posted
Here's the deal: I want a Honda Civic Coupe. The question is, should I get a manual, or an automatic? Manual gets more mpg, cheaper to buy, and cheaper to insure. However, I don't know how to drive a manual yet, and it takes more concentration to drive.
So which would be better? What do you drive? Do you like it?
Posts: 4174 | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
Manual, all the way. My current car is automatic, but I only have that because I basically inherited the car. Manual gives more of a feeling of control. And it's worth learning too. Think about if, for instance you ride with someone and they become unable to drive home (for whatever reason). If their car is manual and you only know how to drive an automatic, you're SOL. I love manual, s'all I'm saying.
Posts: 609 | Registered: Apr 2003
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posted
Go with the manual----it's really not that hard to learn.
I still drive my first car (1981 VW Rabbit Conv), and I bought it because it is an automatic, and I was a stupid 17-year old kid.
Five years later, (quite literally, the car and me celebrate our anniversary Nov 7), I'm wishing she was a manual, because of the reasons mentioned and I know how to drive manual and I like it better.
Plus---auto on this car is only 3-speed, and if it were manual it would be 5-speed. It would be sooooo sweet.
Posts: 463 | Registered: Oct 2003
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posted
Those are very good reasons for buying a manual. The only thing I caution you is that I did the same thing and then chickened out. I rarely ever drive my car now and let Tom do most of the driving because driving stick intimidates me. I can do it, but get really frustrated in traffic. One or two very embarrassing stalls really ruined it for me. You have to basically drive it for a month straight and then you feel comfortable. If this is okay with you, then by all means, buy it!!
Posts: 1777 | Registered: Jan 2003
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It's not that hard to learn. It's more fun to drive. Once you learn how and pass the point of it being a distraction from driving, it will actually make you a more atttentive driver, since you will be a more active driver. Also, no torque converter can shift gears as efficiently as a human being who knows what s/he is doing.
Of course, you'll curse us during the time you're learning to drive it.
posted
I agree with both HC, Starla and Mega - go manual - especially with the little honda civics. My first car was a manual civic, and it was a lot of fun to drive. So much so that I've only ever bought manuals since. (I recently sold my fourth!)
Don't worry about the difficulty - after a little while it becomes completely second nature, like riding a bike. (Except with more wheels...and air-con...stereo...actually, ignore the bike simile
The only consideration in favour of auto is if you are doing a lot of city driving with plenty of starts and stops - manual can get a little tiresome then, but I've always thought it worth the inconvenience for the driving pleasure...
posted
I'm sort of learing how to drive a manual. I have trouble with it though because I'm so short I can't get the clutch all the way in. I have to sit with a cushion behind me. Yeah, it's kinda pathetic.
I'm just afraid it's going to take too much concentration to drive a manual. But it doesn't sound so bad. And I guess I'd get used to it after a while.
Posts: 4174 | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
And it is like riding a bike . . . two summers ago I rented a manual jeep in Mexico, after having owned exlusively automatic transmission cars since 1993, and I could still do it!
::misses manual::
Get it now, while you're young.
They don't make minivans or stationwagons in manual.
posted
I actually probably won't buy one for another year. *is broke* It'll have to be used, too, or I won't be able to afford it. Umm, actually I STILL won't be able to afford it. Oh well. *shrugs* I can't wait to get it.
Posts: 4174 | Registered: Sep 2003
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The scariest is when you are stopped at an incline . . . the fear of rolling back into the person behind you before starting. (You are also afraid of stalling and thus hitting the car behind you, but this actually can't happen. If you stall, the car is in gear, and so you can't roll backward. The only danger is rolling backward due to letting the clutch out too slowly.) But eventually, you learn just where the "sweet spot" on your clutch is, and you learn to let it out without rolling back at all.
(You should make a point of striving for this even when there is nobody behind you, while you are still getting accustomed.)
Incidentally, I learned to drive on a manual transmission, so don't feel like you need to have an automatic while you are still a new driver and then switch once you are more experienced. Rather, what is likely to happen is that you won't want to switch away from comfortable mediocr--from automatic.
Posts: 1001 | Registered: Dec 2002
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I stalled one time when I was at a light. It turned red before I could get going again. It was so embarrassing. *blushes* The people wating behind me weren't too happy either.
Posts: 4174 | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
If you're not buying one for a year or so ::Empathises on the whole broke situation:: then if you can, try to have a few 'test runs' on someone elses stick shift - if that's possible - then when you do go to test drive for your own car, you'll be reasonably confident with the stick shift, and will get a much better sense of the car you are buying. It'll also give you a good idea in advance of whether or not you really want a manual...
