Manual cars

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gmc
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Manual cars

Post by gmc »



Keep coming across videos like this. Just wondering are manual cars really so unusual in America nowadays? Over here it's mainly OAP's that buy automatics hence the term granny cars. Have to drive automatic lorries personally I dislike them intensely.
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Snowfire
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Post by Snowfire »

gmc;1483647 wrote:

Keep coming across videos like this. Just wondering are manual cars really so unusual in America nowadays? Over here it's mainly OAP's that buy automatics hence the term granny cars. Have to drive automatic lorries personally I dislike them intensely.


Ive never come across the term "granny car" for automatics. While I personally prefer manual, Ive owned and driven autos for years. Its my wifes preference and to be honest in heavy traffic in cities, its a godsend. Theyr'e a bit juicier to run but good automatics ie those in cars with big engines, are wonderful to drive.
"He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire."

Winston Churchill
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Smaug
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Post by Smaug »

Snowfire;1483648 wrote: Ive never come across the term "granny car" for automatics. While I personally prefer manual, Ive owned and driven autos for years. Its my wifes preference and to be honest in heavy traffic in cities, its a godsend. Theyr'e a bit juicier to run but good automatics ie those in cars with big engines, are wonderful to drive.


I prefer manual shifts anyday! Less expensive on juice, better hill-climbing, more control, especially in slippery conditions and greater performance. I've driven autos, but find them a touch boring, and "remote".
" To finish first, first you have to finish!" Rick Mears. 4x Winner Indy 500. 3x Indycar National Champion.
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chonsigirl
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Post by chonsigirl »

94 Ford Ranger works great on snowy days here, needs to be a shift vehicle for that ice sometimes. Gosh, we all learned how to drive in one when teens.......
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LarsMac
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Post by LarsMac »

When I first learned to drive it was in my parents cars, which were all Automatics. But summer came, and off to the grandparents' far.

Grandpa has and old Ford Pick-up (about a 47, I think.) No turn the key, throw it in gear and off ya go with that beast. The steering wheel had about 3 inches of play in either direction, the starter was on the floor, and the gear shift was on the floor, and had almost as much play as the Steering wheel.

Fortunately there were enough dents in the thing, nobody ever noticed my contributions, the town was small enough everybody could see me coming.

By the end of summer, I had mastered driving that truck. I ran every errand to town, and even a few runs to Asheville.

Now, I prefer a stick shift.

A lot of young folks are intimidated by the things, though, and most driving schools only use Autos.
The home of the soul is the Open Road.
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FourPart
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Post by FourPart »

I've always preferred Manuals, but that's what I took my lessons in. I can understand why some people prefer Automatics. It's the lazy way of driving & doesn't require any additional thinking when it comes to learning. When it comes to the actual driving, of course, a Manual doesn't require any additional thinking - it becomes second nature. However, I can well understand how having got used to an Automatic, and then upgrading your driving skills can be tougher still. It was the same with upgrading from my Jubbly, 50cc Twist 'n' Go Moped to a full Geared 125cc. I thought it was going to be a simple transition - it was not. However, if I hadn't got used to a Twist 'n' Go Automatic in the first place, starting off with a Manual would have been so much easier.

I also used to work as a Trade Plater, which involved picking up vehicles & driving them to somewhere else. These were all types of vehicles - Manual, Automatic, New, or Used, and constantly switching from one to another is a really weird experience to get used to. The weirdest one of all I've had to drive has to be the Citroen 2CV. In all other cars, Manual or Automatic, we're used to the Gear Lever being down near your elbow, right? Not the 2CV. That has it coming out of the dashboard, in a sort of upwards 'L' shaped configuration. Then to change the gears you need to pull it back & forth & twist it, like you would a screwdriver, to achieve the standard 'H' type gear layout.

Although I never had the dubious pleasure of having to drive a Left Hand Drive, that is something that has always given me cause for concern. Of course, anyone who learns in an LHD won't see any problems, and for them the opposite, the RHD might be true, but I am used to the gear stick being by my Left Hand. Even on the bike the Gear Pedal is on the left (although on Russian bikes, the Gear & the Brake pedals are the other way round, but that's by the by). I dread to think how I would be able to cope with that configuration being reversed - especially when the positions of the gears are the same, instead of mirrored.
gmc
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Post by gmc »

Snowfire;1483648 wrote: Ive never come across the term "granny car" for automatics. While I personally prefer manual, Ive owned and driven autos for years. Its my wifes preference and to be honest in heavy traffic in cities, its a godsend. Theyr'e a bit juicier to run but good automatics ie those in cars with big engines, are wonderful to drive.


