Stick shift retrospective

[Oakley]

i love my six speed. never had a single issue.
feels great all the time. this car is a total ripper.

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[Blue By You]

Just got my S550 a couple of weeks ago. It's a DD and my hour long drive to work is in the I95 corridor. Didn't feel like dealing with a stick in all the traffic after being on my feet all day doing manual labor.

Had it been strictly a weekend cruiser I would've definitely got a stick.

 

[stannypack]

No issues or complaints with my manual but sometimes I do wish it was an auto so I could just floor it everywhere without a care. My 2nd car will definitely be an automatic, probably an F80 M3 with the dct

 

[CarmeloS]

 

[Adam the Lighting Guy]

I've owned 6 manuals over the years and probably 15 autos. I kinda like that my 21' is an auto due to it being quicker. I wrecked a dude in a GT coupe doing a bit of Red Light Gran Prix after he pulled away from me at "extra" highway speeds in a 60-120. He had "Bolt on's" as he put it. Definitely exhaust at least.

Weirdest manual cars I've owned :
85' Suburban 10 series 4x4
76' Nova SS (1 of 280)
85' Dodge Colt with a Mitsubishi Eclipse engine and a Hyundai excel transmission.

 

[David Schmidt]

Y'all do what you need to do. Sore knees, dense traffic, whatever. Rowing gears gives you something to do that connects you to the car. Personally, I can't imagine having an automatic in a car I care about. I peek into a window of a Mustang in a parking lot and see the auto stick and just say, "aw, it's an automatic. Too bad." Yep, it's faster off the line. Yep, it's faster than me. Do I care? Nope. I get to chose my gears.
https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/media/car5.17734/

 

[Nightmonkey]

On 18+ they do come with a steel clutch line so no need to upgrade that unless you want a bleeder version.

Nope!
Still plastic...
Best solution is the J&M clutch line, that is like the discontinued Ford Performance part.

 

[Anyone3505]

Even before COVID when i had a commute i never minded traffic in a manual. Bumper to bumper for 20 minutes straight is a slog no matter the transmission or powertrain type, and a manual doesn't make it any more so to me. Shifting gears is a muscle memory that's hard to forget.

Prime example is when I bought my GT convertible sight unseen 1200 miles away last fall. Hadn't driven a stick in 7+years outside an occasional romp in a friend's or family member's sports car, and after flying to the dealership, i hopped in and burned out of the parking lot as if it was still 2017 in my Solstice GXP.

I'm the type that no matter the vehicle or circumstance, when I'm driving, driving is the only thing I'm doing. I drive to drive, not just to get somewhere. Sometimes i have music or a podcast going (or my wife chatting away), but i rarely answer calls or texts or anything when it's not immediately relevant to where I'm going. My entire focus is on driving. Shifting adds pleasure to any vehicle experience for me, so if that's an option, it's one I'll take 10 times out of 10. I don't care about the quicker performance from modern autos, I'm looking for engagement and enjoyment.

The only times I've ever felt even slightly inconvenienced with a stick shift is parallel parking on some especially steep hills. (Un)Fortunately for me, that's not common here, and i bet hill start will help.

I'm definitely anti-automatic sports cars, but not anti-automatic overall. Hell I love EVs, and we have a DSG and CVT. But as long as I own a vehicle that's primarily for my enjoyment and I'm physically capable, it'll be stick and i won't even consider a car that wasn't offered with one.

 

[Paris MkVI]

Owned/driven seven cars since my teen years. The last six of the seven were/are Mustangs.

All manuals except (ironically) the first Mustang, a '69 302 automatic.

Also ironic, I ended up with the '69 because my first car, a '68 Falcon Futura 200ci 3-speed, was rear-ended by. . . a '73 Mustang Mach One!

 

[Bullitt$Bill]

I've owned too many cars... Not one has been an auto. Trucks, yes.

And you're right - the Steeda clutch spring is a very worthwhile upgrade.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Same here. I own 4 cars (that run) and they all have manual transmissions.

Same here although one just has one gear.

 

[LethalSteveG]

Nope!
Still plastic...
Best solution is the J&M clutch line, that is like the discontinued Ford Performance part.

Mine was 100% metal when we went to replace it back in late 2017. I still swapped it to a braided one but it's not plastic. They could have changed it but I can confirm it was silver and metal.

 

[Nightmonkey]

@LethalSteveG
Sounds like it was a solid pipe?
So why did you change it to a braided hose?
I took out a shiny black plastic pipe and replaced it with the "hybrid" line from J&M, most of it is solid pipe, just the last ft. is braided hose.

 

[LethalSteveG]

@LethalSteveG
Sounds like it was a solid pipe?
So why did you change it to a braided hose?
I took out a shiny black plastic pipe and replaced it with the "hybrid" line from J&M, most of it is solid pipe, just the last ft. is braided hose.

Being I was under the impression it was like Gen1 and 2s, I had it and wanted to swap. They did it as I wanted a more flexible line. We also did it because we wanted to make sure everything was cross over or if it was different. When I bought mine, it was for early development and seeing what crosses over.

 

[Mitt]

I have owned the following, in the following order
1997 F150 V6 with the M50D
2002 Mustang GT with the 3650 (5th: 0.62:1)
2001 SVT Cobra with the 3650 (5th: 0.67:1)
1999 BMW M3 with the ZF 320
2022 GT with the MT82

The 3650s were ok. The M50D was indestructible. The ZF was the best of the bunch. The MT82 is the easiest to drive, no trouble at all in heavy Dallas traffic.

Drove automatics from 2012-2022. I found myself sitting in traffic with my hand on my coffee cup "shifting gears". I realized then it was time to get another manual transmission.

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