stick/auto

[Dowding]

Semi-auto's can be quite good. Audi's DSG gearbox is brilliant.

I prefer manual transmission - it's part of the car driving experience if you ask me - otherwise you might as well be driving a dodgem car.

[wooley]

I'd always owned sticks back home in Scotland where we have roads that make driving fun. Fast sweeping corners and only sheep that don't know the green-cross-code to worry about.

Since moving to SoCal, its autos all the way. Almost all the driving I do is either in heavy traffic or on arrow-straight roads or both. Auto's out here just make sense.

The arguement over whther or not to get an auto - to me - comes down to the question of whether you have access to roads where driver involvement extends beyond preventing your vehicle wander out of whichever one of the five lanes you've selected. That in itself seems beyond many of the drivers out here.

[texasmom]

I'm not thrilled about it whether it's standard or auto. My oldest is going to get a permit at 15???  I grew up in Germany, and wasn't allowed a permit until 17 & license until 18.  I think that was even still maybe too young for most.

Then we come back here to the states and see all these babies driving.  UNbelievable. And now I'm considering allowing one of my own babies to drive at 15?

[Silat]

Originally posted by texasmom
Hajo's car thread made me think of this.

For you younger folks, did you learn to drive on stick or automatic? Or if  you've got teens, did you teach them stick or automatic? What's your preference, and why?

Hello?? What are you thinking? TEENS SHOULDNT DRIVE:) Or be heard:)

                 

[Xargos]

If the engine is smaller then a 350 in a car, I prefer a stick.  If it's a 350 or above, I prefer an auto.  My reasoning is that where I live the roads can get very dark and wet, and driving home in the middle of the night in the rain after a double shift at work, it's easy to down shift incorrectly in a turn and end up in a ditch if you have a lot of HP under the hood.

[eskimo2]

I learned on an auto Volvo and soon after a stick Datsun.  I’ve had over 50 cars, most of them were sticks.  Currently I only own 2 autos, not really by choice though.  I buy the cheapest most reliable thing I can and drive it into the ground.  Sticks are just hard to come by now; if given a choice I’d rather drive “standard”.   Cheap 7 passenger minivans are especially hard to find without auto.

[FrodeMk3]

If the engine is smaller then a 350 in a car, I prefer a stick. If it's a 350 or above, I prefer an auto. My reasoning is that where I live the roads can get very dark and wet, and driving home in the middle of the night in the rain after a double shift at work, it's easy to down shift incorrectly in a turn and end up in a ditch if you have a lot of HP under the hood.

That will happen no matter what size engine you have, if it has decent compression, because going into a turn, it's the same as getting on the E-Brake, if it's rear-wheel drive. That's another factor, in my opinion. Except for a 2000 Taurus my wife had, ALL of my cars and pickups were RWD.

FWD and RWD have all of their own driving characteristics, apart from the tranny type.

[bj229r]

Originally posted by texasmom
LOLOL~ BJ, I thought your avatar was a nice GI Joe, drinking a cup of Joe... there's cussing (and not the little kind!) on that thing! LOLOLOLOL!:lol

LOL Mom, in 5 years, you're the first one who ever noticed:D

[Jackal1]

Originally posted by texasmom

For you younger folks

Or if  you've got teens

 

I am going to voice my experience anyway.

Jockey shift to foot shift, back to Jockey shift, to stick.

[lazs2]

but who really cares what a front wheel drive car handles like?   Who would own one?

I think dowding gets it for once... It is about the experiance... it may be safer or better or more... whatever to have an auto but..

It is about the driving experiance.  just like those misserable 3 point factory seat belts ruin the experiance for me.

There is more to driving than getting from one place to the other.

laz

[Airscrew]

Originally posted by rpm
Airscrew, you sound a lot like me. I learned on Farmall tractors, a 68 Ford F100 and a 66 Diamond-T hauling hay when I was a kid. The Diamond-T had a 10 speed. Now I thought I was pretty hot stuff shifting that bad boy without using the clutch until Dad drove up in a 67 Pete with a 5 x 4. It had 2 sticks and I suddenly wasn't near as good as I thought I was.

Never really drove anything bigger than a bus and duece in a half in the military.   My grandfather used to let us drive the tractors out to the fields or when ever they needed to be moved out of the way.  He used it more as a reward for working hard, the prize would be to get to drive the tractor.

Learning to drive a manual wasnt so bad once I got the clutch and gas coordinated.   Hardest thing for me was teaching others, like my brother and my sisters.  Coolest was when I found out my dad knew how to double clutch.   I was 19 and my brother had a 67 Mustang with a 4 speed.  I cant remember if it was a problem with the clutch or the transmission but when ever you shifted it would get stuck between gears.  He took us out and taught us how to double clutch, the look on his face was great and we just had a ball running up and down the back roads practicing.

[texasmom]

Originally posted by bj229r
LOL Mom, in 5 years, you're the first one who ever noticed:D

Really? It must be the pink background.  Made me pay more attention to it.

[AKIron]

Originally posted by lazs2
but who really cares what a front wheel drive car handles like?   Who would own one?

I think dowding gets it for once... It is about the experiance... it may be safer or better or more... whatever to have an auto but..

It is about the driving experiance.  just like those misserable 3 point factory seat belts ruin the experiance for me.

There is more to driving than getting from one place to the other.

laz

I own one and do enjoy not having the tail show it's bellybutton when I want to accelerate around that corner without showing my aggressive intent.  

[Mr No Name]

I learned on an auto but learned to drive a stick when I was about 19 (geez that was a looooooooong time ago) I would prefer a manual transmission but I buy a car based on when/where I get the best price for whatever I need so, I havent had a car with a stick since 98 or so.

[vorticon]

if i'm driving a car that is fun to drive, on roads that are fun to drive on, i want a stick. if im just driving a  tin can people mover to, inside and home from a city, the manual is nothing but a hassle, so why bother?