The Conservative Cave
Interests => Around the House & In the Garage => Topic started by: Chris_ on July 20, 2012, 09:44:51 AM
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Is knowing how to drive stick in America still essential?
When Linda Waterhouse was 16, she went out with a friend who had too much to drink and couldn't drive home. If her friend's car had been an automatic, there wouldn't have been a problem -- but it had a manual transmission.
Luckily, Waterhouse had driven a tractor before, giving her some familiarity with stick-shift driving. She wrestled the car into second gear and managed to drive them home.
Now a mother of three girls, Waterhouse and her husband have already taught two of their daughters to "drive stick."
"You never know when you're going to need the skill," she said.
The ability to drive a car with a manual transmission has long been considered an essential skill, especially for young drivers. Yet decades after Waterhouse's impromptu introduction to stick shifts, changes in the makeup of the automobile and American consumer habits mean mastering the manual may no longer be a practical necessity.
CNN (http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/19/us/manual-car-question-comeback/)
I lol'd at the Hill Start Assist "feature"... I just use the parking brake.
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I think all drivers should learn how to use a manual transmission. Doing so tends to train people to pay more attention to the road and to people around them. And one never knows what kind of vehicle will be available during an emergency.
Our kids are thankful that they know how to drive a stick.
But that's only my opinion.
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I think all drivers should learn how to use a manual transmission. Doing so tends to train people to pay more attention to the road and to people around them. And one never knows what kind of vehicle will be available during an emergency.
Our kids are thankful that they know how to drive a stick.
But that's only my opinion.
This.
My wife tried driving a stick shift, got too nervous, won't try again.
I grew up driving farm trucks, and the ex's car was stick.
My boys will learn to drive stick shift before anything else.
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I agree it wouldn't be a bad idea to learn to drive a manual transmission vehicle. You never know when it may be necessary.
I also grew up on a farm learning to drive trucks,tractors, pickups etc. All manual transmissions. First time I drove a automatic transmission vehicle my father laughed because I kept reaching over for the gear shift. :-)
I still feel more comfortable driving a pickup than a car.
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One of the advantages of driving a car with a manual transmission is, generally, the person who is learning has to at least superficially understand the relationship between the car's engine and the transmission.
This complete and utter failure of what passes for driver's education here in the States to actually teach students how a f'n motor vehicle mechanically functions is one of the great headscratchers.
Germany's programs go into a lot of detail and the student comes out of the training having actually learned something besides how to stick the key in the ignition, turn it on, put the thing in Drive, and drive to the mall.
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I'm 73yo now, so I started with "three-on-the-floor"! Never had an automatic 'till I was 24yo.
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Two things...#One...Studebaker had the "hill holder" years ago. Mash the brakes at a stoplight or on a hill and they wouldn't release until you released the clutch. They were also the first with self adjusting brakes and 2 speed electric wipers as standard equipment long before FORD or CHEVY.
#Two....when my son was 1 1/2, he would stand between my legs and drive my
F-350 around in the pasture. I'd point this way or that way and he'd take us that way. When we would get back on the road, he would change the gears for me. I'd mash in the clutch and say "second" ...."third"...."forth"...."overdrive" and he would shift for me. If I reached for the shifter, he'd slap my hand away and say, "I do daddy. I do." Now he's 17 and can't or won't do anything right... :rotf:
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I hate the thought of having to get an automatic if standards are ever done away with.
I want to be in control of the vehicle and not just along for a ride.
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Yes people should learn to drive a stick. Kids apparently aren't taught anything else about a car. Visited my daughter recently & checked out my grandson's car. He inherited it from his dad and had been using it about two months. I found the highest tire press 18 PSI & no oil showing on the dipstick. Needless to say we had a come to Jesus moment.
He has been begging to learn to drive a stick in my car but, he pretty much blew his chance at that.
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Some cars (I think the Honda Accord) already has a feature that locks the rear wheels to keep the car from rolling backward when it's in neutral.
