How do people drive cars with a manual transmission? (mileage, wagon, Mazda)
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I learned to drive on a three-on-the-tree Rambler. First, second, third, reverse on a dirt road with my Dad, over and over and over before I was let loose on paved roads. I’ve had automatics and manuals over the years, and love both.
I still occasionally drive a right hand ‘76 Mini and shifting with the left hand isn’t a problem either, it’s just different. It’s only dangerous when the dog is sitting in what people think is the driver’s seat, and they are trying to figure out who is driving instead of watching the road!
It looks really hard and unsafe to drive a manual. How do you know which gears to shift while driving and how do you make sure you shift correctly while keeping your eyes on the road and hands on steering wheel? It looks like driving manuals is hard work, do people actually enjoy driving a manual?
Are you honestly saying you can't drive a manual car?
I started driving in 1964.Learned in column shift,. My first four cars were manual, 3 were H pattern floor shifts.
First automatic in 1990. Had a manual car in between because it was cheaper.
My favourite car was a 1972 Datsun 1600, which I bought new, H pattern floor shift. Driving that car, using the gears properly, was more exciting than any auto transmission I've had. The gutsy 1600 was arguably the best car in its class ever made by Nissan. It appeared in rallies, and won, for over ten years. So to the MINI Cooper S (manual of course) the most exciting car I've ever driven. (you'e about 6 inches of the ground)
Today I have a Camry 2.4 litre (auto) , as dull as dirt. I will be replacing that next month with what I call a 'jellybean'; a Mazda 2 1600, auto. Today I want safe-ish and reliable rather than exciting.
Your left foot should also not rest on the clutch pedal.
But it can be on the dead pedal! Yes, you read that right OP - a FOURTH pedal down there!
Quote:
Originally Posted by CarnivalGal
I use to have to manually roll down the windows too, doesn't mean I wish I still could.
Don't tell anyone, but I miss my crank windows. Now someone can't just roll up my windows if it starts raining and they are in the parking lot (whoever runs out first closes as many windows as they can). And I once left the keys in the ignition because I had to close my windows when a flash downpour started.
It looks really hard and unsafe to drive a manual. How do you know which gears to shift while driving and how do you make sure you shift correctly while keeping your eyes on the road and hands on steering wheel? It looks like driving manuals is hard work, do people actually enjoy driving a manual?
UPS drivers lobby against automatic transmissions in their trucks each time they are about to be replaced, so that there is a smaller pool of applicants qualified to "take their jobs".
"The disappearing stick shift: Less than 3% of cars sold in the U.S. have manual transmissions...Available in nearly half of new models in the U.S. a decade ago, the manual transmission is going the way of the rumble seat, with stick availability falling to about a quarter this year." (and that was 2016)
Lisa: No, it's a trick question! Judge Haller: Why is it a trick question? Lisa: 'Cause Chevy didn't make a 327 in '55, the 327 didn't come out till '63. And it wasn't offered in the Bel Air with a four-barrel carb till '64. However, in 1964, the correct ignition timing would be four degrees before top-dead-center.
The 327 actually came out in 1962, but the tire marks were made by a metallic mint-green 1963 Pontiac Tempest.
It looks really hard and unsafe to drive a manual. How do you know which gears to shift while driving and how do you make sure you shift correctly while keeping your eyes on the road and hands on steering wheel? It looks like driving manuals is hard work, do people actually enjoy driving a manual?
I've been driving stickshifts since I was a kid, and it is like riding a bicycle. One of my cars is a three speed, several are 4 speeds, and a couple are 5 speeds. You just learn when the engine is telling you it is time to upshift or downshift, by sound and feel.
I don't even think about it, I just become part of the car. I also have a few automatics, but my favorites are the manuals. Just so much more fun to row around town than to let the car do it for you.
Knowing when to shift and which gear is next just comes from experience. You could use the tachometer to know when to shift, but I pretty much go by sound. Plus, it all depends on how rapidly you want to accelerate. It doesn't take long at all to learn how to drive a manual, and much of the time it's a lot fun (for a sports car, for instance). It just becomes second nature after a while.
With a manual transmission, you and the vehicle become a team, working together. There is a lot of enjoyment, to become an important part of the operation. With an automatic, you're just along for the ride.
RocketDawg, when I was stationed at RSA, we drove patrol with Chevies that had stick-shifts. We hot-rodded those cars all over that place, when the base was mostly shut down for the evening or on weekends. What would have been dull and uneventful duty, became like we were practicing for stock car races. I can't remember any accidents that occurred, other than some being so starved for sleep, that they nodded off at the wheel and went off the road. And then those poor guys had to pay every penny of the cost of repairing the cars, out of their pitiful paychecks.
Last edited by Steve McDonald; 04-16-2019 at 08:08 PM..
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