manual, stick shift vehicles in us?

Old Sep 17, 2007, 11:12 pm
  #31  
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Originally Posted by tjl

An unintended consequence of people not learning how to use them is the occasional stories of car thieves foiled by manual transmissions.
More likely, it is that even car thieves have better taste that to try to steal a car with the technology of the 1930s.
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Old Sep 19, 2007, 6:33 pm
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Originally Posted by tjl
Not as long as manual transmissions deliver better fuel economy, better acceleration, and better reliability (usually) than automatic transmissions.
Automatic transmissions are virtually guaranteed to fail at high miles. Other than a wear-and-tear component (clutch and throwout bearing), manual transmission almost NEVER fail.

And with regards to safety being less with a stick, that's total bs. One's hand is off the wheel to shift for probably .5 seconds. The extra control and (engine) braking one gets from a manual are huge safety pluses in my book.
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Old Sep 19, 2007, 8:03 pm
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Coming from a country where manual transmissions are still quite "normal" I'd have to agree with the reliability/acceleration/economy/safety arguments...

But only IN THEORY!

I see SO many folks driving manuals so badly that none of those theoretically attainable benefits would apply... they "ride" the clutch a LOT (reliability? Not!) they miss gear changes.. (really screws up acceleration... specially when they try for 2nd and get 4th..), they use max throttle at all times (especially before letting out the clutch..) which doesn't help the fuel economy i imagine... and they spend time staring at the gearshift as they wander across the road...... so much for safety.

manual gearshifts are like guitars.. easiest thing in the world to use BADLY!

My current vehicle (and my all time favourite so far) is a full size station wagon.. (A Holden Commodore if that means anything to anyone!!) It is an auto, and has a 3.8 litre V6. On the highway (and using the cruise control which many people diss too) the fuel consumption gets as good as 8.5L/100km...

That's over 32 miles to the (Imperial) gallon...

YMMV of course... (literally!!!)
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Old Sep 19, 2007, 10:20 pm
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Originally Posted by trooper

My current vehicle (and my all time favourite so far) is a full size station wagon.. (A Holden Commodore if that means anything to anyone!!) It is an auto, and has a 3.8 litre V6. On the highway (and using the cruise control which many people diss too) the fuel consumption gets as good as 8.5L/100km...

That's over 32 miles to the (Imperial) gallon...

YMMV of course... (literally!!!)
You simply cannot beat GM's 3800 V6 engine. ^ My 3.8L Buick has near 300,000km, and it's never needed anything other than oil/fluid changes!

Last edited by Tim Ho's; Sep 23, 2007 at 11:05 pm
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Old Oct 3, 2010, 5:24 pm
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Originally Posted by cestmoi123
Never seen one - given the relatively small number of people who drive stick, they'd likely be an inventory nightmare, and I bet a lot of rentals would be for people who want to learn to drive stick, so the maintenance bills would be astronomical (a clutch a month sort of thing).

Huh?? ...? Renting a car for learning how to drive stick???, dont you learn that at driving school?

In Europe (atleast Scandinavia) you wont find automatic cars at Hertz at all.
Automatic cars is very rare around here.
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Old Oct 3, 2010, 6:34 pm
  #36  
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Originally Posted by alexbleks
Huh?? ...? Renting a car for learning how to drive stick???, dont you learn that at driving school?

In Europe (atleast Scandinavia) you wont find automatic cars at Hertz at all.
Automatic cars is very rare around here.
Welcome to Flyer Talk.

1. You violated Terms of Service by activating an old thread, and

2. You're wrong - many automatic trans. vehicles are found in dedicated reservation classes at major Hertz locations worldwide (maybe not targeted to shifting-challenged Americans, but certainly appreciated by them).

Check out the hyperlinks to vehicle details in the vehicle guide by nation.

https://www.hertz.com/rentacar/byr/i...deHomeView.jsp
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Old Oct 3, 2010, 6:53 pm
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Originally Posted by 3Cforme
Welcome to Flyer Talk.

1. You violated Terms of Service by activating an old thread, and

2. You're wrong - many automatic trans. vehicles are found in dedicated reservation classes at major Hertz locations worldwide (maybe not targeted to shifting-challenged Americans, but certainly appreciated by them).

