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November 01, 2007
Sticking It To Stick Shifts
Blah blah blah, driving a stick is totally awesome and manly, blah blah blah. I'm done with the stick shift. If I'm tired, no one else can drive. If I'm in traffic, I can't zone out. If I'm on a hill, I have to not roll into the car behind me. And these fuel efficiency gains? I'm pretty sure I lose 65% of my efficiency because I'm on manual rather than automatic. On the freeway, I get 30 miles to the gallon. Sticking around the city, I'm in the teens -- lower than friends with similarly efficient cars, but whose automatic transmissions regulate their revs. Having a bit more control on the open road is useful if I want to race someone, but beyond that, I'm waiting for robot cars that drive me around. Or possibly a better train system.
November 1, 2007 | Permalink
Comments
Yeah, the stick shift snobs basically are stuck in the past, when early automatic transmissions were pretty bad compared to human control. Nowadays, automatics are much improved.
That said, I can't claim to be a manly car guy - I get all my car info from car talk (including the above tidbit.)
Posted by: Binky | Nov 1, 2007 11:44:31 AM
I agree it's not fun for commuting, but it's useful when renting cars in Europe or driving in the developing world.
Posted by: Dr. Victor Davis Handjob | Nov 1, 2007 11:46:56 AM
On the freeway, I get 30 mph.
You have to shift out of first. In second, I find I can make up to almost 40.
Posted by: Antid Oto | Nov 1, 2007 11:48:43 AM
I agree that you should not drive a stick.
Posted by: Dave Justus | Nov 1, 2007 11:54:41 AM
Hah! Thanks for the catch.
Posted by: Ezra | Nov 1, 2007 11:54:42 AM
Cars with continuously-variable transmissions (CVT) offer good performance and convenience. Some models with CVTs include the Prius, Civic, and the Jeep Patriot. It's a transmission that car geeks, eco freaks, and the just plain lazy can all embrace.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuously_variable_transmission
Posted by: joejoejoe | Nov 1, 2007 11:54:53 AM
If I'm tired, no one else can drive.
Wow. Your friends are lazy and lacking in life skills. Teach them how to drive stick.
I can't claim to be a stick shift snob, but... it's just something you should know. And when I get my nice European sports car, I'm not getting an automatic.
Posted by: Tyro | Nov 1, 2007 11:55:34 AM
Yeah, the stick shift snobs basically are stuck in the past, when early automatic transmissions were pretty bad compared to human control.
Yeah, yeah. Keep saying that to yourself. We understand why North Americans drive cars with the same controls as the ones in the fairground. It's so that you can tell the person on the other end of the cellphone how many cupholders you have.
Seriously, if you come from, um, the rest of the world, where you get taught to drive manual, it's no big deal. The real problem for Americans is causation: driving at 16 with a piss-easy road test means that there's not much in the way of driver education, so if you're 'taught stick', it's usually by someone who thinks they know how to 'drive stick', who learned it from someone who thought they knew how to 'drive stick', etc. And at the end of that chain is often someone who learned in a tractor.
Having a bit more control on the open road is useful if I want to race someone
Being able to drop down a gear and get acceleration when you need it, rather than when the automatic transmission decides on your behalf, really is useful. Also, steep hills.
Posted by: pseudonymous in nc | Nov 1, 2007 11:56:38 AM
So far, the only downside I've experienced as a result of my ability to drive a stick shift is that I've gotten dragooned into driving rental trucks for my friends who can't/don't/won't when they've had to move. Oh, and it can make drinking coffee in the car a little more of a trick, but you probably ought not to be drinking and driving anyway. Otherwise I just can't see driving an automatic -- even these nifty new ones.
Posted by: nolo | Nov 1, 2007 12:00:32 PM
Being able to drop down a gear and get acceleration when you need it
Also being able to shift up to reduce torque when starting out on a road covered with ice.
Posted by: Herschel | Nov 1, 2007 12:01:40 PM
The advantage to a manual transmission is that it encourages you to participate in what you're in the middle of, not to mention that zoning out in traffic isn't necessarily a good thing. The automatic doesn't control revs, it just removes the driver from an immediate awareness that revs are happening, encouraging jack-rabbit zoned-out lurches in traffic. A car with a manual transmission is like a computer that isn't controlled by Microsoft, welcoming you to itself every time you turn it on, or like a bottle of beer with something resembling beer in it.
Posted by: Blister | Nov 1, 2007 12:04:34 PM
Honestly, I'm a more attentive driver when driving stick, and it's a lot better. If I had a teenager, I would insist that he or she learn and drive a strick to ensure s/he'd be paying more attention while driving. Leave automatic for soccer moms in their SUVs, middle-aged professionals in their Acuras while they commute in bumper-to-bumper traffic, and retirees in their Ford Crown Vics. The rest of us can shift our own gears.
Ok, maybe I am kind of a stick-shift snob, after all.
Posted by: Tyro | Nov 1, 2007 12:05:42 PM
> Being able to drop down a gear and get acceleration
> when you need it, rather than when the automatic
> transmission decides on your behalf, really is useful.
> Also, steep hills.
Modern computer-controlled autos monitor and account for those situations.