Posts: 466 | Registered: Sep 2003
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When I was learning stick, I practiced in shopping centre car parks after hours. *lots* of space and very little embarrassment.
Posts: 466 | Registered: Sep 2003
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That's a bummer. I'd keep the carpark thing in mind though - private property = no licence necessary. My dad had taught me to drive in the playground of a local primary school (On the weekends by the time I was 14. It certainly gave me a lot more confidence by the time I went for 'proper' driving lessons. (a good thing, too, because I had the instructor from hell)
Posts: 466 | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
Ahhh - actually, I think its the same thing here in Australia. That's where you need an older friend / parent to deal with the salesmen...
Posts: 466 | Registered: Sep 2003
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The day I got my permit was the first time I ever drove. The whole way back from the DMV I was in the ditch. I got better though, and I took driver's ed. Actually, my instructer and I got lost for the first hour. It was sad.
Posts: 4174 | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
I'm putting a vote in for automatic. I love the idea that the car does all the work for you. My car's manual and the clutch drives me mad. It's just such hard work. I hate gear shifting, hill starts, stalling... The list just goes on and on. Most of all I hate people in automatic cars looking all superior at me when my car stalls.
My next car is an automatic, definitely.
I guess I'm just really lazy. Maybe if my car was nice and new I'd learn to love manual. Maybe.
Posts: 119 | Registered: Nov 2003
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posted
My first drive after I got my licence, I managed to back my parents car off the side of the driveway, which was down a *really* steep hill, and get it completely stuck on the curb. It took dad an hour to disloge it ::cringes at memory::
Things got better after that.
Posts: 466 | Registered: Sep 2003
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Icarus, you can special order stick on minivans. A woman I work with did that. I couldn't believe that she liked manuals that much, but they're really sold on them.
Used manuals are actually really affordable. Usually about $5000 less than automatic.
Posts: 1777 | Registered: Jan 2003
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4) Nothing better than going through a bunch of tight curves on a mountain pass running a 5-speed manual!
Oh, and regarding the "stalling up-hill" concern--there's always the emergency brake trick (keep your thumb on the release button, and use it like a regular beake to hold your spot while you engage first gear).
I'd still be driving my manual 1991 Toyota Corolla (got 40 mpg running through those aforementioned mountains) if I hadn't wrecked it!
posted
Have you guys heard of the transmission that's runs like an auto, but it has no multiple gears? It has a gear that decreases in size the faster you go for more top end.
The Toyota Prius has it I believe. Posts: 354 | Registered: Jun 2002
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mega, the subaru outback is a wagon, and it most definitely comes in manual.
i am with everyone who says get a manual. my mother made me learn on one, and after beginner's luck, i had a stop sign from hell experience, but once you've got it down, it's cake.
Posts: 1090 | Registered: Oct 2003
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posted
Manual, for sure! Especially little underpowered cars need manual transmissions. It's simpler so less to go wrong. It's more fun to drive. It puts more of the power of the engine at your disposal. I like being able to roll the car off if the battery dies. I like that putting it in gear holds it back on a hill. You use your brakes a lot less. And you need to learn the joys of double clutching.
I love manual transmissions. I really miss my Land Cruiser with 5 speed stick shift and 4 wheel drive. Even though the clutch was so hard to press my left quadricep was noticably bigger than my right. <laughs>
Posts: 968 | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
I don't know about the Toyota Prius, but I know that the Saturn VUE has a continuously variable transmission, and GM plans to use it in other cars in the future.
My first car was a 73 super-beetle, and although it was a little rough in the going at first, it was definitely worth learning how to drive a manual.
Now, my fiancee has a 72 beetle, and he had to learn how to drive it from me.
The insurance would be enough incentive for me. My car's insurance would raise by I think 30 bucks a month if it wasn't a manual.
Posts: 701 | Registered: Jul 1999
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my second car was a 72 super beetle. yellow. that's a good time.
i definitely agree with little cars and the extra power of manual. i've had two 3-cylinder metros. i passed a mustang going up a hill once. it's all how you drive it.
Posts: 1090 | Registered: Oct 2003
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posted
True story: I was visiting my sister in Provo one weekend and got violently ill. She had to drive me back to Salt Lake in my Manual and she didn't know how. So that is kind of the flip side of an earlier scenario.
I finally learned Manual shifting in a VW bus.
We bought the manual because it was cheap, even though my husband didn't know how to drive one yet (he was 21 at the time). And the first thing we did with it was hitch it to a trailer and drive from CA to TX. Nothing like the Guh guh Guh guh of clutching too fast with a U Haul on the back.
