You lazy sons of bitches

[blue toxin]

Why is America getting lazier and lazier? Granted, technology is great, but after recently car shopping I came to realize how few my choices were with cars I wanted that had a manual transmission. I had so much trouble finding one with a manual tranny that I wanted, yet if I wanted an automatic I had about 400 choices.

It's ridiculous. I wish every driver had to drive stick shift so they could pay more attention to the road. Note the recent accident that happened to my buddy: Soccer mom rear ended him in her automatic while applying makeup. If she was in a stick shift, nearly 100% certain she wouldn't of done that.

And the introduction of the new shiftronic transmissions are interesting too, but still... no clutch? What the hell? For those of you unfamiliar with shiftronics, it's basically a manual transmission but without the clutch. And instead of your shifter ranging from 1-2-3-4-5-R, it's basically at a center point with an up/down, and it's just a slap shifter.

Anyway, as long as I'm in full control of the gears, I suppose I'll be happy, but it sucks seeing how few people out there know how to drive a manual transmission. Even my buddies who are all car buffs, I'm the ONLY one who knows stick fluently. We recently went to the beach for a day and had a solid 3 hour drive, it was me and one other car. I came to realize that if the other driver got tired, someone else could take over. WIth me (even though I wasn't tired) I'd be stuck driving.

I'm done ranting. Let's hear some opinions.

[bluesummer]

If you like to drive manual transmission, do it. If other people don't want to, they don't have to - and there's nothing wrong with that.

I'm admittedly 'lazy' in that sense - I'll only drive automatic because I absolutely despise driving, and do it only when absolutely necessary. So I don't want the added 'joy' of a clutch and crap......I just want my car to friggin get me to from point A to point B with as little hassle as possible.

The reason there are fewer cars with manual transmission is because a lot of people are like me in that sense. Obviously the car companies are going to cater to the bigger market......(basic marketing/economics).

[blue toxin]

Yeah, but to me it's ridiculous from a marketing standpoint that buying a new car wouldn't offer a manual transmission option. In the end, THEY would be losing money if they didn't offer some kind of manual tranny option for the vehicles they offer.

Maybe I underestimated the rate of manual transmission vehicles being made, because I just went to Ford and Chevy's web site to check out some of their cars. All of Ford and Chevy's trucks offer a manual transmission, which I didn't expect. Also, Ford's Fusion and Escape offer a manual transmission option. In fact, on certain models of the Chevy Cobalt you had NO CHOICE but to get a manual transmission.

I like this.



btw - That's fine if that's why you like to drive automatic. I just can't stand people who prefer driving automatics to multi task with other shit in their car that isn't smart (as the makeup accident I said above).

Then again, I'm so used to stick shift that I've been on my cell phone, smoking a cigar, I had a large soda in the cup holder and still made all of the proper signals while driving without any issues.

[Tiay]

My bf is american (i'm eurpoean) and one time he said something about how he'd like to drive a stick car sometime.

I was baffled..

what the hell is a stick-car, I thought to myself. A car that resembles a stick? what exotic, strange car-type was this that I had never heard of?.. Turns out, it's.. the gear shift. Pretty much all cars are that way here. so there's your solution. Come to Europe. Lots of stick-cars with low fuel consumption. Being in control of the gears helps you drive much more fuel efficiently, too.

My family had a second-hand Volvo saloon when I was little, and I remember us driving along a very narrow road, and my dad changes gears and the stick totally comes loose and comes up in his hand, hahah.. man, it was scary!

I don't drive. I'm scared of it. damn.. have to start that soon.

[blue toxin]

My bf is american (i'm eurpoean) and one time he said something about how he'd like to drive a stick car sometime.

I was baffled..

what the hell is a stick-car, I thought to myself. A car that resembles a stick? what exotic, strange car-type was this that I had never heard of?.. Turns out, it's.. the gear shift. Pretty much all cars are that way here. so there's your solution. Come to Europe. Lots of stick-cars with low fuel consumption. Being in control of the gears helps you drive much more fuel efficiently, too.