I suppose it depends where you live having lived "darn sarf" I get the point about heavy traffic and maybe six gears can seem one too many. I live in central scotland along one of the most congested roads in europe but in half an hour or so I can be zooming round country roads where an automatic gearbox would be a real pain with less control on corners etc etc. Sixth is a motorway gear imo that I hardly use away from the motorway.
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LarsMac
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Post by LarsMac »

FourPart;1483671 wrote: I've always preferred Manuals, but that's what I took my lessons in. I can understand why some people prefer Automatics. It's the lazy way of driving & doesn't require any additional thinking when it comes to learning. When it comes to the actual driving, of course, a Manual doesn't require any additional thinking - it becomes second nature. However, I can well understand how having got used to an Automatic, and then upgrading your driving skills can be tougher still. It was the same with upgrading from my Jubbly, 50cc Twist 'n' Go Moped to a full Geared 125cc. I thought it was going to be a simple transition - it was not. However, if I hadn't got used to a Twist 'n' Go Automatic in the first place, starting off with a Manual would have been so much easier.

I also used to work as a Trade Plater, which involved picking up vehicles & driving them to somewhere else. These were all types of vehicles - Manual, Automatic, New, or Used, and constantly switching from one to another is a really weird experience to get used to. The weirdest one of all I've had to drive has to be the Citroen 2CV. In all other cars, Manual or Automatic, we're used to the Gear Lever being down near your elbow, right? Not the 2CV. That has it coming out of the dashboard, in a sort of upwards 'L' shaped configuration. Then to change the gears you need to pull it back & forth & twist it, like you would a screwdriver, to achieve the standard 'H' type gear layout.

Although I never had the dubious pleasure of having to drive a Left Hand Drive, that is something that has always given me cause for concern. Of course, anyone who learns in an LHD won't see any problems, and for them the opposite, the RHD might be true, but I am used to the gear stick being by my Left Hand. Even on the bike the Gear Pedal is on the left (although on Russian bikes, the Gear & the Brake pedals are the other way round, but that's by the by). I dread to think how I would be able to cope with that configuration being reversed - especially when the positions of the gears are the same, instead of mirrored.


My first trip to the UK, I rented a car upon arriving at Heathrow. It took a bit of time to adjust my mind to the RHD, and the gearshift in my left hand. Thank the gods that the pedals were in the same arrangement as I was used to. I am not sure I could have made that adjustment.

I was most nervous, of course about being on the "wrong side" of the street.

I made two circuits of the Ring Road, before I dared venture out into real traffic. I managed to adapt to the RHD quickly. The brain has remarkable abilities to adjust.
The home of the soul is the Open Road.
- DH Lawrence
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FourPart
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Post by FourPart »

I'm still trying to get out of the habit of using the left hand lever on Marcus as the back brake (it's the clutch).
Bruv
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Post by Bruv »

gmc;1483673 wrote: I live in central scotland along one of the most congested roads in europe but in half an hour or so I can be zooming round country roads where an automatic gearbox would be a real pain with less control on corners etc etc.


The M25 doesn't reach to Scotland does it ?
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FourPart
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Post by FourPart »

Bruv;1483721 wrote: The M25 doesn't reach to Scotland does it ?


No - just like the rest of the city - it just goes round & round in circles.
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Post by Bruv »

FourPart;1483733 wrote: No - just like the rest of the city - it just goes round & round in circles.


You forgot 'Slowly'
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gmc
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Post by gmc »

Bruv;1483721 wrote: The M25 doesn't reach to Scotland does it ?


No but pick the wrong time of day and a 20 mile journey to the centre of edinburgh can take over two hours. A serious accident on the M8 will bring the whiole motorway network to a complete halt surprisingly quickly. I have been all the way round the M25, admittedly I didn't actfually need to I went the wrong way.
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