Goodbye to the Stick Shift

[texas_ex2000]

This is just sad. I guess automatics might have some kind of convenience, but they're generally more expensive not nearly as fuel efficient, not nearly as much fun, and not nearly as manly. You think Paul Newman ever drove an automatic? Hell no. How spoiled are people nowadays? Are we gonna let machines and computers (that's right BCS) do everything for us? Didn't you guys see Terminator?

Even though I'm 30, I'm kind of an old fashioned guy. And stuff like this upsets me. I even write with a fountain pen...lamy safaries in fact (they even have an orange model). If you've never written with a fountain pen, you need to try it. It's the writing equivalent of driving a manual. You handwriting is more stylish, it's actually easier on the hand, they last a lot longer than crappy ball point pens. I've written with the same 3 pens for over 5 years.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

i drive a 2005 standard volvo. part of me thinks it won't get stolen because the kids these days wouldn't know how to drive it.

 

[hooklahoma]

I have a 93 geo storm gsi, thats in mint condition w/ 87K miles on it. Im selling it for 900 bucks.........less than half of blue book. Its been for sale for 6 months. NO one can drive it including forty somethings, because its a stick. Half of them even ask "whats a stick"

Honestly, if you can find a car w/ perfect paint, low miles, air, thats is as fun to drive as my storm for triple the money i'll root for OU this year.

 

[wherzwaldo]

I completely sympathize with everyone here. DOS is so much better than using Windows.

 

[THEU]

I want to point out a couple of things.

1) The marketplace generally wins out, and the majority of people want automatics.
2) Sticks might be going away, but are manuals?

I ask the second as a question for this reason. Technology is making some cars manu-matics, and paddle shifters, etc. My last 2 cars, have been manu matics. VW only offers this and not a automatic only. Same goes with my Mazda 3. I can upshift and downshift all the time if I want but without a clutch.
I have also driven an Audi with the paddle system that is clutchless. The DSC system. WOW. Why do you need a clutch and a 3rd peddle, when you can, if you wish flip over to a manual.

I know I know, purists will say it is not the same, and for sure it isn't, but I don't know that it is all bad either.

 

[GHoward]

You know what mostly annoys me about automatics? If it has the shifter in the middle, it is essentially wasting space. You use it at most 4 times per trip. It doesn't need to be a prominent feature of the cabin. The ones on the steering column are more out of the way, and now that automatics are all electronically controlled, why not just have a little switch on the console, just like turning on the A/C. ( I know modern 4x4 systems are activated this way). The prius just has a little lever the size of a pez dispenser, and has 3 choices: D, R and P. Why do most autos still have 1,2,D, R, N, P and then a selector for Overdrive?

Some of those "manumatics" are terrible. (ie on non luxury cars) They are just regular automatics that switch gears ( maybe) 1 second after you hit the switch.

 

[HornHuskerDad]

In reply to:

---

---

 

[wherzwaldo]

In reply to:

---

---

 

[Summerof79]

I used to love standards. Used to have a blast doing power 180's in the family volvo at the time. Plus I can still remember juggling a drink, a girl and a stick shift all at the same time in Houston.

though I will say that once I can to Austin I went to the Auto because of all the hills, and folks coming a frigging inch off the bumper when I was stopped at an uphill stoplight.

 

[THEU]

I would ask what you think of something like the DSG paddle shifter system that comes on some VW's and Audis?

This is a true clutchless shifting mechanism which is a blast to drive.

 

[MilkmanDan]

In reply to:

---

---

 

[fly524]

When I was a teenager my dad bought a Model A Ford for fun. He taught me how to drive on it. Said that if learned on it that I could drive anything.

I bought my 5th Corvette a few weeks ago. A 2002 convertible with a six speed. My last one was a 1999 automatic. Basically the same car except for the six speed. The difference in power and control is unbelievable. Out of 40 or so cars I’ve owned this is the best by far.

I’ve been trying to teach my 17 year old daughter to drive the six speed but am realizing that’s not the best car to do it in. I wish I knew someone that had a lower performance manual that she could learn on before getting into this beast.

 

[GakFoo]

i just bought a jeep wrangler this weekend as a second vehicle, has a stick

its been about 15 years since i owned my last stick shift. i love it

 

[Bayerithe]

Have a 2007 Civic Si, 6 speed stick

. wife drives a 2008 Mazda 3, 5 speed stick too. Feels great being able to switch cars and still drive a stick, and can let the wife drive my car too. Awesome for gas mileage too. Think my wife's car gets about 34 MPG. Mine gets about 25 if i drive my car aggressively (the way it should be in a SI), 28 if i drive old person like.

