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Parking in SF can be difficult depending on the area, but I wouldn't call it a problem. It is an appropriate discouragement factor to driving into the City - we've got the transit to offer real options to driving in.
And walking a few blocks to get where I am going is certainly not a problem for me either. Even in rainy weeks like this one.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Not sure if it will spread to the whole lineup.
-Frank
I have noticed , and probably do this myself, that other driver get much closer than they used to at a traffic light on a hill. I used to assume the car in front of me was a manual and would give them plenty of room. I never think about giving any room unless it's a car that usually will have a manual , like a Porsche,Miata or a 350Z.
Does the Subaru hill holder use the parking brake to hold the car?
A "true" stick jockey who is one with his vehicle should be able to stop on the steepest of hills and start again without any backwards rolling :shades:
Subaru's uses the regular brakes.
-Frank
-Frank
Makes you anal retentive, if you measured that inch.
On my truck, it is a foot brake with hand release, so I punch it a few seconds prior to needing the left foot to press the clutch, then pop it when the truck is just starting to strain forward.
Actually I'd say that's pretty good.
When my niece was still learning to drive a stick (and still had her learners permit), she was stopped on an incline waiting for a light in the middle of downtown Atlanta during rush hour. When the light turned green she stalled the engine and then things went downhill from there. After stalling once, her confidence was shot so she kept stalling the engine until the light eventually turned red again. At that point, my sister jumped out of the passenger seat, ran around the car and took over. Of course as you can imagine, there was lots of horn honking going on
-Frank
My very first stoplight on an incline, I rolled back a foot, and in panic gave too much gas. There were approximately 6-7 cop cars in different places waiting for a green to cross that intersection. I peeled out first gear, chirped 2nd gear pretty hard, and even chirped 3rd gear. I thought for sure I was getting pulled over, but I guess the cops were too busy laughing to bother... :P
I'd stall tons of times in the following week, once or twice with a lot of honking involved and another where I needed to reverse in a very steep parking lot with about 3" from my front bumper to a street pole (nearly called my brother for backup, but ended up just revving the piss out of it and making the clutch beg for mercy). I think it took about 2 weeks for me not to panic on hills with traffic. The first time I used the ebrake to help me launch, it was probably the most perfect and smoothest start I did for months... Now I'm just too lazy to do it. :shades:
I think it's less wear to use the parking brake vs. the clutch.
Rear brake pads: $17.
New Clutch: $400.
New Clutch installation (labor): $300
Not having to replace the clutch?
Priceless.
Scott
The one down side (although it hasn't happened to me) is when you're parked on a hill and just want to roll backwards (like out of a driveway). Won't do it unless you engage it in reverse
-Frank
Not even if you just engage neutral and release the clutch pedal?
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
its a sad world when even carjackers don't take their proffession seriously enough to learn all the ins and outs.
sorry if anyone thinks i'm making light of it .... i feel horrible for the victim, of course.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
In hindsight, my life would be easier if my wife wanted an automatic instead of a manual because I wouldn't have to do so much searching to find cars for her. Of course that said, I don't think I would be willing to search for an automatic anything for her, and I love the car she has now.
Best Regards,
Shipo
You learn the tricks quickly. Saab's manuals make you put them in Reverse before the key comes out. Co-workers point that out before you park your first car, though.
Missing a Start button is a rookie error, and the result of poor preperation/training.
A little off topic, but a highlight was parking Wilbur Marshall's 911 (ex-Redskin player). He tipped well, too. :shades:
Missing a Start button is a rookie error, and the result of poor preperation/training.
Harsh, to be fair the re-emergence of the start button is a recent phenomenon, I think the S2000 was the first car to have on since the 60s and they were rare then.
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
I dunno, I think something like that would be discussed and read about before you ever saw it.
I guess it's different for a career valet.
Same for the odd shifters in the BMW 7 series, for instance.
Tragically, there was a spot on the street and he took it, so he didn't need valet parking.
By the way, that was a cool way to sample cars. Not at speed, just to hop in and try out the clutch, shifter, etc.
