Stickshift or Automatic?
 

Right now, I am in limbo between the car I'm supposed to be driving (the stickshift) and my dad's car (an automatic). Since I am INFINITELY more skilled at driving the automatic, that is my current preference, but I expect that to change once I start driving the stickshift more. And once I get the hang of first gear and I don't kill the engine anymore.

What do you all prefer?

Manuals can go faster more quickly, usually.

Zoom zoom.

My car is an automatic and it accelerates sooo slowly. It makes me sad. The only manuals that we have in my family are nice and expensive cars that I wouldn't want to drive because they are nice and expensive, and I don't want to crash them and/or ruin their transmissions.

I drive a manual 350z and while I love driving manual most of the time, sometimes I just don't want to do it. Recently I've been playing tennis at home with my friend and we usually go to Jamba Juice after that. If I'm the one driving, I'd rather take one of my parent's cars since they're automatic because I just don't feel like driving stick. Now I'm not saying that driving stick is tiring or anything. It's just more work than I'd want to do when I'm tired.

All in all though, manual does give you more control and does let you control gas mileage a little bit better (though not by much). It's fun and definitely a nice skill to have if not just for the sake of knowing how to drive stick.

I like driving a stick shift for about two minutes, then I remember why I will never own one again. Multi-tasking while driving is almost impossible when you're driving a stick. I do realize I shouldn't be doing anything besides driving when I'm behind the wheel, but why lie. There's a lot of eating, drinking, lip gloss applying and CD changing that isn't going to do itself.

Put it in D for Dumb and go!

I can't drive stick. I'm a heterosexual and don't have big truck / expensive car syndrome.

Driving stick is not only faster, but a hell of a lot more fun.

I drive both. I prefer neither, really. Like Alice said, multitasking is a bitch when you're driving stick, but in general it's better on gas and it's a lot more fun.

Driving automatic is easier, but kind of boring.

Menina, if you really want to learn stick fast, get yourself in a pickle with the stick where you just HAVE to learn it. I learned it in a matter of 40 minutes when I bought a stick vehicle with the expressed purpose to FORCE myself to learn.

If you're determined, you can totally learn it quickly. =D

I prefer manual, like by a lot. But unfortunately my current car is an automatic. I am currently trying to find a 6 speed manual Acura RSX at an agreeable price, so yeah, I love manual transmissions.

Every car that I've ever owned since I was 17 was a stick shift and really would never dream of buying anything else. I learned to drive it when I was 12 years old and it's just a lot more fun for me.

I've been trying to get my sister to learn how to drive stick shift but it's like Mexican broads can't fucking learn this shit. :mad:

Manual all the way. I love feeling connected to the road and fully involved in the driving process. Automatic feels too disconnected. It's like the difference between using a sequencer and actually playing music. Driving an automatic still feels like I'm just a passenger.

Yet I'm sure you have power steering, which kills the general feeling of the road as you're driving.

My Infiniti is SUPPOSED to have power steering but it hasn't worked since I bought the car and I refuse to fix it.

I don't think it does all the time. Sometimes, it's nicer to be able to focus on just steering instead of switching gears. That's what I experience anyway.

Sadly, I drive an automatic. I wanna learn how to drive a stickshift for kicks.

My dad would teach me, but all our cars are automatic.

I've been driving a manual for close to 6 years now. It wouldn't kill me to drive automatic, but if I had my choice I'd always choose manual transmission.

Automatic for life. I drive in way too much stop-and-go traffic to bother with a clutch.

Interesting, I didn't know so much people loved manual.

I like automatic because I have no clue on how to drive manual and it looks complicated with all the changing gears. Plus, I'll probably be one of those slow driving grandpas, since I have no urge to go any faster than needed.

Yeah, manuals are GREAT for highway driving and long-ways-between-lights. Once you're in the gear you want, you can even whip out a sammich and eat it no prob.

But get into the city and your arm will get tired faster than you can say "holy shit my arm's tired I wish these fags would just go die somewhere."
Then if you're driving solely in the city long enough your arms will be disproportionated. You'll have to lift weights solely with your left arm to match them back up. It's horrible. HORRIBLE! :><:

I'd way rather drive a standard.

I hate driving Automatics seriously DDD:

While I CAN drive a stick, it would be a pain in the ass as I live in the city and the traffic blows. I'll stick with the automatic. ;)

I can do both, but I prefer an auto just cause I like to do a billion things in the car when I drive like mess with my ipod. But my car kinda has the best of both worlds in a way.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...fling/car4.jpg

It's one of those sequential shifters where you can either put it in regular drive, or shift it sideways where you can manually pick the gear. You tap up to shift up and pull back to shift down. Still kinda gives you that racecar feeling, but is great when your friends who can't drive stick have to cart your ass home after a heavy night of drinking.

