Is being able to drive manual a lost art?

[repoman0]

I have been driving nothing but manual the last....25yrs, I would suggest you not to do it. Now sure about the new one but bimmer stall very easily, their clutch is like an on/off switch. With an M4, you will likely burn your clutch a lot, stall a lot and have very bad gas mileage.

Both of my BMWs (e46 series 330xi and M3 as mentioned earlier) are difficult to stall and have excellent clutch feedback compared to other manual cars I have driven. On both I can easily start in second gear as well as get moving in first without the gas pedal. The inline 6 N/A engines have enough torque to get back up to speed in third and even fourth from 1k RPM, which can eliminate excessive shifting. Many BMW owners on other forums have their clutch last to 200k miles and beyond.

 

[gill77]

In 30 years, being able to Drive at all will be the lost art. Who here laments the lost art of riding a Horse or driving a Horse drawn Carriage?

I don't know if lament would exactly describe my feelings, but there are lots of daily riders in these parts. My riding skills leave a whole lot of room for improvement. Always thought a horse and buggy would be interesting, but never had the reins.

 

[sandorski]

You're just lucky we don't have any Amish members.

 

[Thebobo]

In 30 years, being able to Drive at all will be the lost art. Who here laments the lost art of riding a Horse or driving a Horse drawn Carriage?

I've ridden dressage, not well mind you. Yes I lament it.

 

[highland145]

Once you learn you never forget. I owned nothing but manual transmission cars for 10 years straight.

Saturday, while I'm playing yard boy, the wife rides up in a friends Z3. She hasn't driven a manual in 25 years but said it was as smooth as silk. I'm crediting the BMW. I might still be in the dog house for saying that she didn't look good in it. Her friend was looking to sell.

 

[Staples]

Sticks are fine and can easily be learned by anyone in a short time. There are a lot of fanboys who will tell you they are something magical but don't fall for the BS. A car is a car and modern autos are every bit as good. My first car of 10 years was stick. Took a while to get used to NOT having to shift when I got this car I have right now.

 

[repoman0]

Sticks are fine and can easily be learned by anyone in a short time. There are a lot of fanboys who will tell you they are something magical but don't fall for the BS. A car is a car and modern autos are every bit as good. My first car of 10 years was stick. Took a while to get used to NOT having to shift when I got this car I have right now.

Nobody thinks modern autos aren't better ... we just think they are boring.

 

[soulcougher73]

its just an old antiquated technology. We've moved past it. You can shift faster and harder and better MPGs from automatics now a days. Depending on the car obviously.

 

[WelshBloke]

its just an old antiquated technology. We've moved past it. You can shift faster and harder and better MPGs from automatics now a days. Depending on the car obviously.

But can you downshift go "Muah ha ha!", floor it and rev like buggery past something?

 

[sdifox]

But can you downshift go "Muah ha ha!", floor it and rev like buggery past something?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct-shift_gearbox

 

[Denly]

Both of my BMWs (e46 series 330xi and M3 as mentioned earlier) are difficult to stall and have excellent clutch feedback compared to other manual cars I have driven. On both I can easily start in second gear as well as get moving in first without the gas pedal. The inline 6 N/A engines have enough torque to get back up to speed in third and even fourth from 1k RPM, which can eliminate excessive shifting. Many BMW owners on other forums have their clutch last to 200k miles and beyond.

Well, my e36 and e46 tell a different story. They stall like a mfer.

 

[WelshBloke]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct-shift_gearbox

Don't you be quoting technical wizardry at me when I'm drunk!

 

[repoman0]

Well, my e36 and e46 tell a different story. They stall like a mfer.

They have a short clutch engagement zone by design. It takes some finesse at first but is much more intuitive than the usual vague engagement that lasts roughly the length of the entire clutch travel, IMO. I rented an 06 Miata on a vacation recently that felt similar .. short but precise engagement so you can feel exactly what's happening down there.

I've had my 330xi bounce back from 200 RPM before (driver error, very early morning) so if yours is stalling that much something might be wrong.

 

[NetWareHead]

Have owned/driven manual vehicles for the last 15 years and I always try to get another manual when it comes car buying time. My wife is the same way. We both love our manual cars

We just honeymooned in italy and it was cheaper to rent a manual vehicle than automatic.

I have driven them on steep hills and in bad traffic and I dont mind them. It forces you to pay more atttention to your driving and gives you more control of the vehicle. Even the crappiest shitbox gets a little bit more fun with a stick. I had the (dis)pleasure of driving a chevette back in the day. A little 3 cylinder econobox car. With the stick, its actually fun. The little engine needs as much horsepower as you can squeeze out of it. I got to try an auto chevette and you have to drive that thing and govern the engine with the gas pedal position in an attempt to keep the engine in its powerband and not be handicapped at an inopportune by an upshift. No such crap on the manual.

Another great point about the manual is engine breaking. I bought a new car with a stick and had to finally change the brake pads at 130,000 miles. Those are showroom brake pads that lasted so long because I engine brake aplenty.