I know my Toyota doesn't have one and I'm glad I didn't find out the hard way.
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Some cars (I think the Honda Accord) already has a feature that locks the rear wheels to keep the car from rolling backward when it's in neutral.
I know my Toyota doesn't have one and I'm glad I didn't find out the hard way.
Taught my first wife to drive stick by parking it on a hill and standing behind the car. ATINS :rotf:
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I'm 73yo now, so I started with "three-on-the-floor"! Never had an automatic 'till I was 24yo.
I started out with an auto (' 63 Dodge Dart, slant 6) then my next 3 cars were all standard.
I taught my kids to drive on a standard and they were glad to learn. You never know when certain knowledge will come in handy.
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By the age of 10, I could 2-clutch a semi truck. By age 15 I was shifting 2-stick Duplex and Triplex MACK trucks without using the clutch.
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I learned how to drive in a truck with three on the tree. All my cars were sticks until the one I have now. I am sick of driving a stick, and will probably never buy a stick again. But, yes, I feel everyone should learn how to drive one.
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Might not be essential to get around with how most cars now have automatic trans, but it is essential if a guy wants to retain his man card.
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I'm 73yo now, so I started with "three-on-the-floor"! Never had an automatic 'till I was 24yo.
I learned to drive a three-in-the-tree when I was 16.
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Learned on Dad's Ford F-150. Learned more when I got my own truck in HS, and again when I bought my first "new" truck in 1985 and finally, the Camaro. Didn't own a car with an automatic tranny until 1999.
Try renting a car overseas. Very few have automatics.
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Well, driving straight drive cars and light trucks ain't to hard to do, the transmissions have synchronizes in the transmission. Big trucks and heavy equipment don't or didn't.
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I can count the number of times I've driven an automatic vehicle on one hand. It's the same number of times I've driven a vehicle that wasn't a 4x4 "pickup" truck.
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Well, driving straight drive cars and light trucks ain't to hard to do, the transmissions have synchronizes in the transmission. Big trucks and heavy equipment don't or didn't.
It ain't that hard to learn to double clutch when shifting.
It's pretty easy to learn how to "float" the shift without using the clutch pedal as well.
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I love standard transmission... My dad used to say only really men drive standards. I just love the sound it makes when shifting gears up.
btw what's three on a tree??. When I was learning to drive, all we had were standards. so I had no choice. Howevr, in driver's ed all they had were automatics, so my dad made me practice more till I could go for my license.
One thing I wish, that my dad had kept his Datsun, burnt orange 280ZX t-top :bawl: :bawl:. Talk about shweeeeeeeeeeet :-)
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I love standard transmission... My dad used to say only really men drive standards. I just love the sound it makes when shifting gears up.
btw what's three on a tree??. When I was learning to drive, all we had were standards. so I had no choice. Howevr, in driver's ed all they had were automatics, so my dad made me practice more till I could go for my license.
One thing I wish, that my dad had kept his Datsun, burnt orange 280ZX t-top :bawl: :bawl:. Talk about shweeeeeeeeeeet :-)
Three in the tree is where the shift lever is on the steering column.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGoG55S5_Fo
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Three in the tree is where the shift lever is on the steering column.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGoG55S5_Fo
Ok I have heard of that, however, I prefer on the floor.just seems sexier somehow!!! I would feel more in control...
There are just some cars ot there, that say SEXY!!! all over them!!! O-)
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Ok I have heard of that, however, I prefer on the floor.just seems sexier somehow!!! I would feel more in control...
There are just some cars ot there, that say SEXY!!! all over them!!! O-)
Try a twin stick.
I drove one once when I was about 18. Whole new world compared to today.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mf6AUbjT-s
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My 3 on the tree experience was a burned out clutch. I nearly did the same thing to a 4 on the floor trying to unlaunch a ski boat on a steep boat ramp.
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Try a twin stick.
