Stick shifts everywhere!

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Originally Posted By: zzyzzx
Originally Posted By: 2016Accord
You can't even count the number of MT Toyotas clogging the roads in Bangkok or Bogota. It is endless.


Those people sitting in those epic traffic jams probably wish they had an automatic transmission.

I wonder if they all just idle along in 1st like truckers, instead of the constant brainless stopping and going we get here?
 
Originally Posted By: IndyIan
I wonder if they all just idle along in 1st like truckers, instead of the constant brainless stopping and going we get here?


As autos have become more popular in Oz, I can say that is a behaviour that has evolved here.

That's how my post ACL clutchless driving went...stopped ignition off in first gear, crank it in first to get the car moving (light up a little as it took), then ride in first with the flow.
 
I must be one of the odd men out. Out of the last dozen or so cars & trucks I've owned, most were mt. Right now in the driveway are a 2008 PT Cruiser & 2010 Tacoma,both manuals, and a 2013 Altima that's an auto.
 
Originally Posted By: chrisri
Originally Posted By: Silk
This was my last manual, a Lada 2104...horrible in traffic. haven't had a manual since, not by choice, I don't go out looking for cars to buy, they come to me.

Lada%202104%20002_zpsmzamuu9w.gif



LOL, my dad bought exactly the same Lada in 86 or something for ONE pay check. New car for one paycheck. Years after I've bought used one to make some money on it. I ended up driving it for a year. After changing that Russian excuse for carburettor for Dellorto car was actually driveable.

Was this version with aluminum brakes?
 
Originally Posted By: chrisri
After changing that Russian excuse for carburettor for Dellorto car was actually driveable.


They had a Weber, and our Weber agent used to modify them, and then they went well. But he charged $400 for that, it was cheaper to just put a Cortina carb on, then they were sorted.

Aluminium brakes?...? Rear drums were finned alloy with a steel liner.
 
Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
Originally Posted By: Pop_Rivit
I've never understood the allure of the dumbed down modern manual transmissions. There is no particular skill involved in driving a modern, synchronized manual transmission. They've been designed to be easy to operate; anyone can do it and it takes no special skills.

Non-synchronized transmission? Sure, there's a fair amount of skill involved to get the timing right. I suspect that most of the chest-thumpers that brag about their manual transmission skills wouldn't be able to drive a vehicle with a non-synchronized manual transmission, nor would they be able to operate something a bit more complicated like a triplex.


Not hard. I took my CDL test with a Spicer 5+2, have also driven a Clark 5-speed, Spicer 4-speed V-drive, 9 and 13-speed (which is a 9 with an overdrive) Road Rangers, a Meritor 10, and a duplex Mack. No big deal.


Most of my learning to drive was on Eaton Fuller 10 speed. They aren't any harder than a "regular" manual transmission. Unless the clutch brake is worn out, it's really no different than a "regular" manual. Except you don't need the clutch to shift, and you don't even need to get the RPM/timing right, just apply very slight pressure and it will move into gear when it's ready. Even an 18 speed isn't that bad because half of the shifts you just hit a lever and get off/on the throttle.

Something like a triplex or quadriplex would be a bit more complicated, but once you get in the rythm it's second nature- just like driving a 5 speed car.
 
Originally Posted By: IndyIan
Originally Posted By: zzyzzx
Originally Posted By: 2016Accord
You can't even count the number of MT Toyotas clogging the roads in Bangkok or Bogota. It is endless.


Those people sitting in those epic traffic jams probably wish they had an automatic transmission.

I wonder if they all just idle along in 1st like truckers, instead of the constant brainless stopping and going we get here?


That's not an option in my Focus. It's geared way too tall to idle through a traffic jam. And , to make it better, the EPA and their ridiculous testing/controls make it so in a traffic situation where I'm on and off the clutch trying to creep along, it bumps the idle up 200 or so RPM each time (I'm assuming to keep the catalyst at full temperature). Eventually I'm sitting there with a car that's racing at 2500RPM for no reason and have to sit for 30 or so seconds for it to calm down, then it's fine.
 
Odd, I believe the same about the automatic transmission/transaxle.

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Sticks are sign of the devil. Anyone advocating for them should be burned at the stake.
smile.gif
 
Tried to teach my ex-wife on a VW Rabbit diesel. If you can't learn to drive a stick in a diesel, then you'll never learn to drive a stick.

My kids can drive a stick. oilBabe can drive a stick.

I guess I should have known not to marry her (my ex) if she couldn't drive a stick.

The pre-marriage test is can you canoe down a river together without wanting to kill one another and can you teach her to drive a stick.

If yes, then you can marry. Otherwise, proceed with caution.

Originally Posted By: Shannow
As to traffic my Nissan (diesel) is fine in traffic. Can pull away from a stop just by letting the clutch out.

Buzz boxes which need revs and slip are really a PITA in traffic, but become much more user friendly on hills than their auto counterparts.
 
One of the best reasons is theft protection. Most car thieves today can't drive a stick and will move on to the next choice.


Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Originally Posted By: Pop_Rivit
I've never understood the allure of the dumbed down modern manual transmissions. There is no particular skill involved in driving a modern, synchronized manual transmission. They've been designed to be easy to operate; anyone can do it and it takes no special skills.

Non-synchronized transmission? Sure, there's a fair amount of skill involved to get the timing right. I suspect that most of the chest-thumpers that brag about their manual transmission skills wouldn't be able to drive a vehicle with a non-synchronized manual transmission, nor would they be able to operate something a bit more complicated like a triplex.


You say this time and time again, and it indicates time and time again that you totally miss the mark in why people like MTs.

