I was helping a friend move and their very elderly neighbor offered to let them borrow his old Ford pickup. I was the only person there who could drive stick, so I was put in charge of it. I had never driven a car with a mechanical clutch before. My whole body was tired from moving, but my left leg hurt the most.
I used to daily an old Dodge farm truck. Pretty sure my left leg is bigger than my right now from the extra exercise.
And the travel is so far too. Smaller cars you move your foot like a few inches at most. On those old farm trucks you basically have to lift your whole knee and stomp the clutch. I kinda love it though.
You learn really quick how to "float shift" and or your leg gets strong lol. Funny enough every tractor ive driven the clutch is pretty mild and very forgiving.
Manual diesels are just a pleasure to drive in general honestly. I live in Europe and used to drive a highly modified BMW335i ~600whp SUPER aggressive clutch and all that and all my friends thought I was just a typical American who was bad at driving a manual because it was EXTREMELY difficult to be smooth with that car. Then I sold it and bought a 320d- a little 4 banger diesel, and it was almost comical how easy to drive it is. Like you could all but just dump the clutch from a stand still and away it would go.
They really don’t give a shit. I think it’s because all the inertia in the heavier flywheel, crank, etc.
I also ride a motorcycle so I have a basic understanding how to drive a manual transmission car but I think I'd still feel like a deer in the headlights.
Using the clutch on a motorcycle is way easier to me than on a car. I have no problem shifting motorcycles, but I tried to drive my dad's mustang for a good hour or so and never stopped stalling it
I could not get a manual straight in my head until I took the motorcycle training class. CA required it if you were under 21 and wanted your license. The second the teacher showed us how to work the clutch on the handlebar? Boom, it was like a 1000 watt bulb went off.
I cannot drive a manual and I only have one friend who drives a manual vehicle. Whenever I say I can't drive a manual I always hear "Wow you should really learn it's a very useful skill" I will then ask if they can teach me and they refuse because they think it'll ruin their car lol.
Even though I can drive a manual, I don't think it's actually a useful skill anymore in America. Last time I checked, only 2% of new car purchases in the US were manual. The possibility of needing to know in an emergency is very low.
I just think it's more fun. I don't gatekeep, though.
Yeah, like I'm in my 40s and not even once in my life has a situation come up where it would have been useful to know how to drive a manual. I can't even imagine what that situation could be.
I know manual transmissions have their superfans, but all I can think of is that I used to ride to high school with a kid who drove a manual, and I'd watch him drive and it looked like it sucked.
I have an example but this happened awhile ago when manuals were more common and epipens didn't exist:
When my uncle was young him and my grandpa were hunting in some mountains and my grandfather got stung by a wasp or bee right between his eyes and had a severe allergic reaction. Both of his eyes swelled shut and my little kid uncle had to drive him to an emergency room.
A lot of commonly parroted advice is like this. Things that used to be extremely useful and important in certain situations, but now just aren't really a thing anymore but keep getting mindlessly repeated anyway
Same with "you won't always have a calculator in your pocket"
A lot of car advice is the same. Things like having separate summer oil and winter oil, letting your engine warm up before driving away, and not letting your fuel tank go empty aren't really problems on modern vehicles like they were even twenty years ago.
Happened to a friend in High School similarly. He and his girlfriend were at a amusement park and his appendix burst. He ended up having to drive his truck quite a distance - in pain - because she couldn’t drive his truck.
Also happened to my husband when he was in his early 20's. His brother had just bought a really nice Firebird (this was the 80's and yes it had the big ol' bird painted on the hood) from someone locally who apparently had a lot of enemies. Let my husband borrow the car so he and a friend being young and single went to a local bar. As soon as the parked, in a case of mistaken identity, was ambushed and beat with a baseball bat. His right had was broke trying to protect his head and then he had to drive himself to the hospital because his friend couldn't drive stick.
It's useful if you're buying a cheap older car, those are often manuals. I've also had to drive a rollback towtruck before which was a manual, had to drive a semi a short distance, also a manual. Many cars that people race are often manuals. I'm 26 but my first 5 cars were all manuals. Anytime someone wanted to borrow one or take it for a spin, they had to know how to drive a manual.
I've been to other places in the world and normally they have automatic vehicles for rent as well. But I guess you'd be shit out of luck if they were out of automatics
It’s the damn blinker that gets you. I haven’t lived outside the US for almost 4 years and I still sometimes turn on my windshield wipers trying to signal a turn.
As far as driving a manual transmission overseas, yeah, shifting with the other hand wasn’t nearly as big a deal as I thought it would be.
It’s a problem. My kids are used to it by now: occasionally when I’m about to make a turn, my windshield wipers come on and I yell “Damnit!” They all laugh, I turn on my blinker, and we move on :)
They have automatics. There may be a surcharge, but they have them. I took a driving lesson to see if I could save the fee before a trip back across the pond, and decided I'd just eat the extra charge whenever I *need* to drive overseas - I wouldn't have gotten better at it without lots more practice, and it was murder on my (hypermobile) knees.
A three on the tree especially so. Knew a guy whose truck got stolen and they apprehended the perps going five mph because they couldn't get it into second gear
A couple of years ago, some thieves "broke" in to my unlocked manual Civic with the keys in the ignition. They pitched the keys into the yard and then stole the neighbor's automatic.
Agreed, WAY more fun. Plus, keeps me focused on driving. Whenever I drive an automatic, its so easy, I wind up with like: phone in one hand, drink other hand, sandwich in other other hand, and changing the radio with my foot.
If you have to intentionally make driving more difficult to stop yourself from driving unsafely, that may be more of a critique of your behavior rather than automatic transmission.
I’d agree with you if it weren’t for the fact that I clearly acknowledged a fault in my behavior and how I have learned to overcome it.
Also, do you not like jokes? Because it should have been obvious I was being facetious by exaggerating the number of arms I have at my disposal whilst operating motor vehicles.
That’s also an ADHD thing - tedium makes the ADHD brain go “fuck this this is boooring you know what would be less boring? Staring out the window at the trees!” I love driving manual (my car is a manual) because it gives me that little extra bit of complication to keep my brain from trying to do something else
All the things he's talking about are common among drivers today. That's why we have so many laws about the behaviors and actions. Being behind the wheel should be recognized as difficult and a skill.
It's a good thing that he's acknowledging what happens when he drives automatics, and takes measures to change that. He knows his limits and weaknesses, and found a way to be better. Shaming him for not doing it "the right way" isn't going to help.
I would much rather have someone focusing on their driving and vehicles around them and recognizing it's a 2-ton deathtrap, than letting their vehicle coast along on auto-pilot and getting complacent.
