That's why I have my chauffeur do the carjacking for me.

Attractive, but unsuccessful...

This isn't just in Florida. Around here the cops actually advise people to buy a manual trans car in order to avoid having it stolen. Operating a manual seems to be a lost art on the under 40 crowd.

I've left my convertible mustang with the top down overnight a few times in the summer in my buildings underground garage. The fact that it is standard probably means it's safe. And I don't keep anything of value in it anyway.

Fissile: This isn't just in Florida. Around here the cops actually advise people to buy a manual trans car in order to avoid having it stolen. Operating a manual seems to be a lost art on the under 40 crowd.

I am proud that both myself and my gf can drive manual. Now all I need is something fast enough to make that a worthwhile skill....

/csb
//23 and 22 respectively.

I'm well under 40 and I can drive a stick. My younger friend taught me how to drive. I've had more 5 speeds than automatics so far.

Oh, and I would have shot those democrats.

HMS_Blinkin: Fissile: This isn't just in Florida. Around here the cops actually advise people to buy a manual trans car in order to avoid having it stolen. Operating a manual seems to be a lost art on the under 40 crowd.


I am proud that both myself and my gf can drive manual. Now all I need is something fast enough to make that a worthwhile skill....

/csb
//23 and 22 respectively.

======================

Congrats, you are now a member of a very exclusive club. BTW, even crappy economy cars can be fun with a manual.

/learned to drive manual on '74 Ford Pinto.

Biatch Boys:

First gear (Honda Honda) it's alright (go faster faster)
Second gear (little Honda Honda) I lean right (go faster faster)
Third gear (Honda Honda) hang on tight (go faster faster)
Faster it's alright

Well, Maybe not.

25. Can drive a stick. Like HMS_Blinkin, I also need something faster.

Fissile: This isn't just in Florida. Around here the cops actually advise people to buy a manual trans car in order to avoid having it stolen. Operating a manual seems to be a lost art on the under 40 crowd.

Hmm, my wife and I actually waited an extra week to get our new car so we could get a stick shift. On top of that, better gas mileage and the car was 400 bucks cheaper.

But yeah, quite a lost art, especially in japan. My wife's japanese friends were so impressed with her ability to drive manual transmission, they asked her if she raced cars or something. They all said she was a REAL pilot (driver).

I dont think any of them ever noticed we can even blip the accelerator with our heel while downshifting under braking.

first manual was a 68 Karmann Ghia, no idea how to drive it. saw a kid i knew who was excellent on motorcycles. he learned how to drive a car, i learned how to use a clutch. great afternoon.

Learning to drive stick shift should be mandatory for anyone who wants to drive.
/learned to drive on a stick, and first three vehicles were all stick.

envirovore: Learning to drive stick shift should be mandatory for anyone who wants to drive.
/learned to drive on a stick, and first three vehicles were all stick.

I think that learning to drive manual is mandatory in some countries, and in others you get a restricted license if you can't. We should do that.

Fissile: This isn't just in Florida. Around here the cops actually advise people to buy a manual trans car in order to avoid having it stolen. Operating a manual seems to be a lost art on the under 40 crowd.

Dunno about the "under 40" generalization, but yeah... Apparently the percentage of people who know how to drive manual transmission isn't all that high these days.

I've definitely read similar stories of wannabe car thieves who wind up grinding gears and dumpin the car a block away after they stall a few too many times and jus give up. Always puts a smile on my face.

I'm surprised more people don't drive stick. Sure, it's a hassle in traffic, but you get great gas mileage, you have more control, you can "rock" your car out of the snow (at least, those of us driving smaller cars), and there's less of a chance of someone stealing it. It's totally worth the time it takes to figure out.

/drives stick and loves it

I had a White1966 Mustang with a manual (3-speed non-synchro 1st gear) transmission when I lived in San Francisco. If you can drive that kind of car on those hills, you can drive anywhere.

Stopping, then starting at the top of Taylor at California was an adventure.

envirovore: Learning to drive stick shift should be mandatory for anyone who wants to drive.
/learned to drive on a stick, and first three vehicles were all stick.

Likewise. Current vehicle is an automatic, but the next one will probably be a manual again. Probably something in between my last fun car (1997 Camaro SS) and something more practical (and quiet).... quick, but not a rocket (and reasonable gas mileage).

CSB: I tried teaching the wife to drive manual on the Camaro, which on the surface might seem like a terrible idea, but that car was remarkably difficult to stall. I could get it all the way into 3rd gear without ever touching the throttle. Her problem was that the car just wast't built for her, short girl + long throw clutch just doesn't work.

