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I think maybe her sister can parallel park but not sure. I know her mom can't.
They are all afraid to pull up our driveway as it is very long and curved and there really isn't much room to turn around at the top.
I back down no problem but none of them will they either park on the bottom at the street or my wife parks to the far edge of the garage so she can back out and make a three or four point turn at the top of the driveway.
Side note: my newly minted 16-year old is now able to drive my 5-Speed Mazda3 with pretty fair confidence, and while he doesn't get too many style points for smooth shifting, he'd getting much better. His goal is to take his driving test in my car.
Will manuals be available in a few years is still the question. They seem to be being phased out of most higher line cars, and be only available on entry level models....
Drive my commute and you will see why they don't.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Same will go for my two other sons. In my opinion if you can't drive any car (including sticks) then you can't really drive.
That said, my 13 year old daughter suffered a stroke when she was born and is partially paralyzed on her left side and I'm not yet convinced that she's going to have the capability to safely drive a stick in traffic. In a parking lot and on an uncrowded road? Yes. In Boston bound bumper-to-bumper traffic? I'll be making that decision a couple of years from now.
Best regards,
Shipo
He's still driving it. Now I have to teach my 16 yr old daughter.
Odds are the end result will be negative for stick-shifts.
Why? Because the brake-throttle override will prevent heel-and-toeing.
Imagine you go to blip the throttle and nothing happens.
I even wonder if Nissan's nifty rev-match program would work while the brake is applied for the same reason. They'll have to reprogram the software, at least.
Said another way, I see no reason at all why Toyota's problems should result in a negative for manual transmissions. Here's hoping.
Best regards,
Shipo
He is very thrilled about it. And I am thrilled for him!
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
If I had to think about shifting maybe it would bother me. I don't and it doesn't.
Kinda like walking and chewing gum. If that is a challenge, then shifting would also be.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
I was driving my 1969 C20 pickup (manual) the first time (1999), but I just threw it in 2nd and idled along at 5mph for over two hours. I may have had to hit the brakes three or four times, but while everyone else was doing the start-stop-start-stop routine repeatedly, I just kept trucking. I kept laughing that folks would dive into the open space in front of me only to need to stop a few feet up the road, but there was enough of a gap that I rarely had to slow/stop. I finally abandoned the "freeway" after more than two hours and maybe 10 miles traveled, and I instead wound my way through other fairly congested (but moving) arteries until eventually finding myself in Wisconsin.
For me, it's a skill. Many people see driving a car as nothing more than a box to get from point A to B. I see it as a skill that one should try to master to get the most enjoyment out of(since we do a hell of a lot of it). You could liken it to playing some synthesizer that sounds like a guitar versus actually getting an axe and doing it properly.
And even if/when my leg might get a tiny bit uncomfortable, it's worth it for the other 90% of the time when I can actually drive the car versus being a monkey perched in it that's along for the ride. Doubly so when I get into snow and can laugh at the morons who don't have enough engine compression to stay in the same gear and go sliding around because they have no grip.
Note - about how to do it properly, I've gone over this before. But the simple version is - drive it like a Semi in heavy traffic. Be stubborn. Shift only if you absolutely have to. Don't be afraid to let the thing rev to 4K rpm and back down.
If you try to drive it like an automatic, yes, your leg will fall off and I'll laugh and have no pity. Because manual isn't supposed to be driven to emulate an automatic. Or vice-versa.
I like having an automatic in the hilly congested area where I live...but if a manual somehow became mandatory, I could deal with it...as 75% of the drivers on the road wouldn't be driving.
- Hoffman Estates to downtown Chicago
- New Town to Franklin Park
- Lincolnshire to downtown Chicago
- Wrigleyville to Evanston
- Old Town Triangle to Glen Ellyn
- Lisle to downtown Chicago
FWIW, none of those commutes in Chicago was anywhere near as bad as the commutes that I crawled through in Los Angeles and Manhattan.
For my son, I'd like him to get his initial driver's license in our auto tranny vehicle. re: Simple vehicle controls. Thus, allowing him to focus "on the road" and less on vehicle controls. Once he gets his initial driver's license, I hope his first purchased vehicle has a manual tranny (just like my first purchased vehicle was). Once he "masters the stick" (sort of speaking), he can then decide if his next vehicle is an auto or manual transmission type. Just like riding a peddle bike, one never forgets how to run a manual transmission vehicle either. If for some reason (even a once in a lifetime emergency), they need to move a manual transmission vehicle, tractor or truck, they can do it. Once a person learns a manual transmission skill and "masters it", they have that skill for life. But... Living in a free country, any person has the right to pick which ever vehicle they are most comfortable to drive (even its an auto tranny vehicle the rest of their life).
