Talk to common people who have to to drive for a living and you’d be hard pressed to find to find one that didn’t feel an auto makes them more productive and safe.
Every truck driver I have ever talked to who drives a company-owned automatic wanted his old manual truck back. Every owner-operator I know owns a manual truck.
I agree that long haul and high torque demands of tractor trailer rigs have lent themselves traditionally to manual. But you look at just one segment… I’m looking at city, long haul and school bus drivers, taxi cab, mail delivery, routine sales person, emergency,police etc. When grading or long term road work, I too use and prefer manual transmission tractors. Otherwise, regardless of preference, the owner of the business I work for prefers the safety, convenience and productivity of autos, in tractors, trucks and delivery vehicles. The key to your statement is owner/operated where one and only one driver will be responsible for his/her rig. Huge difference in fleet owned where owner is concerned with fleets of trucks often operated by inconsiderate/incompetent drivers of someone else problems. Auto, as you implies, wins and fleet owners concerned with the bottom line know it. You made my point well.
Many people experienced the same frustration when the Ford Model T was phased out. The Model T had three pedals on its floorboard. The right pedal was the brake. The left pedal was the transmission control. When the pedal was all the way down, the Model T was in low. When the pedal was released, the Model T was in high. When the left pedal was pushed halfway down, the Model T was in neutral. To go into reverse, one held the left pedal halfway down and stepped on the middle pedal. The throttle control was on the steering column. TO give the driver of the Model T something else to do, the spark advance was also on the steering column–there was no automatic spark advance.
After gearshift cars came along, some people had trouble adapting to the change. In fact, some states issued two driver’s licenses–one for driving a Model T and one for driving cars with a gearshift. Ultimately, Henry Ford phased out the Model T and brought out the Model A with a gearshift and the clutch, brake, and accelerator arrangement on the floor. However, many people considered the Model T arrangement better than the manual transmission arrangement on “modern” cars.
I took some taxis while in England and was surprised to discover that the London Taxi, a specialized vehicle (like the Checker cab) had automatic. Older models always had 4 cylinder diesel engines and manual 4 or 5 on the floor transmissions.
City busses and school busses mostly have automatics now too, as has a lot of construction and farm equipment.
“An added benefit of a stick shift does not express itself until around the 100,000 mile mark. That’s when the automatic used in FWD cars starts failing”.
That’s interesting. I had a 1965 Rambler Classic 550. It was a rear wheel drive car. A snap ring broke in the manual transmission and I had to have the transmission rebuilt at 60,000 miles. The mechanic who rebuilt the transmission and did an excellent job, advised me to buy an automatic in my next car as the automatic transmissions at that time were more reliable. Apparently, the 3 speed column shift manual transmisisons had been designed in the 1930’s with engines which didn’t produce as much torque.
I imagine putting automatics in city buses and school buses here in the U.S. cuts down on training costs. Now just about anyone can get a job driving your kids to school. I don’t know about you, but knowing that isn’t helping me sleep at night.
I would suggest that before you buy a newer subaru, you guys buy a cheap stick shift car for you to learn on. That way, if you don’t like it, you can turn around and resell it without losing much money. Check Craigslist.
In the late 1940’s and early 1950’s, Dodge offered as an option on its step van trucks the fluid coupling (fluid drive) and the “lift and clunk” semi-automatic transmission. I suppose the thought was that this made it easier for in-city delivery drivers. I know that the Dodge pick-up trucks of this era offered the fluid coupling, but I don’t think that the “lift and clunk” semi-automatic transmission was offered.
I do remember seeing a GMC tractor for a tractor trailer rig in a garage having its automatic transmission repaired back in the late 1950’s. A top notch transmission mechanic from the local Pontiac dealer would moonlight at this garage in the evenings repairing transmissions and one customer had this over the road GMC tractor.
I hear where your coming from but while I was coaching and driving my teams around in a school bus, from my very narrow I’ll admit perspective, the kids were much safer with me and an automatic. The public was much safer at two in the morning while I was on patrol in a cruiser as well as during pursuits. Rushing injured Air Force personel from a planes on flight lines to nearby hospitals in ambulances…all autos, I was always thankful. This was in spite of owning two SAAB manuals, one of which I ice raced and loved the manual control provided for that purpose. I’m not anti manual; I’m pro auto for most applications, other ones being off road, plowing etc… I just can’t think of a working vehicle I’ve used I didn’t prefer an auto. During all this experience, I’ve had just one accident (incident)…I regretfully killed a cat while on pursuit in a cruiser !