I find that manual makes you drive differently in heavy traffic too. I see all the surrounding cars in a constant hurry. As soon as some space opens up in front of them, begins the mad dash only to stomp on the brakes in less than 10 feet. What is the point of accelerating so hard and wasting fuel like that? And consuming your brake pads to slow down? Its a fool's race, lets race to be up the ass of the driver in front of us the soonest! Having a clutch makes your clutch engagements count. I've had people behind me beep at me to get going but they can all kiss my ass. I dont usually let the clutch out until there are at least 2-3 car lengths of travel available in front of me. And then I creep along in first gear and not be in any sort of hurry until its time to brake again. Sometimes I can time it correctly and stay in first the entire time, keeping up with traffic by creeping along while the fools in the lanes alongside me do the stop and go.

Those paddle shifters are a knockoff if you ask me. Yes its better than putting the car into D; at least you can choose your gears. But the important thing is the clutch!

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

Another great point about the manual is engine breaking. I bought a new car with a stick and had to finally change the brake pads at 130,000 miles. Those are showroom brake pads that lasted so long because I engine brake aplenty.

Hey cool, I do that too. First brake pad replacements on my factory Brembo's were the fronts at 85k or so, rears are still workin' it at 96k.

 

[repoman0]

I find that manual makes you drive differently in heavy traffic too. I see all the surrounding cars in a constant hurry. As soon as some space opens up in front of them, begins the mad dash only to stomp on the brakes in less than 10 feet. What is the point of accelerating so hard and wasting fuel like that? And consuming your brake pads to slow down? Its a fool's race, lets race to be up the ass of the driver in front of us the soonest! Having a clutch makes your clutch engagements count. I've had people behind me beep at me to get going but they can all kiss my ass. I dont usually let the clutch out until there are at least 2-3 car lengths of travel available in front of me. And then I creep along in first gear and not be in any sort of hurry until its time to brake again. Sometimes I can time it correctly and stay in first the entire time, keeping up with traffic by creeping along while the fools in the lanes alongside me do the stop and go.

Nothing pisses me off more than the idiots who beep at me when I'm at the front of a red light and spend a half second engaging first gear. Only happened once or twice but how impatient can you get?

Totally agreed about the driving in traffic bit. It's a lot less stressful to just creep along rather than join the idiot race of people alternately slamming on their gas and brake pedals, making traffic worse for everyone else in the process.

 

[GobBluth]

It's a skill you should probably have somewhere in your arsenal. I learned how to drive on a 5-speed and I intend on teaching my children how to drive on one. For no other reason than if they ever have to steal a car to get away from someone/something I don't want them to bust out the window and go "aw fuck, nevermind, its a stick, lets keep running."

 

[monkeydelmagico]

Yes, being able to drive a manual is going the way of the dodo bird. Only 18% of drivers in U.S. can do it. I suspect that will be single digits in another decade.

Around 3% of the cars sold are manual. With DSG's getting so good it's only a matter of time before there will be only a handful of cars sold with manuals. The ones that do have a manual will start being more expensive too.

 

[Rifter]

Ill never buy an Auto car. For offroading a auto is better so ill stick to autos for my trucks and manual for my cars.

 

[MtnMan]

A lot of people are buying their kids straight drives as their first car. Having to shift and be a more active participant in driving makes it more difficult to check their facebook status every 20 seconds.

My daily driver is also a straight drive (diesel VW) which also makes it pretty much carjack proof as punks today don't have a clue how to drive it off.

 

[IronWing]

You're just lucky we don't have any Amish members.

Have you read some members' computer specs?

 

[AznAnarchy99]

I took the M4 for a spin the other night. A few stalls but after about 10 minutes I was getting the hang of it. Didn't test out in traffic though.

I ended up passing on the car. The price was pretty insane.. $600 for paperwork fees and just $710 a month but my plan was to rent it out on Turo part time and I didn't know how many clientele I would get with it being stick.

I'm just gonna buy a Prius and cry now.

 

[Ns1]

I took the M4 for a spin the other night. A few stalls but after about 10 minutes I was getting the hang of it. Didn't test out in traffic though.

I ended up passing on the car. The price was pretty insane.. $600 for paperwork fees and just $710 a month but my plan was to rent it out on Turo part time and I didn't know how many clientele I would get with it being stick.

I'm just gonna buy a Prius and cry now.

Lol guarantee you more than one person will learn how to drive stick on Turo.

 

[PricklyPete]

I took the M4 for a spin the other night. A few stalls but after about 10 minutes I was getting the hang of it. Didn't test out in traffic though.

I ended up passing on the car. The price was pretty insane.. $600 for paperwork fees and just $710 a month but my plan was to rent it out on Turo part time and I didn't know how many clientele I would get with it being stick.

I'm just gonna buy a Prius and cry now.

Renting out a manual M4 sounds like a TERRIBLE idea. Maintenance/repairs on that thing would likely surpass any money you made very quickly.

 

[SearchMaster]

My old '91 Eclipse GS Turbo was admittedly a pain in traffic but its clutch was pretty heavy. Now I drive a Focus ST which is manual only and it is no problem in traffic. I love having a manual again.

My 17 year old was adamant about learning to drive manual. He started out on our old POS '92 Sonoma pickup truck and did very well, only killing the engine twice ever as he learned (both times on pretty steep hills). He was afraid to drive my Focus because he thought the power would be too much for him, but I convinced him that his right foot has complete control over that and now he loves driving it. He really wanted a manual when we got his new Civic but the car had just come out and he would have had to wait months for it. Last weekend my 14 year old decided he wanted to try driving my car but he got frustrated and decided he'll stick to automatics for life.