Why Don't people enjoy driving a manual trans??

[Kruse]

I love driving a manual transmission, up to a point.
A couple of months ago, my wife and I did some serious city rush-hour driving in my '96 Cherokee/5 speed. The clutch on that vehicle pushes a little hard, at least compared to a few other vehicles that I drive. Anyway, in the span of three days, I probably put about 1200 miles on it with about 8 hours in stop-and-go driving. After that weekend, my left knee was sore and I was glad to have that weekend over.
Compare that clutch to my employeer-supplied work truck. It's a 2004 F-150 with a manual transmission. There is no comparison between my Jeep and the F150. The pedal on the F150 could probably be pushed in with one finger and you could drive that in rush-hour traffic for days and not get a sore left knee.
Still one other clutch that would be a real problem to drive for many days would be a Ford long-style clutch from the '60s. These were put in their high performance cars and it took some serious effort to push in on the clutch. This clutch isn't for 80-year-old grandmas.
I'm pretty sure that quite a few clutch complainers either have put many miles on a clutch in their lifetime and no longer want to do it, or they have tried to learn how to drive a clutch in their lifetime and just never got the hang of it.

 

[buster]

I think CVT's have a lot of future potential. The Subaru WRX is the game changer IMO.

As skilled MT drivers numbers grow smaller and smaller, the people who treat automobiles as appliances grow greater. Technology is simply responding. The numbers are just not there for the pro manual crowd.

I'm part of that crowd, but I realize that change is inevitable and we're just going to have to accept it. There some that beat their chest way to hard over the change to automatics. I'm not that extreme. lol

 

[Win]

Originally Posted By: Clubber_Lang
I have an idea: let's take everyone that can't drive a MT, or a MT up to your standards, line them up along the wall, and shoot them.

No, lets call them what they are. Ham fisted Dorks.


Good grief, get a life.

Or learn to fly and then come back and brag to us about your eye / hand / foot coordination.

If you think driving a vehicle with a manual transmission is braggng rights, that's a sad commentary on your life thus far.

 

[Clubber_Lang]

I have 20 hours in a Cessna. That's not much and I'm not bragging, but I do enjoy flying, and using the pedals for rudder and brakes. My comments stand, if someone is not capable of driving a stickshift and they are not A: elderly, B: infirm, C: retarded then I would say we can just call them Ham Fisted. I never said I was some sort of prodigy.

Originally Posted By: Win
Originally Posted By: Clubber_Lang
I have an idea: let's take everyone that can't drive a MT, or a MT up to your standards, line them up along the wall, and shoot them.

No, lets call them what they are. Ham fisted Dorks.


Good grief, get a life.

Or learn to fly and then come back and brag to us about your eye / hand / foot coordination.

If you think driving a vehicle with a manual transmission is braggng rights, that's a sad commentary on your life thus far.

 

[Quattro Pete]

 

[yeti]

Quattro -- best post that I've seen this year !!!and, you didn't even say a word. kudos to you, sir.

 

[Clubber_Lang]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete

If you are referring to me----what the heck. I just had someone tell me I should fly airplanes, and I have a small amount of experience doing that.

If I'm on a high horse thinking that people who cant drive a manual transmission, cant change a tire, don't know how to check let alone change their oil, then I guess Im on a high horse. People who treat vehicles like appliances annoy me.

 

[Colt45ws]

You must have to deal with a lot of stress, then. Seeing all these people around you on a daily basis who drive automatics.
Calm down, before you have a heart attack.

 

[Nick1994]

Plot Twist: Clubber_Lang drives an automatic.

Haha jk

 

[antiqueshell]

One of the BEST aspects about driving a manual transmission vehicle is that it FORCES the driver to put more focus on his driving and less on using a darn phone, eating, drinking, ect. You have no choice but to put more concentration into the effort.

Frankly one of the MOST dangerous things to happen in the automotive world was the addition of the automatic transmission, it allows people to become more lazy. But then again I don't believe that using phones or texting, ect of any kind should be allowed while a vehicle is in motion..I'd be just as happy if stereos and the like were banned from being install as well.

I agree with Clubber Lang, because it annoys me that so many people treat vehicles, as an appliance, and especially the driving of them as if it were an rote act. which leads to CARELESSNESS!

