Pellet heads!! What's up today?

In ten years there wont be a steering wheel. Never mind a manual transmission.

 

LOL,sorry I am behind in the posts!

 

To be fair, I didn't learn until 1987 (I was 25). My folks only drove automatics WIWAK, so never had the chance to learn. Learned when we moved out here and bought our first new vehicle - a 1987 Toyota 4-runner. It was the super cheap model (cheap for Toyota anyway) and it only came in stick. I've been hooked on that type of transmission ever since.

 

True! I drove a manual for a few years. It was ok, but automatics are far superior IMHO. Only time a manual is better is in the snow. But just about every car or suv nowadays has a manual mode. That works about 90% as well in the snow if you ask me.

 

When I was younger I enjoyed driving stick but the older I get I want the auto.

 

This is where Hold My Beer For A Sec While I............... came about

 

quit manuals when we were doing a lot of installations on the I95 corridor in CT. the traffic backups are a PITA every day, and doing that with a manual makes it worse. I also like the auto for trailer backing, and now with the Allison, I don't need to worry about blowing up the transmission with all the towing I do. the old overdrive auto's in the F150's and the 1500's were just time bombs, 100,000 miles and send it to the shop for a tranny

 

They do? I'm not being facetious - I haven't been able to afford to sit in a new car since I bought the Jeep Patriot new in 2010 (and then it was either manual or automatic). I seriously have no idea what is out there. If you are just talking about automatics having a 1/2/3/D - then they have had that since at least 1960's.

 

Most newer cars I know you can just slide the shifter over and go up or down to change gears pretty seemlessly. Mine goes 1-6 gears.

 

Speaking about auto transmissions and driving with them in bad (aka Sn*w) weather, how many of you know that a transmission that has D-3-2-1, or D-2-1 can be shifted into the "2" position while the vehicle is stopped, and will still take off, but with less or no wheelspin, as the higher gear kills some of the torque.

This is from my '02 TrailBlazer owners manual:
"You can also use SECOND (2) for starting the vehicle from a stop
on slippery road surfaces."

 

Also for at least the past 10 yrs. Most vehicles have had some type of traction control that cuts back power when sensing wheel slippage.

 

I like the traction control if you hit an unexpected spot of black ice or something. Not a huge fan for weather which it is obviously slippery.

 

Almost the year I learned at age 23. I bought a new 86 Mazda SE5 B2000 (paid short $$ for it back then=completely stripped down model) and when I drove it off the lot was the first time driving a stick. Back then I worked for the Boston Globe home delivery company and we had an open route that included Reservoir Ave in revere which is a big/steep hill. I took that and with all the hill stops and starts delivering news papers I was an expert in a day or two.

 

And something else

 

Use that frequently especially to go up my driveway in deep sn*w
Plus I ALWAYS turn off the VSA (stability control) if it is even thinking of sn*wing. That freaking thing will get you killed when it hesitates the vehicle. It works OK for ice, but not so much for sn*w

 

All my kids learned on standard transmission cars, to include cars when away at college. Made them better drivers and it's kind of hard to text when driving a manual transmission vehicle.

 

Great point. I always felt like a better driver while using a manual. You are much more focused on the road.

 

Been there done that

 

Maybe now but way back then, I dont know how focused the road was