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Drivers: Automatic To Manual?


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Switching from Automatic to Manual  

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Handedness-schmandedness. I have absolutely no problems driving manual in either a left-hand drive or right-hand drive vehicle; if you can play guitar at all, it really shouldn't be an issue.

I don't like automatic transmissions much at all. Don't feel I have the control over what the car's doing. Driving manual keeps me a little more focussed on longer drives, particularly non-highway drives and the like. Then again, I'm in europe. People don't 'do' automatics much at all over here, so I don't have a lot of experience with them. Yeah, they're marginally more fuel efficient (as folks have said, mostly down to people not knowing how to drive for fuel efficiency; ie, slow acceleration, early shifting, that sort of thing), but the pleasure of driving, for me, is in no small part down to that magical combo of steer-clutch-shift-accelerate.

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I don't drive yet but manual is definitly for you if you're right handed. My mom almost failed her driving tests back in the day because she was left handed lol.

I'm left handed.

I've driven manuals and autos over the years. To me, the enjoyment depends on the driving you will do. Driving a manual through country roads, particularly when I lived in England (Surrey), was the best. Not so good driving in rush hour in Houston.

By the way, when I drove a manual in England, the stick was on my left side so I had to shift left handed (I'm right handed). It was no problem to get used to it. Clutch was still on the left and the shipt pattern was the same.

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Also, when you're in rush hour in Kansas City and you're trying to juggle your nuclear-hot McD's coffee, an egg-mcmuffin, a cell-phone, the XM/Sirius, and the morning newspaper, the last thing you need to worry about paying attention to is the hassle of clutching and shifting every few seconds.

I honestly don't know how women can add the hassle of putting on makeup while trying to also pay attention to traffic while doing all of the above, too.

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Way more control, way more fun! and cheaper :D

Control? No, that's just the 'feeling of' --the control comes into what kind of engine you have. If you've got a sluggish engine, you've got a sluggish car. You can achieve the same 'sensation' with an automatic shifting it through its gears, if you really like.

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The car is practically in neutral when out of gear, right?

Yes, when either the clutch is pushed in or the shifter is between gears, once you let off the brake, there is nothing to prevent the car from rolling backwards or forward.

Well you know there is this little thing called handbrake so that statement dont really hold water.

It is harder to drive stick 'cos you have more things to do then driving auto. As someone here said the best way would be to go to the rent-a-car and rent one with stick and decide.

I drive stick all my life but i sometimes take my brothers auto when i dont wanna think while im driving. LOL

If i offended anyone by any statement i posted here that was not my attention to do.

As i said try it before you buy it.

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The car is practically in neutral when out of gear, right?

Yes, when either the clutch is pushed in or the shifter is between gears, once you let off the brake, there is nothing to prevent the car from rolling backwards or forward.

Well you know there is this little thing called handbrake so that statement dont really hold water.

It is harder to drive stick 'cos you have more things to do then driving auto. As someone here said the best way would be to go to the rent-a-car and rent one with stick and decide.

I drive stick all my life but i sometimes take my brothers auto when i dont wanna think while im driving. LOL

If i offended anyone by any statement i posted here that was not my attention to do.

As i said try it before you buy it.

I guess saying once you let off the brake wasn't clear enough :D

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I guess saying once you let off the brake wasn't clear enough :D

But still.... You can let it off gratually according to your trottle. Not like handbrake in automatics that you just push it with leg but behind shifter and you can slowly ease the brake as you accalerate. Thats what i ment to say. I know that requires some getting used to but once it is mastered you just do it never think about it. Anyways i like bouth a auto and stick. Here in europe sticks are more comon 'cos they use lot less of gas.

:D

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I love driving stick. My car is small and fun to drive, so the added element of controlling the gears just makes driving that much more fun.

