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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By the way, a stick is the best anti-theft devise you can have right now. SNL did a sketch on a professional car thief sent to steal a Lambo, only to find that it was a manual and he did not know how to drive it.

The down side? I had my Mini at the local Mini store for a recall fix. I was told the car was ready and was waiting in their waiting area. After 20 minutes I went to the counter to find out what the hold up was and the girl at the counter called up to the service bays. I hear her say "you've got to be kidding me" and slammed the phone down, turned to me and said she would be right back and then reappeared with my Mini five minutes later. When I asked her about the delay, she said that "none of the "kids" in the service department can drive a stick". Cracked me up.
 
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I will always remember my dad had a suburban with 350 cubic inch engine with a four barrel and it was standard after more than several years and a lot of miles he went to the dealership and told them he wanted the same thing only new and in a different color. They told him if he wanted a suburban new somethings would have to be different no 350 V8 only 307 available and only automatic. So after driving only standards from the time he was 14 until 1989 he made the change.
 
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Any backyard mechanics ever remove an automatic and install a manual transmission?

In 1976, a co-worker my age bought a '67 Camaro and drove it to work to show off. It was an automatic with the shifter on the steering column, Said he wanted to make it sportier and put in a manual with a floor shifter. He brought it back to show us the result. I was impressed, but the column looked funny with the hole still there.
 
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When working on convincing me to buy him a manual car, one of his arguments was "You'll never have to worry about me texting and driving, Dad" :ROFLMAO: I'm sure he'd figure out some way to do it if he really wanted to, but I think he's pretty good about it.

Right now, he's whining about the fact that it only takes 93 octane gas, which is upwards of $5 a gallon now - I remind him that he knew what he was getting into when he found this car online.
 
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soccerdad72 said:
When working on convincing me to buy him a manual car, one of his arguments was "You'll never have to worry about me texting and driving, Dad" :ROFLMAO: I'm sure he'd figure out some way to do it if he really wanted to, but I think he's pretty good about it.

Right now, he's whining about the fact that it only takes 93 octane gas, which is upwards of $5 a gallon now - I remind him that he knew what he was getting into when he found this car online.
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Your kid is smooth, lol. Have him get in touch with eastisbest for tips on how to multi-task.

What did you get him, a foreign sports car? Kudos to him. Did I say he was smooth? ?
 
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Zunardo said:
Your kid is smooth, lol. Have him get in touch with eastisbest for tips on how to multi-task.

What did you get him, a foreign sports car? Kudos to him. Did I say he was smooth? ?
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2012 Mazda Speed3 - found it in our town on Facebook marketplace. Guy who owned it did a ton of modifications to it, but all done very well. My wife was not thrilled with the exhaust modification, however - the thing is loud as hell when he cold starts it in the morning. :oops:
 
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soccerdad72 said:
2012 Mazda Speed3 - found it in our town on Facebook marketplace. Guy who owned it did a ton of modifications to it, but all done very well. My wife was not thrilled with the exhaust modification, however - the thing is loud as hell when he cold starts it in the morning. :oops:
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Sounds like a hooptie. I've kept my Mini stock and I am trying to get my 74 Bug back to stock.
 
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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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I have a few of each. In my over the road tractor (International 9200I) with an Eaton 10 speed transmission, I use the clutch to put it in gear and from there on it's much easier to shift without the clutch. Some guys learn to double clutch to help synchronize their shifts when downshifting. The more gears you have the easier it is to shift without the clutch.

My favorite field tractor has what is called a Funk transmission, 18 forward and 9 reverse gears. You have to manually shift but it's as simple as just pushing the gear shift sideways for each shift change, no clutch needed. Pushing it to the left speeds the tractor up, pushing it to the right slows it down. One neat thing about the Funk transmission is it will automatically down shift as you slow down from 18th gear down to 12th gear all electronically controlled.

The down side of the Funk transmission, 30 -50 k to rebuild.
 
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Can remember stopping on steep hills in Southwestern Pennsylvania while driving my 64 Karmann Ghia with a robust 1200cc 40 hp engine. On those challenging incline, instead of one foot on the brake and the other on the clutch while stopped, it would be one foot on the clutch, one foot on the accelerator, and right hand operating the emergency brake. Had to do it that way so you could get enough rpm out of the engine while letting the clutch out. As soon as you started to feel the car try to pull, you would release the emergency brake and go.
 
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NothingButTheTruth said:
Can remember stopping on steep hills in Southwestern Pennsylvania while driving my 64 Karmann Ghia with a robust 1200cc 40 hp engine. On those challenging incline, instead of one foot on the brake and the other on the clutch while stopped, it would be one foot on the clutch, one foot on the accelerator, and right hand operating the emergency brake. Had to do it that way so you could get enough rpm out of the engine while letting the clutch out. As soon as you started to feel the car try to pull, you would release the emergency brake and go.
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I'm jealous. This K64 KG is a 1320cc.

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All I had was a 65 Corvair.
 
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My dad taught me in his mid life crisis car, a Ravenna Green Porsche 914.

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5 speed with the smallest shift box I ever drove, many a time I went from 1st to 4th and looked like the biggest jack ash. Also R was upper left, everything else I drove standard has R far right.
 
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I don't think I've ever driven a manual with the R on the right. Camaro and Chevelle with a Muncie 4 speed were upper left. Also old Mustangs, although a couple years they were lower left.
 
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My GM Sonoma is upper right.

Had not driven it in about a month and for several days it would not start. Thought I would have to clean the carb before remembering I needed to pump the accelerator once before trying to start it. lol Starts every time, now. o_O
 
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