Let's recall:
-lower acquisition and lifecycle cost of the vehicle
-lower repair/overhaul cost, if such a cost is ever encountered
-lower mass
-more control for coasting, idling, etc.
-more control for gear selection and powerband (can be to a fault if you select wrong)

Amongst others.
 
We are a proud, dying breed
smile.gif


Originally Posted By: SeaJay
It is amazing that every time a MT vs AT topic is posted that is manages to attract the several dozen people remaining in this country that believe they are hot stuff because they know how to drive a MT.
 
It's not just the drive through, though a bit more walking can't hurt. And, from the time I've spent in Europe, the walk is often more than just from a parking lot attached to the coffee shop. It might be a walk from the bus stop or train station.

But the real issue is the drink being served. I don't recall having coffee drinks with a flavored syrup added during my time in Europe.

So we in the US get a deadly combination, drive through to get a 600 calorie coffee instead of a walk of perhaps a few blocks to get a coffee that is likely under 100 calories.

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: edyvw
Maybe we make more people sitting in Starbux making small talk, and help with obesity epidemic.

I understand the general point you were trying to make, but whether you sip your latte sitting inside your car or sitting inside Starbucks, you are still getting no exercise, so that's not going to help with obesity.
smile.gif


The difference in Europe and other countries is that people walk to places. We here in the US do not, unless you live and work in the middle of a huge city. And outside of cities, places are spread so far apart, walking is impractical.
 
Originally Posted By: dailydriver
^^^Your starter motor survived that?!?


My father was headed home to Utica NY one Friday night on the Cross Bronx Expy. when something broke in the clutch on the 18 wheeler, it would depress but would not disengage. He drove it through a traffic jam and all the way back up to Utica by running it through the gears with no clutch and shutting it off / starting it in 1st gear.
 
Well you won't get much of that here in most FWD applications. With a few exceptions, you'll have cable mechanisms with are frequently vague.

My Mazda Protegé5 doesn't use cables, so it's one of the better FWD manual shifters. But that arrangement seems rate in the FWD market.

Originally Posted By: Olas
Originally Posted By: BigCahuna
Nothing is as enjoyable as sitting in an hour or more in bumper to bumper traffic with a stick shift.,,,


Well that all depends on the 'feel' of the shift - if the lever snicks in and out of position like a nicely made rifle bolt because of weighted and ball-jointed linkages sitting on brackets with redesigned geometry for reduced fore aft and reduced lateral lever travel, changing just for the sake of it is a very enjoyable sensation in a tactile respect and very satisfying from an engineering standpoint.
Also, crawl at idle in first.
 
Originally Posted By: javacontour
We are a proud, dying breed
smile.gif


Originally Posted By: SeaJay
It is amazing that every time a MT vs AT topic is posted that is manages to attract the several dozen people remaining in this country that believe they are hot stuff because they know how to drive a MT.

Not that its any great feat of skill, but I imagine the percentage of people who can rev match downshifts while braking is starting to get pretty low. It makes the commute more interesting for a few corners.
Anyways, I'll keep my manuals for as long as I can and I'll make sure my kids can drive them.
 
Originally Posted By: javacontour
Tried to teach my ex-wife on a VW Rabbit diesel. If you can't learn to drive a stick in a diesel, then you'll never learn to drive a stick.


IIRC the wife agreed with me: my VW TDi was harder to start off than my prior Saturn. The Saturn had much more off-idle torque, and very likely geared more deeply (to deal with the fact that it didn't make any torque once past off-idle). The TDi was crippled somewhat, once the revs dropped enough it just cut the motor. Not like older engines let alone carb setups.

Wife still insists that I taught her how to drive stick. I started off explaining how a 4 stroke engine operates and ended on how to shift. Why she ever married me is still a mystery... but anyhow, shortly after I "taught" her, she wound up buying a stick Civic. Our stick Camry is her car, at least until we can find her another car, in stick, but painted green instead.
 
Originally Posted By: edyvw
Originally Posted By: chrisri
Originally Posted By: Silk
This was my last manual, a Lada 2104...horrible in traffic. haven't had a manual since, not by choice, I don't go out looking for cars to buy, they come to me.

Lada%202104%20002_zpsmzamuu9w.gif



LOL, my dad bought exactly the same Lada in 86 or something for ONE pay check. New car for one paycheck. Years after I've bought used one to make some money on it. I ended up driving it for a year. After changing that Russian excuse for carburettor for Dellorto car was actually driveable.

Was this version with aluminum brakes?

Yes! It has aluminium drums in the back (wear area is steel of course). Always wondered why more cars doesn't use aluminium drums, than are much lighter. Few days ago I've so a Clio (new one) with aluminium drums!
 
Originally Posted By: Silk
Originally Posted By: chrisri
After changing that Russian excuse for carburettor for Dellorto car was actually driveable.


They had a Weber, and our Weber agent used to modify them, and then they went well. But he charged $400 for that, it was cheaper to just put a Cortina carb on, then they were sorted.

Aluminium brakes?...? Rear drums were finned alloy with a steel liner.

Silk, maybe Weber was NZ special, in Europe we only got Russian carburettors, they were rubbish. I had 124 special saloon too, they were great.
 
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My wife went into town last week to take a look at getting a used car. She hadn't driven a stick since probably the 80's. She took a car out that had a stick. Little bit shaky at first, but got into the rhythm quickly. All in all it didn't matter. We found a 2006 Cadillac CTS 3.6 that was truly in prime condition. 52,000 miles (read that: 5000 miles a year average), looked like it had only been driven in good weather and garaged. Almost looked brand new top and bottom. Checked service history and just little recall stuff was all that had been required. Fantastic buy at $9100, and that from a dealer! Oh, and it has an automatic trans. Suits me just fine.
 
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