Save the Manuals!

[GradyPhilpott]

I'm not much of a gearhead, but I love shifting through the gears as drive here and there and did you know that only about 10% of the cars on the road have manual transmissions?

Check out this heartwarming video.

[s4dan]

Originally Posted by GradyPhilpott

I'm not much of a gearhead, but I love shifting through the gears as drive here and there and did you know that only about 10% of the cars on the road have manual transmissions?

Most probably the other way round here in the UK - you have to usually pay a premium for an auto box.

[rodrob59]

I had a Honda S2000 several years ago and loved going through its 6 gears until one night when the hour long trip from Titusville to Orlando turned into a 4 hour crawl after a shuttle launch. I don't think my left(clutch) leg has ever recovered. But on a twisty mountain road it was pure Heaven. I have an automatic now, but still reach for the gearshift when I slow suddenly for a corner.

[Sarajevo]

I would never drive an automatic, it turns you into a mere spectator, not a driver. I remember a few years ago driving an automatic rental car along a straight road and before I knew it I was doing over 100km/h in a 40km/h zone.

The lack of a sense of the speed you are travelling is frightening. A manual car calibrates your speed for you, as each gear change means you, as a driver, are making a conscious decision to control your speed. With an automatic, you just keep your foot on the accelerator, and as you are not required to actually manage things, your attention wanders. Phones, iPads, pretty ladies - anything will catch your attention, like the man in the video says.

Any driver worth the name would not have an automatic car.

[JasoninDenver]

I will never have another manual tranny after driving my cvt Subaru outback.

[A.J.R.]

I love my 5 speed transmission

[Lisa]

I've had two manual transmission cars and loved them both - really fun to drive!

[figbo]

My truck is a four speed manual,won't have it any other way.

[Rbdport]

I learned to drive on a stick.....husband taught me. I don't advise this task for starting a happy marriage. We both drove stick for about 20 years, no big deal when your daily commute was over an hour highway each way. Living in the city now, we drive on average one day a month and total less than 10 miles. Stick is too much work. These days, when I drive, I just want to wiggle my fat ass behind the wheel and go. I don't see the drive as "the destination," it's just something I have to do every so often and I'd like it to be as easy as possible.

[GradyPhilpott]

If my left leg ever falls off, I'll buy an automatic.

Otherwise, it's manual all the way until the day I die or someone takes the keys away.

[CDNWatchNut]

I'm firmly in the manual camp also...have driven a manual for the past 25 years. I don't enjoy driving autos at all. Interesting comment about how easy it is to not be aware of your speed driving an auto...I'd never thought of it that way, but it's a very valid point.

[G8RDPM]

Sadly,most high end sports cars including Porsche and Ferrari do not have a third pedal.
I miss my manual transmission,

[East Bay Rider]

Quite a few years ago now I got nostalgic for the good old days when all I had were cars with manual transmissions. I bought a SUV with a stick. Within a few days I learned to hate it. Fact is where I live (East Bay, Rhode Island)it seems there's a stop sign or red light every couple of hundred feet. Seriously you can never get past 3rd gear. It's horrible. Every 4 wheeled vehicle since has been an automatic.
Naturally, It's the same on the motorcycle. Gotta get 1/2 hour away before the riding gets bearable. So yeah, here an automatic is pretty much necessary.

[Tri-Tip]

I have the best of both...Grand Cherokee Auto and Corvette 6 speed stick.

Tried the paddle shifters and they didn't do a thing for me.

[watchf]

Manual for me as well Don't you call it the 'stick drive' in USA

[Esexx]

I will be back in the saddle again on Tuesday.

Picking up a new to me 996 from a (cliché) Beverly Hills plastic surgeon. I hope I don't stall pulling away! It has been 22 years since owning a manual, but I have driven one only a few times since then. (just shuffling cars and their parking spaces)

[sleddog]

Originally Posted by watchf

Manual for me as well Don't you call it the 'stick drive' in USA

'Stick Shift'....

Also agree on the 3 pedal config!
There's nothing like feeling a part of the mechanical wonders of the automobile....Automatics just don't have the input of a satisfied driver!!

[Highland Ranger]

How do the purists feel about the manual automatics?

[DCgator]

I gave up manual tranny in 2004. Too much stop and go traffic. Hard to drink beverage on a manual car. Where I live and work auto trans is best aside from public transpo.

[Runnin' Rebel]

My Touareg had an automatic, but you can move the handel over to make like a 6 speed stick shift. I really like the option

[Sarajevo]

Originally Posted by DCgator

I gave up manual tranny in 2004. Too much stop and go traffic. Hard to drink beverage on a manual car. Where I live and work auto trans is best aside from public transpo.

With all due respect, this post proves the OPs point. When you are driving, you are supposed to be ensuring your control over what is, in reality, a lethal machine, not sipping a Coke.

[GradyPhilpott]

Originally Posted by Highland Ranger

How do the purists feel about the manual automatics?

It's all about the clutch. Paddles and dual gate shifters just don't do it for me.

[Tri-Tip]

Originally Posted by Highland Ranger

How do the purists feel about the manual automatics?

Don't like them, don't like them at all.

[Dan Pierce]

Been a gear grinder since day one.
dP

[Sarajevo]

Originally Posted by Highland Ranger

How do the purists feel about the manual automatics?

The devil's work

[padi56]

Originally Posted by s4dan

Most probably the other way round here in the UK - you have to usually pay a premium for an auto box.

Have to agree give me a manual box any day and in the UK if you take the driving test in a automatic that's the only type of car you can drive.If you want to drive a manual gear box car you have to re-sit the driving test in one, take the driving test in a manual you can drive both.While automatic may be a help in traffic today, those brought up with automatics when they get in a manual many have no idea how to use them.Afraid today its just the world we live in as many countries just want to push a button and go for everything today.

[Route 66]

If you truly enjoy driving, then a manual shift car is the only way to go.

[snowbird]

I prefer manual overall though as noted above, it can be a pain to drive a stick in heavy traffic.

[Stonedcl]

I work for Infiniti and about 3 years ago we ordered about 40 manual cars a year out of about 1000 cars sold out of my dealer every year now I had a customer want a manual g37 coupe and we tried locating one but the closest one was 800 miles away in south Carolina and we are in NJ.. Sad buy manuals will be obsolete soon..

[GradyPhilpott]

Originally Posted by Stonedcl

Sad buy manuals will be obsolete soon..

Maybe not.

Stick shifts popular again, despite lower gas mileage