Only time will tell....
.
Modern automatics are too much like a sofa, IMO, and allow one handed and one eyed driving. I'm a pro at driving stick and I still can't eat a burger and drive stick. But in an automatic it's no problem. Now, for myself, that's not unreasonably unsafe, since I've been driving for a very long time. But for a new driver, that text message of Big Mac absolutely WILL overload their brain and cause a problem.
Manuals win here because they can't do anything other than drive when they are in the car for the first year or so.
yup i totally agree. My son's and daughter will start off on a stick too for this reason alone.......assuming the stick doesn't get phased out in 10-15 years :P
I'd say it's no harder than driving my automatic Sienna on the same route, since you have to feather the brakes to crawl.
A good manual/clutch isn't tiring, especially if it's geared properly.
A heavy clutch with abrupt engagement would be a nightmare, so just pick a good one.
Snake, you should probably change your oil more often.
I have no data to back it up but anecdotally, it seems that people replace automatic transmissions far more often than manual drivers replace clutches... per capita, because I realize there are more autos than sticks.
And a clutch is much less expensive. My 95 Accord clutch lasted over 220k miles. My son was driving it full time when the clutch finally went (and who knows how much strain he was putting on it).
For a Jetta TDI, not sure, but I bet it's way more than $300.
(a new automatic transmission is way more expensive than $1000, of course.)
Alas I digress, so it was like $700 (which was that car's most expensive repair ever) and was perfectly fine when I sold it with 185k or something like that.
The Contour did amateur track events and autocross every other weekend from about 20k to about 150k, never changed the clutch. The Civic had ~180K when we gave it away, original clutch still, and the Isuzu Impulse had like 120k when it was totaled, original clutch. The '93 Accord went through a slave cylinder or 2 but the clutch itself was fine.
The Subie and the '07 Accord don't have enough wear on them yet to write home about.
A grand seems high but that is a performance car. Imagine what a Porsche automatic replacement would cost?
Probably more than most of the cars we own.
The car really looks strong and solid. I have a feeling from looking at it that it would be a rock solid rig to own. I remain very interested and look forward to checking with the Tucson store(Royal Suzuki) to test drive a manual tranny GTS.
If they do one day and I like it I will buy a Kizashi. I've read up on it enough to know it will be a great car.
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
Seems like a real sleeper.
I did test drive an automatic Kizashi. Nice and smooth drive. Smooth ride and tight as a rock. Took the bumps in stride. I think it would be a nice car it just wasn't the right time to buy.
We continued on to Lost Wages and enjoyed looking at the freak show for a while. :shades:
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
I have to commend you for being able to sell the public on the wonders of the automatic transmission, the SUV and the cupholder.
When I manage to peruse the reviews in the autonews, it is with amazement that I remark the number and quality of words devoted to interior design and layout. Who knew that Ludwig Mies Van der Rohe and Martha Stewart's demonic spawn would be unleashed into the design of the interior of a car to focus with such singlerminded will on that paragon of features: the cupholder.
It's no secret that SUVs are primarily a vehicle to circumvent the emission regulations for cars, but what careful and articulate subtlties have been volleyed at convincing the automotive world that driving a station wagon could be a masculine affair. In all my years of drving around in conventional station wagons however, I have only observed that my dick grows larger and uglier with every passing year. That this transformation should be so deftly bound to the SUV is yet another victory in the sphere of the marketeer, especially since the things suck gas and are a ballooning hazard on the roadway. An SUV is a tarted up truck. I drive trucks as well (and still own a '94 Toyota tRuCk) and relative to any vehicle with the same number of drive wheels, they universally suck at every application except for off roading and carry large amounts. I for one spend little time offroading and my suspicion is that most of the car buying public does too. Similarly for carrying large amounts of stuff. So again, kudos for duping the public in that regard.
Finally as for the automatic. Yes, driving is such a nuisance and we'd really rather have some hands free to diddle the blond bombshells, real or imagined, in the next seat or fiddle with any number of personal electronic devices that science and technology have made available here in our zenith of history. And so an automatic is just the ticket. I've heard the posit that they give better gas mileage, but I really haven't seen any reasonable data to back that up. In addition while I can appreciate the assertion that in heavy traffic, clutching tires the left calf, but in my narrow experience, my right leg is more stressed constantly braking the ****** automatic. Tomato, tomahto.