My family had a second-hand Volvo saloon when I was little, and I remember us driving along a very narrow road, and my dad changes gears and the stick totally comes loose and comes up in his hand, hahah.. man, it was scary!

I don't drive. I'm scared of it. damn.. have to start that soon.

Honestly, being scared of it is completely normal. I've known how to drive stick for 5 years (when I started learning to drive). My car I had was automatic, so I wasn't driving stick all day, but the few times I did get in my dad's pickup I did absolutely fine driving stick. But when I got my new car and took it out on a test drive, it kinda scared me. It's hydraulic clutch and spring loaded pedal weren't what I was used to at all. So I gotta admit, I was scared too!

But in about 2 days time I got so used to it and began to enjoy driving it 100% more. In fact, I won't turn back now. What you need to do is have someone with patience teach you in a huge parking lot, and the most important thing is starting off (hardest to learn in my opinion). After you can stop/go/stop/go/stop/go over and over and over in the parking lot so much that it's becoming a second nature to you, head out on the road. Watch for them hills, too! But like I said, it becomes easy. Even if I'm on a steep hill at a stop and someone is ON MY ASS behind me, I don't even flinch. Just comes with experience I guess.

But one thing I do advise is for you to at least learn. Don't want to drive it everyday? Fine. But what if you and your boyfriend/husband/friend/girlfriend/wife are out somewhere and "something" happens, and YOU can't drive the car anywhere because it's stick... what would you do, especially if no phone was available? It's a scary thought, isn't it?

[Tiay]

aw, thanks, that was very encouraging
It's not that i'm specifically scared of the stick, (heh that sounds weird), rather the whole thing. Especially the starting. Not learning how to drive stick where I live would be unthinkable.
We don't have a parking lot, but we do have a .. whatsitcalled.. giant square of sand for riding horses on. I've practised on that a while back, went to third gear and all.. somehow, I just don't find driving that enjoyable.

[blue toxin]

aw, thanks, that was very encouraging
It's not that i'm specifically scared of the stick, (heh that sounds weird), rather the whole thing. Especially the starting. Not learning how to drive stick where I live would be unthinkable.
We don't have a parking lot, but we do have a .. whatsitcalled.. giant square of sand for riding horses on. I've practised on that a while back, went to third gear and all.. somehow, I just don't find driving that enjoyable.

Personally, I can't imagine being taught stick without KNOWING how the parts work. Knowing how the clutch and gas work hand-in-hand makes it so much easier to understand.

Just think of it like this. In an automatic car, when you put the car in drive, the gear is engaged 100% of the way and it's locked in place. In a stick shift car, when you're letting the clutch out, the gear isn't completely engaged until the clutch is the entire way out. Most people tell me that when starting out to use the "equal opposite" method. Meaning that if the clutch is 10% in, the gas must be 90% out. 50/50, 60/40, 30/70, etc. Plus, when I started to learn stick and the car would stall, my reaction was to let the clutch out and floor it. BAAAAADDDD!!! If you engrave in your head to push the clutch in a little bit once it starts to stall, you'll be fine.

[Tiay]

oOOooo.. *stares at lingo and feels dizzy*
first off, I don't know what putting a car in drive is. Here, we drive the car, eh, and in the US, you put the car in drive? hhehe : >
The equal opposite thing is interesting tho. I remember having that problem. Or at least a problem involving pedals, and the movement of them. How do people who drive a lot not get very sore ankles?
and how is it 4:48 AM suddenly? well, suns up, birds are singing.. i'm going to bed

[blue toxin]

oOOooo.. *stares at lingo and feels dizzy*
first off, I don't know what putting a car in drive is. Here, we drive the car, eh, and in the US, you put the car in drive? hhehe : >
The equal opposite thing is interesting tho. I remember having that problem. Or at least a problem involving pedals, and the movement of them. How do people who drive a lot not get very sore ankles?
and how is it 4:48 AM suddenly? well, suns up, birds are singing.. i'm going to bed

Oh no no no, that was an automatic transmission I was talking about.



