Goodbye to the Stick Shift

Loved my two cars with stick shifts. it keeps you more aware and awake behind the wheel. I had a Toyota Celica and a Acura Integra - I would have not owned either without a stick shift.

Much easier to learn that people think -
 
You're not really driving if you have an automatic. You're just steering.

A stick is the best vehicle for a new driver. It keeps them attentive, requires the use of both hands, and makes it hard for them to stay on the cell phone the whole time.
 
All my cars to this point have been standard. Not likely that my next will, which makes it even less likely that my wife will ever learn.
 
Every time I take my 350Z to Don Davis Nissan for an oil change, I walk around to the front lot to look at the new Zs. I am amazed at the number of Zs with automatic transmissions. Come on, now - how can you possibly drive a sports car with an automatic transmission? That borders on heresy...

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Manuals are better when they are in place of crappy automatics mated to crappy engines. Anything 4cyl almost has to have a manual or it drives lame. A good automatic that you know how to make it shift when you want can be pretty sweet though.
 
I had a stick shift my first ~3 years in LA. It sucked. I'm sure the same can be said for traffic filled commutes in Houston and The Metroplex.

As a second car for Mulholland Dr on a Sunday morning...ok. But as a Primary Car?
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If you want a Stick Shift, simply step out of the country. Go anywhere but Canada and you'll have trouble finding an automatic.

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My wife has a standard sports/luxury car. Generally, I like it. However, it is a pain with traffic and stoplights on hills.
 
Of the 12 cars I've had in my life, seven have been sticks. I MUCH prefer a stick, but currently I drive an automatic. To get a stick would have taken a special order.

I can't help but feel like my car is driving me, rather than the other way around.
 
most of my driving is a to b, so i dont mind the auto tranny. for leisure though is completely different.

for those that need manual trannys just so they can stay "awake" and "alert" maybe shouldnt be driving at all?
 
to the argument that people are more attentive with a stick, BS. i drove a stick (no power steering either) for about 6 yrs. before i got the car, i wondered how people drove stick and did other things (i was 16/17). it didn't take long to learn and once i did, it became second nature. i never even thought about it. just did it. i could do anything while driving. talk on the phone, eat, mix a drink (i was in high school and was drinking way too much). hell, i didn't understand how anyone could drive drunk. but it never stopped me (cops did in '99 though, lesson learned) it really wasn't that big a deal. had it from 94-2000.

i love a stick and would like to have one in my driveway again one day. but to say it makes you a better driver is wrong.
 
I got hit by someon eon a cell phone, the odd thing was is that I was in my car at a stop sign and they were walking on the sidewalk, she walked right into the car. Imagine if she had been trying to eat and drive at teh same time as well. If it was a stick maybe she wouldnt try and do both.
 
Teaching your girl friend to drive a standard transmission car was a popular cheap high school date in Galveston, if she didn't burn up the clutch in the process, that is.
 
My cars have always been manual transmission up until the one I bought year ago. Manual transmission models always got about 2-3 miles/gal more than the automatic transmission. I don't know if that is still true. But, I must say, in stop-and-go traffic, the automatic transmission is heaven.
 
This makes me sad.

I guess my next vehicle won't be a full-size truck. I'll be in the market about a year from now to replace my 1996 F-150.

For the record, I have had hilly drives and now I live in the Houston area. Traffic isn't a problem for me when it comes to driving the stick shift. I'm not really sure why y'all complain about that. Does your left leg actually get tired or something?
 
I don't know how to drive a stick. If I ever do, it'll be interesting to see how fluidly I switch back and forth between manual and auto. Every now and then when I do stuff with my parents and younger sisters I end up driving, and somebody at Plymouth thought it'd be a great idea to put the parking brake on their minivan right where the clutch would be if it were a manual. I doubt I'd ever habitually stomp on it though, since I brake with my left foot, but it still doesn't sound like a very good design idea.
 
speaking of older sticks, I got another note on my '97 Nissan Pickup the other day. "If you want to sell your truck, call _______". I finally give up. I would like to keep it, but I don't use it anymore. third vehicle.
 
I'm going to likely trade or sell my Audi by the end of the year. It's a stick and I wouldn't have it any other way but my resale value is going to take a hit. Who's going to want it? Wish I was in Cali. I bet I could sell it to someone wanting to mod it up. Great gas mileage though. Stick + turbo 4 cylinder = 32 MPG's on hwy.
 
If you do own a stick, make sure anyone who drives it for service (car repair, parking attendant, etc) actually knows how to drive it. Because fewer and fewer people do anymore.

One reason I never valet park my car is that it's a stick. That plus the gun in my glovebox.
 
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