Oddly enough I miss it.
I agree. During major holidays all non-store employees help out in our stores and I, naturally, volunteered to help out the valet crew. Based on the 'sampling' I was able to recommend my wife's next vehicle!
That and a GT40, now called a Ford GT were indeed dream cars. When you saw one on the street you could just stand and look at it. But they are few and far between.
-Frank
I have always loved Italian cars but they remind me of when I used to have sail boats. For every day of sailing you had to devote a day of maintainance. I would take the Ford.
One of the things that changed the US consumers transmission preferences was big torque motors. (in my opinion.) When I was growing up the cars young drivers seems to be dreaming about had names like, Hemi Cuda, GTX, Charger, GTO, Chevelle. The engines these vehicles had just dripped off the lips of high school boys. 426, 440, 427,and 396. Drag strips were easily available in most counties and half of the guys I went to college with and even high school spent quite a few nights and weekends at these strips. It was quickly discovered that many of the 4 speed automatics were quicker through the 1/4 mile than their manual counterparts. That wasn't necsessarly the case with smaller chevy mouse motors and the 289 Fords but the big Rat motors and the Mopar machines simply didn't need a manual to perform well. I can remember in the mid to late 60s AAmco would hardly even work on a manual. The manual made a bit of a comeback with the early import cars but I just don't see them ever becoming a major player in US transmissions in the future. Habitat might be correct that enthusiasts will keep them alive in sporting vehicles but the average consumer just doesn't seem to care how their vehicle gets in gear.
To bring this back on topic, I believe it was a Cambiocorsa.
Hey I was on topic... the Ford GT only comes with a manual 6-speed and the Maserati Quattroporte has the option of a paddle-shift clutchless manual :P
-Frank
Love those names BTW. ATs never have tough, macho names like that. Powerglide just doesn't have the same spark.
Oh, AAMCO might have done a few clutches with all that drag racing.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
Like many of the time some of us paid the rent running our vehicles against others. But it is very hard to shift as many times or as quick in the 1/4 with a manual. That is one of the things that impress me so much with the sequencial shifters in WRC cars. Those puppies will drop a dog leg like yesterdays fish. But part of my manual training was more than 8 years of motorcycle commuting in the late 70 early 80s. Yes they had a clutch but there is no need for a H pattern with the short throw some of these new trannies have. Even back then we could get a Hurst shifter with such a narrow gate it was pretty much like the + and - auto shifters we see in modern cars. Still with a third pedal but with the spring loaders there was no up over and through in your wrist. I would even love a sequencial with a clutch if that was the best I could get. But with the new computers it just seems as if we don't need the third pedal. Dog legs don't add control because no car has the control of a motorcycle and they don't need a dog leg. But the human being has gotten about as good as they can get with a dog leg and we simply can't get much faster. We need something more if the manual geared transmission is going to advance. We now have automatics with seven and eight speeds. They have CVTs they can program with any number of gears you might want. I just can't imagine a dog leg with any more gears let alone another gate.
Sure the traditional enthusiast my enjoy the nostalgia of knowing how to use a manual. They might even feel more connected. But the competitive enthusiast is always looking for an edge and something "like" a WRC shifter sure seems tempting. Tempting to the point that no WRC car is competitive without one.
Over the years my reaction time hasn't gotten any better and 1/4 drag strips are farther apart. There are now more 1/8 mile strips close to me that allow grass roots racing for imports as well as some classic cars. Everything about the cars we can drive today seems better technically except the transmission. Our cars are capable of shifting faster but they have to wait on our reaction time with our left foot and right hand.
This isn't a case of my family not knowing how to drive a manual. My wife and I plus my son and his wife all can and do drive manuals. It is just that manuals have simply become an option to get or not get much like power seats. At least that is how it seems.
-Frank
They don't sell many manuals but didn't the CTS-V have a manual in 2004 or earlier? It was something someone mentioned earlier when they dropped the manual on one of the Lincolns that used to have one.