Manual Usage below 10%...
#151
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While I know that automatics these days are better in essentially every way; I really just like driving a stick is what it boils down to. I feel like I pay more attention to what my car is doing, and I have fun doing it.
I don't notice myself shifting any more. After the first 6 months, it just seems natural; and now I hate driving an auto. I don't drive a stick to feel macho, though maybe it is part of the becoming-a-man-grunting-and-drinking-beer thing; it's a skill I picked up from a friend, and I really like it!
I have informed my fiancee that I will be buying a stick until they quit being made available. If that means on the family road trip that I have to drive the entire way there and back because she doesn't want to drive my car (though she knows how and is good at it); so be it.![Smilie](https://www.clublexus.com/forums/images/smilies/smile.gif)
I don't notice myself shifting any more. After the first 6 months, it just seems natural; and now I hate driving an auto. I don't drive a stick to feel macho, though maybe it is part of the becoming-a-man-grunting-and-drinking-beer thing; it's a skill I picked up from a friend, and I really like it!
I have informed my fiancee that I will be buying a stick until they quit being made available. If that means on the family road trip that I have to drive the entire way there and back because she doesn't want to drive my car (though she knows how and is good at it); so be it.
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#152
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Driving a manual does not make you a better driver. Wanting to be a better driver makes you a better driver. Most manual drivers in the US want to be better drivers, so they tend to be. All the things I've seen cited in this thread do not apply where manuals are commonplace. Inattention runs rampant no matter how you change gears.
I'm opposed to the hypothetical argument that manual makes you a superior driver in emergency situations (post #123). As a driver of both, I haven't had an experience in my life, where alternative actions on my part couldn't have some bearing on the outcome of a situation, as opposed to attributing safety to manual or auto.
#154
Lexus Test Driver
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Regardless of the whole MT vs. AT debate, or where you lie on it (we've done that to death at this point
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#156
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It's not a matter of instead, but for some of us, rowing our own gears is part of the fun.
Regardless of the whole MT vs. AT debate, or where you lie on it (we've done that to death at this point
), for a lot of us, it is one quintessential connections in the whole "man-and-machine" equation. It's part of how we feel as if we're as one with our vehicle. May not be logical, but it is an emotional connection to some degree.
Regardless of the whole MT vs. AT debate, or where you lie on it (we've done that to death at this point
![Stick Out Tongue](https://www.clublexus.com/forums/images/smilies/tongue.gif)
But I know from experience with my last 3 manual tranny Porsches used exclusively as weekend sports cars (not dd's), the manual enhanced the fun factor.
#157
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How about the reliability issues on a 130k manual versus a 130k auto?
I still feel like everyone should know how to drive a manual, just to KNOW, obviously to some (or most) it's a PITA to drive a manual in heavy traffic, I don't have too much of a problem with it, but hey, to each their own... I like feeling more connected to the car, so meh.
I still feel like everyone should know how to drive a manual, just to KNOW, obviously to some (or most) it's a PITA to drive a manual in heavy traffic, I don't have too much of a problem with it, but hey, to each their own... I like feeling more connected to the car, so meh.
#158
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I remember years ago when I was looking for a wood shift **** for it the store employee to me "Lexus does not make manuals"
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Manuals in a Lexus to me are just no good. They don't make good ones. The IS 300 got a 5 speed from the Supra b/c the 6 speed in the Altezza would not hold the torque over time. It would wear and die. Another example of an application in need of help.
Again all manuals make no sense to me. I am not going to suggest a manual in a Lexus just b/c manuals are better. In something like a 370Z I am more inclined to suggest one.
#160
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Well the thing is my friend's 1IS has tranny problems and he's at what, 150k miles? I'm looking to get an SC400, and I told him my car's transmission is probably at 296k, engine at 140k give or take and it's still running real strong. Thing is, is getting a high mileage auto sensible? Price also plays a factor in this too as I wouldn't want to purchase a $7k+ car and have to repair the transmission within XXX amount of miles.
