The death of the manual transmission

[Daedius]

All non-Americans.

/ thread

[OperationFerret]

Yeah I tried looking this up once, I believe I came across the same issue. Study saying Latvia car accidents mostly cause by manuals - because all their cars are manuals.

If you really want to know, see if you pay a premium for insurance on a manual transmission. Ends up being a wash. Continue....

Historically, a stick shift car has caused a rate increase because of the extended time it takes to shift, stop or accelerate a vehicle which demands more attention and skill from the driver.

That being said, statistically, manual transmissions cost less to replace, so depending on the insurance company the premium might just even out to that of an automatic transmission car.

[Noctiphobia]

Driving is no fun at all, and manual makes it even worse.

[Nadiru]

Also remember that Americans drive a lot more to and from work than most other nations, I would imagine. Shit around here is really far apart. Most people usually just want the comfort of driving an automatic.

This. Commuting 1-2 hours every day in stop-start traffic with a manual is a miserable experience.

[Grym]

My current car is a manual, however decided that next car I get will be automatic

[Zauruz]

I love driving manual. Feels like I have much more control on how I want to drive.

[Bigbazz]

Even so, some mental bandwidth is being devoted to the shifting, even if you do it without much conscious thought.

It's a pretty menial amount of "mental bandwidth" as you put it, and really changing gears and the whole motion and mechanics of it is what makes driving enjoyable, quite theraputic. That's exactly the reason why there is still a big demand for manual transmission in expensive sports cars despite that their pricing makes it perfectly viable to have a dual-clutch automatic or something similar, where paddle shift or full auto is available. Fact is that cars are not just about getting you from A to B, they are part of culture, it's about style and status, about enjoyment.

And really if you're someone who likes cars and enjoys driving the chances are you're going to want a manual. You can look at other technologies too. Look at vacuum tubes (aka valves) in musical equipment, the technology was replaced by transisters by the late 60s or early 70s? Yet to this day because of the enthusiast market pretty much all of the high end amplifiers run on Valves, while the cheaper ones run on transisters.. Transisters are far more efficient and more reliable, but people prefer the sound on Valves so despite being phased out in everything else, they are still used in amplifiers for music.

[Deleted]

This

In switzerland if you pass your driving exams without a manual shift your license is marked as "automatic only". And nobody want that stain on theirs.

In the UK it works like this -

If you pass your test in a vehicle with a manual gearbox then you are legally allowed to drive an automatic vehicle without taking another test.

If you pass your test in an automatic vehicle then you are not allowed to drive a vehicle with manual gears until you pass a test in a manual vehicle.

[omeomorfismo]

lol, in 7 years of license i think that i got in only 1 automatic car.
and never drived one D:

[deadman1]

All non-Americans.

I'm american and I know how to drive manual. They don't teach it in driving school, but it's still a good thing to learn how to do.

[Bigbazz]

I'm american and I know how to drive manual. They don't teach it in driving school, but it's still a good thing to learn how to do.

Wait you actually take your test in an automatic, and then can drive a manual without another test?

[Palaplu]

This

In switzerland if you pass your driving exams without a manual shift your license is marked as "automatic only". And nobody want that stain on theirs.

It's the same here in Belgium.
Almost everyone here drives manual.

[tj119]

Learned to drive on a manual growing up. At one of my stores we do emmissions testing and it was pretty sad this kid had to do a dyne test for a 94 Truck. The kid couldn't drive stick. It's becominf one of those lost arts. 3 of my cars have manual transmissions.

I actually prefer it, keeps me from looking at my lhone or being distracted. Learning to drive one should be required to obtain a license.

[zetitup]

Sweden also has the rule of "If you take your license with an automatic transmission, you can only drive those" and you have to do more tests if you want to switch to manual, so best deal is to learn to use Manual asap in sweden, i kinda like manual over automatic also, kinda boring just to sit there pushing 2 pedals and wave abit with your hand

[Fojos]

I wish my current vehicle was a manual transmission. It's just boring to drive automatic.

Because driving manual is so much fun when you do it every day, am I right.

Eventually it feels just as automatic as an automatic, with the difference being that modern automatics are much more efficient.

- - - Updated - - -

Sweden also has the rule of "If you take your license with an automatic transmission, you can only drive those" and you have to do more tests if you want to switch to manual, so best deal is to learn to use Manual asap in sweden, i kinda like manual over automatic also, kinda boring just to sit there pushing 2 pedals and wave abit with your hand

Drive manual a few more years then.

[Tommi]

Meh, I have the best of both worlds. Tiptronic box, yo.

[deadman1]

Wait you actually take your test in an automatic, and then can drive a manual without another test?

Yeah, it's up to you to learn it on your own. I don't need a test to drive manual, nor do I need any official documents saying that I'm allowed to drive manual or not.

[Ripster42]

Wait you actually take your test in an automatic, and then can drive a manual without another test?

Ye, we give no shits.

Still know how to drive a stick as my first vehicle was a little 84 ford ranger.

[Bigbazz]

Heh, I learned how to drive manual when I got my first car and drove it home from the dealership. US driving requirements are insanely low.

I find this quite surprising, in the UK the standards for passing your test are really high and you can fail based on minor errors. I got my licence in 2011 and not sure how things have changed since then, but driving instructors were teaching economy driving with a strong emphases on being in the right gear at the right time, all the time. Because this was considered a safety thing (due to deceleration rates/car control especially in built up areas with low speed limits) you could fail your test on being in the wrong gear if a repeated pattern was noticed.

So yeah it's quite a contrast that we have really strict tests that are fairly easy to fail, and then in the US you don't even need to know how to drive a manual to get a licence! I guess it's a different culture though, you have mostly automatics and your roads are massive, we have mostly manuals and a lot of our roads are super narrow... Like for example there is a lane I regularly drive through where if a car is coming the other way I have to creep past with about 6 inches space whilst holding the car on a steep incline, with a country full of roads like this you really need everyone to have 100% control when driving a manual.

[Kapadons]

Driving a manual is a pain in the ass in rush hour traffic on a busy commercial street with a stop light every quarter mile. Too many steps to pull forward 6 feet at a time.