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If you don't touch the brakes going down in an automatic in its second gear, that isn't steep enough for a good test. You still have not answered the main question, Can You Drive A Manual Transmission? If you cannot, you did not compare driving auto vs manual on the same grade.
If I am supposed to be bowled over by 30% grade of Fargo Street, I am not. That is very steep--especially for a paved city street--but I have driven on worse grades than that. So you drive your auto down that and do not touch the brakes?
Really? Try bicycling up the street I mentioned I drive down without using the brakes and you will see how steep it is!
Yeah, I forgot to answer that question... I can drive a car with a manual but only have once or twice and never down a hill. It doesn't change the fact that you can use engine braking to drive down a hill with a manual and also an automatic... correct?
Right, Fargo St is actually a 33% grade, among the steepest streets in the country. Not the steepest in the country but very steep. I have not driven down that street but I doubt anyone could drive a car with a manual transmission and not use the brakes unless they want to be going 70 mph down that street!
Really? Try bicycling up the street I mentioned I drive down without using the brakes and you will see how steep it is!
Yeah, I forgot to answer that question... I can drive a car with a manual but only have once or twice and never down a hill. It doesn't change the fact that you can use engine braking to drive down a hill with a manual and also an automatic... correct?
Right, Fargo St is actually a 33% grade, among the steepest streets in the country. Not the steepest in the country but very steep. I have not driven down that street but I doubt anyone could drive a car with a manual transmission and not use the brakes unless they want to be going 70 mph down that street!
Nobody said you can't drive an automatic down hills. I said it doesn't hold the car's speed down as well as a manual does. If you only have driven a stick once or twice, you have far too little experience to compare the two.
On a 33% grade, even a manual is going to need some braking. No way an automatic car in its second gear would descend without braking.
PS
I have bicycled up steeper grades than 33%, so yeah I know steep. I have also measured grades to verify them.
Haven't driven one in quite a few years, but I learned how to drive in a manual and drove one until my late-thirties. Once the kids came along, our vehicle needs changed, and the sports car had to go.
Nobody said you can't drive an automatic down hills. I said it doesn't hold the car's speed down as well as a manual does. If you only have driven a stick once or twice, you have far too little experience to compare the two.
I have read several time posters who say they prefer a manual transmission because they can shift down/engine brake down inclines. They say it as if they are claiming that can't be done with an automatic. I don't need to drive a stick; an auto meets my needs just fine.
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On a 33% grade, even a manual is going to need some braking. No way an automatic car in its second gear would descend without braking.
Yes, that's true.
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PS
I have bicycled up steeper grades than 33%, so yeah I know steep. I have also measured grades to verify them.
I drive a 2006 Subaru Forester quite happily. 5-speed manual transmission, CD player, A/C, power windows. Great gas mileage. I bought it new 12 years ago. Loved it then and love it still. I'm good to go.
Recently, my youngest was in the market for a dependable used car, so briefly I considered selling him mine and buying a new car for myself. I test drove a 2018 Subaru Forester about two weeks ago, honestly fully prepared to love it, but absolutely hated it!
I am not impressed by LED gadgetry, fancy technology, cameras, sensors and the like. I buy a car new and hold it, properly maintained, for 15 years. None of these "features" will likely last 5 years, let alone 15. And for certain they will all require expensive, proprietary repairs that only a dealership can do. Imagine that?
So I told the salesman that I would be keeping my 2006 Forester. In fact, I said that if I had known in 2006 what new cars would look like and cost in 2017, I would have bought TWO new Foresters in 2006 and mothballed one.
I also told him I have a perfectly good backup camera in my current vehicle. It's called my human head which conveniently pivots on my human neck. Haven't run over a child, or even a basketball for that matter, in over 40 years of driving, and I have no desire to spend an extra $10,000 for power, heated and computerized everything with twinkling LEDs ("ooooo, look at the pretty colors") that I don't want or need.
Of course, the salesman thought I was nuts.
Boy can I relate! I own a manual '99 Forester, live in a small AK town, and love it, especially in winter. Don't really worry if the roads didn't get plowed. Maybe I'm just a control freak, but I LIKE feeling what the car is doing and like staying more involved while driving. Seems like I get to decide when and how the car shifts, not relying on some mechanism that thinks it has a brain. I can feel what its doing in response to pretty poorly maintained slippery roads, and there is more flexibility to accelerate, shift, send power from axle to axle back and forth when you do get stuck in drifts. At age 16 the car still runs fine, has no ominous problems except that recurring rear wheel bearing, some paint damage on the hood where a moose kicked it, some crusty cottonwood catkin residue and road oil on the bodywork that won't come off, etched window glass where a CO black bear tried to break in, increasing green lichen in the crannies of the weatherstripping, and accumulating wear and tear from multiple dogs. The carpet in the driver's side footwell has worn into holes mostly from wearing ice cleats 6 months out of each year. I'd love to fix that!
The last time I had to rent a "new" car all the dashboard clutter, sensors, and distracting screen flicker drove me crazy. Never did figure out how to turn off the radio or the annoying LED screen. Horrible at night. Well, in this town there are several Subaru shops to choose from. All the local taxis, pizza and courier cars are Subarus too, so they are doing something right.
You need to call up Subaru and offer your story as their next Subaru commercial. I love it, and glad to hear you love your ol' Forester 5-speed as much as I love mine.
I have read several time posters who say they prefer a manual transmission because they can shift down/engine brake down inclines. They say it as if they are claiming that can't be done with an automatic. I don't need to drive a stick; an auto meets my needs just fine.
Yes, that's true.
What street/state was that?
Well, *I* never said you can't drive an automatic down a steep grade. I compared having driven the exact same grade for an automatic and a stick, numerous times for each.
Colorado, my own driveway, and it was unpaved. The road it was off was already steep, and the driveway steeper still. This was not in a city or town, obviously. Some of the primitive "roads" are steeper. As in Four-Low-Range first gear or reverse to descend without braking. There are automatics with low enough gearing to descend extremely steep grades, but that is most definitely not the average car.
The last time I had to rent a "new" car all the dashboard clutter, sensors, and distracting screen flicker drove me crazy. Never did figure out how to turn off the radio or the annoying LED screen. Horrible at night. Well, in this town there are several Subaru shops to choose from. All the local taxis, pizza and courier cars are Subarus too, so they are doing something right.
Wait till you get a rental with the following typical features:
-- Black interior and exterior--HOT!!!!!!!!!!!! AC has to be on all the time. Way to go, America! Burn up energy trying to fight physics that could easily have been avoided by using a light color instead.
-- Keyless ignition. I absolutely hate this.
-- High doorline, slits for windows, and poor visibility.
-- Extreme rake in windshield, leading to more unwanted heat and waste of energy trying to defeat it.
-- More buzzers, chimes, beeps, and colored lights that allegedly increase safety but actually DISTRACT the driver.
I never wanted to try a stick rick. Just way too much traffic to row thru the gears. I live my fast Auto cars.
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Great Subaru Commercial!
