What's Normal? - Do you know how to drive with a manual transmission? (1 Viewer)

[belljr]

been a long time but i drove pretty much everything with a manual - car, pickup, tractor, backhoe, dump truck

 

[B Maverick]

I'd be curious to know if the yes and no splits depending on ages.

I learned and my first car was manual. Haven't driven one in awhile.

 

[Keerock]

I'd be curious to know if the yes and no splits depending on ages.

I learned and my first car was manual. Haven't driven one in awhile.

Most likely cool vs not.

 

[Gally]

I even taught my then fiancée to drive a stick,

She doesn’t like driving the stick now

Isn't this common in all marriages?

 

[Sullie]

I used to drive nothing but manual transmission cars from the time I got my license until last year. I have a weekend/fun car w/a manual transmission but I everyday a truck now and honestly/surprisingly, as much as I love and enjoy driving a manual transmission. . . wait for the big shocking revelation. . . it's not all that in bumper to bumper, highway traffic. I know, I know, big surprise but for all of my adult life I rather enjoyed it but now I don't miss it at all.

 

[lardonastick]

yes
86 Dodge Colt
over 40

 

[-OZ-]

I used to drive nothing but manual transmission cars from the time I got my license until last year. I have a weekend/fun car w/a manual transmission but I everyday a truck now and honestly/surprisingly, as much as I love and enjoy driving a manual transmission. . . wait for the big shocking revelation. . . it's not all that in bumper to bumper, highway traffic. I know, I know, big surprise but for all of my adult life I rather enjoyed it but now I don't miss it at all.

I never minded all that much around Detroit but i did not like driving on hills in traffic.

 

[PIK95]

I even taught my then fiancée to drive a stick,

She doesn’t like driving the stick now

Isn't this common in all marriages?

Mine has gone the opposite fwiw.

 

[Raging weasel]

Learned on one in the 80's, drove them on and off for a decade, but haven't used a clutch in about 30 years. I have no desire for a manual vehicle now.

Same

 

[Sullie]

I used to drive nothing but manual transmission cars from the time I got my license until last year. I have a weekend/fun car w/a manual transmission but I everyday a truck now and honestly/surprisingly, as much as I love and enjoy driving a manual transmission. . . wait for the big shocking revelation. . . it's not all that in bumper to bumper, highway traffic. I know, I know, big surprise but for all of my adult life I rather enjoyed it but now I don't miss it at all.

I never minded all that much around Detroit but i did not like driving on hills in traffic.

When I lived in Cincinnati, let's just say there's A LOT of hills and it forces you to get used to it. At first it was scary but after a while I got very comfortable with it. However, when I lived there in the 90's, it was a bit tricky when it snowed, and the city was seemingly always unprepared despite the fact that the fine weather folks were telling us all we were going to get a bunch of snow days in advance. In Indy, it's so flat that no matter how much snow we get it's usually never a big deal plus the city folks seem to pay attention to the weather forecasters more.

 

[IvanKaramazov]

Yeah, of course. Gen X is probably the last generation for which this knowledge will be more or less standard.

 

[Pipes]

voted yes but haven't driven one in over 35 years. Probably a struggle at 1st but I could plow through.

 

[CletiusMaximus]

another advantage to manual is that you can start it if your battery’s dead

Another advantage is if the accelerator cable breaks on your old VW bus you can tie it up with a shoestring just above idle and use your clutch and brake to keep cruising through the Florida Keys at about 10 mph and if you time the lights perfectly and roll through a few stop signs you can make it to your cheap hotel while only killing the engine a few times.

 

[brun]

Gotten used to the automatic in the last 7-8 years. Sometimes in the snow I wish I had a manual but otherwise I prefer the automatic.

 

[wlwiles]

I learned how to drive in a single cab F-150 with the long shifter, because my dad said if you can handle the long shifter you can handle any vehicle you need to. When I turned 16 he gave me that truck and I drove it for 3 months before it got totaled in a parking lot (I wasn't even in it, someone smashed it). Haven't been behind the wheel of a manual transmission vehicle since (24 years later). If you put me in a manual vehicle today, I could probably do ok but it'd take me a couple miles to refamiliarize I think.

