I LOVE MANUAL TRANSMISSION
2y 9mon ago by sh.itjust.works/u/darcy in memes@lemmy.ml from sh.itjust.works
I’ll only drive automatic. No desire to work harder at driving in the city.
What, you don't want to shift gears endlessly while stuck moving between 10 mph and a dead stop on the freeway for three hours?
Hear me out for a second...
Maybe, just maybe, it's spending 3 hours in stop and go traffic that's the problem, not the transmission.
Agreed, but having lived it myself with a manual transmission, it's rough with a manual. It's one of the few scenarios where I don't prefer it.
I'm one of the weirdos who wouldn't mind this. I've been dailying my '97 Prelude for most of the summer since I bought it. I didn't think I'd want to drive it in traffic, but honestly, it's not the stop and go that ruins the experience for me. It's the fact that if I get hit by just about any of the trucks on the road, I'm getting a faceful of bumper and best I can hope for is to retain the use of my arms. It's basically a motorcycle that I can't lowside.
But I totally get that I'm a fringe case. I completely understand why this would just be too much for someone to want to keep up with in stop and go traffic. Besides, all that starting is bad for clutches. Autos with torque converters handle it a million times better.
Most people aren't car enthusiasts and enthusiasts need to come to terms with it. Manuals are dying. It's just the way the world is moving. Let's enjoy what we have now and appreciate we get to be a part of something we love.
I daily a manual. More people complain about manuals in freeway traffic than there are manual drivers left. Lol
Am I like the only one who just got used to traffic in a manual? It became a complete non-issue after a year. I guarantee we are going to go through this in a few years when one pedal driving in electric cars becomes much more commonplace
I think cars may have something to do with traffic but not sure.
Burn the witch!
There are correlations sure, but I'm not aware of any studies proving a causal link between cars and traffic.
I could just as plausibly say that 95% of cars in traffic have automatic transmissions. And so, just speculating here, but if they all switched to manual transmissions, we may see a significant reduction in traffic.
Yeah something about induced demand and forcing people to mobilize by car because everything is spread out so much and not having dedicated bike paths or bus lanes or really any reliable public transportation that could reinvest in the community well-being...
It kinda makes everyone both have to drive and have to deal with traffic and poorly maintained infrastructure because the costs of maintenance are not equally shared between rich and poor communities, it really exacerbates the issues.
I'm all for you driving, provided, I can take a train/tram/bus or just walk, because that would be preferable.
So... Is a manual transmission not the correct solution? should I move so I can drive a manual?
One way or the other. Cars are the real problem there.
Manual transmission or not, yes, I would confidently say that moving or changing jobs is the best solution to address a 3 hour commute. Bonus point being that you will better be able to enjoy your manual transmission.
It's funny because this is the exact same argument anti-cyclists make. Lol
"Tell someone they should ride a bike and suddenly everyone has to move a fridge"
I dunno what kind of car you're driving, but mine will do 10mph in first quite comfortably. I wouldn't be "shifting endlessly" in that scenario...?
Also, just leave a decent gap between you and the car in front and idle along at 2mph without stopping and starting all the time.
There’s a winning attitude…
Better hope you never have to drive outside of the USA
For me the only reason to drive manual was becase automats used to be less effective. With current generation, the computer with its 12 gears is much more ecological then my macho hand lovingly stroking my cars stick can ever be..
My biggest thing is that they make people pay more attention. I dont think better drivers drive stick, i think the stick makes YOU a better driver.
Less eating, drinking, phone holding, texting etc. You have to know speeds and rpms for which gears. It keeps me from speeding knowing this street is a 4th gear street. When i end up driving a auto car, i will often loook down and wonder how i got to the speed i am at, though that may also be due to the fact its not my car and im just not used to the sensation of speed.
On another note, i think on average manual trans are less prone to failure. I know alot of cars that have essentially been junked due to an auto trans problem, but a manual just needs a new clutch every one and a while. Though this might be less common on newer cars compared to 90's and early 2000's cars.
And with the rise of EVs auto transmission failures will be a thing of the past. Except for the few sports EVs that for some reason have a multiple gears.
Do you not know how gears work? For some reason? Do you really not understand why they have more gears?
Electric motors have so much torque even at low revs that a gearbox is unnecessary for most people. If you can get enough torque for a fast start in 5th, there's no reason for the gearbox, you might as well save the extra complexity and keep the car permanently in 5th.
Combustion cars have gearboxes because they only work well at a narrow range of revs. Bicycles have more gears than cars because humans have an even narrower range of revs where they work best at.
EVs still have peak operational variables, things like heat. Having 2 gears solves the heat problems. Quicker acceleration and better efficiency. Just because it's expensive right now doesn't mean you won't continue to see them on high end vehicle and start to trickle into the mid range stuff.
Why is a electric motor overheating dangerous? Surely any electric car is going to have a system to throttle itself if overheating is an issue, and it will need that with or without gears.
The fastest accelerating electric cars are single speed, presumably because it's not worth changing gear when you only have 2 seconds.
I can see why it might be useful in specific product categories, but when it's not helpful for price or performance or reliability, that's going to continue to be niche. The real problem electric cars need to solve right now is cost and a gearbox isn't helping with that.
Nobody buys a 600bhp car to have itself throttle its performance. Well nobody with half a brain which says a lot about Tesla sales.
As far as acceleration is concerned most drivers who care about performance don't really care about 0-60 these days. It's about 70-120 and how they perform at the upper end. Single gear EVe suck at anything above those speeds. Only the high end models are fast enough to hide it.
