Why are American automotive journalists so obsessed with manual transmissions?

A lot of Americans still think you don’t really know how to drive unless you can drive stick. It’s a weird status thing almost.

most Americans suck dicks

My car is a manual transmission. I've always driven (or drove?) stick shifts..except for one car. They're getting harder to find now.

I think you're a pussy if you can only drive an automatic.

But then again, I'm a lesbian.

We miss the hard stick in middle of car. It was only time we felt anything down there until Secrete Services.

For the vast majority of people, a vehicle is a way to get from Point A to Point B as quickly as possible in some degree of comfort.

For auto journalists, a vehicle is a personal statement, a lifestyle choice or some other psycho babble bullshit. They fail to see they are in a very distinct minority and nobody gives a shit about their opinions.

These are people who love cars and appreciate them as cars. They don't want candy-asses cars where you can't even feel the road and the car does everything for you. Like tells you to put your seat belt on. Man, people just need to make sure their mommies are sitting next to them at all times.

They like a car that you can control and feel that you are in control. I get that because when you can feel your car's ride you do have better control and awareness of the road and the car's interaction with the road. Most people have no idea what their car is capable of, and that lack of know-how can prevent them from avoiding accidents. I learned that lesson when I trusted my instincts about my car and avoided a terrible accident on a slippery snowy road. it scared me but it showed me what my car was capable of and what I was capable of.

Just admit it, you're a wuss who shrieks in panic when you see a stick shift.

I’m not a lesbian and I agree completely with R4. R7 too.

The car magazines are getting over it finally. Even BMW, the darling of the automotive press, has stopped offering manuals in most of their mainstream models for a few years now.

my lesbian sister drives a truck

[quote] The car magazines are getting over it finally.

Probably only because they're hiring candy asses who want the car's interior to match their wardrobe.

I prefer stick shifts for the same reason I prefer vinyl records: they're the versions that seem real to me.

I think most people want the easy way out. Driving a stick shift isn't difficult, but learning it is trickier than just putting a column gear into drive. Automatic transmissions offer that...and most people are lazy. So...the auto industry just go where the money is...phasing out manual transmissions isn't surprising.

And 95% of Americans don't read automotive journals. If you care about cars and performance, that option is of interest. And having lived all over the world, I can tell you that if you're having to rely on finding an automatic rental car, you're pretty much not going anywhere. Learning to drive stick should be a right of passage, like knowing how to park (used to be).

How am I supposed to text, put my make up on, fix my hair, change the music and check out that cute driver flirting with me if I have to deal with that sticky thing.

R9 BMW offer manual transmission on all of their non-electric cars outside of the US.

[quote]Why are American automotive journalists so obsessed with manual transmissions? They'll dock a car's rating based on the lack of a manual transmission option. 95% of Americans don't want a stupid fucking stick shift!

That is not true at all.

Are you writing from 1969?

Audi, Mercedes aren't even available with manual. Ferrari's ALL come with automatics, they can be switched to manual, but instead of rejecting the automatic, auto journalists are in awe of what it can do.

I'm from the South and never learned shift. It made people think I was a queer.

Wait...

It’s a bit like saying most films released in the US are in English. Why do US critics have so many foreign films on their top ten lists?

There was a time when we appreciated the expertise of people who devoted their lives to subjects and actually were “in the arena”. Now we just want someone to confirm our biases and stroke our vanity.

[quote] Audi, Mercedes aren't even available with manual.

So wait . . that $160k Audi sportscar is a MANUAL? Bwahaahhaaaaaahhhaaa

Is that the Poseur line of cars?

^^ I meant

So wait . . that $160k Audi sportscar is an AUTOMATIC? Bwahaahhaaaaaahhhaaa

Is that the Poseur line of cars?

Jesus fucking Christ, do some of you own butter churns and wind-up Victrolas too?

I've owned two cars with manual transmissions for a span of about 12 years. When I finally went back to an automatic I couldn't believe how ridiculous I had been to actually want to make something be more work than it needed to be. There's no need for cars with manual transmissions anymore.

r7 reflects the sneery superior attitude described by the OP. I put considerable effort with three separate instructors into learning to drive a manual transmission and I just couldn't do it. I somehow lack the fine motor coordinations to work that thing and I stall out every single time, sometimes not in a great situation (like getting in a near head-on collision at an intersection.) I get why people prefer manual--better control, better gas mileage--and that's fine, but automatic transmissions outsell manual for a reason: not everybody has your mad driving skillz and they just want to be able to drive their own fucking car.

Then don’t read car enthusiasts with mad driving skills. They are not there to make you feel good about being your stunted development. They are there to celebrate the glory of excellence.

Because in the US it’s not a given that you can drive manual. So it makes them feel superior.

Guys really like girls who can handle a stick!

R6 gets it.

Manuals have more of a "driving experience" where one is working the car for the type of driving dynamic they want. Auto journos like that because they're looking for a "driving experience."

