Manual Transmission and the Daily Commute (Phoenix, Glendale: moving, eat, cars)

[pmurphy4]

I'd like to hear from people with a manual transmission. I have 6-speed sports car with a really grabby clutch that prevents me from fully engaging 1st gear smoothly in less than about a car's length. I've been in traffic jams in Philadelphia twice recently and here's the problem I faced. If I give myself 3 car lengths of open space before moving so I can smoothly engage 1st gear and slowly, smoothly coast before reengaging the clutch for the next round of lurching forward, the other #$#$% drivers either cut in front of me or beep at me. These are apparently the same $%^$% who sit in their 2 ton SUVs 10 inches off your rear bumper, on a hill, in the snow at a red light. Moving on to the questions:

Does the valley have the same type of lurching forward 10 feet at a time type of traffic jams on a regular basis?

Is it possible (albeit long, with plenty of red lights) to avoid the highway all together and just take surface streets for a commute from say Glendale or Scottsdale to downtown?

I'd rather have a 1 hour commute with red lights, but no lurching forward a few feet at a time, than a lurching highway commute of 30 minutes. Thanks for your information and advice!

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by pmurphy4

I'd like to hear from people with a manual transmission. I have 6-speed sports car with a really grabby clutch that prevents me from fully engaging 1st gear smoothly in less than about a car's length. I've been in traffic jams in Philadelphia twice recently and here's the problem I faced. If I give myself 3 car lengths of open space before moving so I can smoothly engage 1st gear and slowly, smoothly coast before reengaging the clutch for the next round of lurching forward, the other #$#$% drivers either cut in front of me or beep at me. These are apparently the same $%^$% who sit in their 2 ton SUVs 10 inches off your rear bumper, on a hill, in the snow at a red light. Moving on to the questions:

Does the valley have the same type of lurching forward 10 feet at a time type of traffic jams on a regular basis?

Is it possible (albeit long, with plenty of red lights) to avoid the highway all together and just take surface streets for a commute from say Glendale or Scottsdale to downtown?

I'd rather have a 1 hour commute with red lights, but no lurching forward a few feet at a time, than a lurching highway commute of 30 minutes. Thanks for your information and advice!

I have a stick and my clutch is smooth. I detest it in traffic. Freeway traffic here tends to stop altogether then speed up to 50 and then stop again. You can get just about anywhere on surface streets. We have something that is worse than the lurch you describe - the four way stop. Many four ways are in the developing parts of town and are way beyond capacity. You inch forward car length at a time until your turn comes. Awful!

[PhoenixRT]

Originally Posted by pmurphy4

I'd like to hear from people with a manual transmission. I have 6-speed sports car with a really grabby clutch that prevents me from fully engaging 1st gear smoothly in less than about a car's length. I've been in traffic jams in Philadelphia twice recently and here's the problem I faced. If I give myself 3 car lengths of open space before moving so I can smoothly engage 1st gear and slowly, smoothly coast before reengaging the clutch for the next round of lurching forward, the other #$#$% drivers either cut in front of me or beep at me. These are apparently the same $%^$% who sit in their 2 ton SUVs 10 inches off your rear bumper, on a hill, in the snow at a red light. Moving on to the questions:

Does the valley have the same type of lurching forward 10 feet at a time type of traffic jams on a regular basis?

Is it possible (albeit long, with plenty of red lights) to avoid the highway all together and just take surface streets for a commute from say Glendale or Scottsdale to downtown?

I'd rather have a 1 hour commute with red lights, but no lurching forward a few feet at a time, than a lurching highway commute of 30 minutes. Thanks for your information and advice!