 

[Nick1994]

Originally Posted By: antiqueshell
One of the BEST aspects about driving a manual transmission vehicle is that it FORCES the driver to put more focus on his driving and less on using a darn phone, eating, drinking, ect. You have no choice but to put more concentration into the effort.

Frankly one of the MOST dangerous things to happen in the automotive world was the addition of the automatic transmission, it allows people to become more lazy. But then again I don't believe that using phones or texting, ect of any kind should be allowed while a vehicle is in motion..I'd be just as happy if stereos and the like were banned from being install as well.

I agree with Clubber Lang, because it annoys me that so many people treat vehicles, as an appliance, and especially the driving of them as if it were an rote act. which leads to CARELESSNESS!


I bet it's those darn $tealerships fault!!!

 

[SteveSRT8]

Originally Posted By: Colt45ws
You must have to deal with a lot of stress, then. Seeing all these people around you on a daily basis who drive automatics.
Calm down, before you have a heart attack.


A very amusing thread. Some folks here are so in need of a lift for themselves that they imagine driving a stick as some kind of indication of superiority over those who don't?

Always an amazing place, BITOG...

 

[Olas]

Originally Posted By: fdcg27
Yep, good point.
Macho, huh?
My wife, you know, a girl, owned a stick Civic when I met her and mostly drove sticks for the first twenty five years of our marriage.
Ain't nothing too hard about driving a typical stick in any passenger car or light truck. The test of how good you are is that you can drive without touching the clutch after a standing start. If you can master clutchless shifts with no grinding, just a smooth drop into the next gear up or down, then you actually have something to brag about. Paying attention to road speeds in gears as well as having a tach helps you learn this not all that valuable skill and it is really easy with some gearboxes. My wife can't do it, has never tried and acts unimpressed when I show her how it's done.
The first automatic we bought because we actually wanted an automatic was the '09 Forester in my sig. Her left knee sometimes bothers her, so she would just as soon not have a stick as a daily driver these days and I'd always wanted an AWD Subaru, so there you go.
For the record, she really liked and likes the Forester.
Me too.


I didnt think anybody on here knew about rev-matching after.i.mentioned it on the 2nd page. I commend you.

 

[thunderfog]

Originally Posted By: Clubber_Lang
I never said I was some sort of prodigy.


Believe me, no one here thinks that.

 

[PF52]

Originally Posted By: antiqueshell
One of the BEST aspects about driving a manual transmission vehicle is that it FORCES the driver to put more focus on his driving and less on using a darn phone, eating, drinking, ect. You have no choice but to put more concentration into the effort.



What makes you think people who drive sticks don't talk on the phone, eat or drink in the car?

I've seen people so engaged in conversation that they suddenly find themselves lurching up to a red light in 5th gear because they completely forgot to press in on the clutch. Or they press in on the clutch and leave it in 5th when the light turns green and stall the car. Not on the phone either - they were talking to their own passengers. Having a stick does not make one immune to distractions.

 

[PF52]

Originally Posted By: Win


If you think driving a vehicle with a manual transmission is braggng rights, that's a sad commentary on your life thus far.


I'm thinking he's about 17 years old and enjoys the smug superiority he feels over the other kids in his H.S. who can't drive stick.

Clubber: No one cares.

 

[buster]

Quote:
Always an amazing place, BITOG...


"The internets"

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: Clubber_Lang
People who treat vehicles like appliances annoy me.

Your horse appears to be even higher than originally thought. Gonna need a longer ladder...

 

[Silverado12]

Originally Posted By: buster
I think CVT's have a lot of future potential. The Subaru WRX is the game changer IMO.

As skilled MT drivers numbers grow smaller and smaller, the people who treat automobiles as appliances grow greater. Technology is simply responding. The numbers are just not there for the pro manual crowd.

I'm part of that crowd, but I realize that change is inevitable and we're just going to have to accept it. There some that beat their chest way to hard over the change to automatics. I'm not that extreme. lol






My brother in law has a Polaris 4 wheeler that has a belt driven CVT, and it was impressive. Always in the power band. That is my only experience with CVT, though.

 

[jigen]

Depends on the vehicle. I don't enjoy driving MT on trucks. I would much rather an auto. If I drove through crawling city traffic each day I would also not drive an manual.

How much sooner is a clutch's lifespan shortened if you are in crawling stop and go traffic everyday? Buddy of mine needed a new clutch at 80k in these driving conditions, and he's a good driver.