Thing is, most people aren't driving their car for a "driving experience" they're driving it because they have to get to work, the store, movie theater, bath house - and working a stick shift in stop-n-go traffic is tedious.

So read consumer reports.

Lamborghini is another high performance Italian brand that has done away with the manual:

I'm so cool I don't know how to drive an automatic.

I read the auto journals...journalists today are NOT obsessed with manual transmissions. Quit making things up.

And as ALL brands with be switching over to electric, the manual will be truly a thing of the past.

From the article at R29:

"There aren’t many true supercars out there with a manual transmission these days. In fact, we can only think of a handful: the Porsche 911 GT3 and GT3 RS and the Corvette ZR1 and Z06."

[quote]Why are American automotive journalists so obsessed with manual transmissions?

Because manual transmissions provide more control, you can better assess the engine and other mechanical features of a car than you can with an automatic transmission whose performance will be filtered.

I guess none of you gentlemen ever learned or ever wanted to learn to ride a motorcycle.

Yes, there are now a handful of models that come in automatic, but 95% of motorcycles have a clutch and a gear shift.

[quote] I've always driven (or drove?) s

Since you used "have" as in "I've"="I have" it should be DRIVEN.

I wasn't sure...wanted to cover my ass on that one.^^....lol. Thanks.. Didn't want to be "oh deared"..

[quote]I guess none of you gentlemen ever learned or ever wanted to learn to ride a motorcycle.

And those will be all electric within 10-15 years. And with automatic transmissions.

I have ridden in cars with people who drive stick but aren’t actually good at it. Thank God for automatic is all I can say.

It’s like riding the Whip-It at the county fair, ain’t it, r38?

[quote] and stroke our vanity.

And this here’s just me talkin’ but it ain’t my vanity I’m lookin to get stroked.

[quote] I've always driven stick shifts.

We know. You’re gay, aren’t you?

I had three consecutive cars in the span of 25 years that all had manual transmissions. I got sick of the stick in rush our traffic and I think it was exacerbating back problems. I went automatic a few years ago.

^^^hour^^^

It’s totally automatic

Whenever you’re around!

"A lot of Americans still think you don’t really know how to drive unless you can drive stick"

I can drive a stick fine, but most modern automatics are far more efficient and sticks are a pain in the ass in heavy traffic, so I choose not to. Most cars sold in America are automatics, because that's what people prefer. I also prefer power steering, power brakes and cruise control. I like A/C, heat and a stereo as well. I'm such a pussy

Had a stick for years until I got sick of rolling backwards down hills in SF no matter how expertly I changed gears, tired of all the shifting in traffic as others have pointed out, burned out two clutches...can't believe the stick is still around at all.

Now the choice is automatic vs CVT (continuously variable transmissions). Don't trust the CVT at all.

American automotive journalists are some of the smuggest writers on earth. Worse than food writers if possible.

R44 Agree with everything you said (except being a pussy) but wondering if they even make cars without power steering any more?

[quote]American automotive journalists are some of the smuggest writers on earth. Worse than food writers if possible.

Who exactly?

@r47, most of that stuff is standard equipment like automatic transmissions, but weren't not too many years ago. Doesn't really matter when we eventually go all electric people will wonder what a transmission was

While I believe everyone should know how to drive a manual, they're horrible if you live in an area with a high level of traffic congestion, or in an urban center with stop-and-go traffic...which a lot of Americans do.

I started buying cars with automatic transmissions in 2010 and haven't looked back. However, I can think of numerous times I would've been fucked if I didn't know how to drive a manual (especially while living in Asia and Europe).

I love driving a stick, but just not all the time. They make great fun weekend cars

I get that city driving is easier with automatics. There is a lot of gear shifting in a city. But then there's the anti-theft aspect of it.

R48 all of them at Car and Driver.

R50, I agree but you left out the biggest horrible. Manual is horrible if you live in a hilly city where you are likely to be stopped going uphill. You have to jockey the handbrake and ride the clutch to get going again. In that situation, automatic is so much better. Otherwise, I like manual.

Urban heavy traffic doesn't seem to stop manual cars being used outside of the US.

Luckily we don't have any steep hilly roads in the UK.

Steep hills and stop and go traffic are not obstacles for manual drivers. Having more control over the car is often an advantage in those circumstances. There's a reason a lot of automatics still give you the option to force the car to remain in a lower gear.

[quote]There's a reason a lot of automatics still give you the option to force the car to remain in a lower gear.

That's the point. Now that automatics offer lower gears for sustained hilly driving the one advantage of a manual is defunct.

My sister always had manuals because she smoked while driving and her muscle memory for driving was to smoke while changing gears. She always had a cigarette in her hand - puff - now put hand back on stick - take hand off stick - flick ashes - puff - hand on stick - switch gears.

You should’ve seen her ashtray.

