This brings to mind the one truly downside of automatic transmissions: left foot braking. You can’t do that with a stick shift, and I wonder just how many of those “stuck throttles” were actually the right foot continuing to push down the accelerator in a panic situation while the left foot was trying to apply the brakes.
In the mid sixties, GM had a problem with engine mounts failing. If that happened the engine would rotate and lock the throttle in the full-open position. This caused several accidents and a forced recall. The GM “fix” which a friend’s Pontiac went through, was to attach small steel cables between the engine and the frame so that when the mounts gave away the engine would only rotate a little bit, and not lock the throttle in the open position.
It’s not known whether GM actually made better engine mounts as a retrofit.
Whitey, you may be too young to remember this episode.
When I was in graduate school in 1963 I bought a 1954 Buick from my dad to replace my 1947 $75 Pontiac. The Buick had a manual transmission. The clutch needed to be adjusted to maintain the free play at the top of the pedal travel, and I had no place to work on the car. I took the car to the Buick dealer. The immediately went up on a rack and I saw the technician go to work. About 5 minute later, the car was driven outside. I sat in the waiting area for over half an hour. I finally went up to the cashier and asked if I could pay my bill and be on my way. “We have a problem”, she responded. “We don’t know how much we are supposed to charge for a clutch adjustment”. The cashier and the service manager were pouring over books. Finally the owner came along and asked what the were doing. When the told him about the problem, he responded, “Charge the customer a dollar and send him on his way”. Even at that time, I guess manual transmissions were rare on Buicks.
In my case I’m too “old” to remember it.
Please learn to drive the stick if for no other reason than to not be a girl who can’t drive a stick!
At the risk of offending, most “girls” will tell you they can’t. Most “boys” will tell you they can when they can’t and ruin your car.
I love driving stick-shifts, except in stop-and-go traffic. To do it well, there are only a few requirements, I think: a little coordination with your feet, the ability to listen to your car (aka “When To Shift”), and the confidence to give it a shot and learn a new skill. It’s not for everyone, though, especially if one gets distracted while driving or focuses their attention on anything much other than the road and how their car is responding. Eventually this will all become second nature, but with new, quiet cars you may not notice when the car’s screaming down the highway at 75mph in 3rd gear…
Tom & Ray have a good overview and tips on driving stick: http://www.cartalk.com/content/stick-shift/index.html
Reasons I think manual transmissions are better than automatics:
- better gas mileage (by shifting up at lower RPMs, being able to “nurse” the car up a hill instead of it downshifting on you all the time, and to pass someone on the highway without downshifting)
- better acceleration (when you REALLY want to take off, you can rev the engine more in each gear to get the most power out of it)
- better in snow and ice (no surprise shifts to make the tires spin, easier to control your momentum via gear selection)
- better for towing trailers/hauling large loads (less shifting required since you’ll know what gears are required up hills - automatics usually need transmission oil coolers for this because they shift too much when under load)
- gives me something to think about (there’s always a way to improve one’s driving skills)
- okay, sure, it can be fun!
All that being said, there are a few pit-falls that automatic drivers don’t need to usually worry about. Learn about these as you go along and figure out how you’ll deal with them:
- learn how the engine, clutch, and transmission work together so you understand what happens when you push in the clutch pedal and change gears
- the dreaded hill stop (being able to get the car moving from a dead stop without it rolling down hill on you)
- downshifting when coming to a stop (unless you need to stop really fast or on snow/ice, there’s no need to downshift into a lower gear to come to a stop. Wear out your brakes instead of the clutch since they’re cheaper to replace)
- holding in the clutch pedal when stopped (leaving the car in 1st gear while holding down the clutch pedal when stopped will wear out a clutch bearing; once you’re stopped, leave it in neutral with only the brake pedal pressed until it’s time to go again)
- riding the clutch (another pet peeve of mine: releasing the clutch pedal too slowly, making the clutch plate slip on the transmission and wearing it out. Learn how to release the clutch smoothly yet quickly in combination with the gas pedal, which is why 1st gear is so hard - there’s no vehicle momentum to help you)
I hope all this is helpful. There are a bunch of other details that are best left for when you learn from a competent driver. And remember, like when canoeing with your partner, it can start to get too touchy and emotional if things aren’t going well. The most qualified teacher is usually a good, patient friend (when you’re not using their car to learn on, at least!) Good luck!