 

[texascoder]

In reply to:

---

---

 

[Bayerithe]

Go test drive a Si model of a Civic before you make a hasty assumption based off only what you have seen. (which is probably someone's customized regular Civic model, like a ex/lx model).

I didn't think much of the Si's either until I drove one.

I had no desire for a muscle car. Honda will get me decent gas mileage and will last for years. It has a good punch to it if I want to take advantage of it.

 

[JohnnyYuma]

In reply to:

---

---

 

[MilkmanDan]

If you're in the market for a practice car, allow my to offer you my '97 MX-6 as well.

 

[mandingo]

In reply to:

---

---

 

[texascoder]

In reply to:

---

---

 

[texascoder]

In reply to:

---

---

 

[mandingo]

Now, I'm not talking about a relatively straight road. As I said, I think the Si will take the Mustang on a very twisty road, because it's light, quick, and handles well, not because I think it is some kind of torque monster. It's not. It's gonna do better getting in and out of those turns, though.

It's not gonna keep up with my WRX, though.

 

[Bayerithe]

No prob Tex

Mandingo, a buddy of mine wanted to show me his new Subaru WRX STI one day. I kind of chuckled when he was going on about how fast it goes. I thought the same thing that Tex thought, but about Subaru's, until I sat down in the car and he punched it. HOLY HELL, that thing was pushing my eyeballs back into my sockets.

Those little ******** have a heck of a punch to em. He told me they come straight off the lot, ready to race. His STI had no radio, no speakers, no nothing in it. Definitely ready to race.

I do like my Si though. We drove to Tennesee last month, into the mountains, except i didn't want to put the miles on my Si to get there, so we took my wife's Mazda 3. I soooo wish i had my Si on those winding mountain roads. That would have been so fun.

 

[mandingo]

Bayerithe, next time, drive your car. That's why you bought it!

There have been so many times when we were somewhere, usually somewhere that we flew to or somewhere that we had to take the van to, where I was seriously wishing we had the Scooby...like Germany...and Italy...and Lake Tahoe...and Sequoia National Park...and Tossa Spain...I could go on. So when I get a chance to take it somewhere fun to drive, I do.

In Italy, we got off the ferry on Elba Island and rented a POS little Renault 3-banger. It was still some of the most fun driving ever. I can only imagine how much fun it would have been in my car.

 

[Huckleberry]

My new vehicle (bought two weeks ago) is a manual. Hard to find, but got it.

Ford Escape, baby. Gas mileage savings FTW.

 

[Bayerithe]

Saving for a house (I want 15% down), going easy on the pedal for a few months. If I can get an extra 40 miles to the tank, it's worth it for a little while

 

[THEU]

Bay,
You should check out the Car and Driver where they tested some of those small 'cheaper' fun cars... pretty sure the only car that finished behind the Honda was a Chevy Cobalt SS.
Does your wife have a 3 Wagon? Sedan? 2.0 engine? 2.3 engine? or a Speed 3?

Also, the GTI seems to always 'win' the comparos I see in that segment. I LOVE the quality of the fit and finish of the VW, can't touch it in that segment.
The Honda has GREAT handling, is behind on horsepower now. Honda's also have gone so down hill on quality ratings, although not as bad as Toyota.

 

[mandingo]

FWIW, Subaru not only has manual transmissions available in abundance across trim levels, they show them as standard equipment on every car they make except the Tribeca, on which a manual is unavailable. Just another reason I love Subaru.

 

[stina]

I have never owned a car that wasn't a manual transmission. I've always preferred them. I learned to drive in my Dad's 66 Ford straight six with three on the tree. At the time I was learning the breaks were soft and the pin was broken in the gear shift handle. If you weren't careful the gear shift handle fell on the floor when you put it in third. Coming down the hill on 24th street toward lamar pumping the breaks and hunting on the floor for the handle to down shift was one of the scariest experiences of my life. I feel more in control with a stick but, the last couple of days I've been suffering for it. I strained a hip flexer muscle in my left leg. Clutching hurts like the dickens.

 

[Mr. Picc]

I agree that driving a stick is much more fun, and love the control that comes with it. When I graduate, the first car I buy will most likely have a manual transmission, unless I buy a Nissan.

My brother has a Rogue that I really enjoy driving. It has the continuously variable transmission (CVT) which is weird at first and takes some time to get used to. It also has pre-set "gears" that you can shift to using paddles, which is great for engine braking or accelerating quickly. It was great on the mountain roads through New Mexico and Arizona, plus you can lock it into 4WD and handles rough terrain well.