as a required feature.
Just not common enough here in Australia. Of all the cars Ive owned, my family has owned, my partners have owned, the driving instructor I learned with owned, and even my friends have owned as far as I can think of, not one of them has been a manual.
Ive got nothing against learning if I have the opportunity, but theres no point in seeking one out.
As a side comment, Im very bemused by the number of people driving manual who are talking about not liking auto because of the lack of control. It makes it sound like there are huge groups of people out there so borderline in their driving ability that any reduction and theyre out-of-control. I understand that it does give you more control over the fine details, but Ive never felt like driving was particularly complex for me to need more control. As a personal preference, sure, but not as a required feature.
http://m.wikihow.com/Drive-a-Car-With-an-Automatic-TransmissionArakasi said:
http://m.wikihow.com/Drive-Manual
These are both sources from the same website. One reads like its been written for a four year old and the other reads like its been written for an adult. Its institutionalised elitism, just wait till tumblr finds out about this needless discrimination and we have an automatic rights activist group.
seriously though its not really elitism. Its just that as you said one is vastly simpler than the other. Once you get used to shifting gears and having a clutch you do genuinely feel out of control when you drive an auto. Ive driven a manual with no handbrake before as a works car. I didnt trust that it was going to stop on the hill itself so I nearly burnt the clutch and my foot was aching after balancing it on the clutch. Ive driven autos before and trust me its just as confusing as someone going from an auto to a manual. If you put your car in gear in a manual and lift your foot off the clutch it will lurch forward and stall. The first time I drove an auto I genuinely didnt know how to get started because I thought it would stall
I drive a stick shift everyday. Driving an automatic actually feels weird to me now. I much prefer the extra control and attentiveness I have with a manual transmission.
I actually never drove a stick until my previous car got totaled and I had to get a new one. On a whim I went with a manual transmission. My father gave me a 1-2 hour lesson and I've been driving it ever since. The sad thing is most cars here are automatic. The dealership had to get mine from a partner dealership in a neighboring state.
I actually never drove a stick until my previous car got totaled and I had to get a new one. On a whim I went with a manual transmission. My father gave me a 1-2 hour lesson and I've been driving it ever since. The sad thing is most cars here are automatic. The dealership had to get mine from a partner dealership in a neighboring state.
oh god this, stopping on some of the hills here with random manual cars is scary as shit, especially when some light intersections are 20-30 yards apart, so most people are pretty tight on each others asses to make sure they don't get caught in the last intersection. with lots of hills and straight roads it is much easier driving automatic.Lilani said:
(then again, I'm of the opinion that I can't wait for autonomous cars to become mainstream, safety is key when it comes to driving, as it is a privilege, so I couldn't care less about the "fun factor" of driving manual)
OT: I can drive manual, I have more than a few friends who are car nuts and I've driven with them enough times to get around if I need to with not much traffic around.
It's not elitism when manual is the norm, but it is something close to elitism or a sense that the other is inferior when automatics are so much simpler than the norm that it's reflected in automatic drivers and their attitudes towards driving and how a car operates.shootthebandit said:
I was shocked when I first heard of the debate about whether a handbrake is necessary at all in a (automatic) car. Apparently lots of automatic drivers don't think you should use the "emergency" brake except in an emergency, and that stopping your car from rolling after you've parked it isn't a good enough reason to lift the handbrake lever.
A surprisingly high number of automatic drivers argue that the parking gear/pawl on an automatic car is all that you need to park it (unless you're on a very very steep hill) and a tiny pin of metal in the gearbox is all you need to hold a 2+ tonne car in place (and cars lurching forward after you've parked them is normal), but the handbrake shouldn't be used for parking because there's a very real danger that automatic drivers will forget they've activated the handbrake, then drive off with it on and wreck the car's tyres and engine (which apparently happens more than you would think).
Another circular problem this reliance on the automatic gearbox and aversion to using a handbrake causes, is that because lots of people never use it, the cable becomes slack and corroded, so then if they suddenly do have to use handbrake it won't work properly, causing people to think that handbrakes don't work and should never be used or relied upon.
I don't think it's necessary elitist to recognise that the simpler choice of gearbox can encourage complacency and poor driving practices and car knowledge when that simpler and less engaging method becomes the norm so people don't learn beyond that or acquire basic knowledge that most people take for granted.