I'm pretty sure that I can drive a stick still... but I haven't tried in 5 years. Dang ice storm. That was a cool car...

Yeah I can. My car is an automatic but my truck is a five speed.

Yes. I only drive an automatic if I don't have a choice. Unfortunately, vehicle manufacturers often only offer manual transmissions in their low-end vehicles, with no way to add the other features that you'd like to have. So, my current vehicle has an automatic. Bleah! Other than that, it's a nice car.

This topic reminded me of this controversial VW ad from 1965.

I first learned to drive a stick as a result of my father owning a 10-wheeler Mack and having unreliable weekend help (nobody wanted to work on a Saturday). I believe it was a 10 speed with a high/low switch to obtain the "even" gears.

Even though I was only 15, I was the oldest child and therefore, elected to the position. My father would use a backhoe to load the truck with the muddy crap that falls off of conveyor belts at our local sand/gravel/concrete facility. When loaded, I would go dump it on a designated "crap pile" on the property about half a mile away.

I must have stalled the truck something like 20 times the very first day. Thank goodness for a gear called "Low-Hole" or I'd have stalled it even more.

It was incredibly stressful driving something that ridiculously heavy (when loaded) and having a father who expected perfection by the end of the day. I managed to keep that job for the rest of the entire summer that year, so I must have been adequate. And yes, I was paid for every hour I drove that truck.

ActorTom wrote:This topic reminded me of this controversial VW ad from 1965.

For sure!
I learned on a Chevette ;->
That would be many, many moons ago.

I learned to drive a stick (not well but enough) shortly after learning how to drive which ended up being a really good thing when I went to England and rented a car. Sat down and realized it is a stick shift though you shift with your left hand.

Manual transmissions are where it's at. No punching the gas and waiting for the tranny to think about what it wants to do, just downshift that bastard and let 'er rip. Change the fluid once in a great while if you feel like it. No worries about slipping as long as you have a good clutch. No holding the brake at a stop light... Life is good with a stick.

I can't, but I want to learn!

The only person I know that can teach me is my father and the only manual transmission vehicle we own is his 90 Ford Ranger. Even an expert stick shift driver would not be able to drive this truck, so he won't teach me on it.

I have a 93 Honda Accord and man can that thing get up and go. Hearing the gears change makes me feel like I'm driving a stick.

I absolutely love manual transmission cars, but I absolutely hate them when I am stuck in traffic.

obviousspy wrote:Yes. Yes I can. In fact, I'll only drive an automatic transmission if I have no other choice.

me too, which means rentals, of course.

dianagt wrote:For sure!
I learned on a Chevette ;->
That would be many, many moons ago.

Nice ad. I learned on a VW, but it was before I had a wife. (The woman I eventually married also learned stick skills in a VW, no fear involved, and she also drives a stick to this day.)

It's not exactly rocket science.....long ago learned how to shift through all gears without the clutch too.

I learned to drive on a stick many, many years ago. Could probably do it if I absolutely had to. For me a car is to get me from Point A to Point B with the least amount of effort.

PocketBrain wrote:Some people drive. Some people only steer.

OMGOMGOMGPONIESOMG! Totally agree! My Dad taught me how to drive a stick... BEST thing he ever did for after being my Dad! It just grosses me out when I see other chicks that that CAN'T drive a stick and think it's CUTE! Can you PLEASE deflate your head and put something useful in it?! I currently have an auto *ducks* NO ONE THROW ANYTHING! But, nothing will EVER replace the joy of driving my first car... that's not fair. You can never call a Wrangler a car! Top down, hair down, radio up, girl friends drinking in the back (HEY! this was Texas 2003 when it was legal for passengers to drink!), on our way to Howl at the Moon on San Antonio's Riverwalk... GEEZ... I want another Jeep!

pooflady wrote:I learned to drive on a stick many, many years ago. Could probably do it if I absolutely had to. For me a car is to get me from Point A to Point B with the least amount of effort.

dude... that's sad. AND, it's a sign you have a crappy car, or (as someone else said earlier) at least one with less than 200 HP.

No offense.

I think either the people reporting on these anonymous polls (Woot! isn't keeping data on your manhood and sorting you so!) are very optimistic about themselves, or only a certain segment bothers to respond that is proud about the certain accomplishment you are polling about.

I say this because I believe there is absolutely no way that even close to 70% of the population of the U.S. can drive a manual transmission well, or maybe even at all.


To the Woot! mod/person above me wondering about the draw of a manual, think of something you genuinely enjoy doing. Now, what if there was something you could change to expand on that thing you enjoy and make it even more immersive and interesting?

That's what a manual transmission is to me. I love cars and I love driving them, and a manual transmission just adds an entirely new layer of control and possibility to the driving experience. You literally have control over every dynamic of the 3300(ish) pound machine you are in.


I feel like the best computer analogy (easy I guess, since everyone reading this is obviously a -nerd- computer user (Just imaging the strikeout if it doesn't work... also DOUBLE PARENTHETICAL ACTION)) is a program that you are using to complete some super interesting task; because everything you do is super interesting.
You can just press the button and get the deed done, but there is also that advanced setting section where you could spend some time and tweak the output just to your liking. Sure, the basic mode may be a bit faster and it may even do the deed better than you... but it's still more interesting and fun for some people to screw with those advanced settings all the time.