I have driven a stick while delivering pizzas before. In the suburbs, so I am usually shifting a lot. It's not too bad and it doesn't really get all that tiring. You guys must get tired very easily.

I don't know if it's just me being reckless, but I've never had trouble multitasking in a stick. Talking on the phone while turning, sifting through an iPod or eating. I've done it all and it's not terribly hard. Sure, harder than an automatic, but not difficult.

I would say that me preference depends on the type of car I am driving. If I'm driving something that is faster and sportier, than I would prefer a stick as it would benefit from it greater. Something other than that I would probably prefer to be an automatic.

The lazy man's manual for the win. I prefer to have both due to the fact that clutching is a bitch in stop and go traffic.

Oh please. :tpg: I drive a manual while talking on the phone and filling out my bank deposit slip and eating a cheeseburger. It aint that hard! Ok, maybe not.

I've been driving stick for a few years now. At this point I don't even think about shifting when I shift. I currently own a Saturn Ion and a Honda S2000, which are both stick. I don't plan on going back to automatic until I get married and have a family car or something. (Ha!)

You just wait until you have six screaming brats in the backseat and see if you don't need that right hand to reach back and flail with.

I drive a manual 300ZX, and it's really a lot of fun. I just cruise around all the time just for the sake of driving a bit. The only thing I dislike about the transmission is when I'm sitting in traffic. Besides that, everything is smooth.

Too bad I can't drive at all right now with this fucking hand. :(

Haha, I did that to myself once unintentionally. There was an accident on a very busy road, and I had LOTS of practice with first gear then.

Also, reverse is still really sticky for me...I have a tendency to hit stationary objects, like mailboxes and OTHER CARS.

Manual's the only way as far as I'm concerned. Driving an automatic gets boring fast; manuals allow for a bit more interaction, a bit more fun, and quite a bit more control.

Also, the fun tricks you can pull in manual make it worth it any day. See a cop but don't want to tip him off with your brakes? Downshift a gear or two. Same if someone's riding your ass - downshift and you'll slow down like you're braking with no warning to them and scare the hell out of 'em. And who can forget the ability to push-start your car.

I own both. Auto Civic, manual Opel

My preference is defiantly manual. It keeps me a lot more engaged in driving, otherwise driving just becomes another boring daily task.

I have never driven an automatic, and I never intend to. I prefer to be in absolute control over which gear I want to be in. And I have a love for driving anyway, so I guess it adds to the experience.

Has anyone ever driven a car that can be either manual or automatic? I drove one yesterday and the manual gears were on the steering wheel, which I thought was pretty strange. I wanted to test it out because it seemed kind of interesting, but I was afraid I'd break it.

Yea, my father just bought one last October without knowing it was equipped. It's fucking retarded. It's like...you know, people who don't know how to drive stick can say they have that capability in their new (retarded) vehicle! Even though they will never use it!

I mean, really.

O wait! Looks like Meth has one! Look at that shifter. Isn't that fucking adorable? "Hello! I am a shifter, but I am TOTALLY automatic. I'm just pretending!"

I actually don't have a car, but I drive my parents' automatic. I'm in the process of learning stickshift via my older brother's car, but it's still a bit daunting. I also can't practice like, at all, so my skills are definitely lacking.

When I buy a car, I do plan on getting a manual, since they're a bit cheaper and whatnot.

I gotta say though, people who drive stickshift look MUCH cooler than those driving automatics (almost at the same level crotch-rockets to me) Especially women~~

Aren't those paddle shifters equipped in F1 race cars?
The only thing I've driven is an automatic because that's what my parents drive, I do know how to drive a manual though, in theory. I plan on buying a manual in the near future.

I've actually been thinking about this a lot lately. I just bought a 2007 TSX automatic. However I recently have been thinking that I should have bought a manual. The cool this is that my car has a tiptronic shifter / semi automatic transmission, which is basically a computer controlled clutch.

I guess I have the best of both worlds.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paddle_Shifter
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiptronic

I don't think the TSX is available with manual...at least, the last I checked.

Automatics are a convenience. If that is your thing, that is your thing. It's wholly an American thing, obviously. My Chrysler dealer I work for hardly even sells manual vehicles, aside from big-ass trucks.

Manuals are, however, cheaper, less prone to failure, require less maintenance, and much more durable. Not to mention probably force you to pay more attention when driving.

