Automatic V Stickshift (Manual Gearbox)

The infamous and mythic Suicide Knob or [ame=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brodie_knob]Brodie knob - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame].
Here shown in its natural habitat:



At least at my high school in suburban Ballamer, the suicide knob was
the exclusive provence of the guys who either were or were wannabe
lotharios,

It was said that with one installed at the 8 o'clock position on the
steering wheel you could still control the boat-like non-power steering
cars with your left hand while hugging a loose-moralled floozie with your
right arm and "getting to first base" even before you got to the necking spot.

They also had the reputation --justified? -- of breaking your wrist and
or fingers should you loose your grip on it in a tight turn and tried to
grab it as the steering spun wildly, whether or not the car careened off
the road, with an ensuing presumed suicide.

Truth be known, when I bought the '40 Ford panel truck it had a suicide
knob installed and I took it off... I didn't need it to steer with my knees.

 

Yeah once you have your license you're allowed to drive a stick even if you don't know how.

Here in California, a standard (non-commercial) class C driver license covers both automatic and manual. It also covers 2-axle vehicle with a GVWR of 26,000 lbs. or less, 3-axle vehicle weighing 6,000 lbs. or less gross, a motorized scooter and any housecar 40' or less.

Let's see Jill drive one of these

 

The automatic transmission is the worst thing to ever happen to people who actually love to drive cars.

 

No it's not, It gives them the option to choose between auto or manual. Manual is declining due to advancements made in auto trans. Autotrans used to have only 3 speed, then came 4 speed with overdrive. Now they're have 5 speed, 6 speed, 7 speed and even 8 speed auto. The mileage also increased for the auto. As other posters have mentioned, some autos have better gas mileage than manual counterpart. The performance also on par with manual due to faster shifting and closer gear ratios because of additional gears. Cars with manual are heading toward opposite end of spectrum. You got entry level cars with manual, then high performance/exotics but very few in between. Majority of the in betweens are easily taken care of with auto trans. I remember when Dodge Caravans first came out, they had manual trans. Camry had manuals too. Even Privia had manual. Now you don't need manuals for those type of vehicles anymore. People who drive them would rather have automatics. Also majority of people now a days would rather drive auto trans than manual. I first learned to drive stick but I did my driving test with an auto. My first 2 vehicles were manuals. I loved driving them. My first automatic was the 97 Tacoma V6 Extra cab. At the time I was reluctant because I'd thought it'd be slow and unreliable. I test drove it and it wowed me with its acceleration and smooth shifting and gas mileage. Ironically in 98 Toyota got rid of the auto trans for the V6 2WD and replaced it with the X-Runner. After 13 years of not regularly driving a stick, I still know how. I test drove an 86 Toyota pickup for a friend recently. I managed to break traction in 3rd and 4th gear. It's like riding a bike. You'll never forget.

 

lol, what like power steering, electric windows and electric starting. Wasn't life better when each manufacturer had the pedals in a different place and throttle control was a lever on the steering wheel?

But seriously, a manual on a sports car makes sense. And the thing about learning a manual is that it's like learning to ride a bicycle - you never forget.

 

no need!

 

Hi All,

If you want a psuedo-scientific complete non-professional socialogical guess, here it is. If not, just do not read this.

My guess is that in the UK around the time cars started up, there was allot of class differentiation. The personal car was then the domain of the young upper class person. Who, was interested in performance above convience. As things evolved, eventually this concept of the car trickled down to the mass produced vehicles.

In the US, the car has always been the tool of convience for the middle class. As large numbers of inexpensive cars happened right away in the US with the Ford Model T. The Automatic transmission prevalence is thus the evolution of the convience imperative in the US car marketplace.


I learned to drive on an automatic transmission car, but quickly transistioned into a manual gearbox Pinto. Later my first personal car was a manual Opel Manta, which had a very fine manual transmission. I am sure the synchroization of the 1 st gear was to aid people who drove fast in tight quarters - probably the UK and other European countries.

 

Donee, I would disagree.

I think it is mainly down to fuel cost. My non scientific idea is that Americans used automatics as fuel consumption wasn't such an issue as it is in Europe. Autos were only popular here in luxury and top end cars whereas the normal car driven by a cost conscious driver was a manual. A quick example was the Dodge Neon (badged Chrysler Neon over here) which was sold here about 15 years ago and came with a 3 speed auto box on a 2.0 engine. In the US it was probably sold as an economy car but here it was slated for its terrible fuel consumption and didn't sell well.

Also, I think it's down to the roads. In America most roads are modern, straight and built for the car, whereas in Europe most roads date back hundreds of years and have just been updated but keeping to the original, often twisty route. A manual car gave you more control on the numberous bends and twists.

Now it appears modern automatics have caught up with economy, some have 8 speed transmissions and have manual options so you get the best of both worlds.

 

But talking of manuals, two of the best film car chase scenes were both using manual cars!

Bullitt

and

Ronin

I just love the sound of that V8 from Bullitt and yes they do drive like that in Paris! The car chasing the BMW in Ronin is a Peugeot 406 and I used to have one as a taxi - no I didn't drive it like that though!

 

But when put to the test automatics don't do half bad:

How many cars like the one that Dabney Coleman's stunt-double drives does it take
to do a sequence like this?

 

I prefer autos over stick.

Even in my et cars... the best runs I ever had were with a reworked powerglide in a V8 Vega...

The most comfortable sportscar I've ever run is a Corvette with an auto; and the trouble of putting a chevy V8 with auto into my old 49 Ford pu was well worth it for utility and smooching on my dates.

I still have a stick in the driveway though... a Jeep just should be...

 

Getting to first base was further enhanced by a bench seat and column shift where you could steal third base and still steer and drive the car. In this case an automatic was the only way to go.

 

On the other hand, a floor shifter allowed for the "Oh, I'm sorry; I thought I was grabbing the shifter" ploy.

:eyebrows:

Tom

 

That would be the "whoops! excuse me" move.

I've ridden center seat in pickups enough to know that one

 

And the next step:
"I've got a shift knob for you to play with"

 

That's true, but it isn't an equal comparison. Whatever the reason; low fuel prices, less public transport, americans are lazy, etc., automatics dominate the US market. Leaving the few manuals sold being bought by driving fans. Those who view driving as more than just a way to get somewhere. Mostly they are more interested in performance.

So, the manufacturers gear their manual models for acceleration. The automatic will have less aggressive gearing. If they put the same gear ratios into the transmissions, the manual will always have better fuel economy over a traditional automatic. A hypermiler will be able to wring even more out of the manual than with auto.

 

What is finally killing manual transmissions is the arrival of the dual-clutch sequential transmission, which you can select manual or automatic shift modes.

Because dual-clutch transmissions (DCT's) can shift gears far faster than any human can, especially the current ones with the latest mechanical innards and computer control; they're becoming common even in high-end sports cars. Ferrari's latest sports cars all use DCT, and even Porsche now has huge best sellers in Boxster, Cayman and 911 models equipped with the Porsche Doppelkupplungsgetriebe (PDK) DCT, despite the expense of this option. Indeed, I expect within 4-5 years all European Ford models to be switched over to their Powershift DCT's in dry-clutch (Ka and Fiesta) and wet-clutch (Focus, Mondeo, Kuga, Galaxy and S-Max) versions.