[UltraShy]

It seems the vast majority of Americans (maybe 90% would be my guess) drive automatics. I learned to drive on a stick and drove nothing but sticks for 14 years. While I can expertly use a stick, I find it to be a royal pain in the butt and would never go back to a stick.

I know performance enthusiasts are big fans of sticks, but I doubt sticks really perform any better in the real world. To them a Corvette with an automatic would be an abomination. But you don't go zero to 60 too fast if you stall the engine at the starting line.

Some think sticks are so cool, and probably real macho too. After an hour in stop & go traffic the allure of the stick really starts to wear off after you shift up & down a couple hundred times.

 

[cait]

I just learned to drive on a stick and I absolutely hate it. I don't have enough confidence for it, I keep stalling my mom's car. I get so frustrated. I just don't want to do it. I can drive both automatic and stick, but at the same time I can't, because I don't want to. I hate it. Well, the automatic I learned to drive was a mini van ... so maybe that turned me off. Then we got rid of that, my mom taught me to drive her little car, but it's a stick so there is just no way for me to win.

Mostly, I just hate cars, and I hate driving. Not only are they terrible for the environment, they are terrifying. So no thank you.

Before I drove, I wanted to learn on a stick because I thought it just seemed cool. My mom says you have more control with them. I have a friend who's never driven, and he thinks sticks are the most pointless thing in the world. He doesn't think you would have more control. But, like I said, he's never driven a car. I'm sure sticks must give you more control, and I think that's what I hate about them.

 

[Bon1]

You can get the hang of it, just takes practice, that's all;-))) Personally, I don't see where you have that much more more control with a stick......
........I learned the hard way, just how expensive transmissions could be, especially when they had to send to Italy to get the part..........

 

[Planewalker]

You spoiled Americans! :b Here in Croatia we all drive sticks (do only Americans produce cars with automatic transmissions?), and you don't see a lot of stalling on the road. You learn not to stall in about few days on the road. In fact, people who have tried automatics say they're quite awkward, and then went back to stick.

 

[glittergaze]

It took me a little while to get the hang of it, but now I'm pretty good at it.

 

[Lonelyguy]

Been driving them for years and I prefer them. Of the four trucks I own and drive, all are sticks. One of them had an automatic but I became so bored with it I switched it over to a manual. I just find them more fun to drive. I also do some trailer pulling so I prefer a manual for that.

 

[wOnderwOmen]

I was the only one out of my group of friends who knew how to drive stick so it sucked a little because if I ever got too messed up to drive, no one could cover for me.

I like driving stick though and it feels weird driving automatic. I don't even know what all those gears are for and how to use them.

 

[copper]

I never drove one with a stick. My dad always had automatics around for me to drive. A friend of mine offered to teach me, but I told him it was better if I didn't. I didn't want to "can't find them grind them" routine with his car. :lol I wouldn't want to drive one here being so hilly here, and trying to shift and drive on the ice skating rinks at the same time in the winter. I want both of my hands on the wheel.

 

[UltraShy]

In fact, people who have tried automatics say they're quite awkward, and then went back to stick.

How can an automatic be awkward.? You just put it in Drive and go.

I can't figure out why automatics haven't caught on in Europe. You're still shifting gears the way your grandfather did. Automatics have been around for at least 65 years; you'd think they'd catch on in that time.

 

[OneIsALonelyNumber]

I can drive them but I don't like to drive them.

I had a little truck with a stick shift for a while. I absolutely hated stop & go traffic with the stick. I also hated doing reverse uphill :um


After about a year and a half - and after blowing out the clutch - I sold that truck and bought a car with automatic.

 

[Planewalker]

How can an automatic be awkward.? You just put it in Drive and go.

I remember my dad having some arguments against automatics. I'll have to ask him about them.

I can't figure out why automatics haven't caught on in Europe. You're still shifting gears the way your grandfather did. Automatics have been around for at least 65 years; you'd think they'd catch on in that time.

I'm not sure. The difference in price between the stick and automatic is becoming smaller every year. In fact, I think it's almost insignificant nowadays. It may be that people in Europe are so used to sticks they don't want to try anything new, because learning to drive without shifting gears all the time requires a little getting used to.

 

[copper]

In fact, people who have tried automatics say they're quite awkward, and then went back to stick.

How can an automatic be awkward.? You just put it in Drive and go.

I can't figure out why automatics haven't caught on in Europe. You're still shifting gears the way your grandfather did. Automatics have been around for at least 65 years; you'd think they'd catch on in that time.

I would imagine with gasoline being so expensive in Europe thats why they stick with manuals. I think cars with manual transmission get better mileage then automatics.

 

[omgnoudidnt]

I can drive a stick, but not that kind! :lol :lol

I'm sorry, I just couldn't resist. :lol

 

[Mork]

I love having a stick shift. It is just a lot of fun. Its like playing a video game everytime you hop in the car. I also like to control what gear I'm in, because automatics have an annoying habit of downshifting when you least expect it. I also really like engine breaking, which is why I prefer a stick shift in heavy traffic, as I don't have to go back an forth between break and gas.

 

[UltraShy]

I would imagine with gasoline being so expensive in Europe thats why they stick with manuals. I think cars with manual transmission get better mileage then automatics.

Yeah, gas mileage used to be a significant issue, but that was when they used crappy, inefficient automatics. Today it's standard to have a 4-speed automatic with a torque converter that locks up when cruising (so as to not slip & waste fuel going down the highway) so there is little advantage to a stick anymore.

A stick is cheaper than an automatic, but when folks buy cars with leather, sunroof, heated seats and other luxuries, it's hard to imagine that cost was an issue for them.

I remember my dad having some arguments against automatics.

My father was a guy who could never accept new technology (not that automatics are really new). He gave this story about how automatics were unreliable & unproven. He then got to replace a clutch that burned out on one Ford truck, and then pay $1,700 to repair a manual transmission on another Ford truck. This is probably more of a comment on Ford quality than sticks in general, since we've had three Toyotas in the last 20 years and they've never needed a single transmission or clutch repair.

You will get used to an automatic pretty quickly. After driving a stick for so long, I was always trying to step on a non-existant clutch when stopping when I first got an automatic.

 

[ghostgurl]

I would never attempt to touch a stick shift. In fact I would rarely touch a car. :lol

 

[Planewalker]

I would imagine with gasoline being so expensive in Europe thats why they stick with manuals. I think cars with manual transmission get better mileage then automatics.

Only a serious car enthusiast would notice the difference in fuel consumption. It's all the same to the average driver, who pays no attention to the amount of fuel wasted. Besides, a few drops of gasoline more or less don't make enough difference for people to be so adamant about sticking with the stick (no pun intended).

 

[penguin]

The first option.

Automatics are rare here too. When I learned to drive, if you passed your test using a gear stick, you could then go and drive anything (sort of); if you passed on an automatic, you were not allowed to drive a "proper" car and had to relearn and retest with a "stick" before the license was issued.

 

[SebFontain]

Yea I have driven 5 speeds, 9 speeds, and even a 16 speed. Im an expert I suppose..

 

[millenniumman75]

I tried to drive a stick; I just don't have the patience for one. It freaks me out when I stop at the top of the hill where there is a car behind me. I have driven automatics ever since. I do wish I could learn manual though.