Moreover, I drive a very small, underpowered car, so I need that added element of control when I downshift to, say, get up a small hill. :D

That said, If you have trouble learning (which you shouldn't as it really isn't that hard), you can always put one of my custom stickers on your dashboard; I have one, but it's more just to scare off skittish passengers:

Pedals.jpg

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Here we go again!!!

Auto- Practical, especeialy when you drive in busy areas like MD at about 6:00AM... I ain't touching fuel economy because it is all in the driver! Easier to drive,

Manual- Fun (once you get a hang of it, especialy in rear wheel drive). Can be economic or a real gas guzzler!!! All depends on how heavy is your foot and at what FUN FACTOR you are driving.

Now to clarify some points.

YES, the manuals are faster than their auto counter parts.. read any article on Motor Trends, they post both speeds for manual and auto.

If you drive like a granny, then you will save some money on gas.

Most pro-streeters don't even run a manual because it's easier to get a controlled launch and hookup with an automatic, anyway.

What class are you referring too? Even the big boys are running either manual or hybrids ( the nice air shifted transm. that still requiere you to shift them manualy) and a few of the guys that still rely on auto is just to have consistency passes... not because they are faster. A few years back (2 I think) there was a protest on one of the classes that were dominated by auto (GNX's) in NY, because a few of guys in Mustangs came over and were wooping their buts with 5 speed trans cars... they were trying to make the NHRA rule that their class were to be only auto transm cars.

Now which will I get? I still don't know what car are you buying!!! there are many factors to see, is it a sports car? Front or rear wheel drive? Do you have a family and if so, do your wife will LIKE to drive a manual?

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Pro-stock drivers are into the air-shifters and all that. Pro-street and super-street drivers, at least in RWD, still rely on high-stall autos for the most part. I'm not saying you won't see manuals running around, but for the kind of power those machines put out and the rearend gearing it's much easier for them to stick with autos if they want to run 'em on the street, too. Even some production high-power V8 cars, like the GTO and CTS-V with their LS6 V8's, are almost impossible to comfortably daily drive without an automatic.

Like I said, you've got to be a good driver to take advantage of a stick in most modern vehicles. Those guys who do it in MotorTrend, Car and Driver, and Road and Track are all professional drivers. They can make up that 0.3 second difference between an auto and a manual Corvette like it's nothing.

One funny story about sticks, though. A few months ago some home boys held up a bank and tried escaping in the teller's Camry. They got into the car and realized they didn't know how to drive a stick, so they had to run from the cops on foot. FAST.

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Thanks for all the replys. The car I'm interested in is a 2006 Toyota Yaris, that will be used for short trips in town (work, hardware stores, etc) 99% of the time. I'm may try out the stick, but it may just be best to go with an auto.

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Learning stick is easy and even hilly terrain is a piece of cake when you get used to it.

Now, the practical issue for me when buying a car is resale value.........here in the US sticks bring very poor resale value unless they are attached to a high dollar sports car which the Yaris is not :D I'd go auto if you're going to keep it for more than 3 years.

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***? Dude, you're getting everyone in stitches over a YARIS!!?? BUY A REAL CAR!!! B)

:D Co'mon +1

:D

Sorry I offended everyone so much. MODS please close this stupid thread.

:D

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***? Dude, you're getting everyone in stitches over a YARIS!!?? BUY A REAL CAR!!! B)

:D Co'mon +1

:D

Sorry I offended everyone so much. MODS please close this stupid thread.

:D

Aw, don't be mad, MATT. You should have seen me when I saw your post about the Yaris, though. I wasn't dying laughing on the floor because you were buying a Yaris, but the fact that everyone was talking about how much better a stick is for performance and how you can really feel the power of the car with a manual. All the jibba-jabba about pro-stock vs. pro-street, European roads, and 0.3 second differences in 0-60 just suddenly became irrelevant.

In this case, I would buy an automatic. The resale on Toyotas is great anyway, but an automatic is easier to unload a few years down the line.

Edited by crafty
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