OT: Talking Cars Tuesday - Return of the stick
So in 2022 sales of manual transmission vehicles increased!
https://www.wsj.com/articles/manual-transmission-stick-shift-cars-929dc155
https://www.theautopian.com/manual-gearbox-popularity/
I think there are a few theories as to why. There were only 42 vehicles available with sticks, and those 42 were good for 1.7% of all sales in the US. We've got a bifurcation of the market, with sticks increasingly being offered in enthusiast models, and people choosing them just because as opposed to for numbers or other reasons. So, is this a dead-cat bounce? Are people buying them because it's their last opportunity? Or are we finding a happy medium - where people are buying irrational cars with irrational transmissions because they want them. Do you have a manual? Are you shopping for one?
The last manual I had was a 1986 Honda CRX Si and drove it for only a few months in 2018. I love driving stick, but the older I get the less I enjoy it as a daily driver. I will own a manual car again someday, but it will be a fun side car, not my daily. I appreciate seeing sales increase on manuals. They're superior in my opinion but not totally practical for some people, which I understand.
My wife has one and thats all she’ll drive. Frankly, I like it too. Todays automatic transmissions are too reliant on the computer. My automatic drives different every time I get in it. I think I’ll buy a manual next as I dont have to commute anymore.
I drive a stick. Admittedly, it’s a 1963 Ford F100 named “Ed” after the farmer I bought if from. All original barn find I bought from the original owner. 4 on the floor - with 1st being the “granny gear” or “stump puller.” Top speed is 48 mph, down hill, with a tail wind. Sunday driver. Had a Honda S2000. Kind of a different experience.
You are my hero!
I drove manual Accords for six and a half years. Always enjoyed them. If I were living in a larger city I'd be tempted to get a stick again just given the reduced likelihood of theft.
Had an old Jeep Cherokee that was broken into. Everything trashed inside, ignition popped out so they could use the screwdriver to turn it over. Either they got spooked or realized they had no idea how to turn the thing on because it was sitting right there when we came back. After the moment wore off, we had a good laugh.
I regularly refer to mine as a "3 pedal anti-theft device"
I do not know how to drive a stick, and I hope never to have to learn.
I thought you would have a personal driver to take you wherever you need to go....
I bought a new car about 5 years ago (I usually buy new and keep ~10-12 years), and yes, I bought a manual because I figured it was my last opportunity to do so.
I figure my next purchase will be my last new stick, so... yeah.
March 22nd, 2023 at 12:44 AM ^
Wot wuz it, sir?
I started out driving a stick and had several cars with sticks (Mustang, CRX Si, Camaro). I would have some attraction still to sticks but now I am driving electric with one gear so any desire for a stick is just about gone. I suppose it could be fun still in a limited capacity but now I can get the power and torque any time I want just by stepping on it.
My first car, mid 90s, was a stick. Wish I could have kept driving sticks but just not practical when they are so hard to find.
Far and away, the most popular question asked about my 2004 Infiniti G35 while I was in college was if it was a six-speed.
First off, fuck this guy. No one asked if the Ford Escort I was driving was a stick. Hell, no one wanted to acknowledge its existence.
Driving a stick now, and will do so for as long as possible. Love the feel in the pedal. And downshifting is hands down the best way to break [ed: brake] in bad weather.
downshifting is hands down the best way to break in bad weather
that's a very meaningful typo!
Downshifting is also the best way to pass someone.
If I'm driving 70-80 on the highway and having a difficult time passing someone or squeezing in to a relatively small space, there's nothing more satifying than downshifting in to 4th in my GTI Autobahn and rocketing my way to where I want/need to go!
Psh
Try 3rd :-)
I think 3rd is the fun gear in my 2015 GTI
As a fellow Ford Escort stick shift driver while in college, I totally empathize with Hab's feelings.
I have wondered whether stopping distance is longer since downshifting in a manual is impractical during an emergency stop vs an auto trans could downshift.
I have had my share of slamming on my brakes with both types and it seems like an auto would stop better in theory with fast downshifting than just slamming clutch & brake with a manual. You don’t have time to downshift in a manual. Or does an auto even actually downshift in a sudden stop? Is the stopping distance the same for identical models with each type?
March 22nd, 2023 at 12:32 AM ^
I would think that a downshift would adversely affect stopping as it increases the rpms and fights against your brakes. But I doubt the stopping distance would really be affected one way or the other. In an automatic when you slam on the brakes it’s pretty similar to going into neutral because everything just slips by design. Even if the automatic downshifts, the torque converter won’t transfer any power to it. So basically you’re doing the same thing as slamming the clutch and brake in a manual.
A manual might brake faster if you don’t slam on the clutch when you slam on the brake. You would stall out but, in some situations, that might be a good thing.
43 and only ever driven manuals.
Current fleet:
2020 Toyota Tacoma (manual only available in an extra cab Sport, or crew cab TRD Off Road; I have the latter)
1986 Toyota FJ60 Land Cruiser (white)
1986 Toyota FJ60 Land Cruiser (blue)
I'm kinda outdoorsy.
I traded in my Scat Pack Challenger for a Jeep Grand since I needed to save money to buy a house (damn adulting...) but that was with the 8 speed auto and had the paddles on the steering wheel. I won't say it was the same as a manual but it did allow for a bit of that feel. Also, if you're into drag racing - it's impossible for a human to beat the computer.
