Save the Manual

Car and Driver says do us all a favor...save the manuals!
When you're driving in the virtual world of Forza put the controls on manual w/clutch. In R/L demand that your car or truck comes with a third pedal. There's a whole generation that can't drive and have never seen a stick in mommy and daddy's car, so they've never heard the term "four on the floor" or "three on the tree". You never know when little Tommy may need this knowledge. Train them right, let them know how much fun driving can really be.



http://www.caranddriver.com/features/save-the-manuals-official-headquarters

I learned to drive w/ 3 on the tree....1974 Landcruiser

I really can't drive a standard, as I have never owned one or even had the opportunity to drive one on a regular basis. The only standard I have driven (besides motorcycles and ATV's) was a three "on the column" 50's model hay truck when I would help our at my girlfriends grandfathers farm in high school. I wouldn't dare trust myself behind the wheel of a standard transmission in heavy city traffic right now. Then again, I probably can't properly steer a horse and buggy either.

~mrmiller

I say if you have a friend with one Miller tell him to let you bang the gears around in the parking lot of Lowes early one Saturday morning. You'll obviously pick it back up quickly and you'll have a heck of a good time driving manual. That part has always been true, the fun factor is there for sure.

It's hard to text, email, and eat big macs (or women with the make-up) while trying to drive stick...it would cut down on many accidents if we as Americans drove stick as a majority.

I can drive manual no problem. Learned to drive on a manual and my first car was a manual. My parents thought it was a good idea to teach me right off the bat. That way I could always drive any type of car in an emergency.

exactly...goes hand-in-hand with the whole everyone should know how to swim/perform CPR type thing. This one is a heck of a lot more fun than the other two.

I'm terrible with driving manual and haven't done it in years. My dad and his friends used to take all of us kids up to my uncle's farm and let them play around with their trucks while they worked on their deerstands. It's pretty easy to get going to 2nd or 3rd in a harvested cornfield, little different going from neutral to 1st on an incline in traffic.

I learned to drive manual when I was in college. during the summer I worked for the cemetary department and we had to drive an old 1/2 ton dump truck so I had to learn to drive it then. I picked it up quickly for some one who learned to drive standard.

S7 SockPuppet wrote:It's pretty easy to get going to 2nd or 3rd in a harvested cornfield, little different going from neutral to 1st on an incline in traffic.

You would have practiced quite a few times before you found yourself in bumper to bumper traffic on a hill wouldn't you?
LOL

Wow! This is a problem in America?

I don't think I know anyone that drive an automatic over here. Even flappy paddle gearboxes are only 'just' acceptable because of their performance...but full auto....eww.

You don't know anything about driving a stick till you get in a dirt late model car. I drove one for about 1 1/2 years on the side for fun, but it took a while to get used to. Two sticks in the floor, the drive stick had to be in N and the Reverse stick pushed up then press the clutch IN to backup, then put the reverse stick back in Neutral and the drive stick into Low gear. Now your ready to go forward, just press the clutch IN while giving it gas to go, once you reach a certain speed just let out on the clutch and go to high gear. Wasn't as hard for me to get used to as far as getting out of the pits and around the track, but figuring out how to get back to low gear after the race was a little tougher, maybe the adrenaline made me forget everything was a$$ backwards.

racecardriver23 wrote:You don't know anything about driving a stick till you get in a dirt late model car. I drove one for about 1 1/2 years on the side for fun, but it took a while to get used to. Two sticks in the floor, the drive stick had to be in N and the Reverse stick pushed up then press the clutch IN to backup, then put the reverse stick back in Neutral and the drive stick into Low gear. Now your ready to go forward, just press the clutch IN while giving it gas to go, once you reach a certain speed just let out on the clutch and go to high gear. Wasn't as hard for me to get used to as far as getting out of the pits and around the track, but figuring out how to get back to low gear after the race was a little tougher, maybe the adrenaline made me forget everything was a$$ backwards.

Who the fock designed that tranny?

That's what I asked when I climbed in, I thought the guy was an idiot when he was telling me that crap. Should've seen me when i went to throw that first stick up with no clutch, just knew I was going through the trailer, lol.

I used to drive a stick...

i got a 6 speed T/A
and a 5 speed cummings


also learned to drive 4 on the floor in my grandpa's old cuda

My first car, a firebird, was auto and a blast to drive. Then i had a ranger that was manual, and now I have a mustang with manual. Ky next will be auto as I'm getting tired of manuals.

S7 K1ll3rKlown wrote:

S7 SockPuppet wrote:It's pretty easy to get going to 2nd or 3rd in a harvested cornfield, little different going from neutral to 1st on an incline in traffic.

You would have practiced quite a few times before you found yourself in bumper to bumper traffic on a hill wouldn't you?
LOL

Yeah, but I haven't driven a manual in almost 20 years so it would be pretty rough for me now.

I learned how to drive a stick on my moms mid 90's saturn when I was 16. My mom was actually the one to teach me letting me shift for her when I would ride shotgun in her car when I was 15. Once I got my license she took me to an open parking lot at night and just practiced going from a complete stop to starting in first gear. Once I got that down we moved to hills in a local subdivision. Once she was comfortable with my ability to drive a stick I was allowed to borrow her car when mine was in the shop or when I was in between cars. When I had the option to take her car For the night I could never pass it up. Being able to roast the tires so easily and decide when the car shifts gives you such a feeling of control.

I now own a 2003 civic Si hatchback and my favorite part is the stick shift. The body style was from 02-05 and there was no option for an automatic. The stick shift was designed after rally cars and is located on the dash below the stereo. It has always been a conversation starter anytime someone looks inside my car. I love driving a stick and would miss it dearly if it where to disapear.

I agree that manual is the way to go for any quality car. If I were to get some type of performance car I would improve my skills with a manual trans so that I could get a good car with a stick. I'd never be able to live with myself if I got a muscle car that had a manual trans. But I'm just talking here.

The gear change from 3rd to 4th in a manual is one of the greatest feelings known to man.

S7 Epic wrote:The gear change from 3rd to 4th in a manual is one of the greatest feelings known to man.

I have a feeling that is a very true statement.

yeah, and since I've ALWAYS, ALWAYS loved muscle cars it would be a bad thing to see them go without a stick. I was hanging with a few guys from my Mustang car club last week at a local diner and this beautiful 2012 corvette rolled up..we all looked it over and talked to the guy then walked away smirking when he said it was a godd@mn automatic

learned to bang gears years ago on a '76 4-speed chevy chevette (a car made before most of you were even born)...yeah, a thing of the past like a Gremlin.

That my friend is a total sin to put an make a corvette with an automatic.

S7 K1ll3rKlown wrote:this beautiful 2012 corvette rolled up..we all looked it over and talked to the guy then walked away smirking when he said it was a godd@mn automatic

Other than enjoying shifting gears yourself, the 2012 vette auto outperforms the manual unless you're A) destroying your car to get slightly faster acceleration or B) driving like a 90 year old lady going to church to get sliiiiightly better mpg. Something to smirk at? I would think not.