Are you tired of shifting gears?

[anyjuan]

I have never gotten tired of driving a stick. The only reason bumper to bumper driving bothers me is cause I feel bad for my clutch/car...

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[Mikepol2]

The Mustang is not my daily driver, and there are some mornings when I drive the truck to work because I'm too grouchy and just don't feel like shifting (lots of traffic and stoplights). That said - I would never buy a Mustang without a stick. Defeats the purpose of having fun. I'd rather have my 2018 GT than a GT500 with a manual, and no, that's not an exaggeration.

 

[SpeedRacerXT]

MTs are cool and fun, half of my cars have had manuals. But I really love the 10 spd in my EB. If I want to shift I'll use the paddles, but frankly I haven't used them much at all yet.

 

[marks]

MTs are cool and fun, half of my cars have had manuals. But I really love the 10 spd in my EB. If I want to shift I'll use the paddles, but frankly I haven't used them much at all yet.

You would have to be insane to want to paddle shift 10 gears

 

[HoosierDaddy]

You would have to be insane to want to paddle shift 10 gears

Yes. It can lead to over-development of the muscles in the finger tips and the dreaded paddle fingers for which there is no cure.

 

[Norm Peterson]

So you're assuming all automatic drivers text while driving while manual driver's don't.

Nobody is saying that all automatic drivers text.

They might be saying that most of the texters-while-driving are driving an automatic (and I'd even bet this to be true on a percentage basis as well).


Norm

 

[Hack]

Actually, for a brief while after I left the Navy, I worked in the insurance industry. I still have a few friends who are number crunchers for certain companies..I've spoken with them about this recently ( a couple years ago).

Believe it or not, studies are done quite extensively on driver behavior in order to assess risk factors, and accident rates. The results were pretty clear. Drivers of manual cars had less tendency to be distracted overall, and spent less time distracted by using the cars auxiliaries, like the radio as a main focus. Another was eating. Manual transmission drivers rarely try to eat a quarter pounder with cheese while driving. Even drinking was "slightly" less. They also tended to adjust other auxiliary functions less often as well. Adjusting the heat, lighting, etc. Although voice activation has fixed a lot of cell phone issues, the last and most notable, was the almost complete lack of trying to use a cell phone while driving. The percentage was very small. For some reason, even with voice activation, manual drivers still had a slightly less overall use of hands free cell phone usage as well. Not sure why that is. The overall effect of using less auxiliaries, directly corresponded to the obvious conclusion that they focus more on the road and the operation of the vehicle. Because of this, their overall reflexes and reaction time tends to be noticeably higher as well. The other being the use of more automated vehicles lead to less attention, and a natural tendency to be relaxed with slower reflex response when needed. The way future manufacturers are looking to change this, is with the full automation of all vehicles. Thus, decreasing accident rates to near zero. Not sure that's a world most of us would want to live in though.

So, to sum up, the overall statistics did end up showing that in today's automobiles, manual transmission drivers do in fact have a noticeably lower accident rate (when driving normally, not roll racing). It's not a HUGE huge margin, but enough for insurance companies to take note when applying the numbers to calculate overall risk when adjusting premium rates on policies.

I would like to agree with you, but I would have to see the details behind the studies. So many studies mix up causality and just plain aren't valid. For example, younger people are more likely to drive cars with automatic transmissions. Also, people with manual transmission equipped cars are more likely to be driving enthusiasts. So is the poor driving behavior related to the transmission choice, or are age/experience/enthusiasm the more important factors? Thinking about it more, the people behind most of these studies probably aren't interested in the cause. They are just interested in the statistics so that they can set up insurance rates. It seems to me that you are the one assigning some sort of causality that probably isn't confirmed in the studies.

 

[marks]

I would like to agree with you, but I would have to see the details behind the studies. So many studies mix up causality and just plain aren't valid. For example, younger people are more likely to drive cars with automatic transmissions. Also, people with manual transmission equipped cars are more likely to be driving enthusiasts. So is the poor driving behavior related to the transmission choice, or are age/experience/enthusiasm the more important factors? Thinking about it more, the people behind most of these studies probably aren't interested in the cause. They are just interested in the statistics so that they can set up insurance rates. It seems to me that you are the one assigning some sort of causality that probably isn't confirmed in the studies.

Correlation doesn't imply causation point.
In the UK it's older people who are the auto drivers, as they are more likely to have dodgy legs or another medical issue so find it difficult to operate the clutch etc.

 

[zahimrad]

if you don't have heavy traffic daily, go with a manual imo.
My manual mustang is for the weekends because my daily commute has nasty traffic.

 

[MechEngFord]

I love driving a manual! I got a Fiesta ST without ever driving stick in my life, if you want to learn just do it. The first week or two is little hairy but after that it's so much fun I'd never go back. Don't really mind it in traffic either, keeps me engaged with what's going on in front of me.

Getting a manual Mustang as well. I don't really understand all these "Well the 10 speed is faster!", maybe I'm being totally unreasonable here, but a 460 HP car is more than fast enough to begin with, I don't really care if the specs show an automatic has like 0.5 second faster 0-60. We are in the range now with performance in cars it feels like splitting hairs.I drive enough automatics for work already.

 

[BmacIL]

I love driving a manual! I got a Fiesta ST without ever driving stick in my life, if you want to learn just do it. The first week or two is little hairy but after that it's so much fun I'd never go back. Don't really mind it in traffic either, keeps me engaged with what's going on in front of me.

Getting a manual Mustang as well. I don't really understand all these "Well the 10 speed is faster!", maybe I'm being totally unreasonable here, but a 460 HP car is more than fast enough to begin with, I don't really care if the specs show an automatic has like 0.5 second faster 0-60. We are in the range now with performance in cars it feels like splitting hairs.I drive enough automatics for work already.

Counterpoint: 0.5 sec faster in the ~4 second range is a MUCH larger percent difference than ~6-7 seconds to 60.

I would say that if someone is buying a 2018+ GT, get the 10R80. The ratio spreads and shifting speeds actually improve the car enough that I think it's worth the sacrifice in involvement/fun of rowing your own. My opinion as someone who loves 3 pedals and wouldn't give it up.

 

[Norm Peterson]

I would like to agree with you, but I would have to see the details behind the studies. So many studies mix up causality and just plain aren't valid. For example, younger people are more likely to drive cars with automatic transmissions. Also, people with manual transmission equipped cars are more likely to be driving enthusiasts. So is the poor driving behavior related to the transmission choice, or are age/experience/enthusiasm the more important factors?

Out there on the streets, it's only about the combination that you're statistically more/most likely to encounter. Whether either one causes the other, or even if there is no cause/effect relationship between the two whatsoever is irrelevant.


Norm

 

[ripto]

Both my Mustang and Si are manuals. My last 7 cars were manuals. Autos not for me.

Stick is a lot of fun in snow too! Pretty much all driving conditions minus traffic.

Can you elaborate on manuals being fun in the snow? Is that in regards to just being able to stay at higher RPMs?

 

[scotty]

Manual all the way. I don't care if auto may be a bit faster, I'd rather feel connected to the car. As a bonus, it's a built-in anti-theft device. Lol.

 

[I Bleed Ford Blue]

My DD has an auto, but my mustang has a six speed manual and I would not have it any other way. My next mustang will be a manual also. By the time I pay this one off, the next body style will be out and I'll get another GT convertible with a manual, probably in whatever blue they have at the time.

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