Do you drive a stick shift car?

[73ss454]

heck, I took my driver's test in a STICK, a Gremlin with a 3 speed on the floor...........

Stick shift cars I've owned:

67 Chevelle SS 396 HO Convertible
79 L82 Corvette Convertible
84 Fiero GT
78 Toyota Corolla
85 Subaru GL-10
94 Firebird
00 M3

OK, in 1967 you could get 3 different 396's in the SS, 325HP, 350HP or the 375HP which they only made 612 of. May I ask what a 396 HO is?

 

[Fireup2020]

Dad taught me how to drive a stick (at age 13) - I kept getting in trouble during "formal" driver's ed (age 15.5) - had a problem keeping BOTH hands on wheel and reaching for the stick & clutch! Have driven both off and on over the years - always nice to visit parents & drive mom's current sporty car with a stick shift! Fun!! My first duty driver experience (USN - taking us to the shipyard to do work) I nearly threw my passengers (fellow welders) through the windshield of the duty truck as I stomped on the brake reaching for the clutch! Took a while to live that one down! Men continue to be impressed with my handling of a manual transmission vehicle! Not enough people know how to drive a real car! I am more picky about other vehicle amenities, so I have the dealer find me a car with what I am really concerned with. Hard to find a standard in vehicles other than sporty cars or trucks.

 

[F4mandolin]

Hmmm, got me thinking about how many of each I have had. Sticks won out by one. Kind of in order...
Chevy Nova Auto
Ford Cortina (US spec) Stick
Datsun Pickup Stick
Nissan Pickup Stick
Austin Metro Stick
Mini Clubman Stick
Olds Cutless Supreme Auto
Honda Accord Stick
Buick Skyhawk Auto
Chevy Venture Van Auto
Toyota Lite Ace van Auto
Toyota Windom Auto
Honda Jazz Stick

 

[Koolau]

Several comments (probably driving a stick shift with a cigarette) made me think of a story my dad told me. Dad's been gone over 20 years, so hadn't thought of this in years. Dad lost all 4 fingers on his left hand while diving off a moving train (yes, he was a hobo - a proud name to be called in the '30s). First time he went for a drivers license after that, it was decided he needed to prove he could drive with his "disability". You had to know my dad, but here's what he did. At that time, he was driving a model T with 4 (maybe 3) on the floor. He got into the car with the evaluator and lit up a cigarette. For the entire test, he steered with his "disabled" hand, shifted gears with his right foot - and smoked that cigarette with his right hand. He passed the test.

 

[saluki9]

It's stick only for me on my two cars, my wife has an auto. I can't stand driving cars with automatic transmissions.

 

[FinanceDude]

OK, in 1967 you could get 3 different 396's in the SS, 325HP, 350HP or the 375HP which they only made 612 of. May I ask what a 396 HO is?

350HP, but by the time I was done with it, it ran 430 on 104 octane........

5 inch chrome straight pipes
Edelbrock headers
low rise aluminum intake
Crane Fireball cam
twin Holley 650 double pumpers
Monroe adjustable gas shocks
heavy duty racing clutch
heavy duty springs
Bosch spark plugs

I beleive the production number was LS-34 or something like that.......

And above all, a CONVERTIBLE.......if I still had it and in decent shape, probably worth $40,000..........

 

[73ss454]

The engine code for the 350HP is L-34. The code for the SS 396 bodies was 138.

 

[kumquat]

On the LBYM side--downshifting to slow down as a routine habit is expensive. A brake job is a LOT cheaper than replacing a clutch.

Shifting with the car in motion is not hard on a clutch. Lots of starts are, but the real "clutch killer" is the unskilled driver. With a competent driver the original clutch will probably be working fine when the car is junked.

 

[samclem]

Shifting with the car in motion is not hard on a clutch. Lots of starts are, but the real "clutch killer" is the unskilled driver. With a competent driver the original clutch will probably be working fine when the car is junked.

I think a lot depends on technique. If a driver is going 60 MPH in top gear and then selects a lower gear and simultaneously brings the engine RPMs up to approximately the right speed while releasing the clutch, there won't be a lot of wear. Instead, many drivers will select the lower gear and release the clutch while the engine is at/near idle. Thus the engine-side and the driveshaft-side clutch plates are at very different speeds when they meet, and the driveshaft is trying to accelerate the engine against the compression-induced load of the cylinders while the plates are at these different speeds. This rapidly wears the clutch (much more than starting or normal gear changes).

Sometimes you still see folks rocking back and forth slightly at a stop when pointed uphill waiting for a light to change, holding their position by varying the pressure on the clutch pedal. That's a clutch that's gonna need replacing in no time.

 

[freebird5825]

My Mom's 69 Mustang convertible, automatic, drove it 1 year until I saved up and bought a used 67 Dodge Dart with 3 speed on the column, later converted to floor stick when the column interior parts wore out.
?? used Ford Ranger mini-truck, 5 speed
88 used Honda Accord, 5 speed
92 new Honda Accord, 5 speed
05 new Mustang convertible...what do you think it has?
vroom vrooom VROOOMMMMMM

 

[Koolau]

Shifting with the car in motion is not hard on a clutch. Lots of starts are, but the real "clutch killer" is the unskilled driver. With a competent driver the original clutch will probably be working fine when the car is junked.

Agreed. My mainland Mazda 5 spd. has 140K on it. It's had neither a clutch nor a brake job. I think I know how to use both. "No brag, just fact." (from the Sons of Will Sonnett).

 

[Free To Canoe]

Been driving stick for most of my adult life.

Thought I would get an automatic because at the time I was driving in alot of urban traffic to commute to w*rk.
Now that I am ERed and live in a rural area the automatic doesn't make any sense.
The important point is that I tried the "covenience" of an automatic and I hate it. I have a stick, too and DW and I both prefer to drive it.
Will continue to own sticks until I have to switch.