Here's an idea, those who prefer sticks, drive them, the rest of us would rather not. Once the world goes all electric the point will be moot anyway

R57, not if you like that control at higher speeds as well.

Wrong, R56. I would regularly drive my manual car to Pittsburgh, which is known for being hilly, and one day the clutch went out…in a 1-year-old BMW. Manual cars are great for actually driving up hills, mountains or whatever, but unless you’re precise with shifting (which few people are), they can take on more damage than automatic cars.

I like having AWD in the snow...

Ok, come at me

R61, that's a problem of a poorly made car (and maybe some poor driving), not a manual transmission problem. If the transmission clunked out on a 1 year old automatic in Pittsburgh, you wouldn't claim it as evidence that automatics can't handle hills. A shitty car is just a shitty car.

Every manual I've owned I've had well into the 250,000 mile range, in both hilly and congested cities.

[quote] Ok, come at me

Can I come ON you?

Sorry, I’m horny.

Most automatics today allow you to shift manually if you prefer it… without needing to use a clutch. There’s no reason to have a manual today. It’s like using a rotary phone instead of a smartphone.

When I was about 8 and taking swimming lessons, I asked my instructor, a high school senior on the swim team, to show me some different strokes after class, and he was so thrilled someone took interest we stayed in the pool way past closing. It was getting dark outside, so he offered me a ride home, and when I saw his car, a '68 or '69 Javelin, I was so excited I could hardly contain myself. It was a manual and he showed me how to shift and asked if I wanted to try, so I did and was very proud of myself that I knew enough to shift from second to third despite having to move the stick up-over-up. I admitted my sister's car was a manual and she'd let me shift, too. He tousled my hair and said maybe I'd drive a stick shift when I got my driver's license. I told him I wanted a car just like his. Man, was I smitten.

R65 that's not a real manual. That's like when you add the fake bike attachment so a child feels like they are pedaling on a double bike but theirs doesn't even have a chain.

^ No it's not, downshifting is downshifting whether you use a clutch or not

What a cool story, r66!

Just curious, though, what made you flip over his car? As I recall, Javelins weren’t the nicest looking cars out there.

r66, is trying to turn a thread about manual transmissions into a pedo-fantasy thread. Knock it off

"Pedaling is pedaling whether there's a chain or not!"

Without a clutch, you're not actually shifting. In manual mode on an automatic, you're telling a computer to shift for you.

^ When I shift into a lower gear the transmission goes into a lower gear, I don't care how it gets the message as long as it does what I tell it

R4 is correct. You don't really know how to drive if you can't drive a manual. Manual transmissions for life!

Only pussies drive manuals, real men (and women) ride horses

Being British, I learned to drive a manual, but my current car (hint: username) is an eight-speed automatic. I've got to admit, it's pretty bloody fantastic, but if I only had an automatic licence, I wouldn't be able to drive my Dad's classic cars. One is an MG B GT, which I've got my beady eye on!

They have different licenses for automatic and manual transmissions over there?

Only pussies ride horses, real men and women race chariots pulled by horses.

R76, yes, you aren't allowed to drive a manual car if you only have an automatic licence. It's fine the other way round, though.

I don't know. A couple of reasons might be (1) nostalgia - they grew up with sticks and miss them; (2) elitism/snob appeal since most people can't drive a stick; (3) the snob appeal also ties into being a gear head and driving aficionado and liking to prattle on about performance and how much more you can get out of a stick.

That said, it is fun to drive a stick and you can really get a lot out of a great car with a stick -- IF you have the opportunity to air it out and really drive it. Most people don't have these opportunities and simply don't care and a stick would be a pain in the ass much more than it would be exciting or cool.

I'm 48 and learned to drive simultaneously in my dad's automatic transmission car and my mom's stick, which is what I drove most of high school. My first new car was a Honda Civic EX with a manual transmission -- but that was over 20 years ago. I've had automatic's ever since and would never buy a manual again unless I had a lot of extra money and could just have a little manual sports car for fun.

It's like riding a bike in that you really don't forget how to drive them. I've done so intermittently over the years and it comes back pretty quick.

Wow. Thanks for responding.

Here in the states, if you have a drivers license, you can drive manual or automatic legally. There are separate licenses for motorcycles, trucks (lorries) and school buses.

That's interesting re UK licenses because they accept any US State issued license to drive there and in the US our licenses don't make that distinction. Every time I've visited the UK I've driven a manual (rental car) and no one ever asked me if I knew how to operate one.

They'd probably only ask questions if you break the clutch or transmission. They aren't paid enough to care until the shit hits the fan.

[quote] I've had automatic's ever since

Oh, dear!

Who told you to use an apostrophe to make a plural?

[quote] a stick would be a pain in the ass much more than it would be exciting or cool.

Oh, I don’t know about that. I find it exciting.

I love a stick but would never have one if I lived somewhere like San Francisco.

"Who told you to use an apostrophe to make a plural?"