–Travis, SW Oregon
you can do it. guess what… If you break it, then he will buy you something better. Try it, you might like it…
Well, I have been driving for 61 years. I have driven farm tractors, over the road tractors, cars with 4 cylinder engines with manual and automatic, V6s and V8s with automatics, Pickups with either, and lawn tractors. I have been driving automatics since my new Buick in 1953. I will not buy any car with a manual transmission, and I use my left foot for the brakes. I don’t care if it does cost me 1 mpg or if the manual might last a few miles longer. I have never had a fatal crash yet. Nor have I ever rolled back and hit another vehicle while stopped on a hill. I have never went to sleep and hit anyone because I wasn’t kept alert by changing gears. And it is a heck of a lot easier to drink coffee, eat your lunch, or use your Blackberry with an auto transmission.
Dan Matthews (played by Broderick Crawford) of the California Highway Patrol and I would disagree with you. I had a 1954 Buick with a manual transmission and the California Highway Patrol used a fleet of 1955 Buick Century models with manual transmissions. The Highway Patrol television show was realistic in that the original airing of this series used the manual transmission 1955 Buicks. These manual shift Buicks were good for keeping your left leg in shape. It almost took both feet to depress the clutch it was so stiff. Nobody ever borrowed my Buick more than once. As far as the safety of the manual transmission over the automatic, I quote those famous words of Broderick Crawford at the end of each show: “SEE HIGHWAY PATROL IN ACTION AGAIN NEXT WEEK. UNTIL THEN, REMEMBER, IT’S NOT THE CAR THAT KILLS, IT’S THE DRIVER”.
Don’t forget the torque converter, the automatic transmission equivalent of the clutch. On some autos they go before the transmission goes, on others they last forever, but they are generally pricier than a clutch, as well.
Oh, and for a new manual transmission user, particularly in a hilly area, a clutch is most definitely a wear item.
That crap bugs me so much. The damn Corvette has a highway gear, why can’t a Miata, which is arguably more likely to be used as a commuter car?
That 1 mpg difference is almost exclusively in new cars, since 04 or 05 or so. It used to be bigger, sometimes much bigger (Chrysler was a serious offender). Now some autos are actually BETTER on the EPA test than the manual (IIRC, some BMWs are like that).
The thing is, if you know what you’re doing, beating that fuel economy is trivial, even in an auto, and it’s by far easier in a manual.
Make a small (really small, miatas aren’t rated for towing) trailer. That plus having the top down let you carry most things in a miata that you could in a minivan (well, except more than 2 people). Then get two miatas.
When I was in high school, I talked my bus driver into doing a donut in the parking lot. (We were waiting for someone and were the last bus to leave, parking lot was covered in ice.)
It was awesome.
Well said. You the man ! I’m with you !
I remember highway patrol, and from what I can remember, old Dan (Brodrick) would go through more doors than transmissions…what a door slammer ! Obviously the tax payer (producer) is replacing his cruiser every year due to body damage.
Hi 31,
I highly recommend you stay away from the stick shift if you’ve never learned to
drive a stick shift. When we get older, it’s harder to change habits and you are
apparently used to driving automatics. If the car will be second car, then maybe he
can buy it, as long as you have a car you can use…
Just my personal advice based on personal experience. Good luck.
Don’t do it! Unless the car has a feature to prevent rollback. Getting out of first on a hill is a nightmare!
It isn’t a nightmare. It is quite easy to use the parking brake to do the same thing.
You are making a mountain out of a mole hill.