The Advantages of Buying a Manual Transmission Vehicle
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The Advantages of Buying a Manual Transmission Vehicle
You often hear that cars with manual transmissions have many advantages over automatics (cost, better MPG, cool factor). But that's not always the case.
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One more is trying and two are not interested.
I will be very sorry to see them go.
One more is trying and two are not interested.
I will be very sorry to see them go.
Every car except my first (a Studebaker Hawk) has been a stick and I've never worn out a clutch (and yes I do a lot of stop and go and a bit of mountain driving). Finally had to replace the clutch on my Cherokee at 300,000 miles because the throwout bearing was making a noise, but the clutch was still working perfectly.
For sure, if a great DCT is not available, get a 6MT. If it is, get the 7DCT.
As the other commented stated - it takes two hands to drive, so no texting.
"Published: 08/26/2008 Updated: 04/30/2009 "
And "most drivers are illegally texting" is absurd, ESPECIALLY stick shift drivers.
Driving a stick I get to pick what gear I'm in, and at times that probably REDUCES emissions. (not that it makes much difference with a modern car).
A lot of times driving an automatic the stupid thing shifts too early as I'm attempting to maneuver and I've got to give it more gas to make it down shift, or sometimes the reverse happens and it's in a lower gear than I want.
I rented a Prius once and really liked it, and a lot of automatic transmissions are fine w/ the shifting options and all. But, here's the catch with me: I like a manual clutch system because unlike automatics, they don't creep forward on their own if your foot accidentally slips off the brake. Also, you've got your left foot on the disengaged clutch, so you have to make your own decision to "go."
So for me, it's a safeguard to have a manual transmission for that reason alone. Besides, I like shifting and using a clutch.....I know, most people don't!
Before getting a drivers license, everyone should prove they know the rules of the road, have no unpaid tickets (in any US State), no DUI's or Drug convictions (mandatory 10 year license suspension on 1st conviction) and no conviction of evading police in a motor vehicle (mandatory 10 year sentence and lifetime license suspension).
Persons convicted of a violent crime should have their license reinstated when the term of their actual sentence is up. If they receive a 30 year sentence but get out in 2 years (as usual in today's system) they still don't get their driver's license for the full 30 years.
Let's get the boneheads off the road so responsible drivers can get where they are going sooner and safer. Make driving the true privilege it is by making all of us work every day to earn it. If we lose that privilege, make it damn hard to get it back.
What's with this $1500 to replace a clutch? Why do you think God gave us Auto Parts stores? Put that sucker on some stands, slide under and get busy. If I can do it, anyone can. And I didn't have the Internet to teach me. Clutches are like everything else...if you can't afford to have it fixed, fix it yourself. Plan on a full day...or a weekend if you need the flywheel resurfaced. Replace the throw-out bearing, too, while you're in there anyway.
If doing it yourself just isn't an option, your Parts store may know of a good "shade tree" mechanic who will do the job for a few hundred dollars. The entire project shouldn't be over 5 to 7 hundred at most. Less if you do it yourself.
I have owned a couple of automatics over my lifetime and they just don't cut it for me. Try passing a car with a automatic is scary.
I have a 89 Honda (stick) in my parking area and I also have a Mazda CRX7 (auto), it was given to me by my son. I prefer to drive my old Honda. What a shame. LOL!
How old is your information?
However, today's modern automatics, especially the five speeds, six speeds and the new 10 speed that is coming from the Ford/General Motors cooperative effort combined with the intelligent electronics and better sensors for traction control make it clear that it is finally time to stop being elitist about manual transmissions.
The new automatics are more reliable, because they don't have clutches, and they produce better gas mileage as well as having superior options like traction control for snow and rain.
The new automatics are making safer more reliable cars. I certainly never ever thought I'd be saying that an automatic transmission would make for a more reliable car, but the simple truth today is that the human nervous system trying to manipulate a clutch, while a fine instrument in many people, is never going to equal the sensitivity and power matching ability of a modern digital computer, properly installed, configured program in a modern drivetrain. Nor will the human ever be able to match the ability of the computer to produce better gas mileage.
Add in the existence of hybrid gas battery engines, or just plain electronic cars powered only by batteries, and there simply isn't any place left for a clutch to claim superior performance. In the case of electronic drive vehicles there's no place at all for the clutch to claim any performance.
So, while I will never again redline my turbocharged Mazda in a downtown Manhattan parking garage, which is how I discovered the electronic rev limiter :-) , I'm going to be getting much better mileage and a much longer life out of my car.
(And, every once in a while, I will probably still try to find a way to leave the 60 foot patch in a downtown Manhattan parking garage. But first, I'll have to disable the traction control....)
Why?
Simple. The electronic automatic transmissions are going to be getting much better mileage. Over time the cost of not replacing a clutch, and getting better gas mileage is going to save the owner money.