No one. It was a typo.

Oh, I’m only funnin’ ya, r86.

Whenever I ask that question I imagine Archie Bunker being aggravated about something and going off the deep end over really nothing.

I know, R87. I think I'm the only person who commonly types "you're" instead of "your" (when I mean "your) when recreationally typing, like on DL -- where I'm posting fast and not editing. Usually the mistake is the opposite - typing "your" when "you're" is called for. I guess I have a pattern of adding improper apostrophes on the fly. I should ask my therapist what it means. Lol.

R86 the lottery scratch offs in my area use it for games with a plural number in their name, for example “Lucky 7’s”. Seems like it should be “7s”, but I’m not sure if that’s right in that context.

R89, I need to go to your area and buy a ticket.

[quote] I think you're a pussy if you can only drive an automatic.

[quote]But then again, I'm a lesbian.

Most guys who make a big deal about driving manual are compensating for something.

So that puts your reply in perfect context!

[quote]As I recall, Javelins weren’t the nicest looking cars out there.

The original Javelins were beautifully styled cars. And it was rare to see them because they did not sell in the numbers that their competition did.

I'm not the poster you were responding to, but I was also a kid when they debuted. It was kind of an event to see one on the road.

Thanks, r92.

I think they’re kind of ghastly looking.

R93 Well you are obviously a person of very, very refined taste.

What do you drive?

An AMC Gremlin.

Why do you ask?

^ Pleb, Go Pacer or go home...

R82, ha that reminds me of the lax British standards towards vehicle violations. Once in London I mistakenly parked my car in a handicapped spot where the sign was covered by shrubbery. I felt really bad about it--my sister is wheelchair and I know very well the hassle of finding safe parking when there aren't enough of those spots. Anyway, I got the ticket the day I was leaving and I was concerned about making sure it got paid. So I approached a constable on the street and asked him if there was a place I could run in and quickly pay it before leaving the country. He took the ticket, looked at it, looked at me all puzzled and said "Why do you even want to bother paying this?"

You're sweet, R97, most people wouldn't have worried if they were leaving the country!

Why are wine critics and oenophiles so obsessed with tannin and body? Only half of Americans drink wine and 95% of those don't care about stupid fucking body!

@r98, You mean Great Britain doesn't extradite parking violators?

@r99, Maybe it's time to put down the wine and drive your automatic home

"Automotive journalist" is one step below "tik-tok influencer" on the career ladder.

My mom taught me to drive a stick, before getting my license. She had a little NSU car (German car...looked like a BMW) and took me to an empty parking lot of a nearby college and practiced driving the stick shift. First gear was tricky. There was a lot of buckling but I finally got it. It was fun.

When I was a teenager there were a lot of VW Bugs around, an easy way to learn a stick. Those VWs were hard to fuck up

Ah yes, the VW bugs. They were very popular back then. Too bad they don't sell them in the US anymore.

I have dual clutch transmission. Does that count?

I clutch my peals.

So close, R107, yet so far!

This thread has evolved -- or devolved -- to where I'm laughing out loud. Thanks, guys!

^ Yep, another episode of "Cars and Fags"

I miss the days of hand crank Victrolas!

^ You would have loved hand-wank Ford Model "T"s

Rr98 well at the very least I wanted to make sure I'd be able to get back in!

[quote] and 95% of those don't care about stupid fucking body!

I do. That’s one of the first things I look at on a guy.

Dodge hasn't made a decent family sedan or SUV in 40 years, but auto writers get all wet down there rhapsodizing about boy racer cars like the Dodge Charger and Dodge Challenger.

Nostalgia plays a big role in that.

R115 Consumer Reports rates Dodge the highest for quality second only to Buick among American cars.

JD Power ranks them second.

[quote]I read the auto journals...journalists today are NOT obsessed with manual transmissions. Quit making things up.

I've been a "Car & Driver" subscriber since I was 10. (Yes, seriously.) LITERALLY every single issue has at least one bit (and usually more) waxing poetic for stick shifts. They continually try to make #savethemanuals trend on social media FFS!

[quote]"There aren’t many true supercars out there with a manual transmission these days. In fact, we can only think of a handful: the Porsche 911 GT3 and GT3 RS and the Corvette ZR1 and Z06."

That article is seven years old, dear. Corvettes no longer have manuals even as an option, and they've been discontinued on nearly all 911s as well, with the exception of HIGHLY limited-production cars mainly intended for use on racetracks (and impossible to comfortably drive on a daily basis – even assuming "normal" manuals are comfortable in this fashion, and many argue with good reason that they're far more irritating in rush-hour traffic & the like than automatics).

[quote]Most automatics today allow you to shift manually if you prefer it… without needing to use a clutch.

