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.
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...
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
They just really don't sell many manual transmission cars in Canada so I've had scant experience with them. I did drive one a little bit for work but I wasn't used to it and would stall out on hills.
They do seem like they would be fun to drive. Sometimes my automatic will just rev on pointlessly high gears and I'm like, downshift you bastard
I do miss driving a manual, however EV one-pedal driving has its own gamifying aspects.
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.
Permanently Deleted
Laughs in formula one.
I love this meme format so much
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.
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.
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.
This is the way!
nah car's are getting way to much for at home usage for me
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.
