Manual vs Automatic (Split from Driving a BTR)

[pmulcahy11b]

Originally Posted by kato13

There is a stick shift in the 2nd pic on my first link.

You know, I can't even drive a regular stick -- let alone a vehicle that has two engines! I suppose they only have one transmission, though.

[Raellus]

Originally Posted by pmulcahy11b

You know, I can't even drive a regular stick -- let alone a vehicle that has two engines! I suppose they only have one transmission, though.

I can't drive stick either. So, this will be a double RP'ing challenge for me.

[Targan]

I prefer "stick" to automatic gear boxes. More control. Then again I have a truck licence and ride motorbikes as well so with those modes of transport its stick or nothing. I can't imagine what it would be like not to know how to drive a manual gearbox car. Is that a common situation in the US?

[JimmyRay73]

I can't imagine what it would be like not to know how to drive a manual gearbox car. Is that a common situation in the US?

Unfortunately yes. I fear that children will be born without left feet if we don't start teaching them to use clutch pedals...

[kato13]

Originally Posted by Targan

I prefer "stick" to automatic gear boxes. More control. Then again I have a truck licence and ride motorbikes as well so with those modes of transport its stick or nothing. I can't imagine what it would be like not to know how to drive a manual gearbox car. Is that a common situation in the US?

I learned to drive on a stick but have probably only driven like 10 hours on one since then. If you live in a city with lots of stop and go traffic it is annoying.

Also we need that second hand to hold our coffee, burger or phone though I have seen people holding the phone and shifting. Yes that means ZERO hands on the wheel.

[TiggerCCW UK]

Thats a pretty regular sight here sadly. And women putting their makeup on while driving!

[pmulcahy11b]

Originally Posted by TiggerCCW UK

And women putting their makeup on while driving!

Trust me, that's not just in Ireland. Makeup brush in one hand, cell phone in another, steering with their knees...

[jester]

Originally Posted by kato13

I learned to drive on a stick but have probably only driven like 10 hours on one since then. If you live in a city with lots of stop and go traffic it is annoying.

Also we need that second hand to hold our coffee, burger or phone though I have seen people holding the phone and shifting. Yes that means ZERO hands on the wheel.

I have mastered shifting while drinking coffee and I always maintain control of my vehicle, with hands on the controls and eyes on the wheel!

Then again I am left handed, I just mastered holding the wheel and a cup of coffee with my left hand while I shift, when shift is completed, right hand goes back to the wheel, and left hand brings me that sweet sweet warm nectar of life that comes from tropical climates like Coasta Rica, Sumatra and Kona..............ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh kona

[Rupert Willies]

My brother used to drive and roll cigarettes. That was both awesome and scary at the same time. Adding to the fact that this was "special cigarettes" that needed extra preparations, including lighter-drying the tobacco and baking the hash, the whole picture is retrospectively quite insane. Glad those days are in the past.

Originally Posted by kato13

I learned to drive on a stick but have probably only driven like 10 hours on one since then. If you live in a city with lots of stop and go traffic it is annoying.

Also we need that second hand to hold our coffee, burger or phone though I have seen people holding the phone and shifting. Yes that means ZERO hands on the wheel.

[rabbakahn]

I don't know about the 95% for americans. 20 some years ago it was common place to find someone driving a manual here in the central valley of California. Not just manly men either... You could find women, kids, men, old folks, most any kind of driver. Granted that was 20+ years ago, so I have no idea what it is like now. I blew my left knee out some time back and quit driving manual cars; quit driving at all actually.

[Raellus]

Originally Posted by Targan

I can't imagine what it would be like not to know how to drive a manual gearbox car. Is that a common situation in the US?

I would say that a majority of passenger vehicles in the U.S. are automatic, nowadays.

I'm ashamed to admit that I never learned to drive stick. My old man tried to teach me when I was a teenager but we both kind of gave up on it after a few tense, testy trial runs. I was a tall (6'4") gawky kid with size 15 (UK 14) feet and the family VW was just too cramped for me to manage three pedals.

Society would have us believe that stick is more masculine (the stick as an extension of the penis, perhaps?). I wish I could drive stick but I don't feel any less manly because I can't. I hope I never need the skill, though. It would probably be handy to have come the apocalypse.

My little bro is an automotive elitist and refuses to drive anything without a manual transmission, so I understand the "real drivers prefer manual" mentality.

[jester]

Originally Posted by Targan

I prefer "stick" to automatic gear boxes. More control. Then again I have a truck licence and ride motorbikes as well so with those modes of transport its stick or nothing. I can't imagine what it would be like not to know how to drive a manual gearbox car. Is that a common situation in the US?

More so than you think sadly. That is how I got to be the Col and Generals driver! His real official trained driver didn't know how to drive a strickshift. He liked to ride in a jeep. I reported in the Sgt in charge of the shop a causal aquantance from the Bn asked if I knew how to drive a stick. "I thought he was going to send me on an errand, pick up lunch or something!" He tosses the keys to me and says, "Good! You're driving the Colonel!" DOH!

But yes, most women do not know how to drive a stick, and half the guys don't either.

Paul, Raell turn in your man cards! You two are on probation until you learn how to drive a stick, unless you two master riding motorcycles and can ride them like Steve McQueen in "The Great Escape" to redeem yourselves.

[pmulcahy11b]

Originally Posted by Targan

I prefer "stick" to automatic gear boxes. More control. Then again I have a truck licence and ride motorbikes as well so with those modes of transport its stick or nothing. I can't imagine what it would be like not to know how to drive a manual gearbox car. Is that a common situation in the US?

Well, I've had more than one sergeant try to teach me a stick, in jeeps and trucks -- but growing up, almost every car we had was automatic, because my mother can't drive a stick either. I remember one 6-mile run I did down a dirt road, because Sergeant Cook couldn't take me grinding the gears anymore, told me to get out of the truck and get back to the motor pool FAST. Then he left me there.

Sticks just aren't in my DNA, I guess!

[JimmyRay73]

My mother tried to teach me to drive manual, but it didn't work so well. What did work was Dad tossing me the keys and saying "Go practice, don't wreck it." I just went out and did what I had seen him do over the years and I was road worthy in no time flat. Of course the fact that he tends to drive manuals a bit aggressively seems to have colored my approach to driving. I think my time between gears could almost be measured in micro-seconds...

I've never actually owned a car with an automatic, and I have no intention of breaking that streak any time soon.

[Targan]

Originally Posted by JimmyRay73

I've never actually owned a car with an automatic, and I have no intention of breaking that streak any time soon.

Me neither. The lack of engine braking in automatics makes me feel uncomfortable.

This thread has proved to be very interesting to me. I'll have to go over all the PCs and NPCs in my campaign and determine which are "stick" drivers and which aren't.