Driving Stick

[Hack]

Pretty sure he's saying the statement is ignorant, because, well, that's what he said. It is not necessarily the case that driving an auto is simply A to B transportation...which seems obvious...

I didn't see a personal insult. Lighten up, Francis.

I don't think you get it. Saying a manual is better/more fun/etc. than an automatic is not a statement of fact. It's an opinion.

Hard to be ignorant of your own opinion. Ignorant just doesn't apply.

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[Cruzinaround]

I am of the opinion that an Automatic is a recipe for a sterile experience. It takes away the joy of holding the shift just that much longer or skip shifting or whatever it is that makes me feel like I have more control of the vehicle and my destiny.

Yep...maybe an automatic might save my life in a situation where I need to rely on the car and its programming to save me. Which By the way will be necessary since an automatic will literally make me fall asleep at the wheel every time.

While a manual requires my attention to make it and and the experience of shifting wakes me up every time.

 

[GTBuckeye]

My 2015 GT is first manual since an 88 RX7 Convertible. Took about 5 min to get back in the saddle.

 

[JimmyTwoTimes]

For those considering a GT350/R, what is your experience driving a stick? Will this be your 1st stick car? Have you not owned or driven a stick in years?

I'll start, I'm 53 years old and I've never not owned a stick since I was 16 years old. My wife's / family cars have had automatics but, I've always had a stick.

The reason I didn't get a GT350 is I can't drive stick; if it was available with an automatic I would have gotten it.

 

[Herr_Poopschitz]

I don't think you get it. Saying a manual is better/more fun/etc. than an automatic is not a statement of fact. It's an opinion.

Hard to be ignorant of your own opinion. Ignorant just doesn't apply.

An opinion can be ignorant, which is what was stated. Nowhere was it said that the guy didn't know what his opinion was...which of course doesn't make sense.

This whole argument is silly, anyway. Don't you guys have better things to do w/ your time?

 

[kratty]

An opinion can be ignorant, which is what was stated. Nowhere was it said that the guy didn't know what his opinion was...which of course doesn't make sense.

This whole argument is silly, anyway. Don't you guys have better things to do w/ your time?

Nope. That's why internet forums exist. :headbonk:

Just to keep this admittedly silly debate(?) going...

FACT: Driving stick is more involving and requires more concentration and effort because the driver is required to manually operate key components of the drivetrain with both an extra foot on an extra pedal, and their hand to row the gears. Manumatics can provide a similar (but not apples-to-apples because there's no extra foot involvement) experience.

Whether or not this fact is enjoyable is, of course, up to the individual. I derive great enjoyment wrestling my non-power-anything '56 Ford around town (it has an automatic), but others would find it miserable.

 

[RocketGuy3]

Practice on a $500 beater

I keep accidentally "thanking" instead of replying, hah.

But that is one option. The other is to get a measly two hours worth of practice on a friend's car in a parking lot (I thought two hours would be enough, but it was barely adequate for me to learn how to even engage first gear), and then order a brand new 2015 Mustang GT PP and learn on that.

It's an expensive lesson... but hopefully worth the payoff.

 

[Norm Peterson]

For those considering a GT350/R, what is your experience driving a stick? Will this be your 1st stick car? Have you not owned or driven a stick in years?

I'll start, I'm 53 years old and I've never not owned a stick since I was 16 years old. My wife's / family cars have had automatics but, I've always had a stick.

I'm 67, my wife is a couple of years younger, and for the past 40 or so years we have only had cars equipped with manual transmissions. No automatics even in the "family sedans" since about 1972.

Yup, both of our kids had to learn stick, and both have since owned stick-shift cars off and on ever since. Daughter, now not quite 40, recently bought a manual transmission Dodge Dart as her family's only car. Hard to believe that our baby has been driving manual transmission cars for most of the past 23 years - over half her life. Our son drives (lives in) an over-the-road 18-wheeler and doesn't even own a car any more, borrows one of ours when he's in town.

I learned to drive in a 3-on-the-tree tri-five Chevy, the high school driver ed cars were stick-shift, and I took my driver's license road test in a manual transmission Ford Falcon. Likely the only reason I haven't owned or principally driven MT cars exclusively my whole life is because the shoebox Chevy threw a rod through the pan and my Dad refused to have it fixed.


Laztug - broken AT parts aren't fun, either, and I've had a little experience with that - in a car whose history I knew because before it was mine it belonged to my Dad.

Since none of my hard driving looks anything like what your links show, I find the difference in shift time between a 6R80 and an MT82 or any other manual transmission to be mostly irrelevant.


Norm

 

[Cruzinaround]

NORM!!!

Hey... The only Transmissions I've ever broken were Automatics.

 

[Rhumbline]

Another 53yo here and I've been driving sticks since about 8yo. Well, that was a farm tractor, but still a stick!

Anyways, still a stick man today and all the cars I've owned have been manuals. I might reconsider were the GT350 a DCT, but alas no and I'm more than fine with the manual. After a while -- well, half century -- driving a stick becomes a muscle-memory type thing requiring very little attention to do, certainly in daily driving.

Would it be "harder" to drive the stick GT350 than an auto version in traffic and day to day driving? Yes.

Would it be unreasonably more difficult? No.

 

[L8APEX]

I keep accidentally "thanking" instead of replying, hah.

But that is one option. The other is to get a measly two hours worth of practice on a friend's car in a parking lot (I thought two hours would be enough, but it was barely adequate for me to learn how to even engage first gear), and then order a brand new 2015 Mustang GT PP and learn on that.

It's an expensive lesson... but hopefully worth the payoff.

You will appreciate the hill-start assist when your 2015 arrives

 

[RocketGuy3]

You will appreciate the hill-start assist when your 2015 arrives

It arrived at the end of October, but you're right, I have very much appreciated it. Especially living in downtown Austin, parking her in a garage with a steep incline on exit.

 

[Cruzinaround]

Another reason to enjoy a Manual transmission....

Driving a high HP Torque monster in the snow even with the grippiest snow tires absolutely SUCKS in an automatic.

 

[Backorder]

Another reason to enjoy a Manual transmission....

Driving a high HP Torque monster in the snow even with the grippiest snow tires absolutely SUCKS in an automatic.

How does it make a difference in snow? Serious question, I'm an auto guy and really don't know why stick would help in that situation :-(

 

[MagneticA]

How does it make a difference in snow? Serious question, I'm an auto guy and really don't know why stick would help in that situation :-(

How does a stick make a difference in slippery conditions?

- slowing down/stopping can be done w/ limited brake usage (by downshifting and using the engine) giving you more control.

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