Check out the hyperlinks to vehicle details in the vehicle guide by nation.

https://www.hertz.com/rentacar/byr/i...deHomeView.jsp
I checked your link.. I can only find 1 car with automatic in Norway :s
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Old Oct 7, 2010, 5:30 am
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Sticks have sadly gone the way of the dodo in this country. As someone who still gets underage fees when he has to rent, many people seem greatly suprised by the fact that I can drive standard, and most are disbelieving.

I have two members in my family who own sports cars (a Covert, and sportish Hyundia Tiberon FX), both with autos. They *really* don't know the joys of driving.

My current vehicle is an automatic by virtue that the people who helped pay for it wouldn't pay for a standard believing me incapable of driving one.
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Old Oct 7, 2010, 8:54 am
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You don't need to pay the underage fees with Hertz's Underage Coupon or Gold Family.
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Old Oct 7, 2010, 7:32 pm
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For the benefit of people from outside the US who may not be familiar with the general format of our driver education system, driving a manual transmission is not one of the core skill competencies. It is optional for those who want to learn.
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Old Oct 7, 2010, 7:52 pm
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But finding a company that has a stick to learn on is a challenge in itself.

I would love to teach my daughter how to drive a stick, but I'll be damned if I'm going to do it on my RS4!

Good to know that Enterprise might be an option...
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Old Oct 7, 2010, 7:56 pm
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This thread has a lot of BS in it...

1) Nowadays automatics rival the manuals for economy.
2) They do fail earlier than manuals, but for the first buyer, that's hardly a concern... Most new car buyers will likely not need a new transmission within the typical 5 years of ownership. Clutches, on the other hand... That varies.
3) In the US a normal (non-sports) car with a stick is considered a DETRIMENT when it comes time to sell it. Most dealers will knock off 1 to $2,000 on the trade in value because of that.

The new semi-automatics are downright amazing though. The performance of a stick, and the shifting done by a computer. Pure awesomeness!

HTSC
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Old Oct 7, 2010, 8:40 pm
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Originally Posted by HereAndThereSC
This thread has a lot of BS in it...

1) Nowadays automatics rival the manuals for economy.
2) They do fail earlier than manuals, but for the first buyer, that's hardly a concern... Most new car buyers will likely not need a new transmission within the typical 5 years of ownership. Clutches, on the other hand... That varies.
3) In the US a normal (non-sports) car with a stick is considered a DETRIMENT when it comes time to sell it. Most dealers will knock off 1 to $2,000 on the trade in value because of that.

The new semi-automatics are downright amazing though. The performance of a stick, and the shifting done by a computer. Pure awesomeness!

HTSC
Having a semi-automatic, I would trade it for a stick any day. Maybe I'm crazy, but I like having a clutch ...

As for 1, I've heard this before, but no one has been able to cite me a source, for it; if you can, I'd be glad to accept this point.

2. Agreed. Manuals generally need more work on the tranny.

3. In America, I also will concede this point. In countries where standards are standard, automatics are simply worth more due to their rarity.
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Old Oct 8, 2010, 11:59 am
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Originally Posted by HereAndThereSC
3) In the US a normal (non-sports) car with a stick is considered a DETRIMENT when it comes time to sell it. Most dealers will knock off 1 to $2,000 on the trade in value because of that.
True, though manual transmission is probably cheaper in the first place. When I moved here last year, I really wanted the car we bought to have manual transmission, but it would have taken a couple of months to order so in true impatient American style we bought one that was sitting in the showroom. Would have been US$1k cheaper to wait for the manual though.

Originally Posted by HereAndThereSC
The new semi-automatics are downright amazing though. The performance of a stick, and the shifting done by a computer. Pure awesomeness!
Personally I disagree with this. I have one of them and it's nowhere near the same.
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Old Oct 11, 2010, 12:51 pm
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Originally Posted by NCommander
As for 1, I've heard this before, but no one has been able to cite me a source, for it; if you can, I'd be glad to accept this point.
While I don't have any sources, my personal feeling is that regardless of whether you *could* get better mileage driving a standard, that in the US at least, the vast majority of people driving them don't know how to drive them in a way that would get better mileage. I'm guessing most probably get worse just because they don't know how to drive them.
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