Also acceleration isn't power limited. It's traction. It's not gear shift or power that keeps everything with normal sized tires at about 2.5.
A second or third gear in sport cars will be a thing. There are plenty of valid use cases once you make it past, "this is a boring commute appliance".
We do
EVs have a single reduction gear and no transmission or gear change. Most are rated for around a million miles and only require a gear oil change every few years or so.
i think the stick makes YOU a better driver.
It doesn't make me a better driver, it's a continual distraction. I recently switched from a manual to an automatic car and I now have far more available headspace to pay attention to the world around me.
You just never properly learned it then.
Oh so if you are a professional juggler it would be completely valid if you keep juggling all the time while driving? Dont think the police will see 'you just dont know how to juggle as well as I do' as an excuse if they stop you.
Also what about eating, drinking, talking on the phone while driving? Obviously those are only distractions if you havent properly learned to eat or talk, right? Shifting is a distraction, period. It gets less distracting the more you are used to it but it is never zero. There is absolutely no reason to shift manually nowadays (except for racing obviously).
What an incredibly stupid take, none of these things have anything to do with the behavior of your car. You sound like somebody that can't accept their own shortcomings and instead wants the world to change according to them. Or you're mentally challenged. Either way, there's no point in talking to you.
i think on average manual trans are less prone to failure.
As far as I'm aware this is still true. They're also significantly cheaper to repair/replace if need be.
This is a very astute answer, I like it
For speed control I wish every car had easy to use cruise control and speed limiting, I hate having to constantly worry I've crept above the limit and will get a ticket especially on long boring roads littered with speed cameras.
Imagine just being able to concentrate on what's around you and where you're going without needing to be endlessly worrying about engine revs, speed enforcement, and the potential cost of getting either wrong.
I dont understand how constantly having to (partially ofc) focus on shifting could get you more focused on actually driving. If anything, it takes away your attention from the road.
Shifting is just part of driving. It means you have to pay attention to speed, Rpm, and braking points. It just makes driving more engaging, which reduces distraction. It doesnt make driving easier. If anything it makes it harder. But the benefit is that it reduces complacency.
When i am driving. I am driving. Im not doing makeup, eating, messing with the radio, texting etc. Part of that is driving stick. It keeps you engaged in driving. Thats not to say its impossible to be a distracted driver in a manual, just that its easier to get distracted in an auto.
It is definitely NOT part of driving as it is not required, obviously. Dont confuse 'a method used for driving' with driving itself. If in the past cars were made so that you are driving upside down, people like you would argue using the exact same words. 'its part of it', 'its harder so you focus more', etc. It makes zero sense to keep an outdated distraction for the fictional benefit of reducing other distractions. The missing stick doesnt make people eat or use their phones while driving, thats what bad drivers have been doing for decades. People that care about safety try to minimize distractions, which includes shifting without doubt. You are free to use the stick, it is not banned yet and is not as big of a distration as others (mainly because of hundreds of hours of practice), but you cannot argue that it is not a distraction at all.
You said its a part of driving and makes people better drivers and it makes me angry ever time people make arguments like these. It makes no sense that adding artificial distractions to driving would give a benefit. Youre saying it can make other distractions hard enough not to be attempted but thats just because youre already partly distracted, youre even using the words 'forced attention'. What is a distraction if not something that takes your attention? Thats like making people drive with an eyepatch so theyll look at their phones less. Maybe it would even work, I dont know, but that would make me even angrier at how stupid humans are.
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Its not an artificial distraction. It has real implications on how your car works. Just because you are not shifting, doesnt mean the car does not shift. The extra control allows a user more control of the vehicle. It does require more skill and practice, but has a higher performance ceiling. There is a reason race cars dont use automatic transmissions. The best race cars dont have a clutch, but the driver is still in control of every shift.
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Forced attention and distractions are different. Driving stick is more attention on the act of driving itself. Look at the research for self driving cars and expecting the drivers to pay attention. Its nearly impossible to pay attention to something that takes less interaction. Honestly, if you lack the hand eye coordination and multitasking ability to drive stick, i pray you never try to change a radio station or turn up or down the heater in your car.
It wasnt artificial before, because there was no automatic shifting. It is now that its not necessary anymore. What youre saying is the more you control about your car the better. Cars do a lot of things the driver doesnt control, why would shifting be such a special exception? Why would you automate windshield wipers if you can just pull a lever every second? Why not start finetuning oil and cooling water while driving? Those wouldnt be considered distractions if there was no way to automate them, but since there is, its not necessary to make the driver do it. Im not saying it is a huge distraction and that it is super dangerous. Looking at your navigation system while driving isnt considered a distraction, but looking at your phone is. Why? Because it is not necessary for driving, just like shifting has become unnecessary by now.
Also your point with shifting in racing is valid, but actually just for racing. In everyday driving, your goal shouldnt be maximum performance but rather efficiency, and automatic shifting is way more efficient than humans could be.
I drive a manual because all through the 90s a manual was a lot more reliable and cheaper to fix than an automatic. I also hated the automatic gear selection. It was always in a gear I didn’t want. I recently had a rental car which was a Ford with a 10-speed automatic and yeah they have come a long way. I’ve only ever owned manuals but I think my next car will be an auto. I hear reliability is good now.
Do you love cars stick? Are you a gay car?
i very recently learned how to drive. Learned manual because it is still the majority of cars on the roads here... Looking forward to the majority of the vehicles being automatic! It makes a lot more sense
8+ auto with paddles. Perfect
Yes, but only once
Actually means Republican.
