S2000toIS350

This article is spot on with my life.

I was a die hard stick driver from 1980 to 1995.

Our first 7 cars were all manuals.

In 95 we moved near Boston and by 96 I had my first auto as sitting in traffic with a clutch is not the best part of life.

Of the last 5 cars only one was a manual, the S2000. When I changed jobs and was commuting, the IS 350 replaced the S2000 and I have not expectation of having another manual. Traffic here in Chicago is worse that Boston.

SLegacy99

Oh indeed. My dilemna is simply that of the choices of cars we had to take, mine is the most efficient, yet I am the only one who can drive it. Which I think is pathetic.



My sister gave up her manual trans. because her husband couldnt drive it...I never want that to be me.

-J-P-L-

Manuals today best serve economy cars and sports cars. My Yaris sedan is a manual and it just brings out the power of the small engine better than an auto. With more powerful cars, autos are sufficient. But to the benefit of econo-cars, manuals are lighter, cheaper, a bit more efficient (in Toyota's case), easier to maintain, more durable, and of course more fun.

In some cases these days, autos actually achieve better mileage (Honda for example). The Fit auto, the TSX auto, to name a couple, are rated higher mileage than the sticks. Also, in higher end cars, the manual isn't always cheaper.They are more rare so actually cost the automaker more to have them available.

-J-P-L-

That is not at all the case.

Even though the percentage is small, manuals exist because many people still want them. Plus, the percentage is only small in America and maybe a few other countries. Manuals are overwhelmingly popular in most other countries where they see automatics as the lazy, disconnected way to drive. Europeans make fun of Americans for almost exclusively driving automatics.

As for automakers just doing it to up-charge for automatics? It is just not the case. If it were the automaker's first choice, they'd only offer one transmission. That would be much easier and efficient. And basically. automatics are standard (oddly enough). Really, you "opt" for the manual.

SLegacy99

What, something like 5% of 5 series are MTs. 20 years ago it was more than 50%. And Saabs were the same way. Seeing an auto Saab was odd. Now you rarely see a MT 9-5.



I have had my Legacy GT for 5 years now and it took me 9 months to find one in a stick, my primary criteria. Everytime I found one, it was sold. So I guess Subaru isn't exactly wrong in only offering the new GT in a 6MT.

balutsc300

iTrader: (1)

lol driving in la like everyday with a mt was a pain at first but you get used to it after awhile i taught a few people how to drive manual most were girls lol go figure but people definitely are always interested in learning but i don't think they would actually wanna drive one everyday like i do. I think for most people driving a manual is something you do once in awhile usually in a weekend car just for kicks

bnizzle87

i hear you balutsc300! MT in la traffic can be a pain. i love driving my mom's 79 320i. it has been very good to us, and she used it as her starter car when she first moved to the states. she swears by it, but unfortunately it was not gonna be a family car. i still can drive it on occassion just to do the shifting, but AT is so much easier for younger kids (not to get carsick). driving in AT gets redundant and really boring, but i think it beats an MT ride as a daily driver in the sorta traffic we have here in so cal.

Faymester

^ +1; I want to always have a manual car in my garage.

Blackraven

My take on this:

I think in Europe (especially in Southern Europe), that is mostly stick shift territory.....but even that is changing.

More AT versions are coming in that are better, faster shifting, and more fuel efficient and less vehicle emissions than their stick shift counterparts. Heck, our friends in the UK say that the IS250 SE-L automatic is not too far in fuel economy to the stick-shift IS220d for instance.

In sports cars, GT-R is only available with 6-speed dual clutch. In Mitsu Evo X, the TC-SST is the lead gearbox (the stick shift variants don't make up majority anymore). Porsche is promoting their 7-speed DPK gearbox even more. More than 90% of sales for the new Cayenne will be 6-speed Tiptronic as they may ditch the stick along the line. And is there even a stick shift for the following cars: S class, Lexus LS, Audi A8, BMW 7, etc. etc.

It looks like as seen in Europe, the number of AT cars are also on the rise (I think our European friends such as spwolf, DustinV and others can shed some light on this).

Eventually, stick shifts in the future may only be limited to taxi cabs, base model cheapo vehicles and trucks, buses and public utility vehicles.............or in video games

That is the future I suppose whether we like it or not.

nthach

On a Japanese manual gearbox, it's much easier to feather the clutch for smooth shifts - unlike a German one where you need to give it a little gas while you're clutching in.

Go find someone with a Civic - and ask them to show you the ropes.

lex

It's funny, but in Europe I think a lot of (especially older) people don't even know you can take the driving test with an AT car. And most people are opposed to in anyway.

Och

iTrader: (3)

Thats a misconception. Sure, there are some Europeans that make fun of Americans for driving automatics, but in reality, most people in Europe drive gutless, stripped down econo-crapbuckets, and are quite envious of Americans with out loaded luxury cars with automatic transmissions.

I disagree with you, I think that is just what the case is. If 95% of cars are sold with automatics, and most of these 95% of automatics are optional that people paid money for, then from the business standpoint, the only reason automakers offer manuals is to make automatic an option that costs $$$. For instance I paid around $1400 for automatic option on my purchase. It ears automakers a lot of money.

On the contrary, if they made automatic transmissions standard, with manuals being offered at extra cost, manual usage would drop to 0.000001%, as it should.

Big Andy

Learning to drive a manual transmission car is very simple and shouldn't take anymore than half an hour. In fact if anyone struggles with it I'd seriously question their suitability to be behind the wheel of a car on public roads.

It is true that in most of Europe if you pass your driving test in an automatic car you can only then drive an automatic car. I've only ever come across one person who had done that and they were looked upon with a kind of pity by most people, as if there was something wrong with them. It also caused loads of problems with car hire and such.

whoster

only guy I want to learn to drive stick from has a modded FD RX-7....

Och

iTrader: (3)

Learning to drive a stick isn't hard. I personally was able to get a basic grip on driving a manual in about half an hour, much like you're suggesting.

That however isn't necessarily making me a better driver. Its not hard, nor does it require any special talent, but it is a nuisance.

To me driving a manual is like using a typewriter when there are computers.