What do you drive...manual or automatic?

[JohnMitchell 14]

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So when I do drive an automatic, there's also the unfamiliarity of everything being on the 'wrong' side. In a way I'm glad most American rental cars are automatic - it takes a bit of getting used to, but it saves me from continually trying to change gear with the door handle!

I've never driven a left hand drive car. I've wondered what it would be like with the stick on the other side. Is the clutch pedal still on the left?

I've ridden motorcycles with the shift on the right foot and shift pattern upside down. That was not easy for me.

[Fast 0]

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Turns out the upright sitting position and the lack of clutching solved the issues.

I'm not sure I understand why upright position only comes with an automatic. I'm almost ridiculously sensitive to driving position, and I hate being reclined noticeably. To the extent that I have a pad so that my headrest doesn't force my head forward (it does because of my height, and the fact that most people recline their seats more).

Wendy P.

Two different issues.

The upright position alleviates the constant back pain I had (and begin feeling again when spending any significant amount of time in a car (even more in a seated position with legs almost straight out in front).

The automatic alleviates the hip/knee pain that I have found are constant and come with driving a standard.

I've had joint issues since I was a toddler that to this day no doctor has ever put a label on, and any number of things exaggerate the issue, but I found the daily driving of a standard to be a prime offender.

It's funny cause i have had the opposite experience. I have both an auto and a manual. My left leg gets sore sitting in cars that don't have a good left foot rest. I have found that manual cars tend to have nicer places to set that foot than automatics. Never understood why they couldn't put the nice flat foot rest in both versions.

None the less, manuals are cool and fun, but bleh I get sick of it in traffic to work every day. Having both is nice and yeah I phantom clutch in the auto. Silly habbits

~D
Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me.
Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

[BillyVance 34]

I once thought girls preferred stick shifts because it gave them a toy to get off on, in other words....

My Toyota Tundra and Honda Oddysey are automatics, and the Mazda Protege is a manual.

I also had a Toyota MR2 Spyder that had sequential transmission. Imagine being able to shift gears with buttons on the steering wheel. That was somewhat fun.

Everyone should learn to drive manual. You never know when you need to put that skill to use even if you don't own a manual transmission vehicle.

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

[JerryBaumchen 1,048]

Hi John,

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I've never driven a left hand drive car. I've wondered what it would be like with the stick on the other side. Is the clutch pedal still on the left?

~ 7-8 yrs ago I drove in England for a couple of weeks with a for hire car; it was an autobox.

The shift with the left hand is very easy to become used to. The clutch/brake pedals are in the same locations.

The biggest problem that I had was judging where the edge of the road was ( on the left ) with the narrow roads that they have out in the countryside; I never did really master that.

I also made very sure that I took it extra slow when coming onto the road from a parking lot or similar as that is the most prevalent occasion to turn into the road the 'wrong way.' And the round-abouts were 'fun.'

JerryBaumchen

PS) Driving on the left in England was far easier than driving in downtown Sao Paulo, Brazil.

[TheCaptain 2]

List of all the cars I have owned, only 2 automatics

1970 Barracuda 225 3 speed manual
1970 Cuda 360 4 speed manual
1974 Duster 225 3 speed on the tree manual
1982 Honda Accord 1.5L 5 speed manual
1970 Duster 225 Automatic
1982 RX Rotary 5 speed manual
1984 Laser 2.2L turbo 5 speed Manual
2000 Accent 1.5L 5 speed Manual
2004 Elantra 2.L Automatic

Kirk
He's dead Jim

[TheBachelor 4]

I drive an automatic because sitting in Los Angeles traffic with a stick shift sucks. When I had a "weekend car" (Porsche), that was manual. MUCH more fun to drive.

There are battered women? I've been eating 'em plain all of these years...

[mpohl 1]

Manual.

For 32+ years now.
Because automatics are for retards and the disabled.

[Marinus 0]

I drive manual but that's mainly because that's more or less standard here. I've a slight preference for Automatic cars, but I don't really care what I drive as long as it gets me from A to B. No car lover here, I prefer the bicycle which is a manual too

[BobMoore 0]

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Because automatics are for retards and the disabled.

Wow. That's really profound. Did you put a lot of thought into that?

"For you see, an airplane is an airplane. A landing area is a landing area. But a dropzone... a dropzone is the people."

[oldwomanc6 38]

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Because automatics are for retards and the disabled.

Wow. That's really profound. Did you put a lot of thought into that?

It's just as profound as:

"I drive manual but that's mainly because that's more or less standard here."

lisa
WSCR 594
FB 1023
CBDB 9

[squirrel 0]

i drive a sexy automatic... my wife. :)

________________________________
Where is Darwin when you need him?

[oldwomanc6 38]

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i drive a sexy automatic... my wife. :)

Way too Stepford for me!

lisa
WSCR 594
FB 1023
CBDB 9

[squirrel 0]

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i drive a sexy automatic... my wife. :)

Way too Stepford for me!

hahaha!. all kidding aside. driven both. prefer manual when no traffic, automatic in traffic..

