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Stick or Automatic?

I prefer to drive...

  • Give me a stick

    Votes: 36 64.3%

  • Give me an automatic

    Votes: 20 35.7%
  • Total voters
    56
P

pilottj

Blues is Life
Kind of a similar theme to the taildragger/trike thread in the FSX forum. Do you prefer to drive a stick or an automatic?

I have driven both, learned to drive in an automatic...loved it at first, wondered why anyone would drive a stick that required more work...then I learned how to drive a stick, and have preferred it ever since. I wont buy an automatic if I have a choice. I like the more precise momentum control, like being stopped at an uphill stoplight and not have to hold the brakes...yeah traffic jams are a pain sometimes but oh well :)

I suppose those who have taught your kids or grandkids to drive it might be a split too, some may prefer to throw the kids in a stick and let them struggle until they master the coordination, but they will end up with a better sense of control. Some might like to teach them the basics first, then a stick later. Tho you would be suprised how many people don't know how to drive a stick these days. Guess that is that many fewer who won't be able to steal my car :icon_lol:

Cheers
TJ
 
I'm a stick man, ...

but after 37 years of 3, 4, and 5 speeds last year had to go to an automatic due to knee failure (not because of shifting, though, freak acident):banghead: I miss my 5 speed Ranger.......
 
Manual transmissions with 4 X 4 drive in pickups for me and my son. My wife and daughter both have automatics. I guess were're split 50/50.
 
Re: Same

Stick Shift with the price of gas lately. Ever try pushing an automatic vehicle when it
dies.
 
I started out in the UK on motorcycles so that was all manual. Once I progressed to my first car that was also a manual transmission (autos were rare and more expensive in the UK at that time). I didn't own my first auto until after I emigrated and that was only because my Canadian wife needed to drive it too and she was auto only (and still is). Once we could afford a second car I bought a manual for me and shifting with the 'wrong' hand took a bit of getting used to but I had it cracked in a few days. Now we are back to a single vehicle and once again it has to be auto as my wife is the main driver since I became ill.
 
I learned to drive young....around 7 or 8 when Dad started letting me behind the wheel of the family car on those long back country roads. When I was 12 or so, Dad taught me to drive stick. A year or so later, Dad taught me how to DRIVE...meaning, how to drive fast, take corners at break neck speeds, how to drag race, how to dirt track around really sharp turns. You see, Dad was a back woods road racer and drag racer....our family car was souped up and race ready..Monday through Friday Dad would drive it to work and back. Come weekends, it was used to pull the boat to the lake and the following weekend...in the early morning hours...Dad would pop off the hub caps and spend most of Saturday tearing up back roads racing title for title...he never lost and would sell the loser their cars back for 2 or 3 or 5 hundred dollars...that's how we could afford the boating!

I HAVE to drive an automatic......I would rather be driving stick...but every time there is a peddle for my left foot (clutch), my driving habits change. I go from a mild speed freak to a full blown SPEED freak. Doesn't matter what I am driving, if it has a stick....it instantly triggers my road racing/drag racing training and I go nuts.

OBIO
 
I learned to drive on sticks and drove them for years. But I've grown to like my creature comforts and prefer an automatic these days.
 
When I was working in machine shops in my younger days I got too banged up at times to use a stick, so I bought automatics and still do. Sticks are fun though, I occasionally got to drive my friend's '68 Camaro SS 396ci/375hp 4-speed in those older days. Woodward Avenue was lots of fun too, until the law got serious about us racer dudes and that all changed. The drag strip was the better place to do the race stuff.
 
It depends...... learned stick at young age of course... we're in Europe here. Did all my racing driving with manuals. Got my first car with automatic (A BMW 5 series) from the company when I was 40. Very comfortable... but makes for lazy drivers.

After I had my Jeep Cherokee Automatic for 6 years I went back to stick now.

Bottom line, I love the automatic for daily driving (getting older makes you more focused on comfort), but I HATE it in 4-WD's. You just need to be able to control the clutch and power in terrain or snow.
 
I learned to drive with manuals. I'd prefer them to automatics due to fuel savings and more precise control as Francois said. However, having contemplating this matter for a while, I'd probably choose a dual clutch automatic tranny over manual one. They're a spiffing piece of technology, providing "best of both worlds" in most everyday conditions.

Trivia. Saab 96's manual tranny lever was mounted next to steering wheel.
 
Best of Both Worlds...

Tiptronic.
And, if you can't afford the 911, Subaru's is as good.
 
I learned to drive when I was 8 years old (a manual gearbox mk1 Escort 1.3lt...driven on private property and not on public roads ;p). I had blocks tied to the foot pedals so I could operate them..and I could bearly see over the steering wheel!:icon_lol:
Since then I've only ever regularly driven manual/stick shift as I prefer the extra control over these vehicles. I've tried tiptronic,paddle shift and automatic too over the years and ,as most of my driving is now around town, am contemplating going for an automatic as my next motor.
 
Inasmuch as I love a stick shift (e.g. Opal Kadet, Sunbeam Tiger, MGB), my preference these days is with an automatic for the following reasons:

1. The wife prefers it.
2. It is easier on steep hills with intersections and stoplights (can you say "Seattle")
3. Performance is on par with a stick if you have a shift kit and performance tweaks (like the Turbo 400 in my '74).

If you've ever autocrossed, there are other advantages with an automatic. When I competed I learned how to brake with the left foot, and use the gas with the right. You can effectively change the car's attitude in a turn if you can master the technique.

--WH
 
WarHorse47 said:
If you've ever autocrossed, there are other advantages with an automatic. When I competed I learned how to brake with the left foot, and use the gas with the right. You can effectively change the car's attitude in a turn if you can master the technique.

--WH
Click to expand...

Left foot braking has been very popular among the manual shift rally drivers for years. :)
 
Can't vote, no real option for what I have now. In my day, shift. But today it's paddle shift! :icon_lol:

That's right, out of F-1 we get the best of both worlds without having to use your left foot or take your hand off the steering wheel. My car is an automatic that can be shifted manually using paddle shifters on the steering wheel. Better than a stick any day and I drove manuals for over 40 years.

Caz
 
I don't drive yet. But I prefer an auto pilot driven car where I can program where I want to go and I arrive safe at my destination. My Mom can drive a 5 gear car or was it six. Her other car had a shift gear and automatic whichever she wants. Now she drives a CRV it is automatic. She just steps on the accelerator and the car zooms and she steps on the break and the car stops. She has to gear it to park and drive or reverse wahtever the case maybe. If I get my first job and get paid good I want to buy her a car and a driver of her own. That is my dream. My first job will be this summer maybe. My Mom does not want me to work yet because I am busy at school. This summer I will be working. I will buy her a house with three car garage and a two story house. Ok I think I answered the question Stick or Automatic and something else? Do I need to Edit my post? :wavey: From Hannah.
 
I learned on a Honda with a semi-automatic transmission. No clutch, but you had to move the selector up through the gears.

Then I went automatic, then learned the three, four and finally five speed manuals. Loved the 5 speed manual in my Nissan truck until an injury forced me back to automatics. Now I'm just lazy and prefer an automatic.
 
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