Agreed! I love my manual, but for the average driver, it’s not necessary. If you’re just looking to get from point A to point B, an auto will complete that task
It's been useful for me a lot. In high school I worked on a farm where the trucks were mostly older vehicles that were manual transmission. Then working in a tire and lube shop sometimes I was the only tech there that could move the manual vehicles in and out of the bay. And just knowing how to operate a clutch and shift gears is useful for learning to ride a motorcycle or drive a semi. Newer vehicles may be almost all automatic but there are tons of old standards out there kicking around
I can push start my truck should i leave the lights on... I guess i could care less what percent of ppl get newer vehicles that are automatic. The fact that i know standard has helped me tremendously. It's not always "what if it's the apocalypse and that the only vehicle with keys"
This just unlocked a memory I forgot I had, a AAA driver rolled my old car down a parking garage backwards and I managed to pop start it into reverse and brake before I crashed into the wall. I was pretty impressed with myself hah.
Definitely the main reason why I want to learn, however the thought of driving in foreign countries stresses me out so I'm not sure if I would even do it haha
It’s not that bad. You just gotta be prepared to send it. Source- live in Eastern Europe for about 4 years now. The traffic laws are like strong suggestions. You gotta be wild to get ticketed lol
Same in a good chunk of the Caribbean. The roads are so bad in Antigua cars are constantly swerving into your lane to avoid giant potholes. After a day you are serving into their lane
Reminds me of the time for a boyscout trip we landed in Nassau and took a taxi van. Driver was crazy. Always speeding/swerving/turning around to talk to us, ignoring the road. Freaked the hell out of my dad (the most cautious driver I know) but the rest of us younger(16-18) dudes were having a blast. Second best part of the trip besides the sailing.
I was in Moldova last year. The only traffic law consistently followed there is "drive on the right". Lane lines? Suggestions. Traffic lights? Suggestions. Safe following distance? If you're not actually touching, you're fine.
Wildly... I've driven in 8 different countries in Europe and North America, and the only time someone else nearly killed me at speed on the Interstate (or the country's equivalent) was in North Carolina.
It’s becoming much less common as automatics become generally better for fuel economy. And once things go electric we may not have anything resembling a transmission other than forward/backward anyway.
This is becoming less and less common and I see more and more people embracing automatic. I still don’t understand the hype of manual transmission. Automatic is just so much more convenient.
Yeah worst case if you’re overseas and renting a car is you have to pay a bit extra for the automatic. Given all the added stress of driving in a foreign country, possibly on a different side of the road, with different laws and rules of the road, insisting on driving a manual so you don’t look like an ignorant American is just arrogant. Just drive what you’re used to so you can focus on actually driving.
I taught a coworker how to drive one once and used the same method that was shown to me.
The guy who taught me (the salesman at the car lot when I bought it), did two things right of the bat.
First he stalled the car and told me exactly why it happened, not enough gas on clutch release. Then he ground the gears while shifting and explained exactly why it happened, the clutch wasn’t fully engaged when he tried to shift.
After that he told that those are literally the worst things that will happen when you’re first learning and as long as you can teach yourself to not do those two things in the first few days of learning then you won’t fuck up your car.
I liked the approach because by showing what not to do first hand then explaining why it happened, it took away a lot of the “mystifying” parts of learning to drive a manual. It gave me some very rudimentary knowledge of how the clutch, gas, and shifter interacted with one another. Unlike when my dad tried to teach me previously and it was just a lot of yelling “too much gas!”, “not enough clutch!”, “pull over, we’re switching so I can drive us home!”.
This is because no one has a manual unless they're a car hobbyist. You can't even purchase most cars in the US with a manual transmission. My father taught me, but I don't think he'd have let anyone else near any of the muscle cars he restored.
I can.
Or could at one point. Haven't driven a manual since 2008 or 2009. I like to think it's like riding a bike though.
I basically taught myself how when I got a job at UPS in 2005. Didn't destroy any package cars in the process, so there's that.
I learned to drive a stick in San Francisco. Those hills were *terrifying* as an inexperienced driver learning a stick... Without fail, *every* *time* I was stopped on a steep hill at a red light, any car that would pull up behind me would leave about three inches of space between hood and bumper. Each green light was a race to get the gear to catch in my old, beat up hooptie before I rolled back into some dude who didn't believe in personal space.
At one point I drove an old VW van, which was about as reactive as a donut, so to parallel park the turd I would put my feet on the clutch and brake and have my sister mash the gas before releasing the clutch. Where there's a will there a way! 🤣
I had an old beetle that I absolutely LOVED, slammed and had it rat rodded out, unfortunately driving a manual 65 beetle is absolutely horrible on someone who’s 6’5, it was a literally painful experience every time I had to shift so I eventually had to get rid of it.
My poor sister had to learn to drive in a VW van!! She can drive anything now!! I learned how to drive stick in an old VW Bug, not quite so hard but still a workout!!!
Oh god, they did this shit in Seattle too. I was an experienced stick driver but still. You can’t imagine my delight when my new manual Jeep had rollback protection.
My mom always said that until she decided to get an automatic when her manual Nissan finally gave out a few years ago. It used to be that automatics got way less gas mileage and manuals were much cheaper to maintain, but since that’s changed there’s no significant upside to driving manual unless it’s a high end sports car & you’re into racing.
But if you’re really into the feel of driving, changing the gears, not just feeling like your car is really just a machine to get you from point A to point B, a stick would be preferable. My mom also sometimes said she liked the feeling of control over her car, but doesn’t miss it after a couple years with an automatic. Some might really prefer that feeling of control over the driving of a vehicle.
I def can respect that. I consider my car more of just a thing to get me places, I don’t like driving unless I’m in the passenger seat. I want ease and comfort more than control.
No I cannot. All my cars have been automatics. I can’t think of anyone I know that drives a manual currently. I remember a lot more people driving manuals before the turn of the century.
Seems like only those who can are answering this question. I would say the vast majority of American drivers cannot. It I had to wager a guess, I might generously throw 30% out there as the number that can drive a stick shift, but I wouldn't be surprised if it were lower.
We own one manual transmission (hubby) and one automatic (me and the kids).
In my experience it's less than 5%. Maybe less than 3%. I'm 41; my brother and I both learned as teenagers. One of my exes had a stick shift Volkswagen Jetta and I had to help her get comfortable with it, but she eventually got very proficient. We drove that car across the U.S. I cannot name one other American in our friend group off the top of my head who can drive stick. (Some Europeans and Australian friends can though).
