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I love my 5-speed manual truck. Also love it because my teenage kids REFUSE to drive it since they find it difficult to understand a stick ("too many things to remember!" they complain).
I learned on a 3-on-the-tree manual. Have always loved them.
Had one friend say it was because I must have a 'thing' about being able to play with that shaft (I mean shifter) as I drive.....
Posts: 9538 | Registered: Aug 2003
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I'm sure someone has already verified that stationwagons do indeed come in manual, but I'm too lazy to read the whole thread. My parents used to own a Pontiac J2000 manual transmission stationwagon. I believe it's more currently known as a firebird or something like that. Funny thing is, years later my brother and I saw an automatic version of the same car, and it just looked wrong.
Posts: 609 | Registered: Apr 2003
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I miss my stick shift. I learned to drive on a 1986 SAAB 900. My dad handed me the keys and told me it was a two hour drive to get back home so we had better get started. Nothing like learning under pressure, but hey, two and half hours later I was a pro.
I think every one should learn at some point. You have never driven until you have worked a clutch. And you never know when be able to drive stick will come in handy.
Posts: 1294 | Registered: Oct 2003
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When I was 17, I got in to a bad accident, which was my fault. I lost my lisence for 3 months, which was a very sucky considering it was the summer after graduating from highschool. I could never go anywhere unless it was at the mercy of someone else.
Well, the day I got my lisence, I HAD to take my girlfreind out on a "real" date, something I had not been able to do in 3 months. The only thing was, the only car I could borrow from my parents was a stick shift. So once I got home, I started learning how to drive the stick shift as I started the date. That made for an exciting date, especially considering we went down to UC's campus, which is full of all kinds of narrow winding roads, up and down hills.
But it didnt take me that long to learn it. Now though, I had saved up to buy a nice car, and having an automatic was one of my criteria. I had just gotten tired of always shifting the car all the time, sure it was fun, but sometimes, I just want to sit back and cruise.
Posts: 879 | Registered: Aug 2000
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Stick, I love driving stick - it makes you drive the way you want, freedom. On the other hand - depends on where you live. If in a big city and be driving a lot in heavy city traffic - then for practical reasons the automatic would be better. But stick is stick Posts: 102 | Registered: Oct 2003
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If you're engine's not leaking gas/air through the piston rings, then a first-gear push-start should work.
As a small point--you can have the car in neutral if you're stuck to having to push-start it all by yourself. Then you jump in, depress the clutch (say something like, "You're a very stupid clutch, and you'll never amount to anything"), shift to first, and pop.
I hate to say this, but I would sometimes practice push-starting my Corolla by letting it fall down my sloped driveway (towards the enemy's gate, as it were), and popping the clutch. I really miss that car...
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My brother drove his MG with no battery forever. He lived on a hill and worked on a hill. He was too broke then to buy a battery, poor guy!
I had a Volkswagon Fastback that would hardly stay in reverse. It always popped out. Reverse is always the first gear to go in Volkswagons for some reason. Anyway, I just parked on a slight incline at work and rolled backwards to back out. Other places I either had to find a place I could pull straight through, or else find an incline to park on. It wasn't that difficult in my town, luckily. Pretty hilly. <laughs> But I drove it that way for a couple of years.
Posts: 968 | Registered: Sep 2003
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Oh, that reminds me of the time my clutch cable broke and I drove my car home with no clutch. It's not that hard to do if you choose the time right for shifting. You can kind of feel it when it's right and slip it right in. On the way back down through the gears it's a whole lot harder to find that spot and get it to work without grinding them. <laughs> Not a problem unless you have to stop completely at a light. Then it dies and it's sort of hard on your starter when you take off again by cranking it in first gear.
My brother in law said he didn't realize you could even drive a car that way. He had apparently led a very sheltered life. We were so poor we always drove junker cars and worked on them ourselves in high school and college. I think his dad must have bought him a new car or something.
[ November 08, 2003, 01:12 AM: Message edited by: ana kata ]
Posts: 968 | Registered: Sep 2003
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I drive a manual solely because we don't do car payments, and we were limited in how much we could spend for a car outright, so there was no good reason to limit ourselves to looking for automatic cars just because I didn't know how to drive a stick. Took me about two weeks to stop thinking about what I was doing.
Posts: 7790 | Registered: Aug 2000
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aka - Those times (without the clutch cable) are when we can all be glad for syncromesh. Having driven a vehicle that had no syncromeshing on any of the gears (it was really old), I must say that syncromesh is one of the finer automotive inventions.
