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I dont see whats the deal with knowing how to drive a stick
like its some kind of a big deal...
anyone who knows how to drive should be able to drive a car with manual gearbox.
if you cant then you dont know how to drive in general.
If you know how to drive an automatic, it takes maybe two or three hours in vacant parking lot or field to figure out clutch and shifting. Well to the point you dont stall out or do the bucking bronco everytime you try to shift.
I get it why nobody teaches manual transmission. I taught my first wife. Not something I would ever, ever want to do again. But she proved that ANYBODY can learn. I put an aftermarket tachometer in her car and that does help somebody that is pretty clueless about engine rpm. With an automatic you probably dont pay that much attention to rpm unless you are going for ultimate fuel economy. And modern automatic cars try to out guess you anyway.
I recently traveled to Costa Rica and attempted to rent a car. After all the paperwork was filled out the man took me to my car. It was manual transmission! I told him I did not know how to drive a stick shift car. He acted like I was crazy and then told me that in this small tourist town, that was the only car they rented. They told me I would have to go to the Capital City, San Jose CR if I wanted to rent an automatic transmission. Even there only a few cars are automatic.
He acted like I was the only American he ever met who did not know how to drive a stick shift car. I am in my 50s and have driven since I was 16 years old.
Do you drive a stick shift car? What percent of Americans could drive one who have a drivers license?
I learned on a three on the column shifter (I’m 71). I’ve had both stick and automatics over the years. Right now our two main cars are automatics but my fun car, a roadster, is a 5 speed manual. It isn’t a difficult thing to do.
I learned on a three on the column shifter (I’m 71). I’ve had both stick and automatics over the years. Right now our two main cars are automatics but my fun car, a roadster, is a 5 speed manual. It isn’t a difficult thing to do.
Not difficult driving a manual gearbox with practice and wanting to learn how to do it properly, smoothly, however some drivers Never get it! My wife drives a standard and really enjoys it, however when I use to drive as a passenger with her when driving our 5 speed, I would cringe ( if you know what I mean) and hopefully she will never see this post
I learned on a stick, and I'd guess approximately half the cars I've owned throughout my life have been sticks. I've been married three times, and all of my wives have been able to drive sticks. (I taught the first.) My two kids had to be able to drive around town with a manual with a paper cup full of water on the dash before I'd let them try for their drivers licenses. Neither had any problems and went on to own and drive several sticks, from early VWs to Jeeps to pickups to Vettes and many others of all kinds.
Currently I don't own a stick and probably won't again. I traded away my last one 5 years ago, an F250 diesel with 6-speed. I do a lot of city driving, and the F250 was starting to wear on me after 15 years. Actually, I think it was one of the last Ford pickups available with a stick, a 2000. I wasn't thrilled with it either, as the clutch gave out in its 13th or 14th year with something around 120K miles on it. (I traded it at 151K miles -- for a Prius!)
As a side note, I've driven my 2015 Prius 125K+ miles, and the only thing that's ever failed on it was a 25 cent fuse. Actually, it wasn't really a 25 cent fuse, since the dealer didn't charge me for it. I'd been charging my laptop on it, which I used constantly in the vehicle, and it called for a bigger fuse than what the Prius had in its charging ports. It was about that time that my job quit calling for laptop work and switched it all over to iPhone apps.
The sticks I had gave me more trouble free miles than transmissions. I got 80K off one clutch with mostly city driving. I had to have auto transmission redone ie seals, gaskets, fluids etc around the 65k mark with mostly highway driving. The newer transmissions seem more temperamental as the fluid, gaskets & seals age. Have to keep up on trans fluid changes more.
A stick is still a relatively cheap anti theft device but doesn't mean your car won't be broken into.
All my cars are stick and I have lots of experience but I had a Honda CRX where the clutch didn't start to engage until the last half or the pedal travel and with the revy little engine i never did completely master driving it smoothly.
I dont see whats the deal with knowing how to drive a stick
like its some kind of a big deal...
anyone who knows how to drive should be able to drive a car with manual gearbox.
if you cant then you dont know how to drive in general.
such a weird thing to say. that someone can drive a car for hundreds of thousands of miles and still not know how to drive a car. im not sure why anyone should be learning how to drive a stick since it is antiquated and obsolete technology. are you still using a typewriter?
it isnt a positive quality for older people to complain that young people dont know how to do things in their prehistoric ways. its called progress, people should progress not complain about how people dont do things the old fashioned way.
The report from U.S. News and World Report show only 18 percent of U.S. drivers know how to operate a stick shift. It says that because of advancements in automatic transmissions and fuel economy, only about 5 percent of vehicles sold in the U.S. today come with a stick shift.
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