They also, generally, benefit from greater gas mileages. But with the circumvent of newer, more efficient, computer controlled 5, 6, 7, and even 8 gear automatics, along with electronic throttle controls, that might soon be going out the window. Not to mention those mileage claims are greatly based on good driving habits. And when you have that many gears, automatics can accelerate between all the gears faster than manual input could, unless you're driving a Ferrari with electronic clutch....

I'd like to learn to drive a manual, but until then, I'll stick with my automatic.

They're optional in some high end performance cars, too. The Bentley Continental GT I had the great privledge of driving had the paddle shift system equipped, and boy was that a hell of a lot of fun.

I went from having 3 manual cars to driving an automatic and I can safely say I will never buy a automatic car again.

I pity the Emergency Rescue worker who will someday have to scrape you off your windshield.

Oh, don't worry. He's wearing his seatbelt. :p

As for me, I drive an automatic, always have. Every time I bring up even the POSSIBILITY of learning stickshift from my parents, they go all frowny-face and say "NO YOU DON'T WANT TO DO THAT. IT'S SO DAMN COMPLICATED YOU HAVE TO DO BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH."

Fuckers. :mad:

Been driving manual for almost a year now with my Del Sol. A bit awkward the first time and not to mention those freaky moments with the stalling and the car going backwards...

But I don't think I could miss driving automatic. It just seems too slow. Only thing I miss is power steering :D

Manuals in the long run are better for gas mileage and maintenance *replacing a auto transmission is not fun*.

I just bought a 2007 Nissan Sentra, with the CVT. You wanna talk about boring? You don't even feel the shifting at all, at least with normal automatics you can at least feel the gear shifts, and thus generally have a bit of feel to the car and speed. CVT... it feels so slow since there is no shifting, but then you look down at the speedometer to see that you are actually over the speed limit. It is NOT something i would recommend to those whom are used to manual *even some used to auto*.

I was originally aiming for manual *the new sentra's come standard with 6 speed*, but ended up getting the CVT simply because i do a lot of city driving, and accidents/congestion is very common on the 417 hwy that i travel on every day. Stop and go traffic, I get sick of manuals fairly quick. Second being that Nissan actually claims that the CVT gets better gas mileage than manual, which i'm not too sure entirely, but I have gotten 940km to the tank *mostly highway*. Fourth being that I will probably only keep this for about 5 years, and automatics tend to have a slightly higher resale value.

Still, the biggest advantage is being able to drive and sip water from a bottle without worry, especially as i pretty much refuse to use the A/C unless there is dire need.

Do Americans take their driving tests in manual cars or automatics?

Us English folk always learn in manual cars and most of the cars here usually just have manual gears. Therefore, manual gears for the win. Having said that I've never actually drove an automatic.

If you have a shitty auto then sure, auto is shitty. Mine will upshift anywhere from 10,20,30 or 25,60,85 depending on how hard I gun it; for an auto it makes a pretty nice rice rocket. It mostly tunes mileage/power to my mood that way. My eclipse has sportronic (their name for it), and I use the hell out of the engine braking, and trips up/over mountains, but home in flat country I hardly ever use it for driving.

Sticks are nice if you have a sweet setup where you just tap the clutch and pull, or time it so well it needs none at all. I don't know, my friend doesn't let me touch his lancer. Not so hot when you have to shove the clutch on the floor, yank the fucker (still grinding a touch), and half the time you have to double-clutch or it stalls, even in high gears. Old jeeps are shitty for learning.

I've had a van and an early blazer, both shitty autos, but I'd take a shitty auto over a shitty stick still. I admit a decent stick on a crappy car might be better if you like to drive the hell out of it. (Okay, I will admit I killed Blazer's transmission and I had to drive it in some kind of auto-manual hybrid, using 1 & 2, which would kick up to 3 after a while. 80 mph in 3rd was deafening.)

I'd like to buy a CVT sometime, or at least test drive one. I know Toyota's experimenting with adding engine noise in; kitschy, but exactly for the reason that most people gauge speed that way. It's impossible to beat a properly tuned CVT's mileage, but I don't know if they're anywhere near the theoretical limit yet.

Xtreme, you take the test in whatever the hell you bring, as long as it's registered it can be a 1937 packard that needs crank-starting.

All this "eliteness" people associate with manual transmission and V6 engines is a joke. In the end, you're still only going to McDonalds or Circuit City. Assuming your car is in fine working condition, the only thing that ultimately matters is how damn good it looks.

I've never tried to drive a stickshift, but it seems like an unnecessary hassle to me. Why not have the car do all that for me instead of worrying about it myself? Maybe in 30 years when I hit mid-life crisis mode I'll learn for some fancy car, but I seriously doubt it.