Yes, the "R" gear makes the car go backwards just like how the Republican party makes progress in America go backwards. TBH the same logic would apply if the gear was labeled "D". Me and my comrades believe that socialism comes first then communism because if you start in a higher gear the engine will stall out but lower gears are quite slow and don't make full use of the car and its powers.
Or how the R makes the transmission go bye bye when you shift into it thinking it stands for "Race".
Handbrake start is for noobs. Learn to use your clutch.
Roll backwards into the person behind you to establish manual dominance.
On a steep hill, your clutch will thank you for using the handbrake. Especially in stop and go traffic towing a trailer. Ask me how I know.
How I know?
I know you're being funny, but to answer the question I posited: every summer, after people came back from towing their caravans up through the mountains, my dad's shop would be replacing loads of clutches with people complaining about the weird smells their car started making. Or the sudden trouble they had shifting.
There’s a nightmare scenario if I ever heard one.
I've been taught to balance between brake and clutch for inclines. Or is that the same thing?
Cars are for nubes, real chade walks🫡. Talking about the true manual here.
true! although wouldnt manual be walking on ones hands ?
No, that would be handual.
yeah but manual is an adjective often meaning 'to do with hands' or whatever. like a teeth are dental
BTW, I think you can technically drive a car with only hand, but that sounds like a bad time in most cars.
Yes, it comes from the latin word for hand
Using your third foot...?
You let the clutch up until the rims start to drop a tiny bit, at this point you can let off the brake and move your foot to the gas. You shouldn't move backwards as long as you are slow and feel for the engine to not stall
You get the car rolling with just the clutch. Quite the pain, not a fan of driving stick myself.
Tell me you are a diesel driver without telling me. By the time you get an average gas car moving the light is red again if you don't rev it to at least 1500
Ah, you mean that because diesel cars have more torque, you can do things like starting uphill with just the clutch.
I was wondering, because I certainly didn't opt for a handbrake start for the fun of it. My car's engine simply died, if I lifted the clutch too far without accelerating and 'too far' was far below getting enough torque to not roll downhill.
You give it a bit of gas while letting the clutch pedal go up though. Or a bunch of gas if you lease a car because who gives a shit.
Ever drive in Seattle?
No, but my family hails from the Ozarks.
Tips for a learner? My stompy parking brake won't play nice right now, so I kind of need to figure this shit out in my new old truck. Lol.
Well, it's just a trick you need to get the feeling for. Start one foot on the break, and other on the clutch. Let clutch go halfway, without stalling the car, and quickly move your right foot from brake to gas. Press on gas pedal, while releasing clutch. If you do it right, the car starts driving forward, even on a upwards hill. It takes practice, and every car feels different.
A good indicator for learning this – especially if you don't have the feel for your clutch yet – is to watch your RPM counter. If it starts to dip, the clutch is starting to engage. From there on, continue as described.
If you're on a really steep incline, you'll have to press both the brake and gas pedal at the same time using your right foot, while feathering the clutch with your left. I've heard this called the "heel toe" technique.
If your engine has enough torque or if the hill isn't steep enough, you can ignore this and just ease off the clutch while transitioning from the brake to gas.
Heel-toe is used during downshifts to match rpms
Yep. I also used it a lot when starting on a hill on vehicles without handbrakes.
Awesome. Thanks. I've down Heel-Toe before in an automatic up a mountain road in the snow, so I'm familiar with that a little.
Mine has a brief brake assist, about 1.5 seconds it won't roll backwards on a hill start.
It's so subtle and I've had the car so long, I completely forget about it.
Any time I drive a car without it freak out when I come off the brake and the car starts moving backwards.
I always stall it with those brake assist features. I'm coming off the clutch and the damn computer still has the brakes on, so it cuts out.
Y'all can keep your computers. I'm keeping my carburettors for now.
good point
If you can't hold the brake with your right foot and roll start with the clutch left foot without touching the gas, you need more practice.
exceptions given for fully loaded old as dirt pickup trucks that don't like to idle properly, those you can heel toe.... not that I'd know anything about that of course.,
I haven't driven a whole lot of cars and none of them were old as dirt pickup trucks but I've seen enough where the idle gas was not enough to get the car rolling on an incline without stalling it. Sometimes you just need a good handbrake start
The car doesn't need to start rolling. You need just enough clutch to keep from rolling backwards.
On flat ground, agreed. On a hill, my car just doesnt have the power to do that without some gas.
I got pulled over a couple of months ago and the cop told me to put it in park. I wiggled the stick back and forth to show it was in neutral and they thought I was fucking with them and kept saying to put it in park. Idiots
"Sorry sir. I was in airplane mode."
smartest cop
This is the funniest.
Isn't it best practice to park in 1st? So that if the handbrake fails the engine brake slows the car a bit rather than it being a free falling projectile.
Reverse is better, it's an even shorter gear than first so the engine has to spin more times per wheel revolution.
I suspect OP still had the engine running. That said, a lot of Americans seem to drive automatics and never use the handbrake, arguing that the tiny little tab in the transmission can hold their fully loaded "truck", so it stands to reason that there are people in the world who leave their cars out of gear and argue that the handbrake could not fail.
Late reply, but no, not unless you are parked on a steep hill without any sidewalks. Leaving it parked in gear puts a great deal of stress on the clutch. Clutches aren't very fun or easy to replace. If you're on a hill with a sidewalk you should turn your front tires away from sidewalk on the incline, and towards the sidewalk on the decline.
Why would there be load on the clutch if the handbrake is on?
I was thinking you meant parking in gear rather than with the parking brake. My bad. You're totally right though.
