Stick or Automatic

[Nessa 23]

well it's understandable since you're american. I don't know, we have both options here, the truck is automatic and the car is stick, and I prefer a thousand times to drive stick, even tho I really love to drive the truck. When I buy my car I'll ask for stick, I just hope I don't have to pay much more for that.

[Reynaldo 0]

Actually we have automatics. It's the opposite than here that when you buy a car you have to ask for it to be stick, because they come automatic, in BR they come with stick and if you want you have to ask for automatic. Of course not all cars have that option, since we're used to drive stick we see automatic cars as a feature for old people to drive cuz they're too tired to change the gears...

We do have automatics down there, but they are way more expensive and most of the cars you can only get it by request.

And to a Brazilian adding a $1000 to the price of the car just to change the transmission is way too much.

Shifting is fun if you don't live in Sao Paulo. After the 1st hour of only shifting from the 1st and 2nd gear and stopping, you'd wish you had an automatic...

I guess that is why people from my fine city are so grumpy.

Edited May 9, 2007 by Reynaldo

[Ban Hammer 13,334]

Alex can't drive stick!! Alex can't drive stick!!

..ok, childish moment has passed

It's true. Someday maybe I'll learn...

you can't drive a stickshift? omg you don't know what fun you are missing.

[Nessa 23]

I guess that is why people from my fine city are so grumpy.

must be, Rey... Eu nunca parei pra pensar nisso, realmente dai automatic seria uma boa. Nao e o caso aqui, though

[mawilson 2,133]

It's true. Someday maybe I'll learn...

Don't bother, sticks are stupid.

Would you buy a TV set without a remote? Sure, it's not a big deal to get off the couch

every time you want to change a channel, but why would you do it to yourself?

[Alex+R 0]

It's true. Someday maybe I'll learn...

Don't bother, sticks are stupid.

Would you buy a TV set without a remote? Sure, it's not a big deal to get off the couch

every time you want to change a channel, but why would you do it to yourself?

That's kind of how I feel. Also, I'm kind of an airhead and incapable of anything requiring spatial intelligence and also 100% klutz so manual tasks are difficult for me (everything from cutting vegetables to breaking boxes can end in disaster). I've been wary of complicating the driving process, since it's already a miracle that I can operate an automatic car.

[mawilson 2,133]

That's kind of how I feel. Also, I'm kind of an airhead and incapable of anything requiring spatial intelligence and also 100% klutz so manual tasks are difficult for me (everything from cutting vegetables to breaking boxes can end in disaster). I've been wary of complicating the driving process, since it's already a miracle that I can operate an automatic car.

I think the stick-shift snobs need to get off their high horses. They like to brag

how they are "in control" (control freaks, anyone?) and that their cars are more

fuel-efficient (ain't so), trying hard to justify driving a manual transmission car.

The fact of the matter is, manuals are not THAT much harder to drive than

automatics -- once you get used to the up- and down-shifting, the habit becomes

more or less ... automatic, except of course you're the one doing all the work

instead of the car.

[Saddle Bronc 124]

Though I originally learned on auto...I prefer stick.

• more fun to drive
  
• better control (more than once I've seen auto's downshift at times when I run my stick in high gear)
  

mark's point that it is not much more difficult to learn manual is true. Basically, the first stickshift I drove was a Jetta for testdriving (when I wanted to trade in a Ford Taurus), and I found that the only issue I had at first was some rough downshifting at turns (shifted down to first, rather than third).

Edited May 10, 2007 by CherryXS

[Ban Hammer 13,334]

I think the stick-shift snobs need to get off their high horses. They like to brag

how they are "in control" (control freaks, anyone?) and that their cars are more

fuel-efficient (ain't so), trying hard to justify driving a manual transmission car.

The fact of the matter is, manuals are not THAT much harder to drive than

automatics -- once you get used to the up- and down-shifting, the habit becomes

more or less ... automatic, except of course you're the one doing all the work

instead of the car.

is so - more gears to choose from

[mawilson 2,133]

I think the stick-shift snobs need to get off their high horses. They like to brag

how they are "in control" (control freaks, anyone?) and that their cars are more

fuel-efficient (ain't so), trying hard to justify driving a manual transmission car.

The fact of the matter is, manuals are not THAT much harder to drive than

automatics -- once you get used to the up- and down-shifting, the habit becomes

more or less ... automatic, except of course you're the one doing all the work

instead of the car.

is so - more gears to choose from

There are six-speed automatics.

[akdiver 3]

Hi I thought this would be interesting, I was always used to using a stick until I lived in the USA, my husband has an Automatic. One day I went to work and parked in a parking space, I could not get the keys out of the car ignition, I started to panic, I sat there nearly in tears wondering if I should phone the AAA for assistance, well this fella parked next to me and I plucked up the courage to ask him if he know anything about cars, he looked in the car and said " mam it helps if you put the thing in park" I could of died, right there and then I wanted the ground to open up and swallow me, so I much prefer to use a stick.

It depends on the purpose of the vehicle. I've owned both, and we currently have one of each.

[homesick_american 1]

That's kind of how I feel. Also, I'm kind of an airhead and incapable of anything requiring spatial intelligence and also 100% klutz so manual tasks are difficult for me (everything from cutting vegetables to breaking boxes can end in disaster). I've been wary of complicating the driving process, since it's already a miracle that I can operate an automatic car.

I think the stick-shift snobs need to get off their high horses. They like to brag

how they are "in control" (control freaks, anyone?) and that their cars are more

fuel-efficient (ain't so), trying hard to justify driving a manual transmission car.

The fact of the matter is, manuals are not THAT much harder to drive than

automatics -- once you get used to the up- and down-shifting, the habit becomes

more or less ... automatic, except of course you're the one doing all the work

instead of the car.

You have more control over the transmission, not over the car itself.

Stick shifts can be more fuel-efficient than identical cars with an automatic transmission and engine size, but they have to be driven correctly. If you drive them poorly, then they're not more fuel-efficient. It's a skill. My husband squeezes 40mpg out of a 10 year-old Honda Civic...more than its EPA rated fuel efficiency...through nothing more than proper shifting technique.

I don't believe manuals are any more difficult to drive than an automatic. You just can't be as lazy with one.

[Ban Hammer 13,334]

I think the stick-shift snobs need to get off their high horses. They like to brag

how they are "in control" (control freaks, anyone?) and that their cars are more

fuel-efficient (ain't so), trying hard to justify driving a manual transmission car.

The fact of the matter is, manuals are not THAT much harder to drive than

automatics -- once you get used to the up- and down-shifting, the habit becomes

more or less ... automatic, except of course you're the one doing all the work

instead of the car.

is so - more gears to choose from

There are six-speed automatics.

if you got the money to buy one

an example - a z28 with auto has 4 gears, but 6 with the stick

[mawilson 2,133]

I don't believe manuals are any more difficult to drive than an automatic. You just can't be as lazy with one.

I'm lazy

[mawilson 2,133]

There are six-speed automatics.

if you got the money to buy one

an example - a z28 with auto has 4 gears, but 6 with the stick

Well....a 6-speed manual will beat a 4-speed automatic, no doubt.

(If you know how to drive it, of course -- as homeless_american explained earlier.)