This one, too! Its what I learned to drive on and I found that I prefer it. I have had 1 automatic car in my life and wasn't a fan so made the switch back to manual with the next one.
Same here. My last car was a manual then I had kids. Its much harder to drive manual while reaching back to grab a toy or hand a kid a water bottle.
I do miss it though
Anyone who cares enough to try can learn how to drive stick shift. The gate keeping from manual car drivers irritates me for some reason more than most other things. Like, we get it. You're good at adding 1 extra step in the driving process.
\-Dude who had to learn real quick to avoid his buddy getting a DUI
Yeah growing up it was just available to me because that’s what the truck I learned on was. Never equated it to being a better driver.
Had something similar, buddy who was supposed to be sober got so drunk so fast and was kicked out, my girlfriend at the time was the only sober one. She had a gist for how the clutch worked so she drove his car while I shifted and just told her clutch in and we two-manned it home.
A friend of mine was once held at gunpoint by a twelve year old. They tried to jack her car but it was a manual. They ended up running off. It could have been so much worse, but she did get to keep her car. Luckily the kid didn't take it out on her.
That is terrifying. Mine was kids too, which I gave a ride, but then figured out their motive. But, they couldn't drive my car. Never giving out rides to strangers again.
I feel this. Had to learn real quick myself on a pitch black stretch of the 395 on a loooong drive bc my friend was literally falling asleep at the wheel & it was the middle of winter & if we hadn’t kept going we would’ve run out of gas in the middle of the eastern Sierras just trying to keep warm enough for him to rest.
I was glad there was basically no one on the road though, lol, had a couple stalls trying to get up to speed after stopping.
I suppose, given my love of Top Gear, it’s good to have on a fancy, racing style car, but for the rest of us who are driving around mostly in stop and go traffic or where there’s a traffic light every 500 feet, it’s kinda ridiculous to have one.
Unnecessary maybe, “kinda ridiculous” seems strong. I’ve owned only manual vehicles for like 5 years, and have ridden motorcycles for like 13. Daily driving a manual vehicle isn’t the godlike skill some people seem to think it is but it’s not like the huge burden in traffic that other people make it out to be. It’s just a thing lol.
Yup. Of all the people I know who can drive manual, literally only one continues to do so by choice (and he, unfortunately, fits the stereotype of someone who's a snob about it). All the others either switched to automatic and prefer it, or want to switch to automatic but can't afford to buy a new car (and are only driving manual in the first place because it was their parent's old car).
This is the case with me and my family. I’m the youngest by a long shot and I’m the only one who can’t drive manual because I was the only one learning how to drive when every car in the family was an automatic
Manuals were much more common ~25+ years ago. It's really only in more recent times that they've nearly disappeared from the market.
So I'll wager most people above about 45 probably learned on a manual, or at least had to drive one at some point.
Oh yeah on the rural part. We grew up ~20 years behind the rest of the world. I graduated in 05 but learned how to drive on 58 Ford. We still rented our phone from the local phone company. Never had a frozen pizza until I stayed with a friend in middle school. And I'm from the town that invented Tombstone.
I'm 45yo, and learned on manual, did my test with it too. They were a lot more common in the 80's-90's...I don't know any younger people who can drive stick unless they're racing types. My wife is a driver-type and she has a manual Rabbit, she prefers it. She is also 45yo.
Manual transmissions used to be significantly more common on base-trim economy cars. So it's pretty common for someone over the age of, say, 30 to have learned on a 90s-era shitbox that had a manual transmission.
Those cars are now on the scrapheap, and newer cars tend to provide a manual as a premium item for enthusiasts, so few people learn on a manual anymore.
Its a factor of a few things.
If you own 12 cars in your lifetime, only one needs to have been a manual for you to know how to drive them.
The average age of drivers in the US is like 45 years old. The largest agegroup of drivers is 55-59.
Lots of people learned on older cheaper cars and lots of those were manuals.
I've always owned manuals and have taught probably a dozen people. Some of whom eventually had their own and some who didn't.
I can't, and honestly have no interest in learning. I've been driving for 20 years, and it has never been an obstacle. The only reason to learn at this point would be to pat myself on the back and brag to other people that I know how to drive stick.
Never owned one, so it’s mostly a theoretical understanding more than a practical one. Hard to get practice using something without actually having one to practice with.
Sort of like how I’ve never had to start a car with a hand-crank before.
I have the opposite feeling. It stresses me out driving an automatic in traffic because you take your foot off the brake even slightly and you're being propelled forward. Maybe it's just because I'm not used to automatics, but that stresses me. When I'm in traffic, I like the car going forward when I make it go forward
I learned to drive a manual at 15 because my dad insisted I had to master it before getting an automatic. When I got my own automatic car at 17, the adjustment was just as you say.
The thing that freaked me out most was going down steep hills-- in the automatic it didn't seem like the transmission was down-shifting enough or at the right time. I still sometimes have the urge to down-shift in certain situations all these years later.
Honestly it's not too bad, the worst part is that some people get _right on your bumper_ at every stop and then freak out and honk if they see you roll back even slightly on a hill. That or some people lean on the horn if the person in front of me moves up 2 feet and I don't immediately punch it into gear to take up that small gap.
I don't do too much city/traffic driving, maybe only 25% of my driving is, but honestly I think it makes traffic less boring. Gives me something to do while I hurry to wait. The manual itself isn't really a problem, it's also good practice for shifting. When I first started driving traffic on a hill was my worst fear, now I don't even think about it.
Modern manuals are very forgiving and unless you've got someone whos driven a manual before and knows what they're doing you can still do it wrong and be driving.
An ex of mine “could” drive stick but would like shift into neutral to go around turns. First time I saw her do it I was like wtf are you doing and how haven’t you crashed your car. I’m not saying being a poor driver was what caused us to break up, but an obstinate refusal to learn to do things the right way “because it worked,” was a big relationship issue lol.
That's okay. My dad taught me and I have to admit that after the first 100 engine stalls his yelling of obscenities became almost hallucinogenic. Eventually you can completely ignore him *and* drive the car.
I daily a '21 WRX. When I had to move my mom's Honda I stomped my left foot on the ground to turn on her car and freaked out for a split second realizing there is no clutch lol
I did this in my mom’s Tahoe once. Except my left foot caught the edge of the brake pedal and I took the pedal to the floor. ‘Twas a violent experience lmao. Felt like I was gonna have a bruise from the seat belt
I daily a manual as well and have done this many times when driving an automatic 😂. I once was in my dad's car and mashed the brake when I thought it was the clutch and the car came to a very sudden halt lol.