Yes, and most of these automatics are utterly ridiculous. Last year I got stuck renting a Suburban – literally the largest vehicle sold on the consumer market – and even *it* had those ridiculous fucking paddle shifters behind the steering wheel! That is literally no different than the old-fashioned automatics that let you shift into fourth, third or second gear, e.g. on hills: if it doesn't have a clutch, it's not truly "manual" in any real way.

[quote]Manual is horrible if you live in a hilly city where you are likely to be stopped going uphill. You have to jockey the handbrake and ride the clutch to get going again.

R54, I don't know how long it's been since you drove a manual, but plenty of manual-transmission cars now have a "hill hold" feature, meaning it keeps the car in place for several seconds if you're stopped in traffic on a hill & need a short interval to engage the clutch. I've had three different BMWs in the past 15 years – before they stopped selling manuals in all but a handful of their M-class high-performance cars – that had this feature. I also had a rental VW in Europe last fall with it.

[quote]I would regularly drive my manual car to Pittsburgh, which is known for being hilly, and one day the clutch went out…in a 1-year-old BMW.

R61, if your clutch went out after a single year, it means one of only two things: it was defective, or you simply don't know how to drive one correctly. I had a stick-shift BMW in SAN FRANCISCO for four years and never even came close to having problems with the clutch. I'm not sure I've ever even *heard* of a clutch going out after only a single year, regardless of how hilly a city might be. I've only had one go out on me once, and that was after it had 120,000 miles on the odometer.

[quote]Dodge hasn't made a decent family sedan or SUV in 40 years, but auto writers get all wet down there rhapsodizing about boy racer cars like the Dodge Charger and Dodge Challenger.

Um, no. The only muscle cars highly regarded by auto writers are the high-performance versions of the Mustang & Camaro, both of which remain available with stick shifts. Despite their inaccurate depictions in various "Fast & Furious" movies, neither the Charger nor Challenger has ever had one, or at least not the "reboot" version launched about 15 years ago now.

The ONLY reason auto journos wax poetic about either is if they're equipped with an utterly ridiculous engine like the Hellcat or Demon, both of which make well over 700 horsepower – the problem being that having that much hp is almost entirely useless since flooring the accelerator in them would only result in a massive amount of wheel spin and literally burning your tires past their usable tread point within a matter of weeks. The only way to avoid this outcome is by using "slicks," a.k.a. the grooveless tires seen on F1 cars, but those can't be legally used on public roads anywhere in the developed world (mainly because they're called "slicks" for a reason – they have zero traction on roads that are the slightest bit wet, and are extraordinarily dangerous in such situations).

^ Wow... I got nothin'

Since no one's actually answered the question in full, allow me to do so. R79's answer was the closest: nostalgia has a lot to do with it. Most American cars sold during the past 60 years or so have been automatics, and almost entirely because our gas prices are so inexpensive compared to Europe in particular. Americans could readily afford the fuel-thirsty V8 engine-equipped cars that were commonplace in most American cars well into the '90s, and V8s could be readily used with automatics simply because they had so much horsepower.

By extension, then, manual-transmission cars came to be viewed as "sporty" by American drivers. When your mom drives an automatic-equipped Pontiac station wagon as a kid, and your dad has some lame-ass Oldsmobile, a stick shift seems exotic in contrast – hence the nostalgia for manuals among basically almost all American auto enthusiasts between the ages of 30 & 70. At least until the 21st century, nearly all "exotics" were equipped solely with manuals as well, e.g. nearly anything made by Ferrari, Lamborghini or even Porsche.

What changed? Quite simple: the so-called "dual-clutch manual" (DCM), which in reality has no literal clutch & requires no literal manual shifting. The technology started with F1 race cars & eventually migrated down to Ferraris & the like, and subsequently to basically every type of car – exotic or otherwise, including nearly all German cars – that formerly came solely with manuals. The key difference here was the elimination of the performance differential between the two. Old-school automatics could take two seconds or more longer to accelerate 0-60 than a stick shift. With DCMs, however, nearly all of them accelerate much *faster* than traditional manuals given the lack of lag time needed to physically hit the clutch & switch gears: shifts now take place in a fraction of a second.

The part that American nostalgics don't really get is that European cars of all stripes have long been the opposite: nearly all equipped with manuals, not automatics, given Europe's far higher fuel taxes and much more stringent rules regarding fuel economy, engine sizes & emissions. (Italy may be famous as the home of Ferrari & Lamborghini, but for mere mortals buying average cars, any engine larger than a two-liter four-cylinder involved paying a quite considerable additional tax.) So: Europeans have long viewed manuals as workaday & plebeian – the opposite of the US, in other words. This is why Porsche now sells almost zero manuals: their cars with PDK transmissions (an acronym for the German-language variation of a DCM) are quicker than any of their manual-equipped cars with identical engines.

tl;dr It all boils down to a cultural difference. American fanboys pine for manuals, despite the reality that nearly all of them stopped actually *buying* cars with stick shifts once DCMs became available even on affordable sporty cars like the VW GTI. There's also certainly a "coolness" factor to them as well, at least in terms of pre-21st c. vehicles: only "pussies" and "chicks" couldn't drive stick. In Europe & the UK, almost everybody can drive a stick shift, though automatics have become far more commonplace there as well (though they at least still *sell* manual-equipped cars, unlike those in the US).

