Stick shift or automatic? What's your preference?

S

SLS

Well-known member
I guess I'm a little old school, but I like driving a manual transmission. I feel like I have more control over the up-shifting and down-shifting etc.
 
 
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My first car was a manual Nissan maxima. I loved that car. Now I’m older and just have a 10 speed auto Honda accord. Nothing is better than driving a manual car on state route 78. Has to be the best driving road in Ohio
 
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I like driving a stick shift, but few vehicles have them anymore, so I'm resigned to having automatics for the most part.

When my younger son turned 16, he really wanted a stick shift. Took us a few months to find something reasonable and available that wasn't completely bastardized (since the models he was looking at are usually heavily modified), but we got him a "hot hatch" - a Mazda Speed3

I reminded him when he goes away to college (2023), the car isn't going with him (at least freshman year), so yeah, I was kind of buying myself a little midlife crisis car indirectly ;)
 
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Been driving 48 years, and less then 10 of them have been automatics. It's been almost 15 years since I've owned an automatic. I can't remember where I read that only around 3% of vehicles sold in the US are manuals, and none of them are trucks. In my ute I was into motorcycles so more manual transmissions. Wife is probably closer to 50/50 over the years mainly due to driving company cars in her corporate days. She prefers a manual transmission as well. Not sure why people have problems with a stick shift, if you have two feet and the ability to put one foot in front of the other and walk, you can shift. Perhaps we have too many Beta males that can't start going uphill with a stick shift.:unsure:
 
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oskar said:
Not sure why people have problems with a stick shift, if you have two feet and the ability to put one foot in front of the other and walk, you can shift. Perhaps we have too many Beta males that can't start going uphill with a stick shift.:unsure:
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Not everyone is born with coordinated independence right away. For some of us, it takes time to master.

Buddy of mine tried to teach me on his Mustang after HS graduation, and I couldn't do it. 25 years later, my wife and I needed a second car, and the absolute best deal was a manual Escort. She said she'd teach me. Took 3 hours of me driving laps around our neighborhood before I could do it right. The took a beating that day, lol.

My preference is that which requires the least effort, which is automatic. But it's nice to know I can drive a stick now whenever I have to. And we taught both of our sons to use a stick right after they got their license, and they like doing so.
 
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I was poking fun at myself as much as anyone else. My first stick took more hours of punishment than your Escort did. It just feels strange for two reasons. First RPM's, and control over that, and secondly not having anything for my left foot to do. I guess I can count to 15 while I'm driving now.
 
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I’m an automatic guy. My dad made sure we knew how to drive a stick and myself and twin brothers first car was a ford tempo stick. My brother loved driving a stick I hated it. Lots of stop signs in our area. I bought my first car (with my own money) at 19 and bought an automatic. Can still drive a stick 21 years later.
 
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The first car that I drove was my mom's 1949 Chrysler New Yorker with a 323 cu. in.straight 8 engine and a fluid drive transmission. To be honest I don't really understand how the fluid drive works, but I remember not having to use the clutch much. I looked up the specs and it guzzled about 12 mpg and I remember paying about a quarter a gallon for gas. Rated at 0-60 in about 22 seconds.
 
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Much prefer stick though have had adventures with ankle and arm injuries. And then there's the added motion of coffee, shift, shift, shift, coffee, when driving city streets.
 
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eastisbest said:
Much prefer stick though have had adventures with ankle and arm injuries. And then there's the added motion of coffee, shift, shift, shift, coffee, when driving city streets.
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Wait - you’re drinking coffee with all that????

i only used the Escort to go to work, mostly freeway driving. When they shut down SR 315 for the rebuild a few decades ago, and I had to navigate downtown Cbus during rush hour and stopped traffic, my left hamstring would cramp up with all of the clutching.
 
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I do have to say, after watching my brother smoke while driving a stick, I have much repspect with thoughs that also drink coffee while driving a stick.
 
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My first cars (MGB & Mustang) were 4 speed. Since than only automatic . My wife has had many knee surgeries so can't use a clutch.

Sticks are the best for anti theft as most youngsters can't drive them...
 
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Zunardo said:
Wait - you’re drinking coffee with all that????

i only used the Escort to go to work, mostly freeway driving. When they shut down SR 315 for the rebuild a few decades ago, and I had to navigate downtown Cbus during rush hour and stopped traffic, my left hamstring would cramp up with all of the clutching.
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How else I'm going to have the energy for all that shifting? Girl I dated, smoke in one hand, arm out the window, drink in the shift hand... Talented girl.

I drove mine through San Fransico, that was fun, starting and stopping. Becomes second nature reall quick. I think locals know. See the out of state plate and stay back a bit at the lights in case you roll back.
 
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Tom.OH said:
My first cars (MGB & Mustang) were 4 speed. Since than only automatic . My wife has had many knee surgeries so can't use a clutch.

Sticks are the best for anti theft as most youngsters can't drive them...
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I wouldn't bet any sudden need for transportation on that, lol. They don't need to drive them WELL. Manuals being rare and with little security features (being older) might make them good for chop shop resale.
 
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I remember guys shifting their stick shifts without using the clutch. At the right RPMs you could upshift, I think, around 4000 and downshift at around 2000. Throw it into neutral as you approach a stop. Pretty stupid thing to do.
 
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SLS said:
I remember guys shifting their stick shifts without using the clutch. At the right RPMs you could upshift, I think, around 4000 and downshift at around 2000. Throw it into neutral as you approach a stop. Pretty stupid thing to do.
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A college roommate and I took his 4-speed 1964 Comet from Daytona Beach to Orlando (about 60 miles) to a drag strip. He tore out the clutch racing. He drove us back by using the starter to get us going and shifting without the clutch. It was easy on the interstate but there were a lot of red lights getting to and from the interstate. You had to turn off the ignition at every stop and then use the starter with the car in gear to get going.
 
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car fail GIF
 
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After the 49 Chrysler was retired, my mom had a pink, black and white 1955 Dodge with the shifter on the dashboard next to the steering wheel. not as much fun to drive a stick shift.
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Stirred not Shaken said:
Purpose of a car is to get from point A to point B. Nothing else, can drive either but automatic serves the purpose, why mess with shifting when you don't have to.
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Some people, including me, enjoy shifting. It used to be that standard transmissions delivered better gas mileage when driven correctly, but that varies today by model of car,with much more advanced automatic transmissions being available. The base price of most standard shift cars is usually significantly cheaper than an automatic. So to each his own.
 
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We have three cars: 2005 Mini Cooper S convertible, 2019 Jeep Compass and a 1974 standard Beetle. All of them are sticks. One of my proudest moments as a driver was driving my 1978 Rabbit from a parking garage downtown, all the way home (12 miles) with a broken clutch cable. I only had to turn off the ignition and restart once on the way home, otherwise I just timed all of the lights. I am sure the initial start-up and the one restart was a little hard on my starter motor but it helped that both times I was heading slightly down hill.

For the uninitiated, you can shift up without using the clutch if you just let up a bit on the accelerator and push it into the next gear fast and hard. You cannot, however, down shift without the clutch.

Oh, and my Wife and kids all drive a manual as well as I do.

When my son was in Germany a few years ago, he and his friends were shocked to find all of the cars at the rental were sticks. He thanked me for having taught him how to drive a stick as he was the only one of the four who could. I was very jealous, of course, hearing him describe driving on the autobahn.
 
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You can downshift without a clutch. It's just harder than upshifting and takes more throttle control. You have to rev it more and catch it at the right time as the revs are coming down.
 
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