Are you kidding, in thirty years a steering wheel will be old-skool. Discrete geared transmissions (auto or manual) will be as much of an anachronism as leaded fuel is now.

Automatic is for pussies. It's horribly slow, it's more expensive and it's hell to maintain.

I'll drive with a manual transmission only, thank you very much.

Oh, so your allowed to take your own car then? That's pretty cool. As far as I'm aware we just have to take the test in the instructors car, which could be anything.

One thing about CVT's Koifox is that they greatly depend on the company and how they implement them. An example would be my 2007 Sentra and my father's 2007 Caliber. Both have CVT , and Dodge is even licensing that technology from Nissan. You would figure that because of that they would be fairly similar, but far from it.

The Caliber has a "elastic band" feel to it, in that when accelerating from a stopped position, the engine will rev, but the car won't go anywhere right away. It will also rev all the way to redline if you floor it, and stay there until you reach the speed you want, and then the rpm will lower to the optimal level for that speed.

The Sentra on the other hand, does not have that elastic band feel to it, and when floored, will rev to about 4000rpm until the speed catches up, and then gradually increase or decrease depending on your speed.

CVT's are very odd to drive though, as many people feel like they are accelerating slowly, when in actual fact they gain speed at a descent rate. While you can of course get more acceleration and control out of a manual, in constant stop and go traffic, it becomes a hassle. But then again, I just drove a 92 sundance 3 speed automatic for 5 years, so everything seems better to me =/.

Some drivers education companies will give the instructors vehicle to take the test with, but not all of them do, and not everyone takes drivers ed. When i took mine though, I know that it was an extra $200 if you wanted to do the in car hours with a manual.

I've always drove automatic cars and I think I will continue to drive one for quite some time. I'd love to learn manual some time though.

I can't stand driving Automatic cars. They feel so incredibly unsafe to me.

Manual is the way to go for me :p Feels safer, and is more fun to drive as far as I'm concerned.

Automatics have more fun! (at stopsigns)

Every car I've owned has been a manual.

A lot of people talk about "multitasking," really if you're behind the wheel you shouldn't be doing anything other than driving. Even so, shifting and doing other shit ain't that hard. If it is, you might just be horribly uncoordinated.

It's become like walking for me. I have to make a conscious effort to not try to shift when I'm driving someone else's car.

Automatic is for old people and idiots. It's inefficient, expensive to repair and boring as hell. Plus, controlling your speed is much easier with a manual, because of EBE and clutch/accelerator footplay.

:wrong:

Automatics are really slow when it comes to gear transitions. The clutch engages really slowly compared to what someone could do with a nice four-puck ACT and the right tension on the linkages.

Automatics are also something that most people will be driving in the future, whether it is by choice or not. Hybrid, Electric , Hydrogen etc.., pretty much do away with the traditional powertrain.

As a side note, people are allowed to have their preferences, and that does not make them idiots for wanting to make their lives that bit more easier or just not wanting/able to put the time in to learn. While I agree that currently manuals are overall better, automatics have been slowly catching up in terms of efficiency. That, and i've seen far too many people unable to properly drive even with an automatic, so would hate to see them try and with a manual =/.

Seriously what is all this hate on the automatic transmissions?!? I can pick up a good used automatic transmission for my 94 Honda Civic for 150 dollars. If I was being stingy I'm sure I could get that price down to 100 dollars by shopping around or haggling. Integra auto transmissions run for about 100 dollars. Manual transmissions for that car run about the same price used.

So you have never owned an automatic and can't really speak from experience. That is good to know.

You are thinking of the old hydraulic automatic transmissions that use a torque converter.

Unless you are telling everyone that you can shift in less than 10 milliseconds (VW Golf GTI is reported to shift in 8 ms) a Direct-Shift Gearbox (which is a type of automatic) will be able to shift many times faster than your manual transmission can.

Gumby: You're still ignoring the fact that when automatic transmissions break down they're rather expensive to repair, whereas manuals are simple enough to work on.

Most cars don't have Direct-Shift Gearboxes. And I can downshift in a manual a hell of a lot faster than it takes an automatic transmission to decide whether by flooring it I mean keep going in this gear or downshift. Plus, don't go saying "hey all these old transmissions are cheap as manuals lol" while saying "brand new transmissions are the ones that are as good as manuals" in the same post. The contradictions hurt.

Take our 95 Astro. Driving around 60mph is miserable because it keeps trying to figure out whether it wants 3rd or 4th. PICK ONE, DAMMIT.