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I had an old used beamer, and a couple of times the supports for the gearshift broke, causing the stick to fall down into the undercarriage of the car somewhat. When this happened, it became extremely difficult to put the car in second or fourth gear. Once this happened when a friend and I were heading down to Key West to do some fishing and stuff. Right when we got to KW, I decided we should turn around while I was already in gear, rather than risk not being able to put the car in. Problem is, there are some stop lights and stuff on the way. Lots of people can come out in second gear, but I maintain it takes a real stud to come out in fourth! Of course, you have absolutely no pick up, which really ticks off cars behind you in the many places where US1 is only one lane in each direction. At one point I was right in front of a cop at a light, but I guess there must not have been anything illegal about what I was doing, because he didn't stop me. Once I hit Florida City, I jumped on the turnpike for the rest of the trip home (~30 minutes). Speed limits around 60 or 65, so I was home free . . . except for the toll! I knew if I came to a stop in the toll booth and attempted to come out in fourth gear, I would probably get killed. So for the last fifteen minutes before, I drove over 100 in an attempt to speed up my reflexes. Then, at the toll plaza, I sailed through at 35 and tossed my coins in!
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I am suprised that no one has mentioned another benefit of stick, engine braking. The same thing that makes you manual stall if you're not careful, can be used to slow the car down. Depending on the engine, you can slow down a LOT faster. This is also good for driving on snow and ice, because it slow the car without directly affecting traction, (Although if you do it aggressively, and I mean REALLY aggressively, you can lock up the rear wheels.) Engine braking also extends the life of your brake pads and rotors. You can also use it if your brakes are overheating on a long downhill.
Plus with a stick, you can practice your "heel-and-toe downshifting."
Automatics waste far to much of your cars power in the torque converter, (part of how the AT works.) I HATE automatics, but I hate driving around automatics even more. This is a generalization, but as a general rule AT drivers tend to be the "dumb cows" on the road. Whether it's the afrorementioned lack of attention needed, or what, I don't know, but a lot of the inattentive bad driving I see is from the automatics, (And as a motorcyclist, I see a LOT of inattentive driving.)
There are a few tell-tale signs of AT drivers, such as riding the brake and inconsistant pace of driving. It is so aggravating to follow an automatic up a hill, because they can loll up the hill in a sloth-like daze, cause me to be unable to choose the right gear. I often see auto drivers applying the brakes on the freeway when no one is in front of them, and they weren't exceeding the speed limit.
I firmly belive that driving a MT contributes to being more in touch with the vehicle and therefore a safer driver. I could go on for days about how much I hate ATs, but I will leave it at that.
And one more thing, if you ever want to learn to ride a motorcycle, already knowing how to drive a MT makes it easier, as most bikes are MT.
Posts: 186 | Registered: Jul 1999
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What on earth is engine braking? I've seen signs prohibiting it on highways and have always wondered.
Posts: 1777 | Registered: Jan 2003
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Usually, the signs prohibiting engine braking are on stretches of highway/freeway through the middle of cities. When truckers use engine brakes, it is very loud. So, the prohibition against engine braking is to keep the noise level down in the city.
Engine braking is essentially using your engine to slow the vehicle (through downshifting), rather than the brakes. I don't tend to use engine braking much. I'd rather save the wear and tear on the engine and transmission than save the wear and tear on the brakes. Brakes are much easier and cheaper to replace than engines and transmissions.
quote:I'd rather save the wear and tear on the engine and transmission than save the wear and tear on the brakes.
Engine braking applies the same wear and tear as accelerating. So if you want to save that wear and tear on your engine and transmission, then you need to idle downhill all the time.
Unless, of course, you downshift like a moron. If your engine hits the rev limiter when you downshift, you are doing it wrong. Otherwise, you aren't hurting your car. It might SEEM like you are hurting your car, because deceleration from gear choice is what you are trying to avoid when you are learning to drive stick. But, it's just load on the engine like when you hit the gas.
I engine brake a lot, I put 90,000 miles on my engine and transmission, and it hasn't needed replacing yet. Clutches typical need to be replaced at 60,000 miles, so I am doing ok. It depends on how you drive, as well. I know a one-legged guy who drives a tractor trailer, and those have like 10 or 15 gears. Most motorcycle transmissions can be upshifted and downshifted without the clutch.
And if someone brought up engine braking, I missed it. Sorry.
As for stereotyping AT drivers, I admitted that I was doing so, but that doesn't change my experience.
Posts: 186 | Registered: Jul 1999
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We were so poor we always drove junker cars and worked on them ourselves in high school and college. I think his dad must have bought him a new car or something. ![[Mad]](mad.gif)
