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Manual transmissions are much more common than automatic transmissions in Asia, Africa, South America and Europe.
In Europe, 80% of the car's sold are Manual; while almost all car's sold in the U.S. are Automatic.
Automatic transmissions are used by almost all driver's in North America, especially the U.S., and most of Australian driver's. If you have only taken driver's licence for Automatic transmission driving, most European countries do not allow you to drive Manual cars.
Depends on the car and circumstances. If it's a daily driver, in traffic and daily stop and go, I prefer an auto. If it's a performance car such as a Corvette, Viper, Porsche, etc, then a manual is the only way! Open road or on a twisty road, the manual is nice and fun to downshift and play with. Paddle shifters on autos blur that a bit too. They both have their place.
I dunno...I drove a semi over the road, four anna quarter Cat, 18 speed, baby. I don't know why the vehicles you mention need an auto trans? My pickup truck is a stick...most of the vehicles I've owned have been manual transmission. I vastly prefer it, even in traffic, on hills, whatever.
Definitely cheaper to maintain and I think better fuel consumption. I find them much more fun to drive and appreciate the extra control for mountain driving, off road and snowy roads. I grew up in Europe and the middle east, learned to drive there...perhaps it's what one was first taught?
Real women drive stick shifts.
Quote:
Originally Posted by iTsLiKeAnEgG
I prefer manual transmission in any decent size vehicle. SUV's/Trucks/Vans need a slushbox though.
I dunno...I drove a semi over the road, four anna quarter Cat, 18 speed, baby. I don't know why the vehicles you mention need an auto trans? My pickup truck is a stick...most of the vehicles I've owned have been manual transmission. I vastly prefer it, even in traffic, on hills, whatever.
Definitely cheaper to maintain and I think better fuel consumption. I find them much more fun to drive and appreciate the extra control for mountain driving, off road and snowy roads. I grew up in Europe and the middle east, learned to drive there...perhaps it's what one was first taught?
Real women drive stick shifts.
With smaller cars, sports cars and even large sedans I'll drive a stick anywhere. When it comes to driving large trucks I spend way too much time in San Francisco and other cities with steep grades to make it worth while. I'm no slouch when it comes to controlling roll on a manual car but we get too many idiots who decide to stop an inch from your rear bumper on a steep incline at a stop.
I've driven both. Stick is more fun unless you drive in stop and go traffic or get caught at a red light at an overpass. Because of that, I drive an automatic.
Almost the very first time I drove a car in the USA...1979, in a friend's MG. In San Francisco. She was way too drunk to drive (and I wasn't precisely sober) and was trying to get us out of the city back home...nighttime, traffic, we got utterly lost all over the place, and those hills are something else, I know what you mean!
Lived at 10,000 feet in the Rockies for a few years but still preferred the manual. But I've driven a stick for almost 40 years now, I don't think about it at all. It's become, ummm, automatic. LOL.
Quote:
Originally Posted by iTsLiKeAnEgG
With smaller cars, sports cars and even large sedans I'll drive a stick anywhere. When it comes to driving large trucks I spend way too much time in San Francisco and other cities with steep grades to make it worth while. I'm no slouch when it comes to controlling roll on a manual car but we get too many idiots who decide to stop an inch from your rear bumper on a steep incline at a stop.
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I don't know why the vehicles you mention need an auto trans? My pickup truck is a stick...most of the vehicles I've owned have been manual transmission. I vastly prefer it, even in traffic, on hills, whatever. 
