new stickshift driver

[Kage]

I find this talk about automatics funny, considering most cars on the UK roads where I live are manual cars...
I honestly don't see the problem with them.

My dad has a automatic now, and personally, I think it'd take the fun out of driving.

I've never done a burn out in a manual? :S...

Personally, learn to drive a manual, then if you switch to automatic, you can drive it.
Don't learn an automatic and then if you encounter a manual, you can't

 

[David Lindon]

Can you not find a driving instructor that has a manual transmission car to teach you in?

 

[superman22x]

Manual transmissions get better gas mileage because they're easier to spin than automatics. Because of this a car with a manual transmission will usually make more WHP on the dyno compared to an identical version equipped with an automatic.

Yes, if their ratios were the same, the manual would be better. But in recent American cars, the manual is the performance edition of the car with faster gear ratios.

 

[Jesusfrk611]

Theoretically manuals could get better MPG if you granny shifted it. I hate people that accelerate so stupidly slow though. I have low gear ratios in my transmission, so at 70MPH I'm running at around 3200RPM in 5th... It seems really hard to get a manual transmission in a new car anymore. Most dealers stock only autos and you would have to special order a manual.

I swapped a manual transmission in my car this summer. I don't regret this. I used to not ever want to learn to drive manual, but now automatic is so boring. I will never go back to auto. After driving my car for awhile I drove my mom's truck and kept trying to shift and hit the clutch and I became sad when they weren't there. lol I actually made a 2,600 mile round trip this summer 2 weeks after I did the swap. Before the swap I had very minimal knowledge on how to drive it at all. If you are persistent you can get pretty good in 2 weeks like me. I killed it a lot when trying to start in 1st, and did a lot of accidental burnouts as well. In about 1 month I had pretty much gotten over killing it in 1st and starting on a hill, which are the 2 biggest things. Now I don't even see how I didn't get it right because it feels so natural to drive it. Only thing you will hate about it is if you are stuck in stop and go traffic a lot. If you really are just that lazy or incompetent, then just get an auto. It will be safer for everyone. If you don't have access to a manual car to drive, then you will have to buy one. If you already have an auto car, buy a manual as well and drive your auto to work and drive the manual on your free time until you get the hang of it. Once you get it, sell the auto car. In my case, I was able to drive my mom's truck to work until I got the hang of driving my car after I did the swap.

 

[Sinonymous]

I think I learned the most after A LOT of stalling in my S10 for a complete month. And I learned even more how to drive a standard riding dirt bikes. But the key to learning any standard transmission is finding your "clutch point". In a car, it's the point when you're in gear and your foot is on the clutch (or hand if you have "3-on-the-column") and you VERY slowly release the clutch until the car starts to grab and creep forward, then let off of the clutch and gas at the same time. An optimal place to learn this is a flat wide open area (i.e. a parking lot or a very low traffic road). Get the hang of starting and stopping for about an hour and your good! I taught my friend in about an hour. And all the other gears only require a syncronized kick of the clutch and your off! Don't keep your foot on the clutch while driving or you'll have a melted clutch.

 

[nevermind1534]

They actually cost less usually. Manual transmission only come with the performance versions of cars in America now. They produce less of them, so they are more expensive. And they get lower MPG since they are more performance oriented than the Auto version for the car.

That's not completely true. My uncle just got an almost new Pontiac Vibe without auto anything, except for auto steering and ABS. They are more difficult to find, though.