Free to canoe

 

[mountaintosea]

All my cars have been stick. I learned on automatics. Learned to drive stick in college in then boyfriend's car. For whatever reason I prefer stick and I'm sticking to it!

 

[Gumby]

who would a want a Z3 roadster with an automatic?

Sacrilege in my book. I have no idea why they made them. Might as well put the baby seat in it too.

 

[NW-Bound]

My first two cars, a 69 Mustang and a 75 Datsun 280Z, were stick shift.

It's getting old in heavy traffic, and a nuisance in hilly places like SF. Been there, done that...

I now want to take it easy, driving with a cup of coffee in one hand. You have not seen a motorhome with stick shift, have you?

In addition, my wife only drives AT. So, I am not likely to buy another stick-shift car in this life.

 

[ejman]

In more or less chronological order:
VW Beetle - Stick - Fun! Learned to drive on this one
Ford Fairlane - auto - not fun
Corvair - Stick - Fun
Fiat 124 - Stick - Fun
Opel Kadet - Stick- Fun
Mercury Zephyr station wagon - Stick - probably the only stick Zephyr wagon ever made
Chevy Sprint - stick - the thing was undrivable with an auto and actually fun with the stick
Plymouth Sundance - auto - not fun
Astro van - auto - not fun
Dodge Caliber - stick - fun

Conclusion - sticks are a hell of a lot more fun (from limited sample anyway)

 

[unclemick]

Oh jeeeeezzzzz....the ol' turning knob on the steering wheel. Haven't seen that for at least 30 years. The car safety folks would probably have a heart attack if they see that post.

We used to call them suicide knobs - the origin of the name I never knew.

I liked the ones with the skull and cross bones or naked woman decal.

heh heh heh - stick or auto? - if it runs and gets from point A to point B - who cares anymore.

 

[NW-Bound]

I forgot to say I still have fun on my dirt bike. Can't drink coffee while riding

Need both hands gripping, and hanging on for dear life while on some tough trails.

PS. To reply to UncleMick's comments about the "knob", I had a Hurst shifter (no Xbone!) in my 69 Mustang with a close-ratio gearbox. Yes, back when I was young and foolish. Yeah, who cares anymore? How many times have I posted here that I am a geezer before my time?

 

[calmloki]

Just remembering - most of my cars were prone to dead or dieing batteries or starters - many is the car that got push started or pull started (dope on a rope) so I could go off to work. Remember an old Mustang that got parked with a sensitivity to slope and possible blocking traffic whenever I stopped. Open door, key on, shoulder to the A pillar, PUUUUUUSH, leap in, grab second, start? repeat as necessary.

 

[NW-Bound]

...Open door, key on, shoulder to the A pillar, PUUUUUUSH, leap in, grab second, start? repeat as necessary.

Oh yes! I remember having to do that too, except the one time I had to park with the car pointed uphill, and then had to start it in reverse gear!







Just kidding...

 

[Nords]

Just remembering - most of my cars were prone to dead or dieing batteries or starters - many is the car that got push started or pull started (dope on a rope) so I could go off to work. Remember an old Mustang that got parked with a sensitivity to slope and possible blocking traffic whenever I stopped. Open door, key on, shoulder to the A pillar, PUUUUUUSH, leap in, grab second, start? repeat as necessary.

Aaaaahhh, the good ol' days.

I did push-starts for nearly two weeks between paychecks once.

 

[calmloki]

People with automatics just don't have the starting options - or stories.

Way back in '78 or 9 I had an old Datsun 510 while my new gal had an Audi 100ls - I was working at the mushroom farm shoveling horse manure, she was selling auto parts. We would head off to work - I'd throw a rope on the Datsun, she would pull start me, I'd disconnect and away we would go. If fagged out at the end of work I'd get a forklift driver to push start me - just haven't lived till you see a whole bunch of cast iron mass charging at the fragile back bumper of your little car - growing rapidly in the rear view as you sit helpless.

 

[audreyh1]

I find manuals most helpful in snow/ice conditions. You can downshift and not have to worry about braking and causing a skid.

Hmmmmm

What you really want in snow/ice conditions is 4-wheel drive. And ABS. And limited slip differential.

Downshifting will not prevent fishtailing or skidding. In fact, sudden downshifting could even make it worse. The problem is traction.

BTW - automatic transmissions allow you to downshift (i.e. switch to a lower gear - limit the transmission to a lower gear), they just don't allow you to control the changing of gears. I use this feature on my (automatic) 4WD Jeep Liberty all the time when mountain climbing/descending.

Audrey

 

[travelover]

Just remembering - most of my cars were prone to dead or dieing batteries or starters - many is the car that got push started or pull started (dope on a rope) so I could go off to work. Remember an old Mustang that got parked with a sensitivity to slope and possible blocking traffic whenever I stopped. Open door, key on, shoulder to the A pillar, PUUUUUUSH, leap in, grab second, start? repeat as necessary.

I had a '64 VW bug as a lad. One day I hit an unusually large bump, but didn't think much of it until I went to start it the next time. When I pulled up the back seat to look at the battery, I saw a big hole in the floor with two cables dangling. Yup, just push started it.

 

[ls99]

Seems not many here are familiar with the use of the hand crank. There were many cars in my youth that needed manual manipulation, with proper technique for cranking.

See this pretty lady demonstrate.

http://www.autolife.umd.umich.edu/Gender/Walsh/1911Hartford_autoJack_cover.jpg

P. S. John Mack, inventor of Mack trucks died when the crank did not disengage, whipped him around an smashed him head first into terra firma.