Stick?

[miotas]

I was watching an old episode of NCIS recently and everyone seemed shocked when abby said she could drive "stick". Am I correct in assuming that "stick" is american slang for a manual transmission and if I am is it really true that most americans can't drive "stick"?

In australia the opposite would be quite true, if there are people here who can't drive a manual it's usually because they can't drive at all.

If any american would like to comment it would be most apreciated.

I hope no one takes this as being offensive, I'm just curious.

[Sasaki Kojiro]

Most cars here are automatic. Stick can be fun, but automatic is better.

[Megas Methuselah]

That's what it means? Geez...

... I always thought it referred to a woman who is able to drive at the same time as giving her male passenger sexual pleasure.

[Lemur]

"Stick," "manual" and "standard" all mean the same thing in the U.S.A. Most cars sold here are automatics of varying quality. I don't know why they're so popular, but they are. I can understand why they are superior for city driving, but out in the sticks it makes no difference.

Maybe the fact that so many Americans live in high-density, stop-and-go cities is the reason? Dunno.

It's not a religious issue for me, but if you buy a car with manual transmission, a lot of people here won't be able to drive it. So both of the used cars we bought were auto. Why fight the tide? The sedan has a very nice German-made automatic transmission that allows you to control your RPMs with paddles on the steering wheel, so if you really, truly need to hold a gear, you can.

[drone]

A lot of people can't drive stick (comes from the phrase "stick shift"). My older sister learned to drive on an automatic 20 years ago, and still can't drive stick. My dad learned his lesson well and taught me on a manual transmission, and I prefer it immensely. Most American cars are automatics, manuals are generally found in small Japanese cars and sporty cars. I have no idea what percentage of Americans are able to drive stick, I imagine most can, but prefer not too.

[pevergreen]

Only women can't drive sticks in Australia. Real people drive manual.

You can't get decent acceleration off an automatic.

[miotas]

*start rant*
I prefer a manual because I actually have control of the car, if I'm in a dicey situation I wouldn't wan't the auto to go changing gears on me.
Plus auto's are sooooo boring. I have an auto at the moment and buying it was one of the worst decions i've made. i dont have enough money to buy a new car so i have to put up with being bored off my a*** whenever i drive. Were i live there are some truly spectacular driving roads that get about 2 cars a week and i kick myself whenever i drive through for having bought an auto
And even though it isn't much, in my current financial situation the extra fuel an auto uses doesn't help.
*end rant*

sorry, don't like auto's much

*EDIT*
Yeah that's why its called a manual

[Sasaki Kojiro]

Let's say you're about to pull out of a gas station. The road in front of you is two lanes both ways with lots of traffic. You need to turn left (crossing the center line...have no idea what side of the road ya'll drive on) and make a sharp right soon after. Much nicer to have an automatic--no one can steer as well with one hand as they can with two, and the car can shift faster than you can.

Manual can be fun, but it's not particularly entertaining either. I also prefer the bench style seating which you lose if you have the stick in the middle.

[pevergreen]

Let's say you're about to pull out of a gas station. The road in front of you is two lanes both ways with lots of traffic. You need to turn left (crossing the center line...have no idea what side of the road ya'll drive on) and make a sharp right soon after. Much nicer to have an automatic--no one can steer as well with one hand as they can with two, and the car can shift faster than you can.

Manual can be fun, but it's not particularly entertaining either. I also prefer the bench style seating which you lose if you have the stick in the middle.

Yeah, but in that situation, you need a much bigger gap in traffic to be able to do it with an automatic.

I've seen some pretty fast gear changes. My car is pretty damn old, so it takes about 3 seconds to go from 1st to neutral, then another 2-3 to go to second. Also got about 1/4 of an inch on the clutch.

Great car to learn in. >_>

[miotas]

Let's say you're about to pull out of a gas station. The road in front of you is two lanes both ways with lots of traffic. You need to turn left (crossing the center line...have no idea what side of the road ya'll drive on) and make a sharp right soon after. Much nicer to have an automatic--no one can steer as well with one hand as they can with two, and the car can shift faster than you can.

Manual can be fun, but it's not particularly entertaining either. I also prefer the bench style seating which you lose if you have the stick in the middle.

Depends on you're driving skill i suppose, autos tend to respond suggishly, ie they wont change down until you put you foot down, with a manual you can put it in first and take of at full accelleration, plus you can stay in first long after the auto would have changed up to second.
Plus if you have power steering one hand is just as good as two.

I learnt on a '84 toyota corona, the gears on that thing were so terrible you need to get the exact point on the clutch to get it to change, and the clutch didn't have a friction point per say but a friction region. But bloody hell that thing was a rocket when you got it right. If you can drive that you can drive anything(only got my licence 3 years ago btw so quite old by my standards)

[Lemur]

Well, if it's all about which system gives you better acceleration, I was under the impression that sequential manual transmission was the real deal. No clutch for your left foot, I'm afraid, so the whole ritual of clutch-and-shift is out the window. And that's only available on actual racing cars and a few imports.

