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As someone from the UK who
As someone from the UK who now lives in the US, I can confirm that almost all cars over here are automatics. Not all but most. When I was buying a car it factored into my choice as I was concerned about being able to resell a manual when it came to that time. In the end I bought an automatic. It's not as bad as it sounds as they have come on leaps and bounds over the years. Unless I was buying a sports car then I would have no hesitation buying an automatic here. I say here as in the UK you pay a hefty premium to get the automatic, here getting a manual would make your life harder, limit your choices etc.
That's true...sadly
Most American cars are automatics these days unfortunately, and so few drivers are taught how to drive manuals when they're learning. Very different from the UK and the Continent.
I've only owned manual transmission cars (I've even had to order them specially to get the manual...sigh), but did so before I learned to ride a motorcycle. Definitely makes learning to ride a bike easier, as the clutch/shifter concept is one less thing to worry about when you're first starting out. I was grateful for my experience with cars, as some of the people in my BRC class were really having a hard time with the clutch concept.
Biggest difference I found is the whole friction zone thing...shouldn't do that in a car!
Standard all the way
The only thing I own with an auto (hydrostatic) is my tractor and that's because you constantly go from forward to backwards while operating the bucket. That and I was foolish enough to think my wife might drive it if it wasn't twin stick. Plus, I do all the work on my own vehicles and standard is much easier to service. When I ordered a new truck the dealer was astonished that I wanted the 6 speed standard, but I wouldn't have it any other way.
IMO The only cars that should have an auto transmission is a stretch limo or a hearse.
Manual transmission cars have
Manual transmission cars have almost no resell value here in the US and if you ever want to trade it in, many places won't take it at all and the ones that will will make you take a big hit on your trade-in value.
...I think you might be right
...I think you might be right on that one. Good thing I keep my vehicles almost forever. My new truck replaced the one that was 23 years old, I gave it to the wives nephew. Hope there are some exceptions to the rule though, my daughter drives a Civic Si and they are only available in standard.
Semi automatic transmission
Semi automatic transmission seems to be getting more popular over here, but the majority of people have manual.
Quote "Biggest difference I
Quote "Biggest difference I found is the whole friction zone thing...shouldn't do that in a car!"
I disagree with this statement, at least it contradicts how I was taught to drive. I have no idea what it does to the clutch but as far as driving goes, it is definitely something you should be doing in order to drive safely. Part of the UK driving test is a hill start. If you roll back an inch it's an automatic fail (if I remember correctly, it's been a while). A hill start on a manual car is exactly the same as on a bike, replacing back brake with hand brake (or emergency brake as it's called here, though quite what emergency you would use it in has never been explained to me).
Actually that name difference highlights an important difference in attitudes I think. Folks here only ever use that brake for parking. You'd better not pull up too close to a manual car on a hill here as I can guarantee they will be rolling backwards, sometimes several feet, before they get going. When I test drove a manual Audi I was completely befuddled as it had a center console that completely blocked the hand brake, and this is a European car. Obviously you are not intended to use it while driving over here, having a cup holder is more important :D
(or emergency brake as it's
(or emergency brake as it's called here, though quite what emergency you would use it in has never been explained to me). ......
To put your mind at ease on a possibility. If your car is equipped with rear drum brakes and the wheel cylinder goes out you will lose hydraulic pressure in your system. The emergency (parking) brake is mechanical entirely so this will allow you to stop (over a very long distance) in case of that hydraulic failure. Or if no drum brakes any of your hydraulics bleed down from from either a brake line or one of the caliper piston seals leak out it gives you a mechanical means to assist the ones that may still have the pressure to slow/stop you.
****Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body, but, rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting "Holy Shit....What a ride!!!"****
Fair Enough
Fair enough, Eon...it's a good point. I learned the same thing re hill starts when I first learned (here in the states, no less...)
So my point is perhaps better stated that motorcycle clutch modulation isn't really done with cars with the same frequency and in as many situations.
With bikes, it's critical for low speed manuevering, stop and go traffic, and something you're taught is a crucial part of riding, mostly because it helps with balance, something you don't need in a car. With cars, you're taught to be either be clutch in or clutch out as much as possible, reducing the time inbetween.
If you're constantly on the clutch in a car, you'll wear it something fierce, given the amount of mass you're moving. Also, said mass moves very slowly (why car torque is way high compared to bike torque), so getting off the clutch entirely isn't going to send you rocketing forward (as fast, that is...if manuals were more common these days here, talk about "unintended acceleration" issues w/new drivers!)
I'd agree with that. Other
I'd agree with that. Other than hill starts I can't think of anytime I would be riding the clutch in a car. Even in stop/go traffic most cars can creep along in 1st gear with the clutch not engaged. I say most as my much loved S2000 would stall below 10mph in 1st gear and of course the clutch pedal on that had the strongest spring imaginable. Thankfully I was rarely in traffic in that but when I was it not fun.
That's cause...
...they got no torque!
I'm kidding, as I love the S2000 as well. Great all-purpose track car that you can actually drive everyday.
Students who haven't driven a
Students who haven't driven a manual shift car are a near nightmare. I had one last week. He didn't understand "gear pattern" nor did he understand how the clutch is the link between power and the rear wheel. He must have stopped without the clutch 15 times, killing the motor of course every time. Used the throttle instead of the frictin zone....ARGH!!!!!