I know how to drive a stick / manual shift, but got disenchanted when I had a commute that involved stop-and-go traffic and inclines and declines.

My current car is automatic with an option to go manual (shifters on the steering wheel). There's also a "sport" mode that is automatic, but shifts gears at a higher RPM. I'm happy with it. Most of the time I'm just in plain automatic mode.

I've driven and owned manuals since I learnt to drive as a teenager. I've got nothing against automatics and happy to use them at work or as rentals. But I've also had arthritic knees since I was a teenager and the gear changing forces me to keep those creaky knees moving. The one time I bought an automatic I had to sell it after 6 months when the knees started to seize up.

I can't say there's anything super special or superior about manual transmissions. If it wasn't for the dodgy knees I'd have switched to an automatic without a second thought.

R123, actually, my old manual car had a hard clutch and was hard on my knee. I was a lot younger then, too!

It will all be academic soon anyway, as cars get more and more automation that probably won't work with manual transmissions. I expect the manual car I have now to be the last one I will ever own because they will be gone by the time I'm ready to get another car.

[quote]I've been a "Car & Driver" subscriber since I was 10. (Yes, seriously.) LITERALLY every single issue has at least one bit (and usually more) waxing poetic for stick shifts. They continually try to make #savethemanuals trend on social media FFS!

I have read Car&Driver monthly since about 1965.

There's nothing wrong in being enthusiastic about the stick. We also have folks who have successfully campaigned to revive the vinyl disk. So? It's all good.

And those enthusiasts are well aware that they're speaking to a very niche audience.

Looking at the latest issue of C&D I don't even see a car equipped with a manual being featured. Even their test of the 2022 Porsche 911 GTS has an automatic..

And of that automatic, they say this:

" The standard eight-speed dual-clutch automatic is eerily prescient in its operation, regardless of what drive mode is selected. Though we still prefer the engagement of the no-cost seven-speed manual option, it's impossible to beat the automatic's efficacy, particularly on the track.".

So where's the snobbery?

[quote]My current car is automatic with an option to go manual (shifters on the steering wheel). There's also a "sport" mode that is automatic, but shifts gears at a higher RPM. I'm happy with it. Most of the time I'm just in plain automatic mode.

And, again, that isn't "manual" in the least. Hell, I rented a base-level Toyota RAV4 – now the best-selling vehicle in America btw – just last week that had a "sport mode" along with a console shifter that let you change gears "manually." (This despite it having a pokey non-turbo four-banger engine with no real power to it.)

Nowadays there are more vehicles that *do* have either this function and/or steering-wheel paddles than otherwise.

[quote]Looking at the latest issue of C&D I don't even see a car equipped with a manual being featured.

You must've missed this article at link – here's one quote: "There's a six-speed manual, proof that Cadillac cares deeply about those of us who love cars, and a prescient 10-speed automatic transmission for those of us who suffer in traffic. With the manual, 60 mph is gone in 4.0 seconds, the quarter passes in 12.4 at 116 mph, and the V-6 gets titanium connecting rods."

As for the snobbery: they Eve Harringtoned the BMW 3-series off of their 10Best List to replace it with a Cadillac, for fuck's sake! If you delve into the comments, you can see that they did so largely on this basis. (Granted that it's quite odd to see an automatic-only 340i & any type of Cadillac with a stick shift, but still.)

In their minds it represents power and control. You know, manly shit. RAWR.

This is all going to be a non-issue within a decade once every vehicle is either electric or a hybrid.

Are 4X4s "real" 4X4s or just computerized 4X4s?

Go...

Hey, everyone knows that Miata is always the answer

Stick shift

Convertible

And Gay face for days...

Cadillac was among the first majors to offer automatic transmission in 1941, having introduced the first clashless Synchro-Mesh manual transmission in 1928, so automatic transmissions have been around for a good long while--it's comforting for me to watch the retro female film stars driving manual transmissions without at second thought, since those were the standard of the day. Lest we forget, Queen Elizabeth (who by my estimate has been driving some 80 years) drove and serviced heavy military vehicles during the war--most likely manual transmissions . . . of course she's now driving an automatic Landrover, but still . . .

A fond memory was of being stopped behind a girl driving a VW beetle, stalled northbound at the crest of Taylor & California in the City; I jumped out & asked if I could help; she explained that she just couldn't get it over the intersection; I did the hand brake/clutch finesse thing & got her over & through the intersection; she was delighted.

In Europe, we usually drive manuals, unless treated to an automatic; here, both of our vehicles (including a large diesel truck) are automatics, but as some upthread have alluded to, it's like riding a bicycle . . .

