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Old 06-19-2014, 05:28 AM
 
Location: Munich, Bavaria, Germany
93 posts, read 98,461 times
Reputation: 42

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Quote:
Originally Posted by tvdxer View Post
Americans like to play and watch their children (both girls and boys) play soccer on school or club teams. They just aren't into the professional soccer scene. Interesting to bring this up as I just paused Bend It Like Beckham, which strangely filled me with nostalgic memories of our soccer games during school recess and my temporary height advantage which was a major self esteem booster for somebody put in "special" P.E!

As for why we prefer autos to manuals: well, in the first place, we're lazy. Many, if not most, Americans see their car as a way to get to work and home and back. Only in the late teens (in my experience) do you really have the gearheads and "car scene"; then it's college, and then it's founding a family, etc. Maybe when you retire you get to go on a classic car frenzy.
Until I retire the Arabs will probably run out of oil. Then I would need an electric car or one with biodiesel. Or I can't afford one because the retirement fund will be empty because those greek, spain and Italians will have sucked us dry under the Euro rescue umbrella.
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Old 06-19-2014, 06:08 AM
 
Location: Munich, Bavaria, Germany
93 posts, read 98,461 times
Reputation: 42
Quote:
Originally Posted by wawa1992 View Post
I have Asperger's syndrome and couldn't have learned how to drive a manual as my first car.
I feel sorry for that. I was Born with asphyxia so I had an infantile brain damage which did never affect the intellectual ability but the capacity to resist stress it did. So I could make sports and pass School normally and study after it. But many People did not have understanding and thought I'm lazy when I temporary had to make breaks. And I had a minimal disturbance of coordination but so minimal that I could learn to swim and bike when I was a little Boy. Because of the affected stress resistance I left the free market economy early and went to the public administration where they have to take regard of handicapped people.
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Old 06-19-2014, 06:17 AM
 
Location: Pikesville, MD
5,228 posts, read 15,206,547 times
Reputation: 4846
To a previous point, motorcycles don't need automatics (though there have been a few with them in teh past), but they can't really be called manuals either, as you're shifting sequentially with your foot and you don't need the clutch lever except for starting out or coming to a stop. You don't need it to shift.

Small engine cars need manuals to get the most out of the engine, I think, which is why when I buy cars like my MINI Cooper, they have manuals in them. But luxury cars, high powered sports cars, and musclecars can get away with good automatics and dual clutch type autoboxes, and are often faster with them than with manuals. All my luxury cars and some of my race cars have been automatcs, (though the race car transmissions were not internally stock) and they were still fun and fast with the automatics. But then again, I don't consider the fun part of driving to be wigging my left foot occasionally. I consider the fun part to be acceleration, braking and cornering forces and having those G forces acting on my body while in control of the vehicle (like a rollor coaster ride that you're in control of).
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Old 06-19-2014, 06:40 AM
 
5,481 posts, read 8,513,851 times
Reputation: 8284
Traffic (depending on where you live) and laziness.
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Old 06-19-2014, 07:14 AM
 
Location: Munich, Bavaria, Germany
93 posts, read 98,461 times
Reputation: 42
Quote:
Originally Posted by Merc63 View Post
To a previous point, motorcycles don't need automatics (though there have been a few with them in teh past), but they can't really be called manuals either, as you're shifting sequentially with your foot and you don't need the clutch lever except for starting out or coming to a stop. You don't need it to shift.

Small engine cars need manuals to get the most out of the engine, I think, which is why when I buy cars like my MINI Cooper, they have manuals in them. But luxury cars, high powered sports cars, and musclecars can get away with good automatics and dual clutch type autoboxes, and are often faster with them than with manuals. All my luxury cars and some of my race cars have been automatcs, (though the race car transmissions were not internally stock) and they were still fun and fast with the automatics. But then again, I don't consider the fun part of driving to be wigging my left foot occasionally. I consider the fun part to be acceleration, braking and cornering forces and having those G forces acting on my body while in control of the vehicle (like a rollor coaster ride that you're in control of).
I only was riding either total Manual Motorcycles or full automatically scooters but according to your precise description I can reconstruct very well. It must work almost like these steptronic cars we conversed or the one of Michael Schumacher.
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Old 06-19-2014, 07:22 AM
 
Location: Central Texas
13,715 posts, read 31,031,321 times
Reputation: 9270
Quote:
Originally Posted by holzhaus123 View Post
The whole world Plays Soccer and you guys live in a parallel universe. No other Country exept Canada cares for American Football. Come on and start playing Soccer. The Mexicans and Hispanics in your country do too, when I was over there I joined them.

