Stick?

[Andres]

Wow. I didn't realise this difference.

Anyway, MANual for the win

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

[KukriKhan]

Then there's the crime-prevention aspect:

LINK

Charges were filed Tuesday against a teenager who reportedly couldn’t take a woman’s car after a robbery because he didn’t know how to drive stick shift.

David D. Collins, 17, was charged with two counts of robbery for that and a second incident just minutes later.

Court documents allege Collins and an unidentified minor approached a woman around 11 p.m. Monday as she left Muddy’s Coffee Shop, 318 E. 51st St.

Collins reportedly asked the woman to use her cell phone and after making several calls, he pointed a gun at the victim and demanded money.

The woman got out of her car at the juvenile’s request and Collins got into the driver’s seat.

“Collins attempted to drive away by initially backing out of the parking spot but failed to put into gear because he couldn’t drive a stick shift,” Collins’ charging documents state.

[miotas]

LMAO


+rep for the double-clutching. a manual driven properly leaves a auto for dead,
I once blew off an auto '99 subaru impreza in that old corona I mentioned earlier because I could double clutch, he would have caught me later no doubt, except for the fact that he had a speed limiter , we never let him forget that one. This was all on private land of course, out on the roads i'm a rather sensible driver.

can't beat a good ol' push start hey, almost essential knowledge if you've got an older car.


yeah here in oz you have to pay extra for an auto as well. I prefer older cars, more character more fun and you can fix them yourself.

[KukriKhan]

Column-shifters have gone the way of the manual choke, cigarette lighter, and dinosaur, I guess.

I think Saab still makes one, but US automakers gave up on them in the 80's. When I was a kid, the only "4-on-the-floor" shifters were foreign (VW, Renault), or trucks, or dragsters. Still, we (my friends and I) thought floor-shifters were cooler than column-shifters, and wa-a-a-ay cooler than lazy-man PowerGlides.

On the other hand, being stuck on a California freeway in 102F August heat shifting 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 2nd, stop, 1st, 2nd, stop, 1st, stop... for an hour gets pretty tedious pretty fast.

[drone]

Column-shifters have gone the way of the manual choke, cigarette lighter, and dinosaur, I guess.

My cargo vehicle (GMC Safari) has a column shifter. Fortunately I don't have to drive it day-to-day.

The fact that most American females can't drive stick is a plus. That way the missus will never drive my car.

My dad has been saddled with automatics for ages because of my mom, but I gave him my car (Integra) when I moved to the UK for a couple of years. They live in the Georgia mountains, and he had such a blast that my mom wouldn't get in that car with him after a few trips. A stick shift on windy mountain roads is the best.

[TinCow]

I would estimate that under 10% of Americans know how to drive a manual transmission. The reason for this is that automatic transmissions are standard over here, you usually have to pay MORE for a manual transmission (which I did for my current car). In Europe, manual transmissions are standard, and an automatic is an upgrade you have to pay for. Thus the disparity.

Having learned to drive in the UK and then moved to the US, I've experienced both sides of the issue. Manual transmission is certainly fun and it allows you far more control over your car if it's a cheap car. I currently have a Honda Civic, and if it wasn't a manual the thing would never accelerate. That said, a manual transmission is a massive pain in the butt when driving in traffic. At the same time, automatics will actually give you better performance on high-end vehicles. Good quality vehicles with actual horsepower and acceleration usually shift faster than you could manage on your own and thus there would actually be a loss of performance with a manual transmission on many of these automobiles.

So, my conclusion has always been to buy a manual if it's a cheap car and buy an automatic if it's a nice car. Oh, and don't buy an American car no matter what you do.