Anyway, while I can see that my preferred marketshare is dwindling along with the average sensibility of the Americanus automobilius, is there any chance that despite the brillance of your marketing departments you could bring into this failing empire a simple, basic, reliable, 6 speed manual, 6 cylinder, non turboed 220 hp awd station wagon large enough for a family camping trip or ski vacation for less than $50k?
Audi seems to be abandoning the market they once dominated: the geschportvagon. Oh woe for the extinction of the affordable krautrocket. I'm still pointing our old boats about hill and town with 166k on the A4 Avant and 90k on the Allroad. I still love the way the old A4 grabs the road with this old gassbag at the wheel. The race lugged 5 speed manual is still on the original clutch and shifts with the solidity of a 140 pound barbell. The Allroad rolls like a boat that she is, but gliding across the wastelands of Idaho and Utah is matched only by her surefootedness in winding back and forth across Red Mountain Pass.
BMW? Dohn't think so, not at that pricepoint.
And even Subaru? Now correct me Cosimo Cognoscenti di Automobili, but is it true that Subaru is also attempting to follow that delusion of luxury into no longer offering a manual in their 6 cylinder station wagons?
Is this how Rome went down too? Offering only presumably luxury chariots driven by pygmy horses with elastic reins
"Volvo has confirmed for Inside Line that its V70 station wagon is going away in the U.S. for the 2011 model year.
"We sold only 1,800 V70s last year," said Volvo Cars of North America spokesman Dan Johnston in response to an e-mailed query on Friday. "Kind of hard to make a living on that few units."
No More Volvo V70 for U.S. Market (Inside Line)
and wagon guy, not much choice new (although you can get an A4 avant stick still I think, but not cheap).
Your best bet is to look for the nicest low mile V70R you can find (2007 was the last year) with a 6 speed. Turbo, but a hoot to drive.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
You can get a base Outback 2.5i with a 6 speed manual. Legacy GT sedan as well, but that's a turbo 4, not a 6, and no wagon.
Forester also only with the base 2.5l engine, and that's a 5 speed manual.
WRX hatch comes in a manual, that may be as close as you'll come. STI also.
For whatever reason, that never bothered me. The turbo 4 always seemed like the fun, hot-rod engine to get.
You can get a base Outback 2.5i with a 6 speed manual. Legacy GT sedan as well, but that's a turbo 4, not a 6, and no wagon.
Subaru no longer makes a wagon at all, so the point is mute. The turbo 4, like I mentioned above, is the enthusiast motor to get.
As Subaru goes more and more mainstream, with less and less to differentiate them from other OEMs, with the current level of NVH/refinement, Toyota and Honda will eat them like they did Mitsubishi.
Did they do that to the Jettas too?
And I just noticed that despite Ford's trumpeted promise that all Fiestas would be 6-speeds, it is only the automatic that will be a 6-speed. The manual will be a regular old 5MT. I guess I should be grateful there will be a manual offered at all?
:-(
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
They sell a Legacy wagon overseas. They also sell manual Forester turbos. Just not here.
Subaru is hitting records sales, so for now, it's working. I know what you mean, though. For 2009 Mitsu was down 80% from a decade earlier.
Subaru needs to keep AWD on all its models, and consider bringing back wagons, manuals, and distinction.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
I don't know if they can become mainstream enough to offset inherent issues. That boxer engine is louder and rougher than Honda's sewing machines. The feel of the drivetrain is different than Toyota. And the fuel economy is great compared to SUVs but not as stellar compared to CamCords & even FuLans.
Also features that everyone else has or is rolling out, Subaru is still struggling with (things like bluetooth, iPod integration, and safety stuff like blind spot and lane assist). I think when you only sell 10 things a year, its easy to go from 10 to 15, when you sell 1000, its harder to go from 1000 to 1500. They have a lot of room to grow.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
Power/torque off-the-line was sometimes noticeably lower with 87 octane than with premium, but mpg was always the same.
btw, both cars had automatic transmissions.
I mean, if sales go DOWN after a redesign, you might want to reconsider what you did to the car. :sick:
'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
What's the split of manual vs automatic in the China market? That number may be more influential to the future of manual transmissions than the percentage in USA market, eh?