 

[SWC]

you bet your sweet keester I do take that to the bank brohans

 

[tri-man 47]

Manual transmissions are like cursive.

Cool to know how to do but really unnecessary these days.

They are so fun though. The best way Ive heard it described is - it’s like you stick your hand down inside the transmission and become one with the car.

Go on ...

 

[belljr]

Can you drive stick!?

 

[Terminalxylem]

Yep. All but one of my cars have had manual transmissions, including my current vehicle.

And I drove a manual camper van on our honeymoon in New Zealand. It’s extra fun driving on the “wrong” side of the road with a manual, especially blindly reaching out the window, searching for the stick.

 

[STEADYMOBBIN 22]

Can you drive stick!?

“I can learn, if you teach me”

 

[tri-man 47]

Yep. All but one of my cars have had manual transmissions, including my current vehicle.

And I drove a manual camper van on our honeymoon in New Zealand. It’s extra fun driving on the “wrong” side of the road with a manual, especially blindly reaching out the window, searching for the stick.

I dealt with that in South Africa …driving a stick on the left side of the road. Not to mention that it took an hour of nervous driving heading out of Cape Town while not knowing how to get to reverse (it was one of those lift-the-knob-and-shift designs).

 

[Terminalxylem]

Still remember learning and had to stop at the top of a hill where there was a red light - then the anxiety that consumed me when the light turned green and I had to navigate the clutch with the gas in order to not roll backward and hit the car behind me, but also not gun it forward to hit the car in front of me.

My dad sat there and laughed with an evil grin on his face.

That's why you learn how to use the emergency brake in conjunction with your shifting when you're on inclines...

And also for pulling off sweet moves on the snow and ice.

The only redeeming thing living in MI was practicing police turns in the winter.

 

[Jayrod]

Learned and took my test in a manual. My 2nd vehicle was a stick, but got an automatic in 2000 and haven't driven a manual since.

My wife is my age (46) and never learned how.

 

[Deamon]

It's the only thing I drive

 

[Bracie Smathers]

So much damn fun to drive manual. I actually panicked a bit when I had to drive an automatic when I moved back home to take care of an elderly parent and had to use that vehicle because I hadn't driven one in decades.
People who have never driven a manual transmission haven't ever driven IMHO. They have no idea what it's like to really drive, get that rush from second to third into fourth heading onto an entry ramp on the highway or zipping through a big parking lot making turns while shifting deftly around in complete control avoiding traffic. It is just too cool to explain unless you know.

 

[pollardsvision]

Yes and I am currently teaching my youngest how to drive manual.

I actually paid $500 extra for my manual truck

I have several “historic” vehicles and will never buy a new vehicle again if I can help it.

Preach brotha!

Still have 2 manuals that alternate as my daily drivers, and only drive old cars.

I only drove an automatic regularly for the first time a couple years ago, and I hated it.

Automatics can do many things, but it cannot know what I'm about to do. That's incredibly irritating.

I'm really hoping I can always find Clinton/Bush era Japanese manuals around because I have no interest in driving anything else.

 

[STEADYMOBBIN 22]

Yes and I am currently teaching my youngest how to drive manual.

I actually paid $500 extra for my manual truck

I have several “historic” vehicles and will never buy a new vehicle again if I can help it.

Preach brotha!

Still have 2 manuals that alternate as my daily drivers, and only drive old cars.

I only drove an automatic regularly for the first time a couple years ago, and I hated it.

Automatics can do many things, but it cannot know what I'm about to do. That's incredibly irritating.

I'm really hoping I can always find Clinton/Bush era Japanese manuals around because I have no interest in driving anything else.

Amen brother!!!!

Oh I forgot to mention…

Saves your brakes. We can go long stretches of driving without ever using my brakes because I can downshift.

Saves money of repairs - if an automatic transmission fails it’s expensive to fix while a new clutch is a fairly cheap (and rare) repair.

Manual vehicles are more fuel efficient

 

[MTskibum]

I prefer manual transmissions, and my last vehicle was a wrx with a 6 speed manual.

However, we will see if I ever own another manual transmission again. The problem is I need a tow vehicle too, and while I have even driven dump/haul trucks with 13 speed manuals, I do not want to tow or launch a boat with a manual.