Your going to be fairly miserable most likely...everyone will take advantage of you leaving room in front of you and cut you off. Even if you go surface streets with lights you'll get cut off-and usually without any blinker warning. AZ has really poor drivers and I grew up in Boston where other in New England called us "M*******s" when it came to our road manners.
And I would bet on a 1 hour long commute depending on which areas of glendale and scottsdale your talking on the lurching highway not a 30 minute commute.
My husband and I recently moved from washington state where we didnt have to shift often and we are counting the months until we can trade in both our cars for automatics and we have good clutches on our cars/trucks. My left foot/ankle actually aches when I drive his ford f-150 from pushing the clutch in so much in traffic because i dont have long legs. So I am betting your commute will be interesting!

[sheena]

Originally Posted by pmurphy4

I'd like to hear from people with a manual transmission. I have 6-speed sports car with a really grabby clutch that prevents me from fully engaging 1st gear smoothly in less than about a car's length. I've been in traffic jams in Philadelphia twice recently and here's the problem I faced. If I give myself 3 car lengths of open space before moving so I can smoothly engage 1st gear and slowly, smoothly coast before reengaging the clutch for the next round of lurching forward, the other #$#$% drivers either cut in front of me or beep at me. These are apparently the same $%^$% who sit in their 2 ton SUVs 10 inches off your rear bumper, on a hill, in the snow at a red light. Moving on to the questions:

Does the valley have the same type of lurching forward 10 feet at a time type of traffic jams on a regular basis?

Is it possible (albeit long, with plenty of red lights) to avoid the highway all together and just take surface streets for a commute from say Glendale or Scottsdale to downtown?

I'd rather have a 1 hour commute with red lights, but no lurching forward a few feet at a time, than a lurching highway commute of 30 minutes. Thanks for your information and advice!

I used to drive a clutch, oh it was annoying in that stop and go traffic. That car had no air and leather seats even more annoying.

[exit2lef]

When I first moved to Phoenix, I drove a stick and my aggravations with stop-and-go traffic were much like those described above. I switched to an automatic when it was time to trade in my car. These days, however, many cars offer transmissions that are automatic by default but allow manual shifting when desired. For me, that's the best way to enjoy some sporty performance on weekends and during road trips to northern AZ while still having the ease of an automatic during heavy rush hour traffic. Taking surface streets instead of freeways may help somewhat, but if you find yourself at a light where it takes more than one cycle to get through, you may still experience the gradual lurching that can make driving a stick unpleasant.

[aj661]

"You can't have your cake and eat it too." I hate that cliche but unfortunately it fits your situation. Unless you don't have the leg strength, there is a point where the clutch will engage smoothly if balanced with just the right amount of gas-even with a high performance clutch. It takes practice to hit that 'sweet spot' consistently.

But having said that, 30 minutes or so of stop and go with a performance clutch is going to turn your leg muscles to jelly no matter what and you'll end up lurching anyway! Sell the car and get an automatic or leave for work at 0330 in the morning when there's no traffic. During rush, you'll probably face the same problems on surface streets.

[ArizonaBear]

A lot has to do with the clutch action and how easy the transmission is to shift.

I had a couple of Nissan Frontier 4 cyl/5 spd pickups and they were actually easy to drive in traffic-------much like an old VW Beetle.

[JMX]

I have a stick and I got really tired of commuting on surface streets. I thought it was worse than the freeways. On surface streets, you're forced to stop and go all the time. On the freeway, I try to avoid stopping altogether. I just leave it in second gear and cruise along at a slow, but steady, pace. The gap ahead of me grows and shrinks as the other cars speed up and slow down or stop. The trick is not letting the gap get too big, otherwise people cut in like you say. There's definitely an art in trying to find the right pace and rhythm.

[Bummer]

Sorry, PMurphy . . . no manuals in my garage.

As far as I'm concerned, manual transmissions and bumper to bumper commutes are a NO NO.

Good Luck!

[jlhct]

I have a 6-sp manual as well, but it's not in a sports car but it's German so that adds a similar element espically in 1st. I do a reverse commute so it's not bad but just like in any other normal city it can become a pain with traffic.

I guess it depends on where exactly your route will take you. Hopefully your route won't be so bad that it will cause a lot of discomfort for you.