# "standard" or "manual"? **URL:** \ **Category:** General Discussion\ **Created:** [November 12, 2009, 11:50pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/standard-or-manual/39417 "2009-11-12T23:50:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![tlfmd1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ac8455/32.png) [@tlfmd1](https://community.cartalk.com/u/tlfmd1)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 11:50pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/standard-or-manual/39417/1 "2009-11-12T23:50:03Z")
Isn’t it time that the designation “standard” meaning “manual” or “stick” transmission be retired? What cars have the standard tranny as a manual, what percentage? What cars charge extra for a manual? ---
**Author:** ![waterboy](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/waterboy/32/764_2.png) [@waterboy](https://community.cartalk.com/u/waterboy)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 11:54pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/standard-or-manual/39417/2 "2009-11-12T23:54:25Z")
Typically a manual transmission is a lower priced car, Gotta carry on to the future while living with the terminology of the past, Stick shift is no longer standard but called standard, deal with it in a test drive if you have doubts. ---
**Author:** ![B.L.E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/848f3c/32.png) [@B.L.E](https://community.cartalk.com/u/B.L.E)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 4:07am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/standard-or-manual/39417/3 "2009-11-13T04:07:33Z")
Good luck getting the world to change old speech habits. Maybe you can also get everyone to start calling them five ratio transmissions instead of five speed transmissions. I can drive my car an infinite number of different speeds even though it is a “5-speed”. ---
**Author:** ![Wha-Who](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9f8e36/32.png) [@Wha-Who](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Wha-Who)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 4:55am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/standard-or-manual/39417/4 "2009-11-13T04:55:46Z")
I told the nice lady salesperson; when you get a Caddy CTS with a standard trans with a 6 speed, I want to drive one. I’m still waiting. It is an option delete and saves around a grand. ---
**Author:** ![GSN\_fan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85e7bf/32.png) [@GSN\_fan](https://community.cartalk.com/u/GSN_fan)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 5:36am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/standard-or-manual/39417/5 "2009-11-13T05:36:22Z")
Our Acura has a 5-speed. A 5-speed automatic, to be precise. Yet you probably thought that it was a stick when I said 5-speed… ---
**Author:** ![B.L.E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/848f3c/32.png) [@B.L.E](https://community.cartalk.com/u/B.L.E)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 11:56am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/standard-or-manual/39417/6 "2009-11-13T11:56:20Z")
Arrrggh!!! It’s five gear ratios, not five speeds!! Rant, rave, scold, mutter, standing on soap box and shaking my fist. Humph, philistines. ---
**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/30_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 1:05pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/standard-or-manual/39417/7 "2009-11-13T13:05:21Z")
Why not just order one instead of waiting for the right combination of options to appear on the dealer’s lot? ---
**Author:** ![lion9car](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/59ef9b/32.png) [@lion9car](https://community.cartalk.com/u/lion9car)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 2:27pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/standard-or-manual/39417/8 "2009-11-13T14:27:07Z")
Some BMWs still have the manual transmission as a standard feature and the automatic transmission as an option (for around $1000 or so, if I remember correctly). ---
**Author:** ![Triedaq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/65b543/32.png) [@Triedaq](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Triedaq)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 2:31pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/standard-or-manual/39417/9 "2009-11-13T14:31:44Z")
I think that “standard” should be retired. In most vehicles the standard transmission is an automatic and a manual shift isn’t even available. I remember in the 1960’s looking at a full size Oldsmobile and there was an additional charge on the sticker for the automatic transmission. I asked the salesman when was the last time they had sold a full size Oldsmobile 88 with a manual transmisison. Nobody in the agency, including personnel that had been around 10 years didn’t remember seeing a full size Oldsmobile with a manual transmission. I owned a 1954 Buick with a manual shift that I bought from my Dad during my second year of graduate school in 1963. The clutch needed to be adjusted and I didn’t have anyplace to do it, so I took it to the Buick dealer. They took the car in right away. I saw it go up on the rack, the mechanic adjust the clutch and then drive it outside. I sat in the waiting area for a good half an hour and finally went to the cashier. The cashier and the service manager were going through books. Nothing they could find listed how much the charge should be to adjust the clutch. Finally, the owner of the agency came along and they explained the problem to him. The owner of the agency said, “Charge him $1”. The last full size Buick I ever saw with a manual transmission was my brother’s 1963 LaSabre. He bought the car in 1966 at a great price–it had no power steering or brakes as well as a manual transmission. Nobody wanted a full size Buick where you had to shift gears. ---
**Author:** ![dagosa](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/dagosa/32/9837_2.png) [@dagosa](https://community.cartalk.com/u/dagosa)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 3:46pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/standard-or-manual/39417/10 "2009-11-13T15:46:02Z")
Try to find a new Honda S2000 or a Toyota Tacoma 4wd 4 cylinder w/o a manual transmission. Some places are alive and well. ---
**Author:** ![meaneyedcatz](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/meaneyedcatz/32/692_2.png) [@meaneyedcatz](https://community.cartalk.com/u/meaneyedcatz)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2009, 4:12am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/standard-or-manual/39417/11 "2009-11-14T04:12:02Z")
I have not heard it called standard in years. Everybody says manual or stick. On the other hand I don’t think it’s important enough to worry about. ---
**Author:** ![meanjoe75fan](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/meanjoe75fan/32/552_2.png) [@meanjoe75fan](https://community.cartalk.com/u/meanjoe75fan)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2009, 11:08pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/standard-or-manual/39417/12 "2009-11-15T23:08:59Z")
Just don’t put “regular” in your “standard”! (Or at least don’t tell Al Gore…) ---
**Author:** ![oldschool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e19adc/32.png) [@oldschool](https://community.cartalk.com/u/oldschool)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2009, 12:13am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/standard-or-manual/39417/13 "2009-11-16T00:13:35Z")
Maybe we have it all wrong, perhaps there was a company that made transmissions and it was called “The Standard Transmission Company” ---
**Author:** ![EllyEllis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f14d63/32.png) [@EllyEllis](https://community.cartalk.com/u/EllyEllis)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2009, 2:43am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/standard-or-manual/39417/14 "2009-11-16T02:43:58Z")
“Standard or Mahual” is a lot like the posts we had on here recently about “2 cycle or 2 stroke” engines. They are the same. ---
**Author:** ![SonofSpermcube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@SonofSpermcube](https://community.cartalk.com/u/SonofSpermcube)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2009, 5:27am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/standard-or-manual/39417/15 "2009-11-16T05:27:51Z")
I wonder what portion of people who call it “standard” are over 40. I think it’s probably almost all of them. Anyone whose awareness of cars started developing as early as the 80s is probably more used to auto than stick. This is a problem that will resolve itself. ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://community.cartalk.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2009, 5:36am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/standard-or-manual/39417/16 "2009-11-16T05:36:20Z")
I would also point out that in most of the world, manuals still are standard for most cars. In places like Europe with high fuel costs, automatics have only recently picked up a large portion of the market share and I’ll bet you that practically every base model car is still a manual transmission there. I’m also interested if any car makers have the gall to charge more for a manual yet, other than like for example the Taurus SHO where the manual option was only avaliable with a whole sporty package. I think there’s no way in heck that an automatic is ever going to be cheaper than a manual to produce, but maybe they might decide to start shifting some of the cost of engineering a manual transmission version to the increasingly small market segment they appeal to. ---
**Author:** ![SonofSpermcube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@SonofSpermcube](https://community.cartalk.com/u/SonofSpermcube)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2009, 7:09am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/standard-or-manual/39417/17 "2009-11-17T07:09:13Z")
Because I don’t think you get to order things for a test drive. ---
**Author:** ![SonofSpermcube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@SonofSpermcube](https://community.cartalk.com/u/SonofSpermcube)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2009, 7:15am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/standard-or-manual/39417/18 "2009-11-17T07:15:47Z")
Automatics are starting to get good enough that they’re edging manuals out in fuel economy (at least in the EPA test). And not just CVTs, regular autos. Check [Fueleconomy.gov](http://Fueleconomy.gov) if you don’t believe me. That said, unless the transmission has multiple modes, you’ll have no good way of switching between sluggish fuel efficient driving and faster less fuel efficient driving. You can do that easily with a manual. ---
**Author:** ![MASS-82-HOLE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@MASS-82-HOLE](https://community.cartalk.com/u/MASS-82-HOLE)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2009, 10:10am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/standard-or-manual/39417/19 "2009-11-18T10:10:26Z")
Pretty much any “real” sports car comes with a manual transmission (corvettes not included). I actually find the concept of not knowing how to drive a manual transmission a little pathetic. It’s just another example of how lazy Americans have become. ---
**Author:** ![dagosa](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/dagosa/32/9837_2.png) [@dagosa](https://community.cartalk.com/u/dagosa)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2009, 1:34pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/standard-or-manual/39417/20 "2009-11-18T13:34:44Z")
The discussion is a tougher call as we’re seeing more hybrid transmissions. Autos with manual like transmission over rides. Heck, even some of the tractors we use have transmissions that behave some what like “manual” transmissions with infinitely variable speeds, and then “automatically” adjust depending upon load for efficiency. The tractor automatically controls the throttle while you manually control the gear ratio without clutching with just one foot petal and NO levers. Shuttle shifts and auto clutches in cars and the like further blur the debate. [Next page](https://community.cartalk.com/t/standard-or-manual/39417.md?page=2)