Manual transmissions?

[randomness]

[Poll #1521419]

Comments

[rmd.livejournal.com]

i used to have a strong preference for vehicles with manual transmissions. this is fading, and i probably won't explicitly seek one out on the next car i buy.

[allyphoe.livejournal.com]

That was me 10 years ago. My current vehicle is an automatic (I honestly don't remember if the one before was), so I'm out of practice with a stick shift. Lack of practice = lack of confidence and lack of preference.

Used to be, you could get a decent car with a manual transmission cheaper than an automatic. Now, you can get the one car that has neither an automatic transmission nor air conditioning that the dealer keeps on the lot for bait-and-switch purposes. I think it's different with trucks, but I'm not a truck purchaser.

[holmes-iv.livejournal.com]

I'm gonna guess that +5 is "manual better than automatic", and -5 is "manual worse than automatic", but I think you have a copy-paste issue. :-)

I hate stick

[cthulhia]

it requires all 4 limbs.

also, every time I've tried to learn manual, it's involved an older male relative screaming at me.

I am clinically incapable of shifting into 3rd gear if 5th is an option, or 2nd gear, if 4th is an option.

HATE.

but, if I had to drive, the first hour would be a lot of stalling and jolting around, but, if I was the only person available to drive stick, I'm guessing there wouldn't be a lot of other people anywhere nearby.

[muffyjo]

It depends on where I'm driving to!

[apintrix.livejournal.com]

I learned on a stick shift, but I always stalled it at this one intersection and it shattered my confidence, I had to take the road test in the automatic minivan. And that's just demoralizing to a teen, taking the road test in the minivan. (I failed the parallel park... had to take the test twice.)

But I think that that car was obnoxious, because I've since driven N's car on multiple occasions and I think I only stalled it once.

Still, I bet if you got me in a stick shift driving through my hometown and I got to that stoplight... I would still stall!

*clings to her automatic*

[chrisber.livejournal.com]

On the hybrid - manual transmission divide, I came down on the hybrid side. I used to have a strong preference for manual transmissions.

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think that's what I got. I love it anyway.

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

Are/were you in greater Boston? Was the intersection in Belmont, near the railroad bridge, involving a hill start?

That intersection is why my mother doesn't drive stick shift.

[hammercock.livejournal.com]

5 is "I prefer driving a vehicle equipped with manual transmission, all else being equal", 0 is "I don't care either way" and 5 is "I prefer driving a vehicle equipped with manual transmission, all else being equal"

I need to know which one you meant to be "I prefer driving a vehicle equipped with automatic transmission" before answering. :-}

[digitalemur.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm waiting until that's resolved, then I'll let loose on this here poll.

No wait, I get to LEAVE WORK NOW! Wow, that crept up on me fast. Yay for 9 pm.

[apintrix.livejournal.com]

ha ha ha! That sounds like a truly evil stick shift spot!

No, I grew up in Rockland County, NY, and the intersection in question is utterly level and non-threatening; it's pure psychology. But actually, my dad taught my mom to drive a manual when they were living in Boston (JP), and she's been annoyed about it ever since. :)

[digitalemur.livejournal.com]

I broke a window in our VW the first time someone tried to teach me to drive a manual on-road vehicle. Ask me the details some time, I'm not telling it here for various reasons.

[tamago.livejournal.com]

For most of the driving I do (around town, at moderate speeds, lots of starts and stops) I prefer automatic transmission, but for long drives, rough terrain or lots of curves, I miss the control of having a manual transmission.

[donnad.livejournal.com]

When I was learning to drive I learned to drive stick, I hated it then so never kept up with it. Now I can't because my wrists can't take the repetitive motion required and it hurts.
But if I had to I could. I just choose not to.

And yeah that question with the +5/-5 is confusing...

[julianyap.livejournal.com]

As others have noted, the +5 to -5 scale description is unclear

[cubes.livejournal.com]

I didn't answer the manual vs. automatic not only because I couldn't figure out which end was which, but also because it depends entirely on the vehicle and traffic conditions. Sports car on open highway or motorcycle on deserted twisties? Manual all the way! Toting the kids around town at rush hour? Droning along the interstate with 1948973546 other drivers? That's why God invented the automatic transmission (and cruise control, in the latter case).

ETA: Actually a Ferrari with the F1 transmission beats 'em all, but we won't have another one of those in the garage again for a while. ;-)

[agrimony.livejournal.com]

I answered +3 on the -5 to +5 one, meaning that I have a more than mild preference for driving stick when all things are equal. :)

My current car is automatic. My last was manual. I miss the stick shift a lot. Though, I don't miss it when my knee is annoyed. Part of why the switch away - a) it's the car I could afford, and b) I can get a remote car starter installed without having to bypass a clutch. :)

[eac.livejournal.com]

FWIW, my mother does drive a manual, and every car in every household I've ever lived in has been automatic, so I just haven't had the opportunity to learn. I did drive a manual across country with a friend once in 1994, and I have to say it wasn't much fun.

[stolen-tea.livejournal.com]

Hah! I broke the rear window of our automatic minivan the first time I left my house to take the driving test!

[woodwindy.livejournal.com]

Neal used to strongly prefer manual, so I made him take me out and show me how to make his car move just in case we ever had an emergency that required such a thing. That was a while back, so I suspect I could probably fumble my way a few blocks down the road to a hospital or some such if need be -- I certainly wouldn't want to tackle a major distance or any highway driving, though.

Both our cars are now automatic, partly because we do wind up switching every once in a while and partly because the used Hondas with automatic were more tempting than those with manual when he last needed a vehicle. :)

[intuition-ist.livejournal.com]

afaict, manual is more complicated, more error-prone, gives me control over parts of driving i don't want control over, and causes cars to have more parts to break randomly and cost money.

i understand why some people want to drive stick, but all i need is the basic skills so that if I *must* use a vehicle that has a manual transmission, i am able to.

also-- the most important lesson to learn when driving stick is: the clutch is not binary.

[hawver.livejournal.com]

It's a scientific fact that chicks dig dudes who can drive a stick, and I'm not even trying to make some kind of innuendo here. I know it's scientific because I asked a bunch of girls a few years ago and they all agreed. Science!

[digitalemur.livejournal.com]

Yes, but do chicks dick CHICKS who can drive a stick?

[digitalemur.livejournal.com]

OMG Freudian slip FTW! I'm not going to edit that, it's too funny as it is.