Cloudship

The only thing I will add to the debate for all people driving manuals, think about the people behind you. You may feel cool down shifting and clutching to slow down, but when you do that, the people behind you do not see your brake lights. And keep in mind that you may think you are great at a stick, but I bet you still roll backwards at steep intersections when you aren't being careful.

deniah

rate of deceleration from engine-braking isnt enough to be disruptive to other drivers....

...whose pace should NOT be solely judged by the car ahead.

if approaching a corner or a red light or otherwise a stop, one should slow down, regardless if the car ahead brakes normally or late....

Badenoch

The people behind me shouldn't follow so closely.

Rolling backwards should never be an issue. Most modern standards have a hill stop feature that prevents them from rolling backward until you engage the clutch. If not it's a simple matter to use your parking brake to prevent rolling back.

Long Train Runnin

This thread is a great read. I am considering a car that comes in both a stick and an automatic. Saturday my friend was with me and the only one they had at the dealership was a stick. They let my friend take it for a drive who used to drag race competitively. I have driven the automatic version of the car twice (I have only driven a stick for like 45 minutes total so not comfortable enough to want to buy one). I was blown away by 2 things 1 that my friend who hadn't driven a stick in a couple years was instantly able to handle this car. And when we did a 0-100mph pull on to the freeway how much better the car felt when he was shifting vs my experiences in the automatic. I almost feel like I should get the stick and have him give me some more lessons. I know its the same car, but just the way he was tossing it through the gears just felt so much better.

WorldLux

It's all just a question of habit. I'm a lefty (so is half my family) and shifting with my right hand was natural. When changing to a UK car, I'm usually a little more careful with my shifting at the start, but it feels very quickly "natural" as well.

A driving instructor will tell you that during the first driving lesson. You're supposed to slightly apply the brakes while downshifting (to activate the brake lights). There are cases where downshifting + more throttle are more appropriate (and it doesn't involve the car slowing down).

Nope. An experienced driver can do it without rolling back and more and more cars are equipped with hill hold and/or electronic handbrakes, that release only if the right mix of clutch+throttle is applied. And just to be complete: On steep intersections automatics can roll back a little as well.

ajGoes

The shift lever is on the right, so it's pretty natural to work it with the right hand. It's no more awkward to work it with my non-dominant right hand than working the multifunction control or the mirror adjuster on the left is for a righty.

Vaucluse

I'm a rightie, learn to drive manual shifting with my left, it's natural to me. I prefer my dominant hand (right) on the steering wheel all the time.

Cloudship

You are also supposed to use turn signals and come to complete stops at stop signs. Supposed to and capable of and actually doing are far too different things.

wolfie_cr

comments in this thread is simply confirming to me why the USA in general needs automatic transmission. for the longest time part of the driving test of CR was to go to a very steep hill, stop car and then get it going again WITHOUT using the hand brake (and this without fancy "hill stop" features, which my "new" 2002 car doesnt have anyways)

anyone that knows how to drive knows to leave a reasonable space between you and the next car and this covers hills and deceleration

we drive like animals in CR (meaning we dont obey any rules) but at least we can do that.

(there is a growing % of people here that get their drivers license doing the practical test with an automatic.......these guys are scary if they try a manual one later one, it wasnt until 2011 where it was approved to pass the hands on test with an automatic)

Loren Pechtel

With a parking brake beside the driver, yes.

The car I learned on had a parking brake on the floor. You could bend down to release it but that put you in a position you couldn't see the road very well. Using it for a hill start was not practical.

t325

Downshifting to slow down doesn't slow you down that much. If someone rear-ends you because you downshifted to slow down, they were following way too closely.

Your point is? I can type out a mile long list of dangerous things automatic drivers do when they're not being careful.

shuigao

Actually it's precisely because we drive stick that we're (normally) more careful when stopped on a hill. (Granted, knowledge is one thing and competence is another).

Having said that, I don't get the "real men drive stick" nonsense. I drive stick cos the car(s) I've bought over the years were cheaper if they came with a stick, but I don't see how that makes me any manlier or superior in any way over somebody who prefers an auto 'box.

The_Bouncer

The one time I really had to think about this was when I rented an automatic Nissan Rogue in California, which had a foot-operated park-brake almost exactly where the clutch pedal would be on a manual.

The only time I have had serious difficulty with a manual was a few years ago, driving the tiny Fiat Seicento that my mother had at the time. I rammed my size 13 Dr. Marten clad hoof on the clutch and caught the brake as well!

These days I drive a two-pedal automatic. However, it has a sequential shift option, which is useful at times. I used it today, in fact, on a particularly hilly road with several sharp bends.

MissJ

More than you think. I own two that only came in manual right now and had a third in years past.

MissJ

Oh come on. I'll go with what all the others have said. I don't downshift to a full stop.... Who does that??? And I find roll back on hill because I actually can drive. Did I roll when I was 16, yeah, at first and then I learned to balance. It's easy, especially when, like others have mentioned, driving a manual becomes habit. It drives me crazy that people think we have to constantly think about every shift and it's so much work. It's not. I've driven manual cars on three continents, right and left hand drive, hills, mountains, deserts, whatever, and so have millions of other people whose heads didn't explode over the constant quandary of when to shift.