Right before he took the skills test, I thought I saw the light go on, and he was doing very well until the curve. He passed, but barely. I felt like I finally got through to him!
When I went to put the bike he was riding into the trailer, I found it was in third gear....
Allen Dye
MSF Rider Coach
Track Day Instructor
Ironbutt Rally Finisher '03-'05
What's worse is this propensity for semi-auto gearboxes
There are people who want a manual car: a clutch, and a gear lever. Then there are people that don't want to be bothered with all that. Yet, as companies develop super-fancy semi-automatic gearboxes which are capable of running both in "automatic" and "manual" mode, they're choosing to replace true manual transmissions with this technology rather than replacing automatics! It's infuriating to me. Why, if a semi-automatic gearbox can function like an automatic, would you take away the option of a true manual for those that want it, especially on high-end performance cars?
Manual vs Automatic
A couple of comments:
1. When I went to buy my truck (3/4 ton with diesel), I couldn't find one with a manual trans. GM doesn't even offer one in any of their trucks...I wanted one so that when I am towing I can select the proper gear for a hill that is coming up, either up or down, and also so that I can get into the higher gears sooner. The automatic doesn't seem to know what to do when I try to accellerate quickly, it jumps around and hunts for the gear before settling...but I guess most people buy these inefficient trucks to pose in, not for work...
2. I would like to see the licenses have a class that approves people to drive a manual transmission vehicle. My wife has never driven one and doesn't want to, but I don't think that she should be albe to unless she has been tested in one. Your examples of hill starts with the parking brake applied wouldn't even occur to a person who has not been properly trained to drive a manual vehicle. I accually had a woman roll back into my truck on a hill, and I had stopped atleast ten feet back from her...her tail lights and rear facia hit the steel bumper of my truck, she jumped out of her car and blamed me for hitting her??? Luckily a bystander saw the whole thing and struck around to give a statement to the police, or I would have been on the hook to replace the whole rear end of her car...I wonder how the conversation went with her husband that night?? lol
I agree with you that the majority of vehicles sold in North America have an automatic transmission (I think I read somewhere that it was 95%), but I wonder if that is because most vehicles don't even offer them?
Just food for thought.
As for manual cars coming after learning to ride a bike...I had a bike when I was 9, but it was a 3spd with an auto clutch. I learned to drive in a manual trans car because it was more fun to drive dad's four cyliner with manual than mom's V8 automatic...
** If you're not having fun, you're doing it WRONG...**
Riding since May 2010...
Its funny that you mention
Its funny that you mention some lady rolling back into you. My boyfriend in college tried to teach me to drive his manual (a beat up rust bucket of a Datsun 510 whose clutch was nearly gone), and to this day I remember sitting at a stop sign trying to figure out how to convince the guy behind me to just go around because I was afraid that I would roll back into him when I tried to go. He didn't, I didn't, but the lessons on using a stick-shift didn't go much further.
The funny thing is that my Mom tried to teach me to drive her manual last year, and frankly, I would have been better off if the lessons had come >after< I took the MSF class a few weeks later. For her, the techniques involved with friction zone, clutch control, etc were so ingrained that she didn't know how to explain what I was doing wrong.
I'll stick with my automatic, thank you very much. I don't think that not having the skills for driving a manual transmission car really negatively affected my ability to learn to ride enough that I would stigmatize it.
Manual trannies will soon be 1/1000
Once upon a time, manual transmiissions were more reliable, faster and cheaper to repair than automatics. Like it or not, that's no longer the case. Add in all the baby boomers who aren't interested in working their knees trying to get thru the daily stop-n-go and you have situation where there is very little market for the manual tranny.
Most of the time, the only reason an auto maker even has a manual tranny (or manual windows) is so that they can post some ridiculously low price on their bargain basement model. But even then, most of the entry level cars on their lot will have upgraded windows and tranny, because that's what sells.
It won't be long before manuals will be special order, even on "performance" rides.
I would have to say mid 90's
I would have to say mid 90's is when they started disappearing. About the time urban sprawl got out of control. The car I have now is actually my first auto. I miss the connection that a manual gives. Being a mechanic you actually realize how manuals are still out there. Now with the onset of semi autos and slap shifters it makes manuals obsolete. Let's face it, the world is getting lazier and to much involved with electronic multi tasking. Besides if you have one hand on the wheel and the other texting.....then how does one shift?
****Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body, but, rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting "Holy Shit....What a ride!!!"****
at 28 yrs. old i just learned
at 28 yrs. old i just learned this year how to drive a five speed in iraq the main two things that stopped me from learning was the fact that the only manual car we and in the family was my mom's brand new bmw convertible. and i was afraid of stalling out. but now that i know how to i cant believe what i been missing out on all these years. i plan on getting a manual as well as a bike being that i have never been on a bike i do feel a little more confident going into my 1st msf class about not falling flat on my face.
Nice.
Good for you; a manual transmission makes pretty much ANY car more enjoyable to drive, even the most base-model econo-car.
And yep, understanding the whole clutch-gearshift thing will definitely help during the MSF...one less thing to worry about. You'll find a lot of your classmates won't know how, and will find even the concept (much less the execution) somewhat tough.
Agreed
Not knowing how to drive stick is one thing, but if you go into the MSF class not even understanding the concept of a clutch and gears, you're in big trouble. I've actually seen this quite a bit, and it really gets in the way of instinctively understanding what to do.