Author Topic: stick/auto (Read 1453 times)

clerick · « **Reply #15 on:** June 29, 2007, 01:07:21 PM »

Stick!

And i don't care what some may say newer autos don't get the same mileage. The only "autos" that do are the manuals with electronic shifting. Cant remember how many time i came out to a car with a dead battery and all i had to do is get the car rolling and drop it into gear to start it, nearly impossible to do with an auto.

detch01 · « **Reply #16 on:** June 29, 2007, 01:21:19 PM »

I learned on a stick. IMO that's the way to go. Every car I've ever owned has been a stick shift, probably always will be as long as they keep selling them.

Cheers,
asw

Furball · « **Reply #17 on:** June 29, 2007, 01:47:17 PM »

Never owned an auto, always driven a 5 speed manual. Apart from my Mini, that had 4 gears.

Have driven auto rental cars .

B3YT · « **Reply #18 on:** June 29, 2007, 01:52:11 PM »

manuel shift . better acceleration and hill climbing. better MPH .

Furball · « **Reply #19 on:** June 29, 2007, 01:53:45 PM »

Don't forget fuel consumption. You lose something like 5 miles per gallon on an auto.

vorticon · « **Reply #20 on:** June 29, 2007, 01:57:41 PM »

stick.

most of my driving is on highways, and theres only 1-4 stops between my house and the highway, so it doesnt make that much difference to me.

Sandman · « **Reply #21 on:** June 29, 2007, 02:06:39 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by Furball
Don't forget fuel consumption. You lose something like 5 miles per gallon on an auto.

It's more like 0-3.

http://cars.about.com/od/helpforcarbuyers/tp/top10_fuel.htm

Furball · « **Reply #22 on:** June 29, 2007, 02:13:34 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by Sandman
It's more like 0-3.

I wasnt far off the 3 figure

And... if you look at http://www.parkers.co.uk you will find that some auto's lose 5 miles or more

FrodeMk3 · « **Reply #23 on:** June 29, 2007, 02:18:16 PM »

I'd admit to learning on an auto first-My dad's '81 F-150, hauling Trash to the dump on a back road.

The first car I got in High school was a hand-me-down from my oldest brother: His 1969 390 c.i., 4 barrel carbed, Toploader 4 speed equipped Mach 1. Gas Mileage It didn't have; The ability to kick the rearend sideways with the tires spinning while grabbing 2nd gear, it did. One of my fondest memories.

eagl · « **Reply #24 on:** June 29, 2007, 02:55:12 PM »

I learned first on an auto but before I got my license I also learned to drive a stick. Not teaching kids how to drive a stick is pretty silly... A female co-worker of mine never learned to drive a stick until her husband slipped and broke his ankle. The first time she ever drove a stick was while driving him to the hospital. She nearly wrecked the car a few times and pretty much abused the car jerking it around with the clutch. Killed the motor a dozen times just getting it out of the parking lot.

My point is that driving a stick is probably something everyone even remotely interested in their own safety and personal freedom ought to know how to do. It's a very useful life skill and it's not really that tough to learn. But some people get brainwashed into thinking it's some super tough skill, so they are afraid to learn and then they pass that fear to their kids. There isn't really all that much to it, and the time to learn isn't when you're driving your screaming spouse or child to the hospital, or during any other emergency when you simply must drive a stick shift car.

Regarding fuel efficiency, some of the newer continuously variable auto transmissions actually beat manual transmissions. And a properly sequenced auto will match or beat a poor driver who doesn't know when it's appropriate to shift a manual to get good gas mileage. With modern cars, it's probably a nearly un-noticeable difference except for people who short-shift religiously in order to maximize fuel efficiency, but even then most people would get a bigger increase in fuel efficiency if they would just slow down a bit and drive less aggressively overall.

I like auto transmissions for commuting and also for my wife because her left knee has an old injury that is aggravated by pushing in a clutch. But we both know how to drive both stick and auto so she'll never be stuck unable to drive a car because she doesn't know how.

DiabloTX · « **Reply #25 on:** June 29, 2007, 03:15:18 PM »

Also with an auto there's HP loss at the rear wheels. It's even worse if there a IRS involved. Don't believe me?

Both manual tranny's. Yet the '98 Trans Am put down more HP than the '98 Corvette.

Maverick · « **Reply #26 on:** June 29, 2007, 04:25:22 PM »

I learned on both. I preferred to drive the stick (column shifter) but had to practice with whichever vehicle was available. Once I was on my own it took me over 24 years to get a vehicle with an auto in it. Now the truck I have is a auto shift. I have to start it out and stop it using the clutch but once it's rolling it drives just like an automatic transmission car.

Flatbar · « **Reply #27 on:** June 29, 2007, 04:27:44 PM »

My first car was a '61 bug, bought it from my bro and his wife taught me to drive it a year earlier.

It took a full day to learn how to start out without getting that Pilot Induced Oscillation aka: hickups.

wooley · « **Reply #28 on:** June 29, 2007, 05:33:42 PM »

In the UK and most of Europe, something like 95% of people learn on sticks. If you sit your driving test in an auto, you're only allowed to drive autos.

Sticks are the norm in most cars until you get to the luxury saloon classes. In fact, auto's have a bit of a stigma attached to them for younger drivers.

ChickenHawk · « **Reply #29 on:** June 29, 2007, 05:54:53 PM »

Learned to drive a stick on a 66 Falcon with a three speed on the column. It would shudder in first gear no matter what you did and the shifter would fall out of the column if you weren’t careful.

Every vehicle since then has been a cinch to drive, including forklifts, loaders and ten speed trucks. My kids will learn on a stick too.