I must say, however, that my used six-cylinder sedan with its German automatic tranny does just fine in the acceleration department. The only benefit I would have had from going with the manual would be an extra mile per gallon, and my wife's inability to drive it.

[PanzerJaeger]

DSG = best of both worlds....

[miotas]

Well, if it's all about which system gives you better acceleration, I was under the impression that sequential manual transmission was the real deal. No clutch for your left foot, I'm afraid, so the whole ritual of clutch-and-shift is out the window. And that's only available on actual racing cars and a few imports.

May be a touch out of my price range, plus i like the feel of a nice clutch.

I must say, however, that my used six-cylinder sedan with its German automatic tranny does just fine in the acceleration department. The only benefit I would have had from going with the manual would be an extra mile per gallon, and my wife's inability to drive it.

Although a car with good acceleration will be good regardless of the transmission, it will always be improved by a manual.

It always seems strange to me in movies when the protagonist jumps in a powerful car and then slams the car into ...... drive......?!?!?!?

DSG = best of both worlds....

the manual option is still seqential unfortunately

[naut]

Hmmm, IMHO, manual is more fun. You're actually driving, not just steering.

Edit: Also, if you see me driving. Get out of the road, for fear of being hit.

[SwordsMaster]

You just need to ask yourself 1 question: Would Clint Eastwood or Russell Crowe drive automatic?

[KukriKhan]

I learned to double-clutch with a three-on-the-tree manual, unsynchronized trannie on Dad's old Ford.

Way back in the mesozoic era.

I had a blast back in those days, deliberately looking for challenging roads. Nowadays, I have no preference... southern Calif has few "interesting" drives anymore; everything's been widened and straightened, to accomodate our "just get me there safely in 10 minutes" mindset.

My Korea-built Chevy is a 5-speed floor-shifter, as is the Missus' Japan-built Ford. I still remember the day 15 years ago: our 2 teen sons in the backseat, Mrs. K's starter burnt out. The boys worried we were so far from home. Undaunted, Mrs. K put 'er in 2nd, I gave it a shove, and she started and purred like a kitten all the way home. Can't do that with an auto-tranny.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[Lemur]

DSG = best of both worlds....

A clarification for those who may not know what PJ's talking about: DSG is Volkswagen's brandname for twin-clutch transmissions. Very slick stuff.

Mitsubishi calls it "Twin Clutch SST", BMW calls it "DCT," Ford's going to call it "Powershift." Really, Powershift? Why does that strike me as dorky?

Anyway, twin-clutch gearboxes are pretty darn cool, worth a read. All the benefits of a manual trannie without the tedium in stop-and-go traffic.

[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.

[rasoforos]

We drive almost exclusively manuals in Greece. You don't want your car to change gears on you while you are on tricky roads. Also, if you are to drive manual I believe it is best to drive proper manual (i.e clutch, no buttons etc).

I have a feeling of not controlling the car on auto. Manual gives you better control and it doesnt feel like you are playing an 80's arcade game.

[Sasaki Kojiro]

Yeah, but in that situation, you need a much bigger gap in traffic to be able to do it with an automatic.

Now that I think about it, one of the automatics I've driven was horrible sluggish on the accelerator. But others are fast enough. Heck, the minivan I used to drive for work would squeal the tires at the slightest touch. Though I think that depends on more than acceleration.

[Subotan]

Americans would probably burn 25% less petrol if they all used manual.

[Lemur]

Americans would probably burn 25% less petrol if they all used manual.

Epic math fail. Average U.S. vehicle gets somewhere between 20-15 mpg. Most estimates are that you lose one mpg for an auto tranny as opposed to a manual.

Much more rational to say that Americans might burn as much as 5% less petrol if they went manual. (Note, my sedan averages 27 mpg, so I would only average 28 by going manual. The more efficient the vehicle, the less your savings would be. The biggest consumers of gas are commercial trucks anyway, but we won't go there just yet.)

-edit-

Just to make clear, for your statement to be correct, we would need to average 3-4 mpg with auto and 4-5 with manual. Even Hummers get better mileage than that.

[Yoyoma1910]

Greatest movie quote ever:


Is this a shifter car? I cannot drive a shifter car, alright, so we got a little situation here. I can't drive these kinda cars! What the is goin' on! You think that's funny? Would you like to know, smart? Would you like to know why I can't drive this kinda car? I'll tell you why, I'm used to *luxury* cars. Have you ever heard of a luxury car? You know what luxury means? Ever heard of Cadillac, Cadillac Eldorado? That's what I drive. I drive cars that *shift* themselves.

[miotas]

Greatest movie quote ever:


Is this a shifter car? I cannot drive a shifter car, alright, so we got a little situation here. I can't drive these kinda cars! What the is goin' on! You think that's funny? Would you like to know, smart? Would you like to know why I can't drive this kinda car? I'll tell you why, I'm used to *luxury* cars. Have you ever heard of a luxury car? You know what luxury means? Ever heard of Cadillac, Cadillac Eldorado? That's what I drive. I drive cars that *shift* themselves.

lol
what's that from?

[Yoyoma1910]

Buffalo 66.