Obviously clutch is a PITA when you got to change it out but if you drive it normally, it should last theoretically at least 70k miles no?
#161
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Manuals in a Lexus to me are just no good. They don't make good ones. The IS 300 got a 5 speed from the Supra b/c the 6 speed in the Altezza would not hold the torque over time. It would wear and die. Another example of an application in need of help.
Again all manuals make no sense to me. I am not going to suggest a manual in a Lexus just b/c manuals are better. In something like a 370Z I am more inclined to suggest one.
Again all manuals make no sense to me. I am not going to suggest a manual in a Lexus just b/c manuals are better. In something like a 370Z I am more inclined to suggest one.
#162
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I believe I'm on the stock clutch because he had no documentation of it ever being changed before he owned it, he never changed it, and if it has been changed, it hasn't been since 50k anyway. So they can last a long time.
I believe there was one SC that was in Autoweek about a year ago (this comes up any time we're talking SC longevity), that had close to 600k on his car, and he was on his 3rd clutch ever. I suppose it's all in how you drive it.
#163
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Well the thing is my friend's 1IS has tranny problems and he's at what, 150k miles? I'm looking to get an SC400, and I told him my car's transmission is probably at 296k, engine at 140k give or take and it's still running real strong. Thing is, is getting a high mileage auto sensible? Price also plays a factor in this too as I wouldn't want to purchase a $7k+ car and have to repair the transmission within XXX amount of miles.
Obviously clutch is a PITA when you got to change it out but if you drive it normally, it should last theoretically at least 70k miles no?
Obviously clutch is a PITA when you got to change it out but if you drive it normally, it should last theoretically at least 70k miles no?
This scenario is so out of the mainstream and not really relevant to the OP's oriiginal topic.
#164
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I know a 75-year-old woman who would put some of you older guys to shame!
She DDs a Lotus Elise, and autocrosses and tracks it as well. I think the elise only comes in stick, same thing with the S2000 and the ae86 GTS corolla.
Lots of good points for both autos and manuals.
Can we have a consensus that:
High HP cars can get away with autos, pdks, smgs, what have you.
Low HP cars can only stand to benefit with a manual tranny.
My mom is the only person in our household who can't drive a stick. My 17-yr-old brother wants to get a stick for his first car.
To Fay:
I knew you got rid of the IS300 for an M3, didn't know it was a stick! Congrats! I'll be in Vancouver this summer for my cousin's wedding.
The day I can't drive a stick is when I hand in my license. (OK, maybe not, but I do have a bad left knee.)
She DDs a Lotus Elise, and autocrosses and tracks it as well. I think the elise only comes in stick, same thing with the S2000 and the ae86 GTS corolla.
Lots of good points for both autos and manuals.
Can we have a consensus that:
High HP cars can get away with autos, pdks, smgs, what have you.
Low HP cars can only stand to benefit with a manual tranny.
My mom is the only person in our household who can't drive a stick. My 17-yr-old brother wants to get a stick for his first car.
To Fay:
I knew you got rid of the IS300 for an M3, didn't know it was a stick! Congrats! I'll be in Vancouver this summer for my cousin's wedding.
The day I can't drive a stick is when I hand in my license. (OK, maybe not, but I do have a bad left knee.)
Last edited by dsp979; 03-04-10 at 01:11 PM.
#165
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What do you mean the torque wouldn't hold? Enlighten me please. I figured that the IS and SC didn't get a 6 speed because they had the N/A version of the Supra's engine, had the SC or IS received the GTE instead of the GE, things would have been different. And, the GE didn't put out enough to warrant a stronger 5 speed, like the R154.
Toyota engineers knew the 6 speed could work in the IS 300 but over time it would not be able to handle the higher torque rating and it would fail. The Altezza I-4 was peaky with low torque whereas the IS 300 had ample torque in comparison.
Thus they gave it the 5 speed.