Alpha male wannbes thinking working a stick makes their stick bigger.

what about sports cars like ferrari? are they also only manual transmissions?

yes, I am stupid, I don't drive

@r133, Watching a guy shift gears makes me all tingly inside

R135 Watching you ride a stick makes me tingly inside.

A MT can make an average ride very exciting. I have a Corvette and a Z3 that are MT. A couple of others are automatics. Btw: Chargers do (or did) have a MT option, I know because I drove one.

An automotive journalist’s ideal car is a brown station wagon with a manual transmission. Read this in Motor Trend or Car & Driver.

^ It used to be a brown, manual, diesel station wagon, but I guess diesels are out of favor

[quote]Are 4X4s "real" 4X4s or just computerized 4X4s?

It depends considerably on the type of vehicle it is. Newer, pricey 4x4s – meaning legitimate trucks or truck-based SUVs, along with specialty vehicles like Land Rovers – have fairly elaborate off-road systems, but nowadays they're mostly computerized. Somewhat older American trucks have 4x4 systems that are often largely manual in nature, especially on their lower-end variants.

A better question might be whether AWD vehicles "real" or computerized: the answer is definitely the latter (and btw the majority of German cars at this point either have AWD as an option or include it as a standard feature; all Audi SUVs have their standard Quattro system, as do all but their lowest-end sedans).

[quote]Hey, everyone knows that Miata is always the answer

True, the Miata is the one car out there that's always had a manual & likely always will, at least until EVs wholly take over. What it is definitely *not*, however, is a gay-face-for-days vehicle: used Miatas are readily the most popular cars for autocross racing, a hobby almost wholly hetero in nature. (But yes, quite a few new Miatas are still bought by women & gay guys.)

[quote]what about sports cars like ferrari? are they also only manual transmissions?

No: Ferrari hasn't sold manual-transmission cars for over a decade now. They use the best-of-the-best dual-clutch manuals (which, again, don't have literal clutches) that are largely the same as the ones used in Formula 1 racing: you can either let the transmissions' computers do all the shifting, or put them into manual mode and do instantaneous shifts with a flick of a paddle shifter behind the steering wheel.

[quote]An automotive journalist’s ideal car is a brown station wagon with a manual transmission. Read this in Motor Trend or Car & Driver.

Not quite: auto journalists have a definite fetish for high-performance German wagons sold here in minuscule numbers, but there are only three still sold in the US, where even hausfrauen have decided they prefer SUVs mainly because they sit higher up & afford a better view. See link for info on one of the last remaining wagons, which basically has supercar-level performance in a practical package (one that American men eschew basically because they stupidly think "station wagons are for pussies").

Btw R139 older Benz diesels have a cult following – though not really among auto journalists per se – mainly because they last forever as long as they're maintained reasonably well. OTOH they're an environmental nightmare, given that they date back to the days when diesels still belched massive amounts of foul-smelling, plainly visible exhaust.

^ Wow (again) You are really into this shit, aren't you? Actually different 4X4/AWD systems are very complicated as each one is a bit different. The secret is knowing the type of driving you do and picking the right system to suit your type of driving

Our family was mostly pick-ups. My dad insisted on manual, always saying something about more power, higher torque. I assumed it to be true as driving those pick-ups was such a pain in the ass. His last truck, a 2003 Silverado, had manual.

A firm stick that shifts easily is quite fun.

Studebaker invented the hill holder.

The auto mags...Car&Driver, MotorTrend etc... are for car enthusiasts.

ALWAYS have been.

If you want straight reporting, if you want to know what economical SUV to buy, then read Consumer Reports, read Edmonds.

Geeeesh.

[quote] Studebaker invented the hill holder.

What’s the hill holder?

^ So you don't roll back on a hill while trying to shift into gear. Driving a stick in San Francisco used to be quite a trick

Oh, wow. Thanks.

Over 80% of cars in Europe are manual so you pussies better learn to drive one if you're going to drive there.

Enjoy your sticks while you can, Europe, in 10 years all your cars will be electric

[quote]If you want straight reporting, if you want to know what economical SUV to buy, then read Consumer Reports, read Edmonds.

Consumer Reports actually stopped licking Toyota’s twat and stopped eating out Subaru’s snatch for a brief minute and recommend some fun-to-drive SUV’s like the Mazda CX-5 and BMW X3 a few years ago.

You don't need Consumer Reports to tell you what car to buy, just go online and ask people who own what you're interested in. You'll find out quick enough what's good and bad

I thought that Subaru invented the hill holder....

They have a couple of cute journalists on the TV version of CONSUMER REPORTS.

[quote]Our family was mostly pick-ups.

SLUTS!!!

I'm going to teach myself stick. Can anyone recommend the best YouTube video or manual for this?

[quote] But then again, I'm a lesbian.

Compensating for something?