However! In the (long ago) past, having had two Ford SHO's, an Eagle Talon and a Chrysler Crossfire (all manuals) there is simply no replacement for the feel of throwing that left foot down and shifting hard from 1st to 2nd and 2nd to 3rd as you scream through the gears. One just feels more connected to the car.
power shifting!
With the car market the way it was last year I'm sure the uptick was somewhat due to necessity because of the limited selection and that you could likely get a better deal on a manual. How much of a factor... I have no clue. We would have to examine the sales details and I'm not interested enough to do that.
I think the numbers will likely decline again now that car lots are starting to get some decent inventory back.
Personally I love driving a manual, most of the cars I've owned have been a manual. Sadly I don't currently drive one as I have a 70 mile roundtrip commute on the highway of a very densely populated area of Florida, stop and go traffic is the norm and it would be absolutely miserable with a manual. However, if I got a sports car it would have to be a manual. Indeed there's no real advantage now with the advancement of automatics... other than the fun factor that is. Just more fun to me to drive a manual.
I want a self-driving stick shift vehicle. Like one of those old self-playing pianos that you could watch the keys move.
I mean, they kind of are now. Last stick I owned I never could get used to the car did automatically, that I learned to do manually back when I was young. It's disconcerting sense-wise when the revs don't really drop off on the lift and when even if you miss the perfect shift it'll just pop right in anyway.
Like a lot of others here, I'll probably buy a stick again, but it wouldn't be for a daily driver.
Get a wand and act like a wizard while driving and say Apparatus Mutationem
at this rate.... tesla will be offering a manual
i jest
Manuals rule!
I'm on my fifth or sixth manual transmission vehicle.
Rolling in a VW GTI Autobahn. By far the favorite of the 15 or so vehicles I've owned or leased.
I drive a VW GLI and absolutely love it. However, we will likely sell before too long. My wife never learned and with a young family, we don't have the time for manual coaching sessions. Furthermore, it's pretty compact and not the most practical option for our family situation. We will likely replace with an electric crossover. Would love to one day grab a manual convertible as we get older and can hopefully afford something like that.
I love my '19 GLI and hope I never have to give it up, but agree with you that it'll eventually get replaced with electric. I'm on my 4th manual vehicle and can't imagine totally giving it up. I like your idea of a little sports car for fun down the line!
Manual Transmission = 2020's anti-theft device. Those of us that learned to drive on a tractor and a 56 Chevy Pickup with a 3 spd do not find ourselves challenged though. I'm sticking with an automatic for now. I do miss my '69 Mustang though. The clutch pedal was stiff but I was young.
March 21st, 2023 at 11:04 PM ^
Was that the "Mustang II, Boredom 0" car? Great slogan if nothing else.
I had a manual GTI but traded it in for an automatic Audi in 2019. We needed more space. I may go back and get another stick GTI because it may be my last chance. But I don’t miss it as much as I thought I would as I get older. It’s great fun but sometimes in city driving I don’t want to be bothered. I’m also wondering if car thieves avoid sticks. That would be another impetus for me to get one.
I'm on a list for Jennings when they get a manual Golf R... they've only gotten 1 in the last 2 years though
I like motorcycles.
i got your stick shift, right here. our big one has16 forward and 16 back, and it has a 'T-top', not an enclosure, but otherwise this is it
March 21st, 2023 at 10:44 PM ^
And it's vegan!
March 22nd, 2023 at 12:14 AM ^
Somehow, I have this image of Elmer Fudd chortling quietly, silly grinning and then muttering, "Hehe, he don't know him vewy well, do he". Just can't imagine anything vegan about our XM. 😉
romeo isn't as far off the mark as you might think. i built a bio-diesel reactor in my barn years ago and have run our rigs on bio-diesel made from used cooking oil. i haven't had it running this winter, but when i do kick out bio-diesel that's kind of vegan, isn't it?
i may also look like elmer fudd, especially as i get older and my hair refuses to do it's job.
March 22nd, 2023 at 10:45 AM ^
Hence, the vegan comment. :)
The vehicle not the owner.
Vehicle, not the driver, got it. ;-)
And about the hair? Yeah, excluding the nose and ear variety, that's a nope, never to return. So. Hats, warm ones, yep.
My toy is a stick. I have a 2017 Chevy Corvette Stingray 7 sp. manual. All black and I want to hang onto it as long as I can still get in and out of it. I guess I am old school and feel a sports car should be a manual.
I have five automatics: 2003 Vette, 2013 Mazda CX5, 2014 Silverado, 2016 BMW 640IL Grand Coupe and a 2021 Raptor.
I own one stick. This is it.
A Hurst shifter, I presume...?
Yes sir. A hurst T handle 4 speed mated to a built, balanced and blueprinted 68 400 HO poncho big block dyno'd to 485 HP at the rear wheels. 411 rear end with a short throw shifter means I'm getting out of 1st gear at about 28 MPH with a top end just over a 100. Car red lines at about 6500 RPM but with that axle if I drive it on the highway at 65 I'm pushing 4000 RPMs so it starts to get a bit hot.
Car was built to go 1/4 mile at a time, not for long cruises, that's for damn sure. Best trip time was 12.25 quarter mile at 104.
God bless America.
i've got a blue goat, too. i don't see what the big deal is...
love that car, one of the all-time greats.
You own all of those now? Jesus H, what's your monthly auto insurance bill?
I grew up learning on them (tractors, old trucks on the farm) but now it's just an occasional thing for the novelty-factor.