- This topic has 20 replies, 12 voices, and was last updated 13 years, 12 months ago by eternal05.
Manual/Stick Cars
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April 6, 2010 at 2:58 pm #3846BlueTigerParticipant
How many of you drive manual/stick cars? If yes is that because you own a motorbike?
Its just that almost everybody in the UK learns to drive manual cars but I heard that a lot of Americans drive automatics.April 6, 2010 at 3:58 pm #25474eonParticipantAs 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.
April 6, 2010 at 4:02 pm #25475JackTradeParticipantMost 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!
April 6, 2010 at 4:30 pm #25476TrialsRiderParticipantThe 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.April 6, 2010 at 4:45 pm #25477WeaponZeroParticipantManual 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.
April 6, 2010 at 5:03 pm #25478TrialsRiderParticipant…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.
April 6, 2010 at 5:33 pm #25446BlueTigerParticipantSemi automatic transmission seems to be getting more popular over here, but the majority of people have manual.
April 6, 2010 at 6:31 pm #25447eonParticipantQuote “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
April 6, 2010 at 8:22 pm #25479IBA270ParticipantStudents 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….
April 6, 2010 at 10:13 pm #25484eternal05ParticipantThere 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?
April 6, 2010 at 10:43 pm #25442MunchParticipant(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.
April 7, 2010 at 5:13 pm #25501JackTradeParticipantFair 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!)
April 7, 2010 at 5:46 pm #25504eonParticipantI’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.
April 7, 2010 at 6:18 pm #25507JackTradeParticipant…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.
April 29, 2010 at 1:17 am #26042madjak30ParticipantA 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…
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