My father tried to teach me how to drive stick on an old Honda Accord. It turned into a screaming match. It’s best to have a friend take you out in an old beater. Some driving schools used to offer it and that would be the ultimate way to go. I’d love to learn it for once and for all without someone blowing a gasket the whole time.

R155 this one is not too bad, british so the steering wheel is on the wrong side (I'm french), but it's good. It would be better if you could have a couple of hours with a driving instructor, it's really about practice and they forgot to explain what the clutch does, and the concept of gears, it's important to understand how it works

It's like a mirror image. Driving a stick in Britain must be a real trick for Americans. Reversing everything you know while trying to pay attention to traffic

R159 the gear stick is the same than on the continent, I think in Australia they switch the order to have the 1st gear toward the driver.

I can drive stick, but would rather have an automatic. I live in snow and ice country, and for me it seems easier to navigate these conditions with an automatic. I wonder why Europe is so stuck on manual transmissions, though. Is it a cost factor with fuel prices being higher? A lot of their engines also tend to be smaller displacement.

R161 my uncle had to have his automatic box fixed in the 90 on a french car, it cost a small fortune back then. I think the french didn't do good automatics.

Manual transmissions used to be more fuel efficient when automatics were only 2 and 3 speed. Now with transmissions having 8 and 9 speeds autos are actually more efficient and faster. No advantage to sticks except a personal preference

Yeah, the Europeans don't make good cars, they break down a lot!

I always thought it was a boomer thing. A flex to say you can drive “stick” and won’t get a car that is automatic.

Do young people even care about this?

What resurrected this thread? The war fueling a need to be more masculine and in control?

I get it.

R165, there are a lot of things that young people don't care about. When they grow up, their priorities may change.

^ Since the world is going all electric why would young people care about a stick? Seems horse & buggy-ish by comparison

Good for them. All my cars but my very first one have had a manual transmission. We're a nation of texting drivers. Maybe more of them should be driving cars without automatic transmissions, so they'd have something safer to do while driving.

Automatics are for teenagers.

I can drive stick, but have driven automatics for the past 20 years. When you commute on the 405 every work day, and attend meetings in the main office downtown (pre-COVID), you aren't looking for a "driving experience." You just want to get to your destination as quickly and as efficiently as possible.

[quote] Since the world is going all electric why would young people care about a stick?

Yea, that is sooo not happening unless the cars get way cheaper and they can self-charge very quickly just by driving.

^ It is too happening. Every major auto maker has a 10 year plan to phase out ICE cars for electric cars. ICEs will still be around, but there's no development money going their way. EVs will get cheaper and better over time, but I guarantee stick shift cars are NOT coming back. EVER

Used cars will be around for decades yet.

Thanks r158.

My dad taught me how to drive stick shift 25+ years ago. Unless you're a sports car enthusiast, it's just a pain in the ass to have to use it. Automatic transmission is an upgrade, stick shift cars we're the cheapest models. That's like buying a car without air conditioning (believe it or not, some vehicle manufacturers such as Jeep sell these).

I almost got into a terrible accident on an icy highway. The guy in front of me was obviously texting while driving and swerving. It scared me, so I switched lanes to pass him. After I passed him I came back into the lane and hit black ice. My car started going out of control. Just as I was thinking “I’m supposed to steer into a skid,” an alarm went off and the car automatically did some kind of maneuvers and got back on track. I didn’t even know what it was. It was traction control and it saved me from going off the road and into a tree. Another time it was raining and the car in front of me stopped short. I started to switch lanes and the whole alarm thing happened again and my car took over & righted itself.

Thank you, AWD traction control. You took over before I even registered the car was going OOC.

Glad you weren't injured or killed, R177. Maybe you could show your gratitude to the higher power that saved you by avoiding anagrams and initialisms for the rest of your life (or, as you might prefer to say: TROYL).

Did you scream and do jazz hands like a Final Girl, R177?

@r177, what kind of car do you have? My car has a ton of safety nannies, but never acted like the hand of God

R177, you must love that car!

What brand is it?

How to Drive Stick Shift.

Do this in a deserted parking lot.

Engine on, car in 1st gear.

Left foot on clutch, all the way down to floor.

Right foot off of brake / off the gas. Right foot does nothing.

Slowly / gradually lift your left foot (let the clutch pedal come up). At some point, the car will move forward (without you pressing the gas pedal).

Never mind if you fall out of gear, stall out, etc. It's OK.

Keep practicing with that left foot until you figure out at what point, on the clutch, that your car starts moving (without pressing the gas pedal).

Once you figure out that point on the clutch, add some gas.

2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc., gears are easier to figure out.

R182, those guys must have learned it from my dad (or theirs), including the deserted parking lot part. We went to a big company after dinner (summertime, still light) where only a few people working late were still parked in the lot -- but somebody always noticed us lurching around the edges and then everyone ran out and moved their cars to relative safety near the building. My sisters and I all learned that way and became good stick shift drivers (eventually).