I do, too, and drove one for many years. I'll be the one to splash cold water on the conversation, though.
Driving a stick arguably requires the use of both hands and legs, which is great and partly the reason why so many enjoy it - that sense of engagement. It's far less boring.
But here's the deal. Injure any one of those appendages and driving a manual becomes a whole lot less fun. In some cases, you can get by, but it's less than ideal. Having your arm closest to the shift in a sling, for example, makes your vehicle undrivable.
It won't matter to most people... right up until the moment it does.
All of these people responding that they prefer auto so they can eat or otherwise not pay attention in the car are the best (only?) argument for why everyone should drive manual.
Whatever your transmission preference is, if you're not engaged in driving you shouldn't be on the road!
I just got a car with no transmission instead
Every car I've owned has been manual and I hate my latest decision since 99% of my driving is stop and go. Honestly I'd prefer no cars at all.
I rented an electric car over the summer and the acceleration damn near pushed my eyeballs back in my head. No gear shifting at all, just continuous acceleration. An electric grocery getter will blow the doors off nearly everything you can throw at it from the previous 50 years. Will not be looking back fondly on my manual transmissions.
I went from a inline 6 BMW diesel manual engine I drive for 10 years to my current Mazda 6 2.5L with automatic. Its easier and more luxurious to drive the automatic, but when I going for drive enjoyment I still have the habit of grabbing the shift lever when downshift is needed, and I often miss the feel and control of the manual when I edging it on curvy roads, even when my automatic has shift paddles, its just not the same.
But in a traffic jam in a city, for sure I will any day take an automatic over manual...
Poor clutchy
Also driving in Seattle or San Francisco
Spent all my life driving manual cars and I am completely comfortable and at ease with their pending demise due to hybrids and full BEVs. I wouldn't be surprised if some EVs get phony gears and broom broom noises for people who can't cope with just having to set a direction and push a pedal to make things happen.
It is very difficult to find manual transmission in a passenger car in the US now. I would like one but good luck finding what you want used. Even new, very few models have a manual option. And I think it costs more for a manual transmission now. It used to be cheaper.
The cheapest car I know of off the lot is a base model versa which comes with a manual that’s decent.
The noob trap is “upgrading” it to get the automatic. It’s maybe the worst new cvt you can buy.
Nissan Versa?
Does the base MSRP of $15,980 have the manual transmission?
Imma have to test drive that, I think.
Yeah the lowest trim level has a manual (or can be had with a manual). Call ahead to the dealership to make sure they have it in.
christ, a base model Versa for $16k. Thats a nightmare
Can confirm: I drive a Nissan and the CVT is feckin awful.
I could barely find any sticks when I was car shopping, and they were all base models. I finally found a dealer with a manual Impreza but it was actually more expensive than the automatic next to it with a sunroof and heated seats
Your luck may change... Way back when I was car shopping I found a used BMW 328i with the sport package discounted because they couldn't find a buyer who knew how to drive a manual. I have been driving that car for 12 years now.
>BMW
>12 years
Stop lying.
I didn't say it was cheap.
Car won't start? Push it down a hill, avoid running over my foot, and climb in before it pulls away from you.
This is how I got to nursery school on at least one occasion I can remember.
I love manual transmission, and miss it badly. It was awesome getting out of both mud and snow. Plus, I felt like I was actually driving the car, not guiding it.
Where's my manual electric car?!
What do you mean electric motors have no transmissions?!
I do like manual transmissions but I will happily drive my electric car with no transmission.
If I want to go faster it just goes faster, and faster, and faster. No lag, just faster.
I wish I could afford one 😭
They're getting cheaper quickly now that the Chinese automakers are ramping up exports. Give it a couple more years.
What do you mean electric motors have no transmissions?
They do though, it's just that most are single speed reduction boxes (unless you've got a Taycan).
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Electric motion makes an electric trial motorcycle with a clutch!
Best I can do 🤷
Ahhh we had a different method - push it until you get to a decending road (don't know the right term in english lol) put in 2nd gear and start rolling while trying to start like maniac - worked every time lol
Descending works, but “a downhill road” would be the more conversational way to say it
What about.. a condescending road?
Nah that’s when the road is like, “that’s some real good driving for a moron”
That's basically what I described: down a hill. Although in my experience described above, it was not on a road.
So I didn't catch that, sorry I guess it's universal lol
You tell your car explicitly where to go, when to start, when to stop, when to accelerate and when to slow down.
Sounds like actual driving to me.
True, but controlling the transmission gave me an extra layer of sensation, a more direct involvement in the process. It's a matter of degrees. Plus, there are levels of finesse one gains.
You can ride in a taxi and you won't be the driver even if the actual driver is patient enough to let you tell him explicitly when to start, stop, etc.
Wrong analogy. You command your car, not taxi driver.
But that's my point - commanding isn't the same thing as driving. If you're the passenger in a taxi, you can be commanding but you're clearly not driving. If you have a car with an automatic transmission, you're still driving in most ways (you steer, brake, etc.) but you're no longer the driver of the transmission; you're just the commander of it.
If you have a car with manual transmission then you have additional control over modes of the engine. But it's not the essence of driving, because you can have control over mode of the engine of washing machine, for example.
Key component of driving is control over route and speed of a car. And you still have it with automatic transmission.
I'd go so far as to say you aren't the commander of the transmission. The programmer who designed the shifting algorithm controls it.
Been able to push start an auto before just a bit fiddly holding in the override detent and jamming it in second
The the car I drive for work has a volume knob and I hate it with a passion.