The auto rules for me !
I don’t mean to keep beating a dead horse, but something just occurred to me.
When you think about the problem with the sticking Toyota throttles, it demonstrates how many automatic drivers don’t know how to regain control of their cars if their throttles stick. This should be basic automotive knowledge required to get a license, but evidently, there are [i]a lot[/i] of automatic drivers who don’t know how to react in an emergency situation like this.
However, if these people were driving cars with manual transmissions, they would be practiced at shifting in and out of gear while in motion, and they would instinctively press the clutch, disengaging the engine.
I wonder how many lives would have been saved if there was a question on the written driving test regarding reacting to a stuck throttle. I also wonder how many lives would have been saved if these people had been driving manuals instead of automatics.
It seems like after reading all the posts, there is plenty of fodder to make your decision here. The only thing I didn’t see is how you will learn to drive the stick shift. Based on experience, I might share that if you can find someone other than your spouse to teach you, that would be the best decision you’ll ever make. Spouses are great for many things, in my humble opinion, teaching you to drive a stick shift is not one of them, nor teaching you to down hill ski, or going on a canoe trip for the first time and trying to get the rowing motion fluid, or (fill in the blanks yourself).
The company I work for has almost every type of truck. Road construction, and they do have everything from OshKosh to Mack to International to Ford etc… . For the most part, the trucks are manual, with about 1/3 being automatic. And until you get a REGULAR ASSIGNMENT, you are subject to whatever truck the boss wants to see you in. I think this is to see IF YOU REALLY KNOW HOW TO DRIVE. I mean we have almost every shift pattern ever made in the fleet, 2 stick Macks, 2 stick Fords, 13 speeds, 9 speeds, 7 speeds, etc… . I have survived and earned an assignment, but I also train some of your new people( i hate telling the boss “this person needs an automatic”- which means why did you hire them?).
My 33 year old daughter was taught, at 16, by my dad on the used Ranger we picked up at the GSA motor pool auction. We never even wondered once about the manual until she got in the first time. " Dad, it’s a stick shift !
, whatdo I do now ?! "
"well I guess you’ll just start today learning.
A couple years later she rolled it in southwestern New Mexico icy shade on morning roads.
We called it a total and got a cheapo Taurus.
– She was actually dejected that this next car was NOT a manual ! –
Today her & husband have both, a Jeep and a Civic hybrid. Jumping from one to the other is effortless and not an issue.
I wonder how many lives would have been saved if there was a question on the written driving test regarding reacting to a stuck throttle. I also wonder how many lives would have been saved if these people had been driving manuals instead of automatics.
That’s a great point…let me change my theory about autos and say, they should be used in any car but a Toyota. But you are absolutely right. When, driving a manual tractor it’s second nature with the throttle always on working rpm, to control forward motion with the clutch first, same with manual operators in cars.
Now if my wife will let me trade her auto RAV for a manual Tacoma…just a thought.
Thank you for this comment. My husband completely agrees with that statement.
Actually, if you look at my original post, I never said this was something my husband was pushing on me, just something he is interested in. Those of you personally attacking him in your replies need not reply further. Thanks anyway, but those comments are not helpful and completely unfounded.
[sarcasm] I guess you are right. In all of automotive history, no non-Toyota has ever had a stuck throttle. [/sarcasm]
“I imagine putting automatics in city buses and school buses here in the U.S. cuts down on training costs”.
Many city buses that were on the streets right after World War II had automatic transmissions. The transmission was some sort of two speed unit and the transmission control had only three positions: Forward, Neutral, Reverse. Back in 1947 most cars were manual transmissions so I am certain that most drivers could operate a manual transmission. My guess is that these automatic transmissions in city buses probably cut maintenance costs as there was no clutch to wear out.
If you can walk and chew gum at the same time, you can learn to drive a stick shift. That said, however, today’s automatics are generally a much better choice than a stick for everyday driving. They are more fuel efficient, they are easier to drive in traffic, and a FWD car with an automatic is practically as good as a 4X4 in snow up to about 8 inches. Nowadays, stick shift is more a novelty than anything else, heavy trucks excepted, and about the only reason for getting one is the “fun” factor.
“I am a female and I love standard shift-but only on a small sporty type vehicle”.
I’ve thought about buying myself a Mazda Miata and it would have to be a stick shift. The main reason that I don’t buy one is that my wife would enjoy driving a Miata so much that I wouldn’t get to drive it myself. Mrs. Triedaq would drive the Miata and I would still be stuck driving the minivan.