That is because they have made it next to impossible to get parts to repair them. :(

I wish more cars did! Most people don't buy an auto transmission for the performance, they get it because to them driving is getting from point A to point B while doing as little as possible. I love my manual, don't get me wrong but there is nothing wrong with an automatic transmission either (besides being more boring to operate) and from some of these posts they make it sound like you'd have to be retarded to want to use one.

That would piss me off too.

I don't know stick, and I don't think I would really care because I also mess around with radio dials, AC, windows, and Ipod to really care. But I wouldn't mind learning since you'll never know when you need to drive stick. Like that time I went clubbing and the guy who drove me was drunk and asked if I drove stick. I was frightened the whole way back.

I never really took the time to learn how to drive a stick shift. So I just stick to the automatic cars. Eventually I will get off of my lazy butt and go learn how to drive stick.

I prefer manual just because I feel like I'm in more control of the vehicle. It is incredibly annoying when I'm driving an automatic and I need to pick up speed in a hurry. Generally speaking, I've found that automatics just don't offer the quick acceleration I sometimes need that is always available with a manual transmission.

I actually first learned how to drive manual through necessity. My place of employment has a vehicle that is a manual and it was a great way to learn.

I do, however, second the opinion of those who find it somewhat cumbersome to drive a manual when trying to multi-task. Thank goodness for bluetooth technology because talking on a cell phone is infinitely more dangerous to do when driving a manual if you have to actually hold the phone (for obvious reasons).

Err....no.

The danger from talking on a cell phone comes from the fact that your mind is distracted, not because of the occupied hand. Even when driving manual.

i concur. Beig distracted is dangerous. If you have 2 minds and can talk while still being focused (and think), it ain't much of an issue.'

I personally drive a manual... and so far prefer manuals.

But I REALLY hate the power steering on my car... makes the steering feel.. disconnected.

Is it true power steering or does it just have power assist?

I imagine if you're driving a manual while holding onto the phone with a hand the lack of three hands would be a real danger.

Unless you think it's normal to steer with your knees or something.

I've tried it before. Ignoring the fact that you could, you know, DROP THE PHONE if it was a real emergency, it's perfectly easy to hold the phone in your right hand and shift gears with the phone still in your hand. I've done it.

Also, speakerphone.

My favorite is a stick shift its acceleration on my ford is very....I can't think of a word. WoW

Have you tried driving without power steering? My car sometimes loses it and let me tell you, it's a pain in the ass when you're making sharp turns at low speeds and have to put a significant amount of effort into turning (not to mention it's embarrassing as hell when you start struggling to turn the wheel all of a sudden with someone in the car).

On the topic though, I drive a manual and definitely don't enjoy driving automatics nearly as much. I've never had an issue with multitasking and I regularly eat and fiddle around with music while I'm driving. Whether or not I actually do have more control over the car, it certainly feels like I do.

I imagine that's lots of fun for the person you're talking to on the phone when you're doing city driving and shifting frequently.

It's REALLY not that hard to do. Especially if you're not doing a lot of turns on the road.

(I used to smoke, talk on the phone, road rage, and shift at the same time. I don't recommend it.)

Guys, correct me if I'm wrong but isn't this why the headset was invented?

One less task to worry about, you know.

All of the members of my family know how to drive stickshift, and my bro is obsessed with stickshift. I, on the other hand, really never learned how to drive it. I tried to, but was never really into it. So I bought my car automatic.
I talk on the phone and text at the same time when I'm driving some nights, so I can't do that if it's stickshift.

Except that the first car I drove was a 1975 Monte Carlo (Automatic). All of my parents' cars that they've owned since I've been old enough to drive have been automatic: Volvo S70T, Infiniti G35, Mitsubishi Montero Sport, Mitsubishi Endeavor, Mitsubishi Galant GT.

I've also driven many other "sports" or "competition" style automatic vehicles: (mostly tiptronic equipped porsches) 911 Targa4S, 911 Turbo, Cayenne Turbo, Mercedes SLK55 AMG... the list goes on.

The problem is not in the mechanics of the system itself, is that all of these systems are computer controlled, which it has to make immensely complicated calculations and "guess" what the driver wants to do. So, yeah, in a straight line and just mashing the gas, once the CPU adapts and you're out of first gear, you'll get great response times, but this philosophy breaks down when you're dealing with cornering and then having to maneuver coming onto the freeway in traffic.

Manual removes all of the guess work.

my first car didn't have power steering.. which is why i found the sudden shift towards power steering.. disorienting, no doubt it makes driving much easier, but occasionally i enjoy the feeling of fighting or exerting force.. makes u feel like you are actually driving..

automatic is great and all, but it brought alot of idiots to the street.. no offense.