Those piss me off for reasons beyond manual supremacy - they're bad UI design too. A knob is for controlling something (like volume) which varies continuously over a range. It is not for selecting from a short list of discrete options!
Ah, gotcha! We need a menu inside the entertainment system where you can select a gear via touch-screen... /s
Please stop giving them ideas
yep.
What is this transmission you speak of? I drive an electric vehicle
It's funny manual is the standard here so there's no ego boost to driving one, people always tell me it's because we have more corners which has never made any sense (I e. You need to go into second or third at roundabout which I think older autos would have a little lag with or something, certainly not a problem in cars from this century)
I would love an automatic, i think it would make my driving safer in several ways, for a start not having to focus on gears at key moments like navigating road changes and corners or pulling away in a busy carpark. When I drove in the US it was so nice not having to constantly be doing stuff in traffic that I wasn't anywhere near as tired which again is a big safety issue
I grew up in the UK, learning on stick, moved to us drive an automatic.
i live in a city, I work in an office, I don't have any hobbies that require something I can't lift with two hands (except my piano, but I hardly take that around with me).
I can't for the life of me think of a reason why I would need a stick. its so pleasant to be able to drink coffee or water while driving, have an arm out the window, or even just being at rest driving.
I dont get the appeal.
Out of curiosity, how far do you drive on an average day, and what's considered a long drive for you?
I'm wondering if the popularity of automatics in the US is affected by longer commutes on average, which makes manual driving more exhausting. My personal feeling is, on a 5 hour drive to my parent's house, I really want to be able to relax and listen to some podcasts without getting too weary to drive, but I'm not sure if it really makes a difference.
I think you're onto something. U.S citizen here and I actually love driving stick but where I live it's a few hour drive to anywhere which makes driving a manual seem like more of a hassle, whereas those long trips in an automatic feel leisurely and I'm more well rested when I arrive.
Couple that with manuals more commonly found in larger trucks around here. I work on vehicles, see many and can't remember the last small car or truck that was manual. It's all semi's, dump trucks, dualies, you know? Big trucks which adds another barrier to people.
I feel like if there were smaller manuals in my area then perception would change. As it is they're reserved for work, big work at that.
It's sad to lose manuals in society but I'm seeing them less and less, everything seems to be going electric now, even companies known for diesel manuals.
My car is a stick shift. I love it.
But our pickup and my wife's car are both automatic. Those are fine, too. Stop and go traffic - I'm gonna want an automatic. The pickup is for towing our trailer, and while I understand theoretically a stick would be better for that purpose, I'm glad to have the automatic and not have to worry about it. Plus then my wife can occasionally drive it as well.
I've driven fast automatics, and I've driven slow stick shifts. It's never just ONE thing about a car.
Manual transmission is half arsed. If you really want manual, ride a bike.
We let computers make our lives better in hundreds of other ways, but somehow when it's a fully developed one, in a car, that's bad?
The last time a rolling start would've helped me was in like 2002 in my 1989 junker so yeah color me unconvinced. People like to claim that automatics waste gas but the way you see people drive sticks leads me to believe the reverse is usually true.
I'll take life with computers, you can revert to 1955 driving if you like.
Handbrake start lololol. Rank amateur. Side step off brake to gas .
I learned to drive in an automatic.. in the 1980s. Pretty common here in Australia. Yes can drive a manual as well but prefer auto as I have arthritis. Many disabled people prefer auto.
Automatic transmissions existed before computers were controlling them. The 3 speed auto in my 68 Ford is entirely hydraulicly operated. No computer control. I can roll-start it no problem in second gear.
Automatic transmissions are essentially hydraulic computers.
sure but they are computer controlled now. just big tech/auto wanting more control over things
WTF is that 3rd picture of a shifter? I've never seen anything like that.
I found an article about it: https://www.macsmotorcitygarage.com/a-cool-idea-at-the-time-the-hurst-lightning-rods-shifter
Hurst Lightning Rods, an aftermarket performance shifter marketed in the 1980s
The Lightning Rods system was set up to work like any ordinary automatic gear selector, more or less, with a conventional PRND shift pattern (as shown in the top photo). The difference was in the two additional levers: the far right lever and release button performed the 1-2 upshift, while the middle lever and button performed the 2-3 upshift. Or the driver could simply leave the lever in D for Drive or OD for Overdrive and drive normally. In that regard, the Lightning Rods setup was not unlike the Hurst Dual Gate aka “His ‘n Her” shifters of previous years.
I have to say that I'm having issues understanding what this means in practice. :D
Auto transmission that you can drive like a regular one or you can use the two separate shifters to manually hold/change the gears for drag racing.
Regular car review of that specific car:
https://youtu.be/YjTqjRK_SQs?si=WCrVrjhyUx6nmg8Q
And short video of a similar type of shifter
According to this article that are "Hurst Lightning Rods", an aftermarket shifter for drag racing
Bought my first automatic this year (VW ID4). Will never drive a manual ever again. So much easier to drive automatic.
Come at me bro - I TEACH people to ONLY drive automatic cars. Muahaha! I get paid more to do it than manual instructors AND I don't have to worry about learners constantly making bad gear changes, bunny hopping and stalling my car all the time!
bunny hopping
Hol' up, you mean to tell me we could have hoppin' cars all this time? And you've been helping hold us back? Forget bumper cars, I want the hoppin' cars!
im under the impression that your average learner would bunny hop once before learning not to.
This only proves your coordination an timing are bad. … don’t teach while drunk!
Hypermiling in a manual is fun.
Getting >30mpg out of a pickup ftw.
Divulge your secrets!
