Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
But hard to believe some of us prefer driving a manual simply out of fun. If you don't like it...then you don't like it. I may not like downhill skiing, but I'm not about to go **** all over those that do like it.
To me it is more than just fun. Manual keeps me in tune with what is going on with my car, my engine, and the road around me. If there is an issue I will notice it sooner with a manual than with an automatic (If I notice it at all with auto) With automatics I tend to zone out and think about things other than driving, plus psychologically it just does not seem like driving. It is boring to me. You are just sitting there not really doing anything. If you want to analogize to skiing, it is like skiing in tracks where you do not need to do anything but stand on your skis. Sure it is easier, but is it fun? Is it a challenge?
To me it is more than just fun. Manual keeps me in tune with what is going on with my car, my engine, and the road around me. If there is an issue I will notice it sooner with a manual than with an automatic (If I notice it at all with auto) With automatics I tend to zone out and think about things other than driving, plus psychologically it just does not seem like driving. It is boring to me. You are just sitting there not really doing anything. If you want to analogize to skiing, it is like skiing in tracks where you do not need to do anything but stand on your skis. Sure it is easier, but is it fun? Is it a challenge?
This is the reason I drive my 20 year old SUV! Driving an automatic bores the hell out of me on the road. It's like driving an appliance with two selections.....Drive and Reverse! The newer manuals, many of which are linked to computer controlled throttles etc, have issues that my car does not have....which is why I plan to keep mine a bit longer even though I'd like the new tech features one finds in today's cars!
My 2002 Rav4 has a stick and I really enjoy driving it. Another plus is my wife can't drive it so my seat and mirrors are always right where I want them
I too have a 2002 RAV 4 with a stick however my wife has a 1998 Rav4 also with a stick. She prefers driving manuals even more than I do, maybe because she learnt to drive on tractors. In the 42 plus years together we have had many vehicles all older second hand or fourth hand ones and all but two were manuals and the two were boring to drive. One was a minivan so perhaps the transmission means nothing in that case.
My brother regretted it. Drove an '89 Nissan Sentra for over 6 or 7 years. By the time he bought a new car ('08 Acura TL) he said no way was he going to get one with a manual transmission; he was by then very tired of shifting frequently.
This is going back a ways but still interesting. From Sports Car Graphic, Dec., 1967, road test of a '68 Plymouth Barracuda 340..
"I have long put the Torqueflite (automatic) at the top of the list of big-engine automatics, and the transmission in this Barracuda did nothing to alter my choice.
The stick with the press-button release is placed and angled just right, and with the degree of manual override which the Torqueflite provides, you can really get the Barracuda moving on the twisty, undulating and narrow minor roads. There is no long delay in picking up intermediate gear after selecting "2" and downshifts, though they come in positively, are not so fierce that they lock up the back wheels. Automatic transmission become an acceptable alternative to a manual box for enjoyable sports-type road driving when they come as good as this one."
Wow, this coming for Sports Car Graphic, obviously a sports car enthusiast magazine.
A 69 Cuda 340 was my first car and I did regret not getting one with a manual transmission. I missed mentioning that car on my previous post as I was only counting the ones I got after my wife and I were together. I had the cuda when we dated and actually had to show her how to drive an automatic.
But hard to believe some of us prefer driving a manual simply out of fun. If you don't like it...then you don't like it. I may not like downhill skiing, but I'm not about to go **** all over those that do like it.
Yup. Other than in bumper-to-bumper traffic, I'll take a manual every time.
Even in bumper to bumper traffic give me a manual. In such traffic it is my right leg that bothers me most and is much worse in an auto since you have to ride the brake more.
I've had many manuals and automatics. I don't care so long as the overall package is coherent and does what it's supposed to. I've had sucky cars with manuals and fun cars with automatics. Just having a manual never made a car fun or any more engaging to drive, either on the street or track. My current daily driver is an automatic and it's a fun backroads car as well as a comfy cruiser on the highway, and I'm just as in tune with it as I was with my manual trans Mustang GT or our manual trans MINI.
I'd never demand a manual and then miss out on cars like it.
Even in bumper to bumper traffic give me a manual. In such traffic it is my right leg that bothers me most and is much worse in an auto since you have to ride the brake more.
For me it's not the physical aspect of driving it. It's the thought that I'm putting more wear and tear on the clutch.
For me it's not the physical aspect of driving it. It's the thought that I'm putting more wear and tear on the clutch.
I burned out the clutch on a Porsche 911 on a commute southbound out of Seattle on the long (approx 2 miles long) uphill climb out of Tuckwilla in stop and go traffic. Just too much clutch in and out at 2-5 mph and you couldn't just put it in 1st and let the clutch out at idle and just crawl uphill, either. It would speed up to 10 mph then come to a stop too often. by the time I got to the top of the hill it was slipping and smelling rather bad.
Never had an automatic fail me on the commute. Or towing. Had synchros go bad in manuals before, though, especially on Fiat 124s.
Many manuals now have hill hold assist which helps with that to a degree.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
