Is being able to drive manual a lost art?

[AznAnarchy99]

Thinking of taking over my friend's M4 lease that he got under an employee discount but it's stick. Most of the M4s coming of the lot are autos now too so idk how I feel about this. The discount is significant for me to consider trying..

 

[Thebobo]

Damn been 20 years since I been in a manual tranny vehicle. My first car was a 64 comet with 3 on the tree but I put in a hurst floor shifter because it was cooler. 3 on the tree was for granny.

 

[BudAshes]

They are great except for the whole sitting in traffic part. If you plan to spend a lot of time driving in rush hour traffic I'd be over it. But if this is a for fun car, or you don't live in a big city then I'd say manuals are just plain more fun.

 

[Crono]

Being able to drive is becoming a lost art.

 

[sze5003]

I did a horrible commute for five years on i-76 in a manual transmission. You get used to it and it prevents me from falling asleep. My car is at the shop and they gave me a automatic. So much lag when I hit the gas and feels like a damn rubber band. Really I was trying to adjust to driving the automatic.

 

[OverVolt]

There was less traffic back then, less driver assists.

Do you really want to be driving manual with a soccer mom tailgating you jabbing at the brakes and gas at the very edge of traction while her dash lights up like a Christmas tree of electronic assists?

People drive too shit, and there is too much traffic for a manual. Thats the truth of it. If its purely for pleasure its great, but commuting is going to be a hassle in reality.

 

[Ns1]

an automatic M* is a crime.

 

[Mayne]

its a lost art

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

Wife drove a manual car, and sadly I don't drive manual. The thing is, I might have had a shot at driving manual if it weren't for the fact that I already drive an automatic with 2 feet... and before anyone says anything on that - no, I have never in my life pressed both petals or the opposite petal in my life... even in emergency brake situations. That is a bullshit myth from fucktards.

Something about video games made me grow up and say "2 petals.... 2 feet".... and thus I brake with my left foot. So driving manual would be extra hard because I would have to drop driving with 2 feet AND learn to use stick shift + clutch.

I gave it a shot in a parking lot 1 or 2 times and simply said it wasn't worth it.

 

[Platypus]

I much prefer driving a manual except for bumper to bumper traffic and driving up huge hills. Otherwise I prefer it and my car has a manual transmission.

It's definitely a nice skill to have if you drive anywhere outside of North America.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

I much prefer driving a manual except for bumper to bumper traffic and driving up huge hills. Otherwise I prefer it and my car has a manual transmission.

It's definitely a nice skill to have if you drive anywhere outside of North America.

OH yeah, shweeet... going to Europe in November, looks like I got myself a guaranteed DD the whole time heh.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

They are great except for the whole sitting in traffic part. If you plan to spend a lot of time driving in rush hour traffic I'd be over it. But if this is a for fun car, or you don't live in a big city then I'd say manuals are just plain more fun.

They're not bad sitting in traffic. That's the common excuse of people who don't drive manuals often and are uncomfortable doing it. It you drive manual every day working a clutch and stick is no more burdensome that a steering wheel and brakes. It's second nature and you don't even notice it. In my life I have never purchased a car with an automatic. My next car might be an auto, not by choice, just might be forced to do it because of so few suitable cars being offered with a manual now.

 

[Platypus]

OH yeah, shweeet... going to Europe in November, looks like I got myself a guaranteed DD the whole time heh.

Hah, you can find automatic transmissions for rent in Europe of course, but they are more expensive and less common.

Nothing compares to driving a nice manual transmission car on the Autobahn for me

It's actually really easy to learn how to drive a manual transmission, nothing like a rental car to learn on

 

[Riverhound777]

Sadly I think they are not longed for this world. With the push for electric cars and paddle shifters on exotics, it's inevitable. I drive a car from a shrinking list of cars that only come in manual, a Focus ST.

 

[sze5003]

It's unfortunate a lot of cars don't come in manual anymore. Took forever to find a new Mazda 6 in manual transmission with all the other bells and whistles. Trade in value is also lower seeing how when I traded my lancer gts in for the Mazda they complained about the manual transmission and tried to low-ball me as much as possible.

 

[purbeast0]

I love my manual car. It's on my 2nd manual ever but whenever I go to my next car, if it's not a minivan, I want to (try to) get it in stick. But you are right, there definitely don't seem to be many out there. I was casually looking at Jeep Wranglers from 2014 and up on Carmax and filtering by manual, and there were like 3 out of 35 that were manual. I would expect that type of car to have a lot of manual interest so that surprised me.

 

[purbeast0]

I much prefer driving a manual except for bumper to bumper traffic and driving up huge hills. Otherwise I prefer it and my car has a manual transmission.

It's definitely a nice skill to have if you drive anywhere outside of North America.

Driving up hills is one of the perks of manual to me. If you try to give an automatic gas while going up a hill, it fucking downshifts all laggy and shit. I can't stand that when driving my wifes car.

I actually got my current car because I drove my wifes car when she got it and was like 'damn this would be fun in stick shift' so I ended up getting the coupe sport version.

 

[pcgeek11]

Damn been 20 years since I been in a manual tranny vehicle. My first car was a 64 comet with 3 on the tree but I put in a hurst floor shifter because it was cooler. 3 on the tree was for granny.

I am surprised no one has asked what three on the tree means.

LOL

 

[Humpy]

both petals... opposite petal... fucktards...

I'm confused.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

I'm confused.

When I say opposite I mean people have insinuated that when driving with 2 feet one might hit the gas when they mean to hit the break.

All of which is misinformation and overall bullshit, I've driven the same way since u started 10+ years ago

 

[Humpy]

break

Now you're just screwing with me.

 

[brianmanahan]

i can't wait until cars are self-driving, and if people want to drive they have to do it on a closed course

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

Now you're just screwing with me.

Don't you spell check me when in typing on my phone :[

 

[Mr.IncrediblyBored]

Fewer and fewer cars even offer manuals, so yes, definitely. Years ago you got a manual because they were more fun to drive and more practical.

Manuals were cheaper, more reliable, got better gas mileage, and on top of that faster than automatics. None of those things are true any more. So the only people still buying them just want the "fun-factor", which is a minuscule group.

 

[Ns1]

So the only people still buying them just want the "fun-factor", which is a minuscule group.

why else do you buy a sports car?