You see this? This is a gauge you'd typically see in a vehicle with an automatic transmission. In an automatic transmission vehicle, there is no clutch, the transmission shifts on its own when it needs to and there's NOTHING done by the driver except braking and hitting the gas. When you put a car in drive, it means you're in an automatic vehicle and you're taking the car from the parked stage down to the D, which is drive. That engages the car to be moved forawrd, and will shift gears automatically as you continue to accelerate. P means park, which is where you put the car when you're stopped and turning the car off. R reverse, N neutral, and D is drive. The 1-2-3 is so you can manually put the automatic transmission into a certain gear. This is normally done in snowy/icy weather when you NEED TO STAY in a certain gear to maintain better traction, or sometimes if you happen to be towing something it will help to stay in a certain gear.

In a manual transmission car, there is no "park," there is no "drive." You just put the shifter to first, do your thing with the clutch to start off, and shift gears when you need to.

[Junket]

Who you callin' a lazy son of a bitch?

Shut up and drive.

[blue toxin]

Who you callin' a lazy son of a bitch?

Shut up and drive.

It's okay, bud. I knew someone would probably take what I said the wrong way. I wasn't saying that to every auto driver out there, but I know quite a few people who fluently know stick yet prefer auto because they're just lazy in general.

[Junket]

No, I'm just tryin' to give you a hard time.

Everybody should drive stick.

I find that people who drive stick are better drivers.

[blue toxin]

No, I'm just tryin' to give you a hard time.

Everybody should drive stick.

I find that people who drive stick are better drivers.

I plan to teach my girlfriend stick, especially now that I have a stick shift car. I just can't imagine being out somewhere and something happening, and her not knowing how to drive the car.

A while ago I was home alone. Originally my gf was going to come spend some time with me, but ended up with some other plans. Either way, I was going to work on my car a bit. I was down in the shop with a Powershot staple gun and ended up launching a staple through my finger (bone and all, prongs were sticking out the other side).

Again, I was home alone, but if someone else was home, I would of had them drive me. Before I got in the car though, I calmed myself down, telling myself I was okay and it wasn't a big deal. After I felt I was calm enough to drive, I went to the hospital. I was driving an auto at the time, but if I would of had my Elantra then I would of had to drive even if my gf was with me...

[daletom]

Who you callin' a lazy son of a bitch?

Shut up and drive.

Yeah, pretty much my reaction. Let's see - my '54 Willys Sta Wagon, '73 Jeep Commando, '72 Volvo Sta Wgn and '80 Ford Fairmont had manual transmissions (MT). The '69 Volvo, '88 Voyager and all 3 Ford Tauruses had automagic transmissions (AT). My years of ownership are about even for each type of transmission, and I've owned several varieties of each.

The MT is more fun to operate, though clutch and shift operations DO take some of your concentration away from the actual road situation. And stop-and-go, urban traffic can be murder. You can roll-start an MT vehicle if you run the battery down, though my wife has never mastered this. I can do any repair or maintenance - even a rebuild - on a MT. That's fortunate, because I've probably replaced a dozen clutches, two clutch cables, a clutch linkage, as well as internal repairs on 3 occasions.

The AT is easier to operate. Definitely a benefit when learning to drive - I've gone through that with 3 kids now. In its modern incarnations it's as efficient for transferring power as a MT - maybe even a bit better. Internal repairs are expensive and beyond the capability of us mere mortals, but they're seldom needed.

As for the "lazy" part - If "blue toxin" prides himself on his industriousness, why is he taking the "lazy" route by even buying a car? (I bet you think I'm gonna tell him to walk, or at least bicycle, wherever he wants to go.) Actually, I think he should put out the effort to construct his own car! Heck, it'll be 4 months before the snow flies in Minnesota - he ought to be able to dig enough iron ore by then to get a good start on the project. He can spend the winter converting it to steel and pounding it to shape. Of course, he'll have to spend some time each day grinding flour - surely only a "lazy" person would use pre-sliced, store-bought bread. NOW who's looking "lazy"?

[Junket]

I must disagree with the statement that driving stick takes attention away from the road.

Learning of course would.

From my experience, I feel that once I learned how to drive stick I concentrate more on the road, 'cause in my mind, proper shifting and road conditions naturally go hand in hand.