Serious How many GG members can drive a vehicle equipped with a manual transmission?

[45cal1911]

The Manual Gearbox Keeps Getting Rarer

Looking at recent sales data shows how automakers are moving away from cars with manual transmissions.

www.motor1.com

The Manual transmission in my opinion will give you total control of your own vehicle.

The article continues on how manual transmissions are obsolete. I disagree entirely.

"Rapid evolution within the automotive industry is simultaneously a nursery for new technology and a graveyard for obsolete equipment. Case in point: as we await the arrival of true self-driving cars with advanced systems, other features that were once standard are gradually disappearing."

"Such is the case with the manual gearbox, which is becoming a rarity in many markets. And it's not just North America, where automatic transmissions have long dominated. Information from JATO Dynamics shows that this type of transmission is losing popularity everywhere."

"Europe is a great example of this transition. In 2000, 89 percent of all new cars registered were equipped with a manual. In some countries such as Italy, France, Spain, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, and Portugal, that number exceeded 95 percent. Norway and Switzerland were exceptions, where approximately 25 percent of new cars were automatics."

How many GG members can drive a vehicle with a manual transmission?

In the US it’s called "stick shift" slang.

 

[ZeroK]

I could. I never learned the column mounted shifter, also known as ‘three on the tree’

 

[wiggins]

I've driven hundreds and thousand of kms in a manual. Most of them in a series of Landcruiser 4x4's with the high/low range stick as well.

My Landcruiser got written off by a tree a couple of months ago but I have an XRT Jeep in auto which has one of the German autos in it which is 8 speed and it's very good. It's gear changes are probably better than I could do manually.

My wife has a Subaru Outback, auto, which has one of the 'infinate' weired kevlar banded gear box things. It goes like a bat out of hell too as has the XT option with the WRX motor. Good on fuel. Great on fuel.

The beauty of the Landcruiser is that it has super low gearing in 'low' and with just the standard 4.2 litre non turbo diesel I towed a container around our block to re position it and it towed it forward wth the engine in idle. Alas it's looking sad now:

 

[Dirl]

I don’t remember the last time i drove a car with an automatic transmission, maybe +20 years ago.
Only manual dude.

 

[Gone crazy back soon]

I drove manual transmissions for over 20 years. They remain superior for mountain driving and for towing heavy loads but they are getting super difficult to find and finding shops that can properly install a clutch is nearly impossible anymore. I would still drive a vehicle equipped with a "millenial anti-theft device" if they were still made in the types of vehicles I drive.

 

[45cal1911]

I don’t remember the last time i drove a car with an automatic transmission, maybe +20 years ago.
Only manual dude.

View attachment 873412

Many Americans have lost the will to even try to drive a manual transmission driven vehicle Millennials, Gen Z.

 

[The anarchist]

I could. I never learned the column mounted shifter, also known as ‘three on the tree’

My first car was a 73 Chevy nova with three on the tree 👍 that's what I learned to drive with😉

 

[wiggins]

I could. I never learned the column mounted shifter, also known as ‘three on the tree’

My first car (1963 Ford Falcon) had the column shift! Also a later one, 1972 Chrysler Valient. You get used to it without any problem, well, I did. And it frees up leg space for a third passanger on the bench seat!

My dad had one of the Alfa Romeo trans axle cars. The gear box was part of the rear differential. It had a 5 speed box but was really slow to change with as the linkages were so long to go from the stick to the read diff.

One of the neatest smoothest gear shifts I ever drove was a Datsun 120Y. It was just so easy and quick to change gear I could hardly belive it.

We bought my son a Subaru Impreza (2005?) with 5 speed manual which was tricky to change, especially at low speed when just starting out. Unless you had the revs up a bit it would stall easily. He couldn't really get it so we sold it when my dad gave us his Outback when he had to stop driving. Some people never get the manual shift.

My dad told me about the non syncro shifts they used to have back in his day when you had to double de clutch to hit the right revs to smoothly change gear. I used to change gear on my Landcruiser without using the clutch just to practice the technique. As long as you keep a little pressure on the stick as you adjust the revs it will slip straight in. Good skill in case you have a clutch problem...

 

[Str8shooter]

I prefer a manual to an automatic every day of the week. My first was a BMW 2002, which was immediately followed by an Audi GT Coupe. I even had an old M37 at one point.

 

[Dirl]

Many Americans have lost the will to even try to drive a manual transmission driven vehicle Millennials, Gen Z.

All my cars had manual transmissions and i learned to drive in manual. To tell you the truth i don’t think i'm capable to drive an automatic one. The couple of times i experienced i felt strange and never repeated it again.

 

[ZeroK]

My first car was a 73 Chevy nova with three on the tree 👍 that's what I learned to drive with😉

Nice. Did u ever learn the console mounted shifter?

 

[wiggins]

All my cars had manual transmissions and i learned to drive in manual. To tell you the truth i don’t think i'm capable to drive an automatic one. The couple of times i experienced i felt strange and never repeated it again.

I remember my uncle driving us in our mum's Honda Civic, auto. We were heading down the road at about 60kmh when he rammed his foot on the brake.

The car skidded sideways and we all looked bug eyed!

He'd 'gone for the clutch' in an 'automatic' muscle memory moment...

It's like when old people 'go for the brake' when the car is lurching forward towards the crowded resturant and as it keeps accellerating they just 'press the brake harder'...

 

[dudebroseph]

My entry level honda civic '11 was manual, felt like a combo of Steve McQueen and Dom Torettto driving that shit

 

[ZeroK]

 

[wiggins]

Nice. Did u ever learn the console mounted shifter?

I never drove one but I saw one used when a passenger on a Citroen once. It looked interesting.

The Australian army is auctioning off its Unimog 4x4 trucks at present. I'm very tempted. They have huge ground clearance plus a fascinating gear box with low low gear options, like crazy low plus a concept called 'pre select' where you put the gear shift into the next gear you want and when the time comes to change you just press the clutch in and out. They have 8 forward and 8 reverse gears and the clearance is so high because the axles are off centre and above the wheel. They are connected to the wheel via chains.

 

[wiggins]

View attachment 873414

Rolls good.

That's what I look for when after a car. An ability to roll...

 

[hedgerow]

i preferred driving a 5 speed manual over an automatic 3 speed because of the overdrive for highway driving

i preferred an automatic once 4, 5 and more speeds arrived...much easier especially in traffic and the revs stay down on the highway

 

[The anarchist]

Nice. Did u ever learn the console mounted shifter?

Yes I did, it was easy after learning the three on the tree which was harder to learn imo 👍😉
Plus I couldn't afford a car with a automatic transmission back then, they were way more expensive

 

[45cal1911]

All my cars had manual transmissions and i learned to drive in manual. To tell you the truth i don’t think i'm capable to drive an automatic one. The couple of times i experienced i felt strange and never repeated it again.

Perhaps, everyone should learn how to drive a manual transmission that includes a real clutch.

 

[Str8shooter]

Perhaps, everyone should learn how to drive a manual transmission that includes a real clutch.

Except schools don't even teach kids to read or write cursive (script) any more. And driver's ed class in HS is basically extinct. They tell me it's a kinder, gentler world these days. I think they meant to say more ignorant and lazier, but then again what do I know?