Back in my little ole hometown in New England, if you took your driver's license on an automatic, you had a restricted license. Therefore, I learned to drive stick and continued to do so for a long while - had a cute VW convertible. I would not drive stick where I live now because there is so much heavy traffic, it would be constant shifting. You do, however, especially in rain, ice, snow have much better control. And yes, I can and have stopped in the middle of a steep upward climb and then started again. It was a part of the driving test for license. Hilly area in New England.

OK, I admit it i am old. I once almost put my father through the windshield when I went to step in the clutch, but it was an automatic with a wide brake pedal. I still have a stick on my old truck but the Prius didn't offer a stick so I m stuck with automatic. It has been as hard for me to adjust to auto transmissions as for some to adjust to a stick.

314edpiper wrote:I may be a minority here, but I believe that ALL drivers should be able to do 3 things before they get their license.
1. Drive a stick
2. Change a tire
3. check and add all fluids to their car.
Being able to do those 3 things would cut down on stranded motorists by at least 50%. It would be more, but just because people know how to do those things doesn't mean they would.

I agree 100% with your post. Another pet peeve is putting bad drivers into heavy cars for their own protection. What about the people they hit?

Sure can. Learned in a very untraditional way in my high school days in a friend’s pickup truck, there were always three of us in the cab of that pickup truck, I’d rarely get shot gun so being middle person I was ‘shifter’ while the driver did the clutch. You’d get so good; the driver wouldn’t even have to voice when to shift or tell you what gear to go to.

Of course learning from this technique either made you a hit or everyone hated you for the not so fun rough, almost neck breaking, ride you gave them.

Ahhh those were the fun care free days!

RWoodward wrote:a removable top

Yea, because you know, I mat to be sure there is no chance of me living if my car flips over. It is also really great when it rains.

When I learned stick, it was explained to me as "precision driving," which I still think is a great descriptor. You tell the car what to do, and it does it.

I've owned 1 other manual car, with my current being a manual, and I refuse to purchase a car without a manual transmission. (A truck, maybe, but I don't need one of those.)

If you're buying a car that doesn't offer a manual transmission in your trim package, well, you're buying the wrong car.

I have a very nice 5 speed convertible. I only look at manual transmission cars. Every one who gets a driver's license, but especially girls, needs to learn how to drive a manual and change a tire.

(And I have to admit I think a bit less of guys who can't drive a manual)

pmcizhere wrote: I think I want both worlds - a true manual transmission with a clutch, but then the added ability to switch into automatic when I just want to cruise and not worry about the drive.

it is called e-tronic transmission. some european cars have it.

NemmyX wrote:To the Woot! mod/person above me

I'm a writer. The mods don't want me giving them a bad name.

wrunswithscissors wrote:I learned on a corvair 3 speed on the floor. then i had my sister's saab for the summer- it had a shift on the column. I love driving a standard except in heavy stop and go traffic

I owned drove 4 different Corvairs. One was an automatic. One was a turbo. The three manuals were all 4 speeds.
I like a manual in performance applications but in my old age I find an auto is nice in heavy traffic and such.

Proper downgearing is an art. It's a skill you will never forget once you learn it. Any fool can up-shift.

chalion wrote:Same with me. All of my previous cars/trucks were stick shift, but the only vehicles on the lot where I purchased my new truck only had au-bu-matics. I also only buy brand specific vehicles. but that's not what this poll is about.

Sheesh!

Real men would never drive a car with an automatic starter. If you don't have to crank that engine over by hand and risk breaking your arm, you just ain't driving a real car.

Sure can. I bought a stick without knowing how to drive it. I had someone give me a quick instruction then told them to drive me a few miles away and leave me there, so I was forced to learn. That did the trick.

automatic transmissions are a direct cause of the pussification of Americans

Oddly enough, my first car was an automatic Mustang. Since then, I've always bought sticks....even with some difficulty -- when I bought the car I drive today, there were only 14 manual transmissions in California of that model.

Or as us mechanics say, "If you can't find 'em, grind 'em."

RWoodward wrote:A proper driver's automobile has two doors, two seats, a removable top and a manual transmission.

Sounds just like my Jeep, except right now it has no doors. :D

As a 70 year old female, I love to drive a fast, road hugging car with a stick shift. It's the only way to really feel the road.
I also have 3 cats, 3 computers, an iPhone and I text. Have a great day!

sure I can drive a stick, but I'd rather drive a car.

A stick, sure, but not sure about a branch or a limb.

I don't know why I'm in a bad mood tonite, but I'm gonna let you idi*ts have it. My credentials: I do drive a manual transmission, in a car most of you teenage m*rons will never be able to afford, a Porsche 911 Carrera 4S Cabriolet. I drive a stick because I'm a throwback, because I'm old and rich, and because I don't race my car.

Virtually every race car (except endurance racers) for the last 10 years or so has had an "automatic" transmission, i.e a clutchless transmission. While these are controlled by the driver with (e.g.) paddles on the steering wheel, they are in every way an "automatic". The latest Porsches use a PDK dual-clutch automatic.

Automotive research and development into high-performance transmissions has, for many years, been almost exclusively focused on "automatic" transmissions. It is already the case that for the highest performance cars (like the Porsche I drive), a manual transmission means **lower** performance than the corresponding automatic. In the not-too-distant future, it will be impossible to buy a performance car with a manual.

Yes, a manual transmission is (for some) "more fun". But it is not a proof of manhood, you weenies.

(Woot's badword filter is hilarious!)