The perfect transmission UI was the Teletouch on the Ford Edsel. And if anyone tries to argue I’ll say “nuh uh,” run away, and cry.
Lol that handbrake start is utterly useless if you live anywhere that’s actually hilly all over.
You’ve got to learn the proper clutchwork from the very start or you’ll be taking years on every hill.
Unless you’re starting from a cold start on a hill without ABS, I guess it could a safety precaution.
I’m curious, how do u do it? I mean you need a foot on gas and one on the clutch to start, how do you keep your car still without handbrake (other than just being quick after moving away from the brake)?
It’s a quick motion, but the essence is that while moving from the brake to the gas, you’re also starting to apply the clutch to grab even at the still idle speed of the engine. It’s not several steps but a fluid motion, and as weird as it sounds, it’s something you pick up by feeling what the car needs to maintain the right engine speed while also not engaging the clutch too much and causing lugging or a stall. It’s why most new manual drives start in a empty level place like a parking lot and practice just going from stop to moving slowly, over and over. I also told both my boys the first time they got behind the wheel the same thing my dad did - you WILL stall out the first time. And they did. :D But they both have and love driving stick now, and hate if they have to drive someone’s automatic.
I see thanks, tbh my car is pretty crappy but if the uphill is too steep I will back up a little without handbrake and the guy behind me wont be happy :D
Oh yes, it’s absolutely dependent on the car’s abilities. But honestly there’s nothing wrong with using the handbrake if you need to in a bad situation. I’d say it’s a sign of a good driver to know the option is there and to use all of them together to get going safely.
I had to use the handbrake once on a 73 Beetle to prevent disaster. I was coming to a stop sign near home, pressed the brake, and it went to the floor. The sensor on the brake cylinder had shorted out and melted a hole, and the brake fluid went right out. Terrible design. But my awareness of what was left made me go straight to the handbrake and slowly come to a stop just in time, then I limped back home and figured out what had happened. So it’s not there just for a parking backup.
I live in the Sierra Nevada Mountains and regularly drove my standard transmission in San Francisco (one of the hilliest cities in North America), and used my hand brake all the time to maintain my position while I engaged the transmission. I’m not really sure what you’re on about…
I used to drive stick in one of the most dense cities and worst traffic on the planet. My left calf muscle is noticeably larger than my right. Manual is enjoyable and freeing, but at this point I prefer an automatic in urban areas with heavy traffic. The volume knob shifter is still weird though.
PUT IT IN “H”
What country is this car from?
It no longer exists.
I’m suddenly reminded of some ai-death clock site I saw recently. It predicted my death on May 13st.
You’ll die of 3st
I drive manual every day,
except when I ride my bike instead of driving.Edit for accuracy, my bike is manual too lol
As someone that literally spent 25 years driving a manual, including various stints in racing. Manuals have seen their day.
It used to be if you wanted better mileage, you drove a manual. If you wanted to be faster on the track, drive a manual (caveat there is drag racing.)
Today? The computer is just better at controlling a transmission. I drive a Camry Hybrid now and not having shifts is REALLY weird and the drone getting up to highway speeds is annoying, but I do like the 45mpg. Not to mention, when I sat down to learn how the Toyota Hybrid Drive works… It’s a pretty clever system.
There are a lot of times that nostalgia gets the better of me and I wish I had a car with a manual. My oldest is possibly joining a skating team that is a 2 hour drive away. It’s tempting to let him use my car and then buy an older manual for myself as a toy. I’d love to get a hold of another mid-80’s Corolla GT-S. I autocrossed one back in the late 80’s early 90’s. It still remains my favorite car I’ve ever owned.
I bought a new 2024 vehicle last year with a manual transmission. This will be the last manual I ever own. I don’t expect them to be around by the next time I get a car.
I’ve enjoyed driving stick since I was a teenager. It still makes my commute more enjoyable. A good rev matched downshift still makes me smile. I’m going to miss the experience when it finally comes to an end, but hopefully I can keep it up another 20 years.
I hate the knob. I can’t decide if that or the Nissan “orb of motion” as Garbage Time put it is my least favourite. I miss my manual car, but I’m on the electric train now, as computery as it gets.
I still hate to this day one of my parents cars. The gear shift is on the side of the radio and the radio controls(what isn’t touch screen) are underneath.
What the hell is this design.
Bringing back the classics! Great-grandad had one, he’d be right at home.
During Covid, I put together a budget sim rig. Played a looooot of VR Assetto Corsa. Learned to drive a manual, then went and did a manual Porsche race car on a track in Vegas. It worked! It was one of the best things I’ve ever done. I was flushed when I got out of the car. It was overwhelming.
Anyway, I was ready. So I took the natural next step. I bought a manual 1984 Ford F-250 with a ~7L (7.4L?) engine, dual gas tanks that held more fuel than I could ever afford. It was a beast. Long story short, I was not ready. Oh, did I mention I lived in mountainous Utah at the base of said mountains at the time?
As a classically trained driver I’ve found automatics make people drive worse because they have to think less. And they already barely think.
Manual occupies their phone hand. How is someone supposed to heart content so the algorithm gives them more of it!
Using the PRiNDle opens one up for so many activities.
I’ve actually observed the opposite. Automatics leave more brain cells to focus on traffic.
“Self driving” cars on the other hand…
What the fuck is a “classically trained driver”?
He was taught by the same institute that taught Beethoven to drift.
Grand staff drifting
Didn’t go to one of those lousy postmodern driving schools I think
Like Robert Wells or Bill Nye.