Lurajayne: Biatch Boys:

First gear (Honda Honda) it's alright (go faster faster)
Second gear (little Honda Honda) I lean right (go faster faster)
Third gear (Honda Honda) hang on tight (go faster faster)
Faster it's alright

Well, Maybe not.

What did the Wilson brothers ever do to you?

Never owned an automatic. The latest car, a Jetta TDI, I drove three hours to get. I sometimes wonder if I managed to get one of the few manual transmission TDIs in the country. I know when I was looking that there were something like 3 available on the entire East coast.

only auot I ever owned was a 1987 Crown Vic wagon and I want it back

envirovore: Learning to drive stick shift should be mandatory for anyone who wants to drive.
/learned to drive on a stick, and first three vehicles were all stick.

I truly believe everyone should be able to tread water, learn CPR and know how to drive both manual and automatic. Have driven nothing but sticks since I trashed my grandpas 72 Olds Delta 88. Driving automatics is so boring. Plus how do you mess with drivers behind and next to you if you can't roll and freak them out?

24. Drive a 4-speed daily.

My father taught me first how to build it, then how to drive it.

/ '71 Plymouth Duster 340

I like to shift with automatics. sometimes i wonder if people think my brake lights are out.

/getting a kick and stuff
//knows how to drive a standard

WhackingDay: Never owned an automatic. The latest car, a Jetta TDI, I drove three hours to get. I sometimes wonder if I managed to get one of the few manual transmission TDIs in the country. I know when I was looking that there were something like 3 available on the entire East coast.

Really? When I was looking at a TDI (this was 2004-ish, two generations ago) most of them were manual transmission. The engine had a lot of torque but not a lot of horsepower. As for a fun car, I love my Miata. It doesn't have a ton of power (newer ones are more powerful), but it's got the best shift of any car I've driven and it likes to be downshifted. Loves it. I can almost hit 60 in second gear without redlining it. I know a lot of people think it's a chick car, etc., but since I don't care it doesn't bug me. Convertibles FTW. Oh, and you would be hard pressed to find one that wasn't manual, and I don't think they have ever offered one of those "clutchless manuals" (as if the clutch is somehow a bad thing, instead of the best thing ever ever ever).

Can you even buy a new car with standard transmission any more? It seems like everything is going CVT or floppy paddle or clutchless manual.

Fissile: This isn't just in Florida. Around here the cops actually advise people to buy a manual trans car in order to avoid having it stolen. Operating a manual seems to be a lost art on the under 40 crowd.

If the odds of getting carjacked in your neighborhood are so high that it's worth putting up with the hassle of driving stick, perhaps you should move.

/90% of my driving is 6 miles of a city street with a stop sign every half mile. I can drive stick. Do NOT want to.

Yeah, I don't know what happened from about 2010 on, but even cars where the manual is "standard", they're hard to find. As for the paddle shifters, what a crock. I test drove a Honda Insight and I wouldn't even have noticed them if the sales guy hadn't pointed them out. My response was essentially, why the hell are there paddle shifters on a hybrid?

Orange Guy: I had a White1966 Mustang with a manual (3-speed non-synchro 1st gear) transmission when I lived in San Francisco. If you can drive that kind of car on those hills, you can drive anywhere.

Stopping, then starting at the top of Taylor at California was an adventure.

At least your Mustang had some power. Stopping then starting Taylor at California was the scariest moment I think I ever had in my 1949 Plymouth Special De Luxe. Thank goodness nobody was behind me at that stop.

Automatics are good for San Francisco and for traffic jams. In any other circumstance, I'd much prefer a standard transmission.

/can believe how hard it is to get a good stick-shift pickup truck anymore
//a pickup truck, for fark's sake!
///GM doesn't even make mid-sized trucks in standard anymore

In Detroit we used to call manual stick the "people that annoy you" button. Park wherever in the ghetto and you might get your radio jacked but the car was there when you left. Plus the wife hates driving my car so it's well worth driving them nowadays.

/S4 6spd

pdieten: Fissile: This isn't just in Florida. Around here the cops actually advise people to buy a manual trans car in order to avoid having it stolen. Operating a manual seems to be a lost art on the under 40 crowd.

If the odds of getting carjacked in your neighborhood are so high that it's worth putting up with the hassle of driving stick, perhaps you should move.

/90% of my driving is 6 miles of a city street with a stop sign every half mile. I can drive stick. Do NOT want to.

=============

Car thefts around here are fairly common, car jacking, not so much.

Under 40 (barely), drive manual everyday. It is a lost art, that's why my 8-yr old is getting coached now. Kid knows what gear I'm in and why.

detroitdoesntsuckthatbad: In Detroit we used to call manual stick the "people that annoy you" button. Park wherever in the ghetto and you might get your radio jacked but the car was there when you left. Plus the wife hates driving my car so it's well worth driving them nowadays.