________________________________
Where is Darwin when you need him?

[mutumbo 0]

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My first car was a manual (Pinto ), but then I went the mini van route when I had kids. I've had an automatic Jeep for the last 6 years.

my first vehicle was a manual '94 dodge caravan

Thanatos340(on landing rounds)--
Landing procedure: Hand all the way up, Feet and Knees Together and PLF soon as you get bitch slapped by a planet.

[tmccann 1]

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Wow, I'm actually surprised that, of the people that voted, more manuals than automatics are used.

I'm guessing it's because the topic appeals more to manual drivers? These days, when getting a car with a stick-shift can actually cost more (my 6-speed is worth approximately a new rig more than the auto version), it tends to be about passion for driving.

I have both, but I voted manual, since the car I love has a stick, and the other I have in auto because I found it impossible to find an AWD V50 in manual in Southern California! (but it gets me up to the mountain in snow, whereas my sports car will have trouble with a sprinkling of rain)

Damn, this reminds me just how much it cost me to have my clutch replaced. Wow, I must really love driving a manual...

[normiss 622]

Weird.
The first car I learned to drive was a baby shit green manual tranny Pinto.


But....we did have a 76 Pontiac Trans Am 6.6 for drivers ed in high school. I should scan the yearbook pic of it.






I got kicked off the course. Coach did give me an A for my driving though.

[billvon 2,396]

Have owned both. Now have a car with neither.

[oldwomanc6 38]

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Have owned both. Now have a car with neither.

Please tell me it's a Tesla.

lisa
WSCR 594
FB 1023
CBDB 9

[skybill 18]

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Manual.

For 32+ years now.
Because automatics are for retards and the disabled.

Hi Phil,
"Yer comment kinda reminds me of the old daze when Drag Racing was still a "Grass Roots" sport and any one could be a weekend Hot Shot with a $25 junkyard special ...till ya' blew the head gasket at 100mph!! All ya' needed was a stick trans with a good first and second gear, hardly ever got to third in the quarter mile!! Oh yeah, an did ya' have a "Cue Ball" on the end of your shifter?? or a piston?? 'Remember those Ed "Big Daddy" Roth cartoons and carz?? Auto trans were fer yer geeks, nerds and "Jomoma" back then. Didja' have dual glasspak cherry bombs with lakes?? Cruzin' the drive-in on Fri. night "DERDERDERVOOMVOOM" Hey Milner!!

SCR-2034, SCS-680

III%,
Deli-out

[BobMoore 0]

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Manual.

For 32+ years now.
Because automatics are for retards and the disabled.

Hi Phil,
"Yer comment kinda reminds me of the old daze when Drag Racing was still a "Grass Roots" sport and any one could be a weekend Hot Shot with a $25 junkyard special ...till ya' blew the head gasket at 100mph!! All ya' needed was a stick trans with a good first and second gear, hardly ever got to third in the quarter mile!! Oh yeah, an did ya' have a "Cue Ball" on the end of your shifter?? or a piston?? 'Remember those Ed "Big Daddy" Roth cartoons and carz?? Auto trans were fer yer geeks, nerds and "Jomoma" back then. Didja' have dual glasspak cherry bombs with lakes?? Cruzin' the drive-in on Fri. night "DERDERDERVOOMVOOM" Hey Milner!!

Don't forget the air shocks so you could jack up the rear end real high, and the CB antennas.

"For you see, an airplane is an airplane. A landing area is a landing area. But a dropzone... a dropzone is the people."

[Andy9o8 0]

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Because automatics are for retards and the disabled.

Wow. That's really profound. Did you put a lot of thought into that?

It's just as profound as:

"I drive manual but that's mainly because that's more or less standard here."

Well, it is slightly more tactful than just informing him he's being an asshole.

[Marinus 0]

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It's just as profound as:

"I drive manual but that's mainly because that's more or less standard here."

Did I say something wrong there? The numbers show that somewhere between 10-20% of the cars here is an automatic. So stick shift is the standard. I prefer automatic because, while I don't really mind a manual transmission, it's just extra work while driving to me. I don't really get the fascination with manual transmissions. While it doesn't bother me, to me using an automatic transmission is a skill you learn in a couple of minutes, master in a couple of hours or days and it's about as fun as using a calculator after that.

So anyway, I didn't mean to be judgemental about manual or automatic drivers or something.

[oldwomanc6 38]

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It's just as profound as:

"I drive manual but that's mainly because that's more or less standard here."

Did I say something wrong there?

No. Nothing wrong. It's just that a manual transmission is also called a "standard", so your play on words (intentional or not) caught my funny bone.

lisa
WSCR 594
FB 1023
CBDB 9

[shah269 0]

How did someone put it.....
"Driving an automatic sports car is like kissing your sister..."

Life through good thoughts, good words, and good deeds is necessary to ensure happiness and to keep chaos at bay.

The only thing that falls from the sky is birdshit and fools!

[Marinus 0]

Ah, it was unintentional, but now I know that's indeed funny.
I asked because I suck just enough at English to risk insulting others unintentionally. It happened before like back when I still thought that "douche" was synonymous with "shower"