I mean, I’ve driven only automatics my whole life, with the odd exception of a friend’s ATV or whatnot, but I know when and how to use an e brake (and/or dual foot the brake pedal and gas pedal) to start a car on an incline, when said car has an automatic transmission…
EDIT: Also, most automatics will let you attempt a rolling start in neutral… I’ve done this many times, either rolling downhill or having people push.
You’re not gonna uninvent automatic transmissions.
Assuming you’re American (I doubt a non American would name themselves ‘Boomer Humor’), what you could do is mandate people completely retest, written and driving tests, for their liscenses every 5 years, then every 2 years after some age cutoff (60? 65?) then every single year after another age cutoff (70? 75?)… instead of just assuming that because they passed the test once in their life, all their skills and knowledge are perfect and up to date for the rest of their lives.
Most people think they are much better drivers than they actually are, so lets actually reality check them on that.
I would be so happy if we had stringent driving tests like in Europe. Hell, I’d gladly be re-tested every year if it meant people knew which lane to use and what turn signals were for.
Honestly, thats great to hear.
American car-centric culture is literally directly killing people, killing the environment, killing our ability to design cities and public transit…
You’d think the least we could do is be competent at driving.
But fucking nope, not a chance.
I used to live in Seattle.
Almost no one understands that in significant rain, you need to double your following distance.
Still fucking baffles me to this day. Rain City people don’t know how to drive… in the rain.
A big reason why I’m all for public transport is to get people off the road who shouldn’t be there in the first place so they’re out of my way when I’m driving.
Kind of like how I support new urbanism because it means less wilderness plowed under for suburbs, so I have more native habitat. I don’t want to live in a city, I just want most people to live in them so I can ve alone with my woodland friends.
“… get people off the road who shouldn’t be there in the first place…”
i get the sentiment but i think this is problematic.
who deserves the right to drive then?
i hear you, “people who are capable”. but real life isn’t so cut and dry. the way it works in america now is awful fs, you can back this up with death statistics fairly easily; however, i think this tribalistic “us vs them” attitude drivers get is emblematic of deeper problems in our culture.
everyone is all for the animal farm until they’re the other. cliche, i know, but it’s true.
Driving isn’t a right, it’s a privilege. And we determine who can drive by testing them to see if they know and will follow the rules.
Plus the old dude I saw today with shaking hands and an oxygen tube in his nose deserves to have an alternative where he won’t kill himself or others.
Only just noticed Your username. For a moment I thought You were serious.
If I was serious I’d say no human is sane enough to drive.
Do you sing an aria by Mozart or something when you drive? But anyway, in my experience driving manual makes people more distracted because they have to think about gears and the clutch and stuff. Sure, a competent driver will not have any difficulty with that, but there’s an awful lot of them out there that don’t quite fall into that category.
You must not know how to drive a manual. When you know how to drive one, you don’t think about it. You just do it. You feel connected to the car and connected to the act of driving. Automatics absolutely allow people to go on autopilot and they focus on anything but driving: stuffing their face with food, browsing lemmy, texting, talking on their phone on speaker while holding it up to their mouth for some fucking reason even though it would be easier and better sound quality to just hold it up to their ear like phones were designed to be used, or you know, just use the fucking hands free phone calling that’s built into every fucking car that was made in the last decade and a half and included in every cheap ass aftermarket stereo system available on the planet
I’ve driven manual for over 30 years. Back in the day automatic transmissions were slow, clunky and inefficient. When I first tried modern one, I was instantly converted. Like, I also don’t want to manually adjust rotation speed on my washing machine, why would I do it in the car? Driving electric takes it to a whole new level. It just frees up mind share for concentrating on traffic. There’s no guarantee people will actually do that, of course. And if you think that things that are subconscious don’t take up mind share, you don’t know much about how the brain works. And if you think drivers on manual are less distracted, I have news for you too. I guess you live in the US, where driving manual is a choice. Here it’s mainly in cheaper, older cars which are driven by people who don’t much care about cars or driving.
Oh good I got here before the lemmy fuck cars brigade showed up
Hi, !fuckcars mod here. I absolutely love my manual transmissions and unironically fully endorse this meme.
I think you might be surprised at just how much crossover there is between car enthusiasts and people who hate car dependency. Cars ought to be like horses: they should be available for enthusiasts to play with, but it should be wholly unnecessary and considered kinda ridiculous to use them as routine transportation, especially in cities.
Frankly, I would prefer it if all transmissions were manual, as it would help encourage people who see driving as a chore to use other transportation modes instead.
Yeah I honestly love driving, but I love walking and biking too. Just because I’m a car enthusiast doesn’t mean that I don’t wish that my city was more walkable or had actual public transport.
LET’S FUCKING TAKE THE BUS
i miss my stick
Happens at higher age
There must be a trans joke in here somewhere.
Manual is hell for people with back or knee issues.
Person with back and knee issues here: worth it to not have to deal with a slushbox that won’t downshift when I need it to. I’ll never give up my manual.
Yeah I’ve got regular back and ankle issues. It’s annoying when they flare up but really not that bad. Unfortunately manuals are harder and harder to find so this will likely be my last
Eh, automatic cars will let you go into “manual” mode in which you tell it when to switch the gears. Mildly useful for steep hills to stop it from switching back and forth in some rare scenarios.
Not every automatic has that. Not to mention that there tends to be input lag when you hit the paddle, and there’s the fact that they won’t hold a gear when you need them to (instead they tend to automatically upshift right before redline). Manual mode is no substitute for a real manual.