2.3l engine, truck smaller than an average suv, drive like a grandma.
Damn... 4.2l, truck the same size as a 1998 F150, driving like a grandma.
what does that look like in practice?
Always highest gear that the engine can take, always engine brake, drive extremely foresighted, anticipate where you'll likely have to brake and just let your car roll in high gear. There's more. Some say it slightly wears your engine more, because it has to do more work outside of its optimal RPM but that depends on how far you take this.
Ah okay. That's what I used to do when I had a car with a manual transmission, didn't know there was a name for it! Thanks!
This is a good meme.
Thank you.
I used to enjoy manual but now I just kind of hate driving in general so I am happier with auto where I can eat chips or something while driving to make the traffic feel less hellish. Looking forward to self driving cars so I can just take a nap while getting from A to B.
its just as easy to booze cruise in a manual
driving manual makes u look hot that's all <3
You've obviously never seen me fumbling through my changes and stalling on every corner.
driving a manual well
I had to bump start my first car for a period of time. It was a challenge to always find a hill to park on. Another cool trick was shifting gears without using the clutch by rev matching.
I had a fried starter and a girlfriend who didn't know how to drive a manual, so I had to ask her to push while I sat inside. Not the manliest day of my life...
Drove two vehicles like that. One was a big ass dump truck that didn't have reverse or 1st gear, and had to roll started. Popping a clutch in second was... A unique experience.
The other was a little dodge raider that didn't have first gear and had to be roll started. I had to pop the clutch in reverse every day. Lol. I was so happy when we got the clutch repaired. I loved that car so much. A month later it jumped time and we had to sell it. :(
I understand the dump truck won't do this, but couldn't you get the dodge going in second or third? That's a thing I had to do in snow/ice, otherwise you'd just be spinning.
Actually the dump truck did do that. Haha. I could do in the raider, too, but it was much more finicky about stalling out.
My old man drove wrecks when I was growing up, being the 80s in the UK that meant manuals with electrical problems so I was familiar with both parking on hills and starting dead cars.
Came in handy when I had to bump start the family car just last week. Just finished packing for the return trip from our holiday home only to discover the battery was low and didn't have enough to crank. Jump leads were buried under all our luggage even if I found a donor, but luckily there was a slight incline on the driveway.
Wifey got a bit flustered but the kids thought it was great fun.
It's even worse now. My mom's new car just has buttons on the dash next to the radio for park reverse neutral drive and sport mode.
synchromesh clutches are for newbs, real men double de-clutch.
Double-clutching is for rookies. Real drivers match the revs and powershift.
We have very beat up VW T5s at my company and sometimes I do exactly this to practice. I have no empathy left for these, I don't feel bad for the gearbox. It surely will be the last thing to fail on these cars.
Real transmissions have 18 speeds.
I have my driving exam in 4 hours in a manual :)
awesome hope you pass. we need more manual drivers in society :)
Passed with 1 minor!
Chad
Best part is, my first car is a mazda rx-8 lmfaoo, already drove like 160km today…
nice 😀
I feel very confident, 40 minutes till the exam and I feel zero stress. It’s gonna be good.
Do we?
I grew up in manual-land and was in the US for a little title road trip from Denver to LA a while ago. Rented a cheap car, got a Kia Rio. When I started crossing the Rockies, the car would never really know what to do with the automatic transmission and keep shifting back and forth on the long inclines.
My luck was, it was a semi-auto if you wanted to. You could nudge the selector to the left and have a bit of a sequential shifter thing, just without a clutch pedal. I thought that was a neat compromise and gotta say I enjoyed my 10 days in that car.
Always find the first thing to do with poverty-spec cars is to turn the eco mode off, means that you don't get the five seconds of pucker before the transmission kicks down
I do miss driving a manual, however EV one-pedal driving has its own gamifying aspects.
I love this meme template, idk why I can't get enough of these
I prefer a doctor-guided transmission. I'm not smart enough to balance these meds and read my bloodwork.
💀
I'm enjoying all the comments where people are seething about manual transmissions amd they don't need to drive one, because they forgot its a meme.
I drove my Samurai today. I don't think any of them even had automatics.
I thought that was the anti millennial theft device
I just want to get to work.
Wow. #1 'get off my lawn' post of the day. There is nothing wrong with auto... It's the drivers.
Driving stick is fine, but I still prefer automatic. It's just more convenient.
What about lifetime transmission fluid and no dipstick to check level/color?
The perfect truth of this meme is why I can never own an electric car.
?????????
What is that retro-looking thing on the right?
(Also why are my question marks getting cut off? I typed 9 of them but only 3 show up.)
If you made an electric conversion and used an induction motor it could still be stick! Induction motors have a narrow range of useful rmps so the transmission is still needed!
https://motorandwheels.com/electric-cars-gears-manual-transmission/
6 Electric Cars With Manual Gears & Transmission (With Pictures)
Just for fun, Toyota is developing an EV with a manual transmission.
https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/16/business/toyota-manual-transmission-electric-cars/index.html
What is that retro-looking thing on the right?
Hurst "Lightning Rods" from the 80s. Basically a flashy way to manually shift an automatic transmission.
Good write up and explanation here: https://www.macsmotorcitygarage.com/a-cool-idea-at-the-time-the-hurst-lightning-rods-shifter/
What is that retro-looking thing on the right?
Hurst lightning rods shifter in an Oldsmobile. They are for drag racing.
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My issue with automatics is that there's a lack of control. It's trying to be smart about changing gears and yet never ends up doing what I want. It's like the throttle is going over a bad internet connection.