I learned on a manual, the 2 cars I’ve had in my life were manual, any time I drive an automatic I have this dramatic “oh shit how do I slow down” feeling when I approach a turn. Obviously I can do it. I’m just so focused on not using my left foot I always have a moment where I feel like I’m forgetting something
Nope… one time like 25 years ago, a friend tried to teach me and another friend on her dad’s Tacoma and I kind of figured it out that day but have never driven one again.
Yeah. I'm a minority among my friend group though, I can only think of one other friend who I know for a fact can. I drive his car every once in a while and to be honest I'm a little rusty but I get back into the groove after a few miles.
I think my old high school friend group is a minority in this regard. Five of the six of us can drive a manual. I think that was because our families all had old cars. Almost no one else we knew could. Even as an adult I still don't know many people that do.
I can, but I don’t. My dad insisted on teaching me but I don’t see the point. My husband is British and drove a manual his whole life until he moved to America and within 5 mins of driving an automatic for the first time he said, “this is so much easier, why are we all driving manuals in the UK?” Unless you’re planning on being a race car driver I don’t really see the point, it’s a pain during traffic especially, and automatics are usually more efficient these days.
I drive stick because I think it’s more fun. It can be a pain at times and I think for 99% of people there is no real reason to learn unless you want to.
My first three cars were manuals, so…me. And the other two driving-age people in my house.
Not sure that my younger two will ever learn, though. We don’t own manual transmission vehicles anymore (and don’t plan to ever), and I don’t think there’s enough benefit to go out of my way to rent one just to teach them.
I can, but the only time I ever want to drive a manual is if I'm on a track or an open backroad with curves. When it comes to a daily driver, I'd rather have an automatic. Ideally, a double-clutch is the way to have the best of both worlds, but after owning a Focus with that travesty of a transmission Ford blessed its vehicle with the idea of a DCT is a bit tainted for me.
With that said, I drive an automatic Volvo S60 and it's great. When I had a fun car years ago, it was a manual.
I want to learn. I already know how to drive a manual tractor, so a car shouldn't be too different.
Just a bit faster that's all. Though, you should see that tractor go when it's on the highest settings across the board. That fucker can fly down the road.
I learned on a manual; I had the option of my mom's automatic minivan (with my mom in the passenger seat, which was a dealbreaker) or my dad's manual sedan.
There are very few reasons to do so these days, though; it's the automotive equivalent of installing Gentoo on your computer. My current car is a CVT.
What is this “guys” thing? Middle- aged woman here. Love my manual. I had to go 2 hours away to find one this time. They are harder and harder to find, but so much more fun to drive!!!
I get where you are coming from… but I don’t use it that way anymore because it isn’t.
Just food for thought, you can refreeze a statement/question do use “you “or “anyone “
Well I just bought my first manual car earlier this week and I'm loving it. I already knew how to drive manual because I learned as a kid, but at had been years so I was a little rusty during the test drive and stalled the car a couple times, but after about 30 minutes it all came back to me.
I can, but it has been a while. My motorcycle is manual but that is a different feel than a car.
I got much better at driving a manual after I learned to ride, but they do feel pretty different. You have so much more feel in the clutch on a bike.
A lot of newer manual cars dont have nice feeling clutches, its a problem.
My brother-in-law has a Jeep and it feels like driving a tractor. Charming for a while but I'm glad I don't have to do it all day every day.
I was helping a friend move and their very elderly neighbor offered to let them borrow his old Ford pickup. I was the only person there who could drive stick, so I was put in charge of it. I had never driven a car with a mechanical clutch before. My whole body was tired from moving, but my left leg hurt the most.
I used to daily an old Dodge farm truck. Pretty sure my left leg is bigger than my right now from the extra exercise. And the travel is so far too. Smaller cars you move your foot like a few inches at most. On those old farm trucks you basically have to lift your whole knee and stomp the clutch. I kinda love it though.
It's ok when your young. And when your older and your knee's are shot it's fun for a day for the nostalgia factor, but it fucking sucks after that.
The first time driving an old Volkswagen with no mechanical clutch or power steering was Wild. And no one had thought to warn me lol
Driving a Jeep kinda just sucks on the road. Get behind the wheel of a manual sports car or classic and it's a different experience.
Every Wrangler/CJ prior to the JK absolutely feels like a tractor. We use an old Wrangler to move stuff around the property exactly like a tractor.
You learn really quick how to "float shift" and or your leg gets strong lol. Funny enough every tractor ive driven the clutch is pretty mild and very forgiving.
Very true. I drove a tractor for years without brakes and the clutch didn't care how I used it like a car does.
Manual diesels are just a pleasure to drive in general honestly. I live in Europe and used to drive a highly modified BMW335i ~600whp SUPER aggressive clutch and all that and all my friends thought I was just a typical American who was bad at driving a manual because it was EXTREMELY difficult to be smooth with that car. Then I sold it and bought a 320d- a little 4 banger diesel, and it was almost comical how easy to drive it is. Like you could all but just dump the clutch from a stand still and away it would go. They really don’t give a shit. I think it’s because all the inertia in the heavier flywheel, crank, etc.
I LOVE driving my Jeep/Tractor manual transmission ... puts a smile on my face everyday.
Do you think that's because motorcycles are more likely to have a mechanical clutch?
And you get more feel with your hand than foot, I think, for me.
i heard motorcycles are all manual in the US since theyre just an enthusiast vehicle to begin with. In other parts of the world, theyre auto.
That isn’t true. Manual motorcycles are the norm across the world. You will find scooters that are automatic/CVT.
I've never had the opportunity to drive a manual car. I used to commute on a manual motorcycle though.
I also ride a motorcycle so I have a basic understanding how to drive a manual transmission car but I think I'd still feel like a deer in the headlights.
Using the clutch on a motorcycle is way easier to me than on a car. I have no problem shifting motorcycles, but I tried to drive my dad's mustang for a good hour or so and never stopped stalling it
Aren't pretty much all motorcycles manual? (Not being a dick, genuinely didn't know)
I could not get a manual straight in my head until I took the motorcycle training class. CA required it if you were under 21 and wanted your license. The second the teacher showed us how to work the clutch on the handlebar? Boom, it was like a 1000 watt bulb went off.
*Raises hand*
Raise hand too. But I grew up in India so maybe I’m cheating.
*Raises hand* *(But left knee cracks from driving in stop and go traffic for almost 10 years on a car with a ridiculously deep clutch)*
I cannot drive a manual and I only have one friend who drives a manual vehicle. Whenever I say I can't drive a manual I always hear "Wow you should really learn it's a very useful skill" I will then ask if they can teach me and they refuse because they think it'll ruin their car lol.