World Cup - World Cup - World Cup
But lots of Europe and rest of world plays basketball. And Asia and Latin America plays baseball. Bulgaria likes to lift weights, but we don't care about much about that.

We also don't riot after most sports events. You guys can keep that.
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Old 06-19-2014, 07:23 AM
 
Location: Central Texas
13,715 posts, read 31,031,321 times
Reputation: 9270
Quote:
Originally Posted by Merc63 View Post
To a previous point, motorcycles don't need automatics (though there have been a few with them in teh past), but they can't really be called manuals either, as you're shifting sequentially with your foot and you don't need the clutch lever except for starting out or coming to a stop. You don't need it to shift.

Small engine cars need manuals to get the most out of the engine, I think, which is why when I buy cars like my MINI Cooper, they have manuals in them. But luxury cars, high powered sports cars, and musclecars can get away with good automatics and dual clutch type autoboxes, and are often faster with them than with manuals. All my luxury cars and some of my race cars have been automatcs, (though the race car transmissions were not internally stock) and they were still fun and fast with the automatics. But then again, I don't consider the fun part of driving to be wigging my left foot occasionally. I consider the fun part to be acceleration, braking and cornering forces and having those G forces acting on my body while in control of the vehicle (like a rollor coaster ride that you're in control of).
Most modern compacts and subcompacts have better performance all around with automatics than their manuals.
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Old 06-19-2014, 07:44 AM
 
Location: Munich, Bavaria, Germany
93 posts, read 98,461 times
Reputation: 42
Quote:
Originally Posted by deevel79 View Post
Traffic (depending on where you live) and laziness.
Here I must come to these people's defence. They all work for their belongings. So they are in principal not lazy. This is their free time outside work. If I watch TV in my free time I'm not lazy. If anyone doesn't care for sportive driving because he wants to get from A to B he is not lazy. For example to the leg amputated it is a real Blessing.
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Old 06-19-2014, 07:50 AM
 
5,481 posts, read 8,513,851 times
Reputation: 8284
Quote:
Originally Posted by holzhaus123 View Post
Here I must come to these people's defence. They all work for their belongings. So they are in principal not lazy. This is their free time outside work. If I watch TV in my free time I'm not lazy. If anyone doesn't care for sportive driving because he wants to get from A to B he is not lazy. For example to the leg amputated it is a real Blessing.
Lazy = doing less work than you have to or taking the easy way out.

I have owned several manual transmission cars in my life time. Nowadays I prefer an auto with a tip tronic gearbox. I live in NYC and manual tranny's arent practical. Many people I know prefer not to drive manual because they flat out say "its too much work".
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Old 06-19-2014, 07:55 AM
 
Location: Pikesville, MD
5,228 posts, read 15,206,547 times
Reputation: 4846
Quote:
Originally Posted by hoffdano View Post
Most modern compacts and subcompacts have better performance all around with automatics than their manuals.
I drove a 2011 MINI Cooper with the automatic and the same car with the 6 speed manual, and the manual definitely made a difference, which is why we bought it. The automatic sucked power and hunted around for the right gear to be in, even in Sport mode. And I know the DSG type trans in the small engine Fords have been problematic and shifted horribly. Most small engine automatics have come a long way, but they still have a way to go to match the efficiency of the better autoboxes in luxury and sports cars.

The problem is that most small car automatics are tuned for economy and larger car automatics are tuned for luxury and smoothness, while sports car automatics (and dual clutch autoboxes) are tuned for performance, so you get three distinct flavors of modern automatic. The latter two seem to work good, and the former isn't quite up to snuff yet.
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