Because there are no gears to switch I don't have that issue in electric cars, it even feels better than a manual: Smooth torque curve and instant throttle response.
(Also why are my question marks getting cut off? I typed 9 of them but only 3 show up.)
That's Big EV trying to silence you.
I can’t tell if this is serious or sarcastic…
Then you are the target audience.
serious, but half exaggerating
My kid is learning to drive and I wanted to rent/get ahold of a manual to teach that too, but nothing doing. You can't find one to rent and I'm not buying a whole car for a few weeks' training.
Laughs in formula one.
I ride a bike, idk how those weird car gears work. I guess I'll learn it soon. Manual bike riding is joy Hopefully it's same on cars.
I'm a car enthusiast and a fan of manual transmission.
But driving in traffic is such a PITA. And in some places like San Francisco it's nearly impossible to drive manual without changing a clutch every semester, probably.
While I find manual much more engaging and own one, automatic has its undeniable advantages.
I love this meme format so much
There aren't any BEVs with this kind of manual transmissions. They just have 1 gear and are operated like automatics. And I am definitely not going back to DDD fuels (detonating dino diarrhea).
Taycan and likely the 718 both have 2 gears.
I don't think you get to specify the gears in those, it's fully automatic. Plus those cars cost $150k.
Yes. I'm just pointing out that having gears isn't weird, it still has value. It's just expensive.
lol, another manualoid pretending to be better drivers than a true auto champ
If I could afford a new manual car, I’d love to, or convert my current car into a manual. The only issue I have with that option is money.
Weird. I'm sure manuals are cheaper in the UK.
If I was in the UK, it might not be so bad. However, I’m a young adult in the US, and there are not readily available reliable cars common in manual transmissions. For instance, my current car is a 2002 Honda Accord, one of the most reliable vehicles one can get. Except that damn automatic transmission that seems to be made out of glass… and the only way I can switch that to a manual? Find one of 5% of models Honda made that can hook up directly to my transmission, swap everything out, and call it a day. A roughly $6,000 job for parts at the moment.
So I buy a new car, right? Well, since I’d be looking for something much more recent, what kind of cars have options for manual made in the last 10 years? Mostly luxury or muscle cars, or large off-roading vehicles like Jeeps. There are options, I could get another Accord with a manual, but finding one? So far in all of my searches, they just don’t appear in the results.
Considering that 96% of Americans drive automatics, and only 13% of all models of vehicles even offer the option of being manual in the states, and 80% of manual cars produced today being imported into Asia or Europe markets, it really does go to show just how limited buying a manual vehicle in the US is, especially when you live in a more rural area like I do.
In the US, you do not have to pass separate tests. As long as you show you can drive whichever car you take the test in, you’ll get a license.
People just find automatics easier and prefer to drive those here, I guess
It's certainly a lot harder to drive a manual if you've never had a teacher next to you.
Oh 100%, usually self-taught manual drivers end up needing to replace clutches pretty soon, stalling out the engine, and just shifting rough for the first little while. Having someone there to teach you goes a long way, especially when you’re a teenager or young adult with your first car or something.
Save your $6000 and put it towards a Chevy bolt. You get all the benefits of a manual with the reliability and control of a manual. Plus no gas.
Would that I could. I drive 200 miles per day on the highway. Range on a bolt is 220 miles highway range brand new. That… isn’t exactly a lot of room for charge error. Considering on a base AC charge, (no DC fast charging) this can take up to 9.5 hours, I would need to immediately charge when I got home. I don’t have an option of charging at work.
If I had a 300 mile range vehicle it might work tho. However, I also can’t afford a $27,000 vehicle, so ya know.
In the meantime, I’m gonna stick with what I’ve got and deal with an automatic until I can find a good hybrid to suit my needs, methinks
The new bolt has an 11 kw, 48 amp charger so you can get a full charge in about 6 hours.
I bought mine for $17k, with tax breaks they can be had for as low as $14k depending on your state.
My car payments are less than the gas bill on my old Subaru.
That’s… actually not bad. At all. Wow. I mean the range is still an issue for me right now, so I’m hoping that issue could be alleviated soon, but that really wouldn’t be bad. I’m currently spending around $20-25 per day on gasoline. 5 days a week that’s as much as $150/week, so $600 per month, maximum.
Yeah, I can definitely see the appeal… Maybe someday I’ll find a solution to my range predicament and it won’t be so bad
Yeah, I hope you can! Electricity is really cheap compared to gas (unless you live in California or Hawaii - but gas is also expensive in those states).
My work just installed a bank of 6 220 volt chargers that charge a low price (13 cents/kW-hr or about $9 for a full charge), which I feel is a great solution. If your company has a parking lot, maybe ask them if they would consider it? Some of the chargers do billing so it could be provided at relatively low cost. Chargers are a few thousand $ per install.
Not now, but my work office is soon moving even further away from where I live, another half hour or so, so I’m hoping parking is better there. If not, there’s no way I’d be able to do that range
Well, jokes on you because Range Rover do not refer to the middle picture as a "gear stick". Probably because there is nothing stick like about it.
Ayyy I had to roll start my motorcycle yesterday.
And what's with this keyless ignition bullshit? How am I supposed to leave my car running with the doors locked when the damn FOB needs to be inside the car?
All it took for me was a single drive home during Thanksgiving traffic; a trip that normally takes 10min took an hour, I swore off manual transmissions that day.
If only there would be viable alternatives for the mass transit of people. It would free up the road for those who like to or absolutely have to drive.
So often forgotten as an argument. Driving would be great if those who don't want to are not forced to.
