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...

[TiggerCCW UK]

And slurping coffee when they can

And no, I'm not having a pop at women drivers - men are every bit as bad, although not usually with makeup.

[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.

[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

[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.

[Legbreaker]

Originally Posted by Targan

I'll have to go over all the PCs and NPCs in my campaign and determine which are "stick" drivers and which aren't.

Sounds like the rule of thumb will likely be along the lines of:

American = automatic only (95% of the time)
Anyone else - high chance of manual proficiency

I've had one automatic in my entire life, and that was my ex's car from before she met me. She's now a die hard manual only driver (but still a bitch).

Autos just don't give you the control you need in my opinion, especially when towing a load or in hilly and winding roads. They're wasteful of power, have a lower top speed on the whole and are invariably more expensive than the manual versions of the same vehicle.

However, they're ok for general city use, but I still much prefer a manual even in the heavier traffic.

[kato13]

Originally Posted by Legbreaker

Sounds like the rule of thumb will likely be along the lines of:

American = automatic only (95% of the time)
Anyone else - high chance of manual proficiency

95% seems way too high. I live in an urban area of the US and about 25% of the drivers I know have driven stick at one point in their life. It would of course decrease as you skew younger and increase as you skew rural.

If you put me behind a stick in a crisis the car would die on me a few times, but after an hour of driving I am sure it would seem like second nature again.

Currently car manufacturers make between 2-10% of their cars with a manual transmission. During the T2k time line it would have been a bit higher.

[jester]

I would think the following catagories would automativcaly know how to drive a stick:

Gear heads and mechanics

People who are crazy about cars or a specific model. The Volkswagen bugs for example have a following as do VW vans and most are stick.

Guys who spent alot of time in auto shop in school

Rural people most know.

Motorcyclists, most you shift.

Speed freaks,

Folks who worked construction or on or around heavy vehicles and equipment like construction.

I would say that if your characters had those backgrounds then they would most than likely have the ability to drive a manual.

However, the familairity with that type of stick shift is another storey, even I ONCE only ONCE had problems with a manual I was unfamilair with, it was backwards, reverse was where 1st is normaly at.

I today have two stick sifts and the reverse is in yet another different place, it is where 5th is on my other truck, to the right more than normal and up, whereas it is oposite on my other truck, the thing is both are dodges, although one is japanese made. And then the FIAT is normal lol well when it runs that is

[Legbreaker]

Hmm, seems like a little research needs to be done then to ascertain the percentages. I'm sure one of the various automotive groups in the US have done something like that.

Anyone over in that part of the world able to check into it?

[Targan]

So Kato, Raellus' original thread topic is cool and deserves attention of its own. Could we please perhaps have a new "Stick vs Automatic" thread?

[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.

[Mohoender]

LOL

From what I read about manual gear, I know how to stop the US Army. You don't even need a gun.

[Mohoender]

Originally Posted by jester

I would think the following catagories would automativcaly know how to drive a stick:

Anyone who is not american. Except for the oldest of you guys.

[Mohoender]

I started that day with a bad mood. Now, I'll be laughing my ass off for the entire night. Thanks. LOL, LOL, LOL (no offense). Now I understand why you always find a Russian among a US unit in T2K. Either they find one or they simply walk.

[Trooper]

Well here in Finland they dont sell cars with automatic gear. Don't ask why. Use manual or walk. It's not illegal to own car with automatic gear, but for some reason everybody is using stick?

[kato13]

Trooper glad you posted. Thanks for that piece of information.

[Legbreaker]

I think this all reinforces my thoughts....

Americans are lazy!

[pmulcahy11b]

Originally Posted by Legbreaker

I think this all reinforces my thoughts....

Americans are lazy!

I'd answer that charge, but I don't have the motivation...

[pmulcahy11b]

Originally Posted by Mohoender

LOL

From what I read about manual gear, I know how to stop the US Army. You don't even need a gun.

That's more true than you think -- when I left the Army, they had just about all stick vehicles replaced with ones using automatic transmissions. The only stick vehicles you saw regularly were older 5-ton and 2.5-ton trucks -- even the old jeeps were gone soon after I went on active duty.

[jester]

Very well, lets see if the gear set up is the same?

In the U.S, the set up of a most manual transmissions is set up as follows:


1st Gear is left and forward

2nd Gear left and to the rear

3rd Center and forward

4th Center and to the rear

5th <not all manuals have a 5th gear> to the right and forward <1 vehicle is was right and rear>

Reverse on most is to the right and rear,

How are they set up for you guys in Europe, Oz and Asia?


That would be funny if the PC is used to a manual transmission and jumps into one thinking "no problem" and when they put it in 1st it turns out to be reverse. Sorry it's just the evil GM with a bit of prankster in me