And where are you from? And how old? Not “do you” but just if you know how.
I’m in the US, mid 30s and can (and do) drive a manual transmission.
In Germany nearly everyone can drive manual. Used to be that if you didn’t learn how to drive manual in driving school, you weren’t allowed to drive manual with your license.
23, US. Yes, but I find them pointless for daily driver cars. Modern automatics are more fuel efficient and just make more sense because they’re much easier to operate and less annoying in stop and go traffic.
They’re great for off-roading and racing, but outside of those use cases automatics are just better.
I’m almost 30, living US and don’t know how to drive a manual.
I just don’t understand the purpose of learning or the superiority complex around those that drive manual. In my region of the world, the vast majority of cars are automatic to the point where you might have to straight up custom order a vehicle to get manual.
Sure, if I’m outside of the US, manual might be the standard in some areas…but I have no interest in attempting to drive a vehicle in a foreign country where I don’t know their local laws of the road. I’d rather take public transport or use services like taxis, Ubers, Lifts, etc.
It’s the year 2023. Automatic cars nowadays are more efficient than manuals in a majority of cases.
If you want to drive a manual or you prefer manuals, that’s great! More the power to you and I’m glad you like it! But to have a superiority complex about it is just odd.
It’s like some boomer making fun of a gen Z kid for not knowing how to use a VCR. So what? You don’t to learn how to use a VCR in 2023.
Again, this is in terms of my region. I get that manuals are common in other regions. But again, I have no interest in driving in a region where I don’t know the local rules of the road.
honestly i don’t understand what makes them better for racing. can the auto not be tuned differently to prioritize speed and acceleration over fuel efficiency?
It’s not just about speed and acceleration. It’s also about control. Racing drivers face an infinite number of different conditions out on the track and it would be impossible to tune the transmission in such a way that it does exactly what the driver wants 100% of the time. And it really has to be perfect. 99.9% isn’t good enough because the other 0.1% can wreck the car if it does something unexpected while driving at the limit.
Automatic gearboxes can’t predict the road ahead, they can only react to the current RPM and speed.
Edit: just realised this posted on a completely different comment to the one I was replying to
Modern, high end race cars are automatics. Low end or lighter cars will be manual.
Modern, high end race cars are automatics.
No, they’re sequential manuals*. Unless you’re talking about drag racing, where automatics are common.
*Edit: Or they can also be sequential semi-automatics if you want to be extra pedantic. But personally I’d classify a transmission based on whether the driver has to select the desired gear, or if the computer selects the appropriate gear without driver input, because that’s the thing that matters in the end.
They’re great for off-roading and racing, but outside of those use cases automatics are just better.
5-speeds are definitely a pain in the ass in stop and go traffic, but the benefits of driving a manual transmission goes beyond use cases. For example, manual transmissions will always be cheaper to repair and easier to diagnose than automatic ones. Similarly, basic 4-cylinder engines will always be easier to diagnose and repair than the highly complicated CVT engines in all the new automatic cars.
Note too that a 5-speed Honda civic made 20 years ago will easily get 45 mpg, simply because by the time you get to third gear, the car is light enough that you can just ride the clutch for the next 1,000 feet. My 05 manual civic ex gets around 40 mpg combined easily, and I’ll never have to worry about potentially paying a third of the car’s out the door price if the engine ever decides to self destruct. I know we’re discussing transmission and not engines, but since you brought up the newer fuel efficient automatics, it seems worth noting.
It’s all preference at the end of the day, though. I personally like how connected to the car you feel with manual transmissions, use cases/utility arguments aside. I also kinda wonder if manual drivers are less likely to crash, since it’s difficult if not impossible to be on your phone while driving.
Similarly, basic 4-cylinder engines will always be easier to diagnose and repair than the highly complicated CVT engines in all the new automatic cars.
CVT is just the transmission, it has no bearing on the engine design. OEMs use the same engine with both MT and CVT.
31,Sweden
Yes, and I prefer a manual car to an automatic. It keeps me a lot more dialed in while driving.
35, living in Europe, I had to re-learn manual. I had only automatics in Latin America. It is certainly more fun and I feel I’m actually driving.
Yes, unless you want to still have an engine, then no.
Germany, mid 30s, all the cars I’ve owned were manual so I would say - yes :D
First time I drove a rental automatic I did an accidental hard stop at about every second crossroads as I intended to hit the clutch with my left foot and lacking one just hammered the breaks instead >.>
When driving combustion I prefer manual but I’ve recently driven some EV, I could get used to that feel :)
US. I can and have. Learned on a crappy stick shift truck where I had to nudge the clutch up with my toe. Launched boats with it.
Drove drunk friend home in his stick shift car. VW because of course he did.
