you do make up in your car?

 

There's applying make up....

there's making up stories...

and there's make up sex.


Which?

 

I agree.

I think when people hear or use the term or verb - "Driving" they usually refer to "operating a motor vehicle" and thats it, whether it be a manual or auto.

You still have to operate your car which is essentially driving it.
It doesn't start itself, put itself in drive, turn, and brake itself.

Its like saying people who drive automatic ATVs don't enjoy driving ATVs.

 

Sad, I am that, after wanting to drop $20k, I cannot even find a MY2016 Fit 6MT to try at any local dealer. Nor a MY2015 6MT the last many months.

For the last year we have been renting cars on the weekends. Getting a new car each weekend has been eye opening. All of them have been autos, and they have almost all been really bad, with the exception of the Mazda3.

I guess I'll just have to take a leap of faith and order a 6MT. As a motorcycle rider there is no way I would get an auto. Driving manual is a lot of fun. My kids are growing and will want to learn to drive very soon. I cannot, with good conscience, teach them to drive in an auto. Once they learn manual and have their own cash they can buy whatever they want, but from me I want them to really learn to drive and the precedent is stick. That means no texting, talking on the phone or other distractions. These distractions, despite being illegal, are too easily done in an auto, and much harder to do in a manual. This distracted driving deterrent is a big selling feature for me.

I am somewhat envious of the Europeans and Asians that have better access to MTs. Are North Americans are so lazy or do they not appreciate the ability to shift gears.

 

It wouldn't look bad on me. May as well look cute while blowing away the manual behind me.

 

They aren't difficult at all to do in a manual. Sure for that 15 seconds you have to shift you won't be rummaging through your phone but that won't stop anyone from doing it while traveling in gear at cruising speed.

It's WAY too difficult to get those french fries in the mouth when you have to shift.

 

Why waste time doing something that is absolutely, totally unnecessary?

 

There has been an MT in my driveway for 44 years, that is, until I bought my CVT Fit. My recