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Not knowing how to drive an automatic? I learned on a manual back in the dark ages and I used to be intimidated by automatics but it isn't as hard as I thought.
It's more of a matter of UNlearning how to drive a manual. Stop trying to shift the darn thing, that's the hardest part. You learn pretty fast that there isn't any clutch but I still reach for the stick to shift even though I now have an automaticc.
I used to not understand Park and Drive, believe it or not. One time my ex and I got stuck on a mountain in Vermont because we had borrowed his parents' automatic and couldn't figure out how to start it. I think we didn't realize it had to be in Park to start it. Park seemed like what you would use to PARK it, not start it. duh.
Not knowing how to drive an automatic? I learned on a manual back in the dark ages and I used to be intimidated by automatics but it isn't as hard as I thought.
It's more of a matter of UNlearning how to drive a manual. Stop trying to shift the darn thing, that's the hardest part. You learn pretty fast that there isn't any clutch but I still reach for the stick to shift even though I now have an automaticc.
My mom learned how to drive in a car with a manual transmission (a '51 Plymouth). Her next car was a '56 Plymouth with an automatic transmission and she had no problem driving that car. Later cars were Cadillacs (a '60, a '69 a '70 and a '74) and, of course, all of those were automatics.
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I used to not understand Park and Drive, believe it or not. One time my ex and I got stuck on a mountain in Vermont because we had borrowed his parents' automatic and couldn't figure out how to start it. I think we didn't realize it had to be in Park to start it. Park seemed like what you would use to PARK it, not start it. duh.
With my three '60s and '70s cars, you can start them with the trans in "N" (neutral).
I prefer manual. I like to be in control of as many aspects of my car as possible. Even in traffic when some might see it as a hassle, I see out as something to do.
I think the reason manuals aren't popular in America is that Americans are too lazy or too stupid to have to shift themselves. Plus with one hand eating a burger and the other on the phone, their leg is occupied with steering and can't control the clutch...
I much prefer a manual transmission, i prefer to feel involved when i'm driving.
Never understood how, out of all the things you do while driving, and how most of the time youre not in the act of shifting, that somehow wiggling your left foot every few minutes (in traffic and longer on the highway) is what makes you "involved" with driving.
I went the entire length of the Jersey Turnpike yesterday in my MINI Cooper without shifting once. Yet I was just as involved in driving as if I was shifting.
I prefer a good manual trans, too, and the only cars I've bought new, were purchased specifically with manuals. But they've also all been small engine cars (under 2.5 liters). Most every large engine car I've had (with the exception of my current Mustang and a couple of classic musclecars I had) have had good automatics and I've been just as involved in the driving of them. No, I haven't wiggled my left foot as often in them, but that has never been the defining action of being involved in driving or not, to me. If it was, I could put a clutch pedal on my easy chair at home and push it in and out and have all the satisfaction of driving in that chair, right? Or is there a lot more to driving, most of the time, then just pushing that one pedal in and out?
I prefer manual. I like to be in control of as many aspects of my car as possible.
So do you still have manual spark advance, manual engine cranking, manual choke, etc? Why is one pedal the definition of being in control of your car, to you?
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I think the reason manuals aren't popular in America is that Americans are too lazy or too stupid to have to shift themselves.
Why do so many manual transmission fanatics have to be insulting asshats about it? Moderator cut: Off Topic
Last edited by TheViking85; 04-02-2012 at 04:05 PM..
Not knowing how to drive an automatic? I learned on a manual back in the dark ages and I used to be intimidated by automatics but it isn't as hard as I thought.
It's more of a matter of UNlearning how to drive a manual. Stop trying to shift the darn thing, that's the hardest part. You learn pretty fast that there isn't any clutch but I still reach for the stick to shift even though I now have an automaticc.
I used to not understand Park and Drive, believe it or not. One time my ex and I got stuck on a mountain in Vermont because we had borrowed his parents' automatic and couldn't figure out how to start it. I think we didn't realize it had to be in Park to start it. Park seemed like what you would use to PARK it, not start it. duh.
It's sort of intimidation, I guess. Every time it changes on me, I feel out of control. And I'm always slamming the brake with my left foot, or slamming my left foot to the floor when trying to start the damn thing or when coming to a stop. I also wind up getting way too close to people at lights, because I'm used to throwing it in neutral and resting my feet. In an auto, you've gotta hold the brake to the floor, which is obnoxious.
I'm also always forgetting to put them in "park" when I go to park it. I'll bump it into Neutral, and try and pull the key out. Doesn't work. I've never owned an automatic, and never will.
It's sort of intimidation, I guess. Every time it changes on me, I feel out of control.
I've been driving for over 30 years (all with cars having an automatic transmission) and have never felt out of control. Even when doing burnouts, getting rubber in 2nd gear, downshifting and sliding around corners. Probably because when I drive "spiritedly," I manually shift the transmission. Even when it shifts automatically, I know it won't change gears until it's at a useful speed (like not upshifting to 3rd until over 20 mph and staying in 1st or 2nd gear when climbing a hill).
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And I'm always slamming the brake with my left foot, or slamming my left foot to the floor when trying to start the damn thing or when coming to a stop. I also wind up getting way too close to people at lights, because I'm used to throwing it in neutral and resting my feet. In an auto, you've gotta hold the brake to the floor, which is obnoxious.
I'm also always forgetting to put them in "park" when I go to park it. I'll bump it into Neutral, and try and pull the key out. Doesn't work. I've never owned an automatic, and never will.
With traffic lights that stay red for over 30 or 45 seconds, I also put the (automatic) transmission in neutral so I don't have to hold the brake to the floor. A car with an automatic is not really that complicated to operate!
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