Swapped cars with Mom when she hurt her clutch leg. Drove stick for a summer, a little Echo that shifted nicely.
So I can and will if I need to but I have no desire to. I have never really liked cars, just used them for utility. Now that I drive hybrids I do like them more. CVT, no gears at all!
Late 30s, Canada, and absolutely I can.
Mid 30s, used to drive stick all the time but I wouldn’t go out and get one anymore. This seems like one of those things people clutch onto (pun intended) because it was at one time a useful everyday skill not everyone could do but now is completely antiquated.
Automatics have also become wildly better in the past 10 years. They used to be 3-4 speed and break all the time. Now they are 10 speed and super quick and more reliable.
Germany, 25. Always driven manual, don’t even know how to drive automatic.
Im an american and just visited Germany. I rented a stick, but was given an automatic because they ran out of cars. The rental company asked, “Do you know how to drive automatic?”. Just the thought of it kinda blew my mind.
Driving in Germany was a geat experience. I really wish america would adopt alot of the german driving laws and thinking. I would however be sad about the car modification laws.
On a side note, i spent a day of the trip doing laps at the nurburgring in a manual hyundai i30n. Life changing experience.
The i30n is such a cool car, and pretty apt you drove it at the Nurburgribg too!
It was pretty impressive, though i am bummed i didnt get to drive the focus RS. The rental company got rid of it before i was able to get back due to the delays of covid. I would have been more comfortable in the focus as that is my daily.
Lol I think you’d manage.
It can be more confusing than you think at first, all the N/D/L stuff, some then also have 1/2/3, which “gear” to you start the car in, what to do when you come to a full stop (nothing, doh), …
The very first time I sat behind one was to drive a family friend home who drunk a bit too much, with his own car… I was a bit overwhelmed
Don’t forget the good old mistake of hitting the brake when searching for the clutch pedal (though that only happend to me once as I drove automatic the first time)
Yes, it’s very common here (Czechia), in fact I don’t know a single person who doesn’t know how to drive manual.
Until recently I even preferred it, but nowadays I’d like automatic more. Well, my next car is gonna be automatic, that’s for sure.
I’m Italian and it’s mandatory to learn how to drive stick in order to get a license. This could explain why we think driving at 16 is absurd: it would probably be difficult for a 16 years old to learn stick.
I learnt stick at around 14. 37 now and still drive and prefer stick. Also just did 3 laps around the nurburgring with a stick for the 1st time a few weeks ago. A life changing experience
Am British, and feel the same, although here kids can drive on private land at a younger age (usually farm workers), so sometimes you see kids immediately take their tests (theory and practical) at 17 and pass.
Why would it be difficult? Children can play complex video games and handle the controllers perfectly - why should a manual stick be too complex for teenagers?
Because you have to both learn how to move your car among complex traffic and learn how to operate the clutch pedal and the shift.
That’s why you learn how to operate clutch and shifting in areas where there isn’t much traffic - at least that was the case for me
Where I live you can drive at 16 and I believe you can also drive a fully loaded 40 ton grain semi for farming purposes on a regular license.
US, mid thirties, and I not only drive a manual transmission, I go out of my way to insist upon it. For example, I own a truck and an SUV made in the '90s because it’s difficult to find newer ones without an automatic.
Nope.
Some people in my family tried to teach me when I was young, but I didnt immediately and perfectly absorb the knowledge of how to master it from the atmosphere, so obviously I was just a piece of shit that was trying to ruin their transmission/car/life and cant appreciate a single fucking thing anyone does for me and that i’m an ungrateful piece of shit and to just get the fuck out of the car and never ask them for anything again (not that I asked them to teach me stick in the first place… They insisted, i suspected then, and continue to do so to this day, that it was just a trap.)
Which really helped my desire to drive, much less drive stick.
My brother always use to tell me that driving manual is just driving with extra steps. Lol
I can, not well, but I can. damn hill starts.
Not sure how common it is now but some cars had a “hill holder” feature that would hold the brake for you when starting on a hill. Makes that whole process much, much easier.
Just pull the parking brake and accelerate until you feel the car slightly raising and then drop the parking brake.
Eventually you get a feeling for it and drop the parking brake before it’s “fighting” the accelerator.
This might sound trivial to some, but I know several people that never use the parking brake in these situations and instead do a manic race with their feet and the car drops a couple meters back and they over accelerate to compensate.
The parking brake method is how I learned. But I grew up here, where you are always on a hill and always in stop and go traffic. So I eventually just give up on stick shift.
Yeah, I learned the parking brake method.
A couple meters, you say? Sounds like a great way to trash your transmission.
Yes, this is how I do it. I also do this when reversing out of parking spaces. Because my car’s reverse requires pushing down on the stick and is close to 1st, I’ve saved myself from driving into polls a few times.