Cranky
I like manual myself, but I agree with Ezra that in city driving (both North American and European), for the average driver (both American and European - sorry Euro-studs), modern computer-controlled automatics are superior. Also, for equal fuel economy automatics generally have lower emissions.
Cranky
Posted by: Cranky Observer | Nov 1, 2007 12:06:07 PM
Cars with continuously-variable transmissions (CVT) offer good performance and convenience. Some models with CVTs include the Prius, Civic, and the Jeep Patriot. It's a transmission that car geeks, eco freaks, and the just plain lazy can all embrace.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuously_variable_transmission
Posted by: joejoejoe | Nov 1, 2007 12:06:17 PM
Cars with continuously-variable transmissions (CVT) offer good performance and convenience. Some models with CVTs include the Prius, Civic, and the Jeep Patriot. It's a transmission that car geeks, eco freaks, and the just plain lazy can all embrace.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuously_variable_transmission
Posted by: joejoejoe | Nov 1, 2007 12:07:50 PM
I drive a stick, and I prefer it. I had an automatic for a few years (which was stolen), and when I bought my new car, I looked exclusively at sticks. I live in the city (Chicago), and traffic is an issue, but I just deal with it.
I'm not sure it's any more manly, but I do think it's more fun to drive a stick. It also helps keep me awake on commutes. Traffic isn't much of a drawback (even though it sucks here), but having a stick basically means you must have a hands free device for your cell phone. It's also harder to eat sunflower seeds while driving. And there are things that *I* think are cool (like downshifting), but I wouldn't go so far as to say you suck if you don't drive a stick.
I think they're also somewhat less likely to get stolen, though this is simply my own logical conclusion. In the universe of car thieves, there must be some portion of that group that can't drive a stick.
I drive my parents cars (automatics) when I go home, and it's convenient, but my next car will be a stick, as will every car I buy in the foreseeable future. Just a personal preference. And the stick in my car is in a really cool spot.
I cringe at people who get sports cars with automatic transmissions. What a waste.
Posted by: Seitz | Nov 1, 2007 12:12:06 PM
I used to be one of those stick snobs, but when I got my current car, an automatic, about 3 years ago, after 25 years of driving a stick, I had to wonder why I had made myself work so hard while driving for all those years.
Posted by: mrgumby2u | Nov 1, 2007 12:14:14 PM
> I'm not sure it's any more manly, but I do
> think it's more fun to drive a stick. It also
> helps keep me awake on commutes. Traffic isn't
> much of a drawback (even though it sucks here),
> but having a stick basically means you must have
> a hands free device for your cell phone.
Part of it is your age and the genetic heritage of your knees. I enjoyed driving a manual in Very Large City from 20-30 years of age, but after the 35-40 age period my clutch knee wasn't so excited. And that was with a Honda (featherlight) clutch for the most part.
Cranky
Posted by: Cranky Observer | Nov 1, 2007 12:16:39 PM
Wow. Your friends are lazy and lacking in life skills. Teach them how to drive stick.
Better: cough up the $50 and book them an hour with a driving instructor. Call it a business expense.
Modern computer-controlled autos monitor and account for those situations.
Not all of them, unless you're talking about the S-class with its integrated cryogenic German brain. And you can never be certain that the anticipatory overdrive will be there when you need it. Admittedly, you can't be certain that your own reactions will be there, either, but that's your own problem.
Posted by: pseudonymous in nc | Nov 1, 2007 12:16:44 PM
> Admittedly, you can't be certain that your own
> reactions will be there, either, but that's your own
> problem.
Given the affect of poor shifting on emissions, it is not just the owners' problem.
Cranky
Posted by: Cranky Observer | Nov 1, 2007 12:20:14 PM
Also being able to shift up to reduce torque when starting out on a road covered with ice.
I'd be dead six times over without a stick. Engine braking, and precise driver control over wheel speed, on ice- and snow-covered rural highways up heah in Maine. The combination of FWD, a stick, and ABS makes the battle against winter almost a fair fight....
Posted by: Davis X. Machina | Nov 1, 2007 12:21:38 PM
Agree with Tyro, Blister, & Seitz that driving a stick does tend to help one pay attention-- constantly assessing the engine speed, road grade, etc., is a feature, not a bug. That said, it does suck in standstill traffic, but I do my best to avoid that, and my manual Civic usually does much better mileage-wise in mixed driving than the listed 26/30 mpg.
Oh, and I hope it's not a manly skill per se, since I'm definitely not a man. Men do seem to like women who drive a manual, although I'll skip the more obvious speculation on why that might be the case. As far as attracting positive male attention goes, IME it beats the hell out of following sports, though.
Posted by: latts | Nov 1, 2007 12:23:11 PM
Using your hand to manipulate what is basically a phallus - that ain't "manly" in my book.
Posted by: Jason C. | Nov 1, 2007 12:34:55 PM
What's manly is the way my stick-shift car makes my calf muscles look. The wife says that's sexy. So I'm keeping the stick. (Insert dirty joke here)
Posted by: Rick | Nov 1, 2007 12:42:54 PM
Yeah, but some anachronistic skills are just fun to show off. Stick shift, slide rule, dial phone. . .
Posted by: Stuart Eugene Thiel | Nov 1, 2007 12:44:44 PM