Girl Talk warning:
When I have cramps or am pregnant, manual is less comfortable.
End Girl Talk.
But overall I'm a fan of manual.
Posts: 11017 | Registered: Apr 2003
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posted
I agree with all the practical reasons to drive a manual, but as far as the "fun" aspect goes, I don't see that making much difference. My favorite cars to drive have been a Chevy Lumina Eurosport (with an automatic...and the engine of a cop car),a Chevy Silverado (automatic-400 small block and turbo transmission), a Chevelle (350, automatic), and a Stratus (automatic). My least favorite cars to drive have been my Ford Ranger (4-cylinder, 5-speed) and Nissan Sentra (4-cylinder, 5-speed).
I think fun comes from more power.
With a Civic, I don't think you'll see the power either way. Also, my Civic got to 200,000 miles and never needed to be push started.
Learn how to drive one--definitely by the time you hit your mid-life crisis, like Iccy;)--but you don't need to listen to these stick shift snobs unless you're buying a Porsche. Posts: 5264 | Registered: Jul 2002
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posted
My first manual (besides the horrible 1973 Plymouth Duster I learned on) was a Plymouth Colt.
It had a 10-speed manual, coupled to a 1.4 litre engine.
It was like a 10-speed bike: there was a high/low range (think--front derailleur), and then 4 forward and one reverse speeds (think--rear derailleur). I taught a friend how to drive a stick keeping it in low gear--almost impossible to stall it out!
When I was bored, I'd range through all 8 forward gears. When the accelerator cable snapped, I tweaked the idle screw all the way up, and was able to get it moving in low, and drive it home.
And I could push start it by myself, on a flat road: just get it rolling, then hop in, shift to Low/1, and pop the clutch!
Ah, memories! We will enjoy them.
Posts: 1862 | Registered: Mar 2000
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posted
Most of Frisco's favorite cars were GM products, so you can clearly not listen to anything he has to say.
Good point about push starting, aka! Yet another good reason to go with manual!
I don't like the sound of that parking brake trick. Sounds bad for the brakes, and it also seems like a bad habit. You don't want to learn to compensate for your weaknesses; you want to eradicate them. Practice somewhere deserted until you know how to come out without rolling back.
Posts: 1001 | Registered: Dec 2002
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A note in support of automatic: apparently some very carsick people are more prone to carsickness in manual cars. At least, Cor says this is true, though she didn't have any problems with me driving in Mexico, so I think it's more about how talented the person driving is . . .
posted
I had been thinking about doing a manual vs. automatic thread a while ago...
I'm a fan of manuals. I learned to drive on an automatic, but the 3 vehicles I've owned have all been manual. I like manuals because of the control, longevity of manual transmissions (automatics break much sooner), lower vehicle price, better gas mileage, and ability to push start (which I had to use last week when my starter went out). It's not difficult to learn to feel the clutch's sweet spot, so you don't roll when you don't want to. Just please pay attention to the world around you when you're sitting not in gear (I once had a truck roll backwards into me at a stoplight because he wasn't paying attention to the incline or my frantic efforts to alert him to it either). Automatics are also nice - you don't have to think about your shifting and it leaves you with an extra hand. Talking on a cell phone while driving a manual is not very fun (before everyone reams me out - I sometimes have to take calls for work while I'm driving, I think I have only initiated 1 or 2 calls while I've been driving).
I think everyone should know how to drive one (even if they don't own one - you never know when you might need to drive one), but whether you buy one or not is your own personal preference. The next car I buy will probably be an automatic, but who know when I'll ever buy another car....
Hey ssywak - my first car was a Plymouth Champ (the Colt's twin)! It was a little weird getting used to the gearing on it. I basically used the standard (low) gears for accelerating (better acceleration that way) and the economy (high) 4th gear as a substitute for 5th.
posted
If your battery or starter dies (which you normally need to start the car), you can push the car (clutch in) till it's moving (like 5-10 mph) and then pop the clutch out (with the transmission in first or second gear). The momentum of the vehicle will force the engine to turn over (starting it). You can't do this in an automatic.
posted
Oh, and the Civic coupe's are fun manuals to drive - slacker has one. It's actually for sale if you're interested.... Posts: 5879 | Registered: Apr 2001
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posted
*blush* We actually had to do this after I bought new floormats. We drove into the dealer to ask what was wrong and he just laughed.
(There is a handy safety feature that won't let you start your car if the clutch doesn't fully engage)
Posts: 1777 | Registered: Jan 2003
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