I'm wondering who else here either knows how to drive manual or currently does? My Audi A4 which I drive everyday is stick and I love it. Driving stick makes driving in general so much more enjoyable to me, and, now for the real advantage- you get better gas mileage! A lot of people aren't aware, but if you drive stick conservatively (which isn't hard at all to do) you can get around 2 MPG better than the automatic counterpart. So if you've got an automatic A4 and a stick one, and you drive the stick one conservatively then you'll get something like 2 MPG better. That may not sound like much but 2 MPG is like $8 every time you have to fill up your car. So maybe that's $8 a week and $32 a month and almost $400 a year. Plus driving conservatively is like a fun challenge for me- let's see how fast we can get up into 5th gear, the money gear. Why bother shifting into all the gears on this flat surface... let's skip from 2nd to 5th. Ooh a slight download slope, let's coast in neutral as far as we can before we start losing speed. Anyone else do this?
Unfortunately, I cannot drive manual. I am too worried that I would forget the gears and ruin the engine or stall in the middle of the road. I would like to learn someday in case I would somehow need to drive a manual.
I have always driven a manual. I like the feel of control I have over the car. The only problem I have though, is that when gearing down (my car has 6 gears) I never know which gear I end up in - LOL. I think with me its just one of those things I will never get right. My husband has an automatic car which is good to have when you stuck in peak hour traffic, but all in all I prefer a manual car.
I was taught to drive both types by my step father. I am glad that he insisted that I learn both when I was young. I have owned both types of cars over the years and the manuals are a lot more fun to drive and do get better gas mileage. However, driving in a lot of stop and go traffic is quite a workout for an old person like me to do anymore, so I own an automatic now.
I know how to drive manual, yes. It is lots of fun. I also drive automatic if I have to. I do not own a car, but drive whichever car is in the family and available to drive (if and when I need to). I mainly walk or cycle. Thanks for the interesting tips. Happy driving.
Once you learn how to drive manual, this doesn't happen. Just practice in a parking lot before you go out on the road and you're good to go. And the only time you're likely to stall is pulling out, so like at a stop sign or something. It's pretty much impossible to "stall in the middle of the road" if you have had any experience at all. In fact, the only way I think you could manage to stall in the middle of the road would be if you try to get into 5th gear going up a hill at 20mph or something...... What car do you have that it's a 6 speed!?
Technically speaking, I know HOW to, but I've never really had much practice. In that sense, I'm not good at it at all, but I could tell someone else the technical sides of what they need to do, so that's gotta count for something.
I have an automatic car, and a manual drive motorhome with a 6 speed gearbox. Both vehicles run on deisel, which is much cheaper than regular gas here. I do enjoy driving the motorhome, but I also enjoy the convenience of the automatic car. One thing I do to save fuel in both vehicles is to keep off the brakes unless I really need to stop quickly. I recently drove the motorhome 250 miles and only hit the brake pedal twice - and one of those times was when we stopped in a service station. The other was when some idiot pulled out in front of me. I'm quite proud of that drive, and I bet I saved some fuel.
Hi I have a Polo 1.9 TDI. Before that I had an Uno 1300. So you must know when I got the Polo the first few months I had a personality change everytime I got in the car and drove like a bat in hell!
I drive a manual vehicle. I own a jeep and that is what I am using right now. It was my fathers' but he gave it to me when he bought a ford focus last year. I never had a problem driving manual vehicles because I am already used to it. I find it more controllable. I have not driven automatic vehicle.
Over the last two decades all my vehicles, cars and trucks, have been manual. I enjoy it more. And I sure would not be ready to pay more, $1500 or so more for an automatic. I also feel the manual transmission gives me better control, especially in some winter driving. The gas consumption I have not even considered. Ryder13
I learnt how to drive on a manual car and it is a good experience. The only thing is that as you get older, driver is no longer as fun as it used to be. The changing up and down becomes so much more hectic. Traffic is everywhere and you have to constantly use the clutch and do all sort. It became too much work for me and now i have resorted to automatics. They are way easier and really just take you to your destination fairly quickly.