When you’re working construction, jumping site to site and at random hours of the day each day, mass transit flys out the window.
And that is before taking into consideration the unique tools you carry with you.
When people talk about mass transit they never have your scenario in mind. It's a bullshit argument against doing anything.
You think construction companies enjoy having their men and tools stuck in traffic surrounded by about 50% of cars that shouldn't and wouldn't be there if people had valid choices?
It's an and-and story. No-one in their right mind, except for rabid edgy internet communists wants to ban cars altogether.
Driving sucks ass no matter how empty the roads are.
It's funny how different people's experiences can be. I grew up in a big city and didn't learn to drive until my mid 20's when I was living somewhere a lot less crowded. Then driving allowed me to experience a feeling of physical power and freedom which I had never felt before. (I think other people might get such a feeling from running or otherwise physically exerting themselves, but I never did.) Now I'm back in a big city and so I can't actually drive to most places (there would be nowhere to park) but I still own a car - not having a car would feel like having my metaphorical wings clipped.
Driving was a major part of my job when I lived in Boston and I drove manual. Honestly it isn't very fun being in traffic, but I wouldn't say it's much worse than driving an automatic. It becomes old hat. It probably depends a bit more on how stiff the clutch is and other mechanical variables, but I would agree with another commenter here that it does make people better drivers. I would also say manuals aren't for everybody and that's ok, but I also think they should be the norm rather than the complacently comforting automatics that make everyone feel like they are in a golf cart rather than a large metal missile.
With today’s technology, you turn on assisted cruise control and only worry about keeping the car in your lane, while it automatically accelerates/brakes through the traffic.
There is a significant difference in effort of driving manual vs automatic.
Yeah but that's cutting edge technology. Lane assist and automatic acceleration/braking is a tiny percentage of cars, plus it comes only on fairly high end or well optioned vehicles. Sure if I could afford a 70k robot vehicle that would be easier, but that's not really what we were talking about or comparing.
https://letmegooglethat.com/?q=which+cars+have+dynamic+radar+cruise+control
Since 2019 models like Honda Accord, Toyota Camry/Prius/Corolla, Subaru Legacy, and many others have had this tech; very far from 70k robots
Once again, that's not the comparison. The comparison is between generally used transmissions, not manuals vs a small percentage of automatic transmissions that have the expensive add on computer/lidar controlled engine and braking systems.
How?
I agree but.. As a shift week commuter I must say I much prefer the automatic in terms of both convenience and comfort. I drive long stretches at a time and having to constantly switch gears manually quickly turns into an annoyance. Also eating food or doing something else with your right hand is so much easier when you have an auto.
But if I once were to buy a leisure car it would be manual without a doubt.
Automatic is objectively better. But I still meme about manual being better l
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I've been driving 25 years now. I've owned an automatic once. And it was a 1988 jeep commanche that I bought for very cheap in 2017 and drove it for about two years.
I've driven plenty of automatics. Family members, wife, work, rentals, they all have auto. And it's just so fucking boring.
cars are supposed to be tools. having an automatic instead of a manual is like having a drill instead of a screwdriver.
No.
nah car's are getting way to much for at home usage for me
This is the way!
Just get with the times, dumbass
Why use a button or key to start your car? Spin the lever like real drivers used to! Why have ABS? Brake without it, like real drivers do! Why wear a seat belt? Drive without one, like real drivers used to do back in the days. Why buy luxury cars with all those safety features and use them, instead of disabling them like real drivers used to? Be a driver, make it as hard as possible to drive a car, but at least you'll drive. Or use an automatic, it's way better.
Do automatic cars even exist outside the US? I've never seen one in middle or eastern europe
I've read an article that they were about to get a lot more common outside of the US. Apparently they can better "tune" emissions that way and since there are heavy fines and a lot of control going forward that's the argument they are using.
Also apparently manual gears are more expensive to manufacture, I think. Again I read this on an article sometime ago so it could just be BS, I can't seem to find which it was.
Imo, they just want to greenwash this change. In reality they can save money and improve scalability and just standardize everything.
automatic vs manual transmission is an odd debate to have. Why argue only about the transmission? Why not have cars with manual ignition? If you dislike machines making your life easier, stop driving all together.
Why argue only about the transmission? Why not have cars with manual ignition?
Because on an enjoyment:effort scale a manual transmission ranks a lot higher than stuff like hand starting, manual ignition timing or manual chokes.
If you dislike machines making your life easier, stop driving all together.
Do you also tell photographers to quit photography if they use manual mode to control their camera, or woodworkers to only use powered tools instead of hand tools? Sometimes having that bit more of a connection to or control over what you're doing is just more engaging or more enjoyable - maybe you don't care about that when driving but there's a lot of people who do.
Because the manual transmission changes the entire experience of driving it, whereas a manual choke or ignition only changes starting it.
Some people (including myself) just find it more enjoyable to drive a manual. I feel more connected to the car, like its doing exactly what I want it to, and I feel like I've done something when I've driven home rev matching gears perfectly.
It's just about preference at the end of the day, but I do find manuals more fun.
Considering the type of driver that preaches about transmissions, I would argue that machines don't make enough decisions in their case.
whataboutism and sunk cost fallacy
Actually it's neither. It's a slippery slope.
not slippery enough to roll start an auto...
If I was a driver I'd drive an automatic just to spite manual elitists. Cars are cancer anyway.
That would only help us. We can't be elitist unless the majority lacks the good taste necessary to appreciate what we like.
(I mean, I also think wheels are great but I'm not a wheel elitist because everyone agrees with me.)