/S4 6spd

^Bingo! I made sure the Subaru came with a 6-spd, which meant we couldn't get the 6-banger. Oh well, keeps her outta my drivers seat.

WhackingDay: Yeah, I don't know what happened from about 2010 on, but even cars where the manual is "standard", they're hard to find. As for the paddle shifters, what a crock. I test drove a Honda Insight and I wouldn't even have noticed them if the sales guy hadn't pointed them out. My response was essentially, why the hell are there paddle shifters on a hybrid?

Well, if paddle shifters on a hybrid shocks you, what about a 6MT?

This is a car threadjack, ignore as you like.

I used to think BMW drivers chose BMW's because they were engineered to drive. Then when you see a BMW you could assume they were decent drivers behind the wheel.

Now they are common in my area and I swear I see just as many inept BMW drivers now.

Any opinions?

Enemabag Jones: Any opinions?

That's always been the case. Since I was 10 I noticed that they were terrible drivers who were always in a rush.

First car in high school was a 5 speed manual Wrangler. Oh man that thing kicked ass. It had the easiest clutch. There's something about having control over that part of the car that makes you focus more. But the biggest thing is that the focus makes you enjoy driving. It's never a slog, you're never a zombie behind the wheel of a manual.


/Parents still have the Jeep
//Drive every time I'm home

Enemabag Jones: This is a car threadjack, ignore as you like.

I used to think BMW drivers chose BMW's because they were engineered to drive. Then when you see a BMW you could assume they were decent drivers behind the wheel.

Now they are common in my area and I swear I see just as many inept BMW drivers now.

Any opinions?

I think that's true of any "drivers" car, really. I was behind a newish Mustang convertible this afternoon and the farkstick behind the wheel just refused to get the thing moving. Come on, it's a Mustang, man! It can go fast in a straight line, honest!

/I drive fast
// in fat pig of a Subaru Outback
/// with 8.5" of ground clearance

envirovore: Learning to drive stick shift should be mandatory for anyone who wants to drive.
/learned to drive on a stick, and first three vehicles were all stick.

Drive stick, change a tire, and check/add fluids.

My kid's still got 7 years to go before she's on the road, but she's going nowhere until she can do all three.

rga184: But yeah, quite a lost art, especially in japan. My wife's japanese friends were so impressed with her ability to drive manual transmission, they asked her if she raced cars or something. They all said she was a REAL pilot (driver).

Every time I go to Japan I get the same impressed reaction that I know how to use chop sticks

/the Japanese impress easily

My wife drives a 5-speed Jetta TDI. I drive a three-on-the tree Pacer. I do wonder if I should bother locking it sometimes. Who else under 40 even knows what one is? 1-2 is a pain in traffic, but the automatic overdrive makes up for it.

I love pulling out onto the highway in the TDI, you don't have to be fast, just wind out 2 or 3 and the smokescreen guarantees people will be kind enough to let you in.

myinternetname: I'm well under 40 and I can drive a stick. My younger friend taught me how to drive. I've had more 5 speeds than automatics so far.

Under 40. Was taught by my brother at age 15 on a 3 speed 76 Jeep Cherokee which ended up being my car for a while until the engine literally fell out of it. Almost all my cars have been manuals.

/unfortunately I don't own a manual right now
//miss it
///my under-40 boyfriend can't drive a manual
/sigh

First car was a manual 86 RX7, second 2005 Mazda3, third Mazdaspeed6, then fourth was a 2.3 Mazda6 also each one manual.

I have no intentions of ever owning an automatic for many reasons. They are expensive if they fail, absolutely no fun to drive, breaks wear out quicker, lower gas mileage and I can shift faster then most automatics shift.

When auto manufactures quit offering manual which it really seems they are trying to do whatever car I have at the time better last for ever because it will be my last.

/learned manual at 17
//driven ever since 28

Enemabag Jones: This is a car threadjack, ignore as you like.

I used to think BMW drivers chose BMW's because they were engineered to drive. Then when you see a BMW you could assume they were decent drivers behind the wheel.

Now they are common in my area and I swear I see just as many inept BMW drivers now.

Any opinions?

Back in the day, the BMW 2002 was super popular with engineers and other technical/nerd types here in the USA. Eventually it was noticed by other young professionals and it became a status car. Americans who buy status cars could care less about things like variable valve timing, or number of valves per cylinder, etc.

The only reason that BMW's still retains any performance cred is because it is sold in countries that are not America....where people actually care about things other than status.