I drove one once when I was about 18. Whole new world compared to today.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mf6AUbjT-s
about 1 minute and 30 seconds I heard him grind the gears, ouch that is gonna hurt...
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about 1 minute and 30 seconds I heard him grind the gears, ouch that is gonna hurt...
Yeah... He floated the shift and grinded it.
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My 3 on the tree experience was a burned out clutch. I nearly did the same thing to a 4 on the floor trying to unlaunch a ski boat on a steep boat ramp.
Alot of people ride the clutch , which wears the clutch out quickly, and expensive to fix..
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If you can't find 'em, grind 'em.
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Simple:
Those who can drive a stick can drive an automatic transmission.
The converse is not true.
Go to any country other than the USA and see what they give you -- trust me, it will be a stick.
Next up: "Should Americans know how to parallel park or just let the car do it?"
What a bunch of mechanical wimps we have become.
All my cars have been sticks and will be until they just stop making them here. And even then, I may go to Mexico to get one.
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It's still essential where we live. Most trucks and cars have manual transmissions. Better for mountain driving.
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My first car a 3 0n the tree also had the light dimming button on the floor to the left of the clutch.
Had an emergency at night and had to drive a friends VW Bug to pick them up. I stomped all over the darn floor and could not find the button. I drove that darn thing on high beams from N.H. to Boston. :rant: :rant:
How was I to know there was NO button, the dimmer was on the turn signal lever. I believe that was the last car I ever owned with the button on the floor.
Years later when I drove a school bus a Internatonal Harvester, we to be licensed had to hold the full bus at the top of a steep hill without the break, just hold with clutch. It became second nature to come to a stop, put the gears in neutral hold in break ----The few seconds taken to place it back in gear was a safety method just in case someone were to run the light.
Fun driving stick, better control of a stall in cold weather, And for me, myself, after driving stick I learned to listen to the sound of the engine to tell me when to shift.
Most annoying truck ever owned was a Chevy S10 stick. A red light would blink on the dash to indicate when to shift.
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had to hold the full bus at the top of a steep hill without the break, just hold with clutch.
Yeah, it's hard to take a break while burning the clutch out by slipping it on a hill.
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Yeah, it's hard to take a break while burning the clutch out by slipping it on a hill.
Worse place I ever had to drive a stick was SF. I was driving a Chevy Blazer with no power steering. 1974 I think. I did learn fast what streets to avoid, darn those hills are a B*tch to avoid sliding back from a full stop.
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I sort of really prefer automatic to clutch, but as I learned on a clutch, it means I can actually drive both sorts, and not just one.
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I sort of really prefer automatic to clutch, but as I learned on a clutch, it means I can actually drive both sorts, and not just one.
hi ,i have missed you!!!!!!how haave you been?
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I learned to drive a stick (my mom's Audi). My step dad bought me (really us) a white Chevy S-10 which I drove until my senior year. My senior year I got a Nissan 200SX. It was a standard and actually too much car for me. That car was fast. It talked too, it said "lights are on" "fuel level is low" "door is ajar". When I got married we sold my car and just kept my husbands VW GTI which was also a standard. After that car I had one more standard (1989 Honda civic SI) then never went back. It looked like this and I LOVED that car.
(http://farm1.staticflickr.com/46/114980805_67046ffdc6_z.jpg?zz=1)
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After negotiating the Coronado Bay Bridge for six years, most of that with a stick, I will NEVER own another stick!!! Then there was the stop & go San Diego traffic........
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After negotiating the Coronado Bay Bridge for six years, most of that with a stick, I will NEVER own another stick!!! Then there was the stop & go San Diego traffic........
My knees wouldn't take a big clutch like the old days. Think the 396 Super Sport with heavy duty clutch. Hell I could barley keep one of those down when I was younger. :lmao: Honest officer...... :whistling:
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hi ,i have missed you!!!!!!how haave you been?
Ditto.