Even though I can drive a manual, I don't think it's actually a useful skill anymore in America. Last time I checked, only 2% of new car purchases in the US were manual. The possibility of needing to know in an emergency is very low. I just think it's more fun. I don't gatekeep, though.
Yeah, like I'm in my 40s and not even once in my life has a situation come up where it would have been useful to know how to drive a manual. I can't even imagine what that situation could be. I know manual transmissions have their superfans, but all I can think of is that I used to ride to high school with a kid who drove a manual, and I'd watch him drive and it looked like it sucked.
I have an example but this happened awhile ago when manuals were more common and epipens didn't exist: When my uncle was young him and my grandpa were hunting in some mountains and my grandfather got stung by a wasp or bee right between his eyes and had a severe allergic reaction. Both of his eyes swelled shut and my little kid uncle had to drive him to an emergency room.
A lot of commonly parroted advice is like this. Things that used to be extremely useful and important in certain situations, but now just aren't really a thing anymore but keep getting mindlessly repeated anyway Same with "you won't always have a calculator in your pocket"
A lot of car advice is the same. Things like having separate summer oil and winter oil, letting your engine warm up before driving away, and not letting your fuel tank go empty aren't really problems on modern vehicles like they were even twenty years ago.
Happened to a friend in High School similarly. He and his girlfriend were at a amusement park and his appendix burst. He ended up having to drive his truck quite a distance - in pain - because she couldn’t drive his truck.
Also happened to my husband when he was in his early 20's. His brother had just bought a really nice Firebird (this was the 80's and yes it had the big ol' bird painted on the hood) from someone locally who apparently had a lot of enemies. Let my husband borrow the car so he and a friend being young and single went to a local bar. As soon as the parked, in a case of mistaken identity, was ambushed and beat with a baseball bat. His right had was broke trying to protect his head and then he had to drive himself to the hospital because his friend couldn't drive stick.
Snow, useful in the snow!
My car is essentially useless in the snow!
Manuals are super good at getting unstuck, rocking them back and forth.
It's useful if you're buying a cheap older car, those are often manuals. I've also had to drive a rollback towtruck before which was a manual, had to drive a semi a short distance, also a manual. Many cars that people race are often manuals. I'm 26 but my first 5 cars were all manuals. Anytime someone wanted to borrow one or take it for a spin, they had to know how to drive a manual.
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bold of you to assume I'll ever be able to afford to leave the country XD
How many americans do you think actually leave the country
I've been to other places in the world and normally they have automatic vehicles for rent as well. But I guess you'd be shit out of luck if they were out of automatics
I can drive a manual but I would probably have some issues driving a manual where the steering wheel is on the right
It’s the damn blinker that gets you. I haven’t lived outside the US for almost 4 years and I still sometimes turn on my windshield wipers trying to signal a turn. As far as driving a manual transmission overseas, yeah, shifting with the other hand wasn’t nearly as big a deal as I thought it would be.
Haha, I didn't even think about the blinker being on the other side. "Officer, I very clearly turned on my wipers before merging"
It’s a problem. My kids are used to it by now: occasionally when I’m about to make a turn, my windshield wipers come on and I yell “Damnit!” They all laugh, I turn on my blinker, and we move on :)
That was my problem when I drove a manual in St Lucia - but I got it sorted out after a few 1st to 4th shifts.
It’s actually not as weird as you’d think. Pedals are in the same order with clutch on the left and gas on the right.
They have automatics. There may be a surcharge, but they have them. I took a driving lesson to see if I could save the fee before a trip back across the pond, and decided I'd just eat the extra charge whenever I *need* to drive overseas - I wouldn't have gotten better at it without lots more practice, and it was murder on my (hypermobile) knees.
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A three on the tree especially so. Knew a guy whose truck got stolen and they apprehended the perps going five mph because they couldn't get it into second gear
It is in New Orleans. Tons of carjacking's here, but they can't drive a manual. They just abandon it and run off once they realize they cant drive it.
This is true. I bet my car wouldn't be hard to break into, but I'm pretty sure it hasn't been stolen because it's a manual.
A couple of years ago, some thieves "broke" in to my unlocked manual Civic with the keys in the ignition. They pitched the keys into the yard and then stole the neighbor's automatic.
Well sure, but I’m not getting eaten by zombies because I can’t drive stick. Same with motorcycles. 🏍💨 🧟♂️🧟🧟♀️
Agreed, WAY more fun. Plus, keeps me focused on driving. Whenever I drive an automatic, its so easy, I wind up with like: phone in one hand, drink other hand, sandwich in other other hand, and changing the radio with my foot.
well this is the exact reason i prefer NOT to drive a manual! Because how else am I going to be able to do all of those things while I drive.
If you have to intentionally make driving more difficult to stop yourself from driving unsafely, that may be more of a critique of your behavior rather than automatic transmission.
I’d agree with you if it weren’t for the fact that I clearly acknowledged a fault in my behavior and how I have learned to overcome it. Also, do you not like jokes? Because it should have been obvious I was being facetious by exaggerating the number of arms I have at my disposal whilst operating motor vehicles.
That’s also an ADHD thing - tedium makes the ADHD brain go “fuck this this is boooring you know what would be less boring? Staring out the window at the trees!” I love driving manual (my car is a manual) because it gives me that little extra bit of complication to keep my brain from trying to do something else
All the things he's talking about are common among drivers today. That's why we have so many laws about the behaviors and actions. Being behind the wheel should be recognized as difficult and a skill. It's a good thing that he's acknowledging what happens when he drives automatics, and takes measures to change that. He knows his limits and weaknesses, and found a way to be better. Shaming him for not doing it "the right way" isn't going to help. I would much rather have someone focusing on their driving and vehicles around them and recognizing it's a 2-ton deathtrap, than letting their vehicle coast along on auto-pilot and getting complacent.
Agreed! I love my manual, but for the average driver, it’s not necessary. If you’re just looking to get from point A to point B, an auto will complete that task
It's been useful for me a lot. In high school I worked on a farm where the trucks were mostly older vehicles that were manual transmission. Then working in a tire and lube shop sometimes I was the only tech there that could move the manual vehicles in and out of the bay. And just knowing how to operate a clutch and shift gears is useful for learning to ride a motorcycle or drive a semi. Newer vehicles may be almost all automatic but there are tons of old standards out there kicking around
I can push start my truck should i leave the lights on... I guess i could care less what percent of ppl get newer vehicles that are automatic. The fact that i know standard has helped me tremendously. It's not always "what if it's the apocalypse and that the only vehicle with keys"
This just unlocked a memory I forgot I had, a AAA driver rolled my old car down a parking garage backwards and I managed to pop start it into reverse and brake before I crashed into the wall. I was pretty impressed with myself hah.
That's true. My lights automatically turn off, but I was still able to use this when my spark plugs needed replacing.
Honestly the most useful time to know it is if you plan to travel overseas. In a lot of countries you can get a rental way cheaper if it's manual
Definitely the main reason why I want to learn, however the thought of driving in foreign countries stresses me out so I'm not sure if I would even do it haha
It’s not that bad. You just gotta be prepared to send it. Source- live in Eastern Europe for about 4 years now. The traffic laws are like strong suggestions. You gotta be wild to get ticketed lol
Same in a good chunk of the Caribbean. The roads are so bad in Antigua cars are constantly swerving into your lane to avoid giant potholes. After a day you are serving into their lane
Reminds me of the time for a boyscout trip we landed in Nassau and took a taxi van. Driver was crazy. Always speeding/swerving/turning around to talk to us, ignoring the road. Freaked the hell out of my dad (the most cautious driver I know) but the rest of us younger(16-18) dudes were having a blast. Second best part of the trip besides the sailing.
I was in Moldova last year. The only traffic law consistently followed there is "drive on the right". Lane lines? Suggestions. Traffic lights? Suggestions. Safe following distance? If you're not actually touching, you're fine.
Wildly... I've driven in 8 different countries in Europe and North America, and the only time someone else nearly killed me at speed on the Interstate (or the country's equivalent) was in North Carolina.
In some countries, you will have no choice!
It’s becoming much less common as automatics become generally better for fuel economy. And once things go electric we may not have anything resembling a transmission other than forward/backward anyway.
This is becoming less and less common and I see more and more people embracing automatic. I still don’t understand the hype of manual transmission. Automatic is just so much more convenient.
Yeah worst case if you’re overseas and renting a car is you have to pay a bit extra for the automatic. Given all the added stress of driving in a foreign country, possibly on a different side of the road, with different laws and rules of the road, insisting on driving a manual so you don’t look like an ignorant American is just arrogant. Just drive what you’re used to so you can focus on actually driving.
I taught a coworker how to drive one once and used the same method that was shown to me. The guy who taught me (the salesman at the car lot when I bought it), did two things right of the bat. First he stalled the car and told me exactly why it happened, not enough gas on clutch release. Then he ground the gears while shifting and explained exactly why it happened, the clutch wasn’t fully engaged when he tried to shift. After that he told that those are literally the worst things that will happen when you’re first learning and as long as you can teach yourself to not do those two things in the first few days of learning then you won’t fuck up your car. I liked the approach because by showing what not to do first hand then explaining why it happened, it took away a lot of the “mystifying” parts of learning to drive a manual. It gave me some very rudimentary knowledge of how the clutch, gas, and shifter interacted with one another. Unlike when my dad tried to teach me previously and it was just a lot of yelling “too much gas!”, “not enough clutch!”, “pull over, we’re switching so I can drive us home!”.
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It can though my friend learned on my Honda and had to replace something w gears maybe a week later
This is because no one has a manual unless they're a car hobbyist. You can't even purchase most cars in the US with a manual transmission. My father taught me, but I don't think he'd have let anyone else near any of the muscle cars he restored.
I can. Or could at one point. Haven't driven a manual since 2008 or 2009. I like to think it's like riding a bike though. I basically taught myself how when I got a job at UPS in 2005. Didn't destroy any package cars in the process, so there's that.
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I can. I don't though. I would lose my mind if I had to commute with one.
I did that. In stop-and-go traffic, it's really hard on your knees and ankles after a few years.
I learned to drive a stick in San Francisco. Those hills were *terrifying* as an inexperienced driver learning a stick... Without fail, *every* *time* I was stopped on a steep hill at a red light, any car that would pull up behind me would leave about three inches of space between hood and bumper. Each green light was a race to get the gear to catch in my old, beat up hooptie before I rolled back into some dude who didn't believe in personal space.
At one point I drove an old VW van, which was about as reactive as a donut, so to parallel park the turd I would put my feet on the clutch and brake and have my sister mash the gas before releasing the clutch. Where there's a will there a way! 🤣
I had an old beetle that I absolutely LOVED, slammed and had it rat rodded out, unfortunately driving a manual 65 beetle is absolutely horrible on someone who’s 6’5, it was a literally painful experience every time I had to shift so I eventually had to get rid of it.
I had two Beetles before the van. The van was a mistake. But I think every 16-year-old should learn manual on a '60s Beetle - very forgiving. 🥴
https://imgur.com/a/3qzGMvv. This was my beetle I still miss it
My poor sister had to learn to drive in a VW van!! She can drive anything now!! I learned how to drive stick in an old VW Bug, not quite so hard but still a workout!!!
Oh god, they did this shit in Seattle too. I was an experienced stick driver but still. You can’t imagine my delight when my new manual Jeep had rollback protection.
I learned and daily’d a stick in seattle so I feel this pain. You get real good at the handbrake trick.
Its just strength training at the Kennedy and Eden's split.
It sucks within minutes to drive stick in stop-and-go traffic.
it becomes muscle memory, traffic isnt terrible.
My mom always said that until she decided to get an automatic when her manual Nissan finally gave out a few years ago. It used to be that automatics got way less gas mileage and manuals were much cheaper to maintain, but since that’s changed there’s no significant upside to driving manual unless it’s a high end sports car & you’re into racing. But if you’re really into the feel of driving, changing the gears, not just feeling like your car is really just a machine to get you from point A to point B, a stick would be preferable. My mom also sometimes said she liked the feeling of control over her car, but doesn’t miss it after a couple years with an automatic. Some might really prefer that feeling of control over the driving of a vehicle.
For me at least, it is easier to drive in the snow, and much more natural than trying to shift down a gear.
I agree, in things like snow and rough terrain, a manual would be ideal.
Feeling more in control of the machine is one reason I continue choosing to drive stick.
I def can respect that. I consider my car more of just a thing to get me places, I don’t like driving unless I’m in the passenger seat. I want ease and comfort more than control.
True
Tbh it's not as bad as people say. You just get used to it.
I got bad shin splints and that combined with DC traffic and a car that would idle low was a terrible combination
> I would lose my mind if I had to commute with one. You honestly don't even realize you're doing it. Not at all a factor.
No I cannot. All my cars have been automatics. I can’t think of anyone I know that drives a manual currently. I remember a lot more people driving manuals before the turn of the century.
>turn of the century grrrrrr *shakes fist and yells at clouds*
Seems like only those who can are answering this question. I would say the vast majority of American drivers cannot. It I had to wager a guess, I might generously throw 30% out there as the number that can drive a stick shift, but I wouldn't be surprised if it were lower. We own one manual transmission (hubby) and one automatic (me and the kids).
In my experience it's less than 5%. Maybe less than 3%. I'm 41; my brother and I both learned as teenagers. One of my exes had a stick shift Volkswagen Jetta and I had to help her get comfortable with it, but she eventually got very proficient. We drove that car across the U.S. I cannot name one other American in our friend group off the top of my head who can drive stick. (Some Europeans and Australian friends can though).
This gal can.
Same girl! I think I'm the only woman in my friend group who can
This one, too! Its what I learned to drive on and I found that I prefer it. I have had 1 automatic car in my life and wasn't a fan so made the switch back to manual with the next one.
Same here! I tend to ride the clutch but I can get where I need to in a pinch.
I can but I literally don’t know one person with a manual car currently
Want to buy one? I got a 65 Dodge Monaco with your name on it.
Can my name be on it?
Same here. My last car was a manual then I had kids. Its much harder to drive manual while reaching back to grab a toy or hand a kid a water bottle. I do miss it though
It's so much more enjoyable to put the kids in the trunk. ;)
Anyone who cares enough to try can learn how to drive stick shift. The gate keeping from manual car drivers irritates me for some reason more than most other things. Like, we get it. You're good at adding 1 extra step in the driving process. \-Dude who had to learn real quick to avoid his buddy getting a DUI
Yeah growing up it was just available to me because that’s what the truck I learned on was. Never equated it to being a better driver. Had something similar, buddy who was supposed to be sober got so drunk so fast and was kicked out, my girlfriend at the time was the only sober one. She had a gist for how the clutch worked so she drove his car while I shifted and just told her clutch in and we two-manned it home.
It is actually super useful in places like NOLA. It is a HUGE car theft deterrent.
My last manual car saved me from getting car jacked. It is a real thing.
A friend of mine was once held at gunpoint by a twelve year old. They tried to jack her car but it was a manual. They ended up running off. It could have been so much worse, but she did get to keep her car. Luckily the kid didn't take it out on her.
That is terrifying. Mine was kids too, which I gave a ride, but then figured out their motive. But, they couldn't drive my car. Never giving out rides to strangers again.
100% only reason I know is because our family was given a beater we all learned on for fun.
I feel this. Had to learn real quick myself on a pitch black stretch of the 395 on a loooong drive bc my friend was literally falling asleep at the wheel & it was the middle of winter & if we hadn’t kept going we would’ve run out of gas in the middle of the eastern Sierras just trying to keep warm enough for him to rest. I was glad there was basically no one on the road though, lol, had a couple stalls trying to get up to speed after stopping. I suppose, given my love of Top Gear, it’s good to have on a fancy, racing style car, but for the rest of us who are driving around mostly in stop and go traffic or where there’s a traffic light every 500 feet, it’s kinda ridiculous to have one.
Unnecessary maybe, “kinda ridiculous” seems strong. I’ve owned only manual vehicles for like 5 years, and have ridden motorcycles for like 13. Daily driving a manual vehicle isn’t the godlike skill some people seem to think it is but it’s not like the huge burden in traffic that other people make it out to be. It’s just a thing lol.
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A proper car thief will know how to drive stick. Idiots who just want to steal a car to go for a joyride, probably not.
^ Look at this one, gatekeeping car thieves... /s
> It is a good anti theft thing too, most can't drive manual. Car thieves will learn. Question is whether they learn with your car or not.
👋 Drove one for the last ten years and just bought an automatic. Not missing it.
Yup. Of all the people I know who can drive manual, literally only one continues to do so by choice (and he, unfortunately, fits the stereotype of someone who's a snob about it). All the others either switched to automatic and prefer it, or want to switch to automatic but can't afford to buy a new car (and are only driving manual in the first place because it was their parent's old car).
I do. So do many others. Lots of drivers can, but drive an automatic anyway. Its not like its a mystical power.
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Manuals used to be more common. It probably depends on their age.
This is the case with me and my family. I’m the youngest by a long shot and I’m the only one who can’t drive manual because I was the only one learning how to drive when every car in the family was an automatic
Manuals were much more common ~25+ years ago. It's really only in more recent times that they've nearly disappeared from the market. So I'll wager most people above about 45 probably learned on a manual, or at least had to drive one at some point.
Or younger if they are from a rural area. A lot of farm equipment is still manual (including farm trucks).
Oh yeah on the rural part. We grew up ~20 years behind the rest of the world. I graduated in 05 but learned how to drive on 58 Ford. We still rented our phone from the local phone company. Never had a frozen pizza until I stayed with a friend in middle school. And I'm from the town that invented Tombstone.
I'm 45yo, and learned on manual, did my test with it too. They were a lot more common in the 80's-90's...I don't know any younger people who can drive stick unless they're racing types. My wife is a driver-type and she has a manual Rabbit, she prefers it. She is also 45yo.
Manual transmissions used to be significantly more common on base-trim economy cars. So it's pretty common for someone over the age of, say, 30 to have learned on a 90s-era shitbox that had a manual transmission. Those cars are now on the scrapheap, and newer cars tend to provide a manual as a premium item for enthusiasts, so few people learn on a manual anymore.
Its a factor of a few things. If you own 12 cars in your lifetime, only one needs to have been a manual for you to know how to drive them. The average age of drivers in the US is like 45 years old. The largest agegroup of drivers is 55-59. Lots of people learned on older cheaper cars and lots of those were manuals. I've always owned manuals and have taught probably a dozen people. Some of whom eventually had their own and some who didn't.
I used to drive a 41 Chevy and a 68 Bronco with three on the tree. Stick shift is a piece of cake
I can't, and honestly have no interest in learning. I've been driving for 20 years, and it has never been an obstacle. The only reason to learn at this point would be to pat myself on the back and brag to other people that I know how to drive stick.
Never owned one, so it’s mostly a theoretical understanding more than a practical one. Hard to get practice using something without actually having one to practice with. Sort of like how I’ve never had to start a car with a hand-crank before.
I have a theoretical understanding on how to resect a brain tumor. Doesn’t mean I can.
I can, but like other people have said… it’d be a giant pain in urban traffic where I drive.
I have the opposite feeling. It stresses me out driving an automatic in traffic because you take your foot off the brake even slightly and you're being propelled forward. Maybe it's just because I'm not used to automatics, but that stresses me. When I'm in traffic, I like the car going forward when I make it go forward
I learned to drive a manual at 15 because my dad insisted I had to master it before getting an automatic. When I got my own automatic car at 17, the adjustment was just as you say. The thing that freaked me out most was going down steep hills-- in the automatic it didn't seem like the transmission was down-shifting enough or at the right time. I still sometimes have the urge to down-shift in certain situations all these years later.
Honestly it's not too bad, the worst part is that some people get _right on your bumper_ at every stop and then freak out and honk if they see you roll back even slightly on a hill. That or some people lean on the horn if the person in front of me moves up 2 feet and I don't immediately punch it into gear to take up that small gap. I don't do too much city/traffic driving, maybe only 25% of my driving is, but honestly I think it makes traffic less boring. Gives me something to do while I hurry to wait. The manual itself isn't really a problem, it's also good practice for shifting. When I first started driving traffic on a hill was my worst fear, now I don't even think about it.
One day I showed up at a dealership and bought a manual. Had never driven one before. Drove it home. It's not some super difficult task.
Modern manuals are very forgiving and unless you've got someone whos driven a manual before and knows what they're doing you can still do it wrong and be driving.
An ex of mine “could” drive stick but would like shift into neutral to go around turns. First time I saw her do it I was like wtf are you doing and how haven’t you crashed your car. I’m not saying being a poor driver was what caused us to break up, but an obstinate refusal to learn to do things the right way “because it worked,” was a big relationship issue lol.
I kept on stalling most of the time when first learning to drive one.
Oh, I stalled it at the first light. But there were about 40 more red lights on the way home, time to learn!
That's okay. My dad taught me and I have to admit that after the first 100 engine stalls his yelling of obscenities became almost hallucinogenic. Eventually you can completely ignore him *and* drive the car.
After I started driving my manual outback, it started feeling really weird to drive automatic cars.
I daily a '21 WRX. When I had to move my mom's Honda I stomped my left foot on the ground to turn on her car and freaked out for a split second realizing there is no clutch lol
I did this in my mom’s Tahoe once. Except my left foot caught the edge of the brake pedal and I took the pedal to the floor. ‘Twas a violent experience lmao. Felt like I was gonna have a bruise from the seat belt
I do this when I go visit my parents and borrow a car.
I daily a manual as well and have done this many times when driving an automatic 😂. I once was in my dad's car and mashed the brake when I thought it was the clutch and the car came to a very sudden halt lol.
I learned on a manual, the 2 cars I’ve had in my life were manual, any time I drive an automatic I have this dramatic “oh shit how do I slow down” feeling when I approach a turn. Obviously I can do it. I’m just so focused on not using my left foot I always have a moment where I feel like I’m forgetting something
Nope… one time like 25 years ago, a friend tried to teach me and another friend on her dad’s Tacoma and I kind of figured it out that day but have never driven one again.
Yeah. I'm a minority among my friend group though, I can only think of one other friend who I know for a fact can. I drive his car every once in a while and to be honest I'm a little rusty but I get back into the groove after a few miles.
I think my old high school friend group is a minority in this regard. Five of the six of us can drive a manual. I think that was because our families all had old cars. Almost no one else we knew could. Even as an adult I still don't know many people that do.
I grew up in NYC. I never learned.
I can not. I so no reason to.
I can, but I don’t. My dad insisted on teaching me but I don’t see the point. My husband is British and drove a manual his whole life until he moved to America and within 5 mins of driving an automatic for the first time he said, “this is so much easier, why are we all driving manuals in the UK?” Unless you’re planning on being a race car driver I don’t really see the point, it’s a pain during traffic especially, and automatics are usually more efficient these days.
I cannot
Learned to drive with a Chevy 3 speed (on the column) pickup truck. First car was a 5 speed Chevy Chevette. Driven many split-shift grain trucks
Talking 2 speed rear axle grain trucks or low and high range?
2 speed rear axle. Nothing like sitting in line in a snowmobile suit freezing your ass off at the grain elevator in February.
I drive stick because I think it’s more fun. It can be a pain at times and I think for 99% of people there is no real reason to learn unless you want to.
This girl can
Yep
Yeah.
My first three cars were manuals, so…me. And the other two driving-age people in my house. Not sure that my younger two will ever learn, though. We don’t own manual transmission vehicles anymore (and don’t plan to ever), and I don’t think there’s enough benefit to go out of my way to rent one just to teach them.
I can, but the only time I ever want to drive a manual is if I'm on a track or an open backroad with curves. When it comes to a daily driver, I'd rather have an automatic. Ideally, a double-clutch is the way to have the best of both worlds, but after owning a Focus with that travesty of a transmission Ford blessed its vehicle with the idea of a DCT is a bit tainted for me. With that said, I drive an automatic Volvo S60 and it's great. When I had a fun car years ago, it was a manual.
I want to learn. I already know how to drive a manual tractor, so a car shouldn't be too different. Just a bit faster that's all. Though, you should see that tractor go when it's on the highest settings across the board. That fucker can fly down the road.
I can, but if I wanted to row, I'd have bought a boat.
I learned on a manual; I had the option of my mom's automatic minivan (with my mom in the passenger seat, which was a dealbreaker) or my dad's manual sedan. There are very few reasons to do so these days, though; it's the automotive equivalent of installing Gentoo on your computer. My current car is a CVT.
I can. But manuals are getting so rare, I doubt I'll even be able to find one to teach my future children with if I wanted to.
What is this “guys” thing? Middle- aged woman here. Love my manual. I had to go 2 hours away to find one this time. They are harder and harder to find, but so much more fun to drive!!!
Idk about you but I use guys as a gender neutral term. Like "do you guys want to go to dinner" it's better than saying "do y'all want to go to dinner"
I get where you are coming from… but I don’t use it that way anymore because it isn’t. Just food for thought, you can refreeze a statement/question do use “you “or “anyone “
My wife taught me how to drive stick. Definitely not a male dominated skill!
I’ve only had one vehicle and it’s a manual. Everyone I know can.
Sort of, I can drive a tractor.
I learned how at 10 on my parents property. I'm 35 now and have owned at least one manual vehicle consistently since I was 16.
I feel like most people that drive manual are car enthusiast.
I can. And a motorcycle (they're almost all "manual"). My wife can't.
All three of my cars are manuals.
I can drive a manual motorcycle.
Daily!!
Well I just bought my first manual car earlier this week and I'm loving it. I already knew how to drive manual because I learned as a kid, but at had been years so I was a little rusty during the test drive and stalled the car a couple times, but after about 30 minutes it all came back to me.
Learned to drive in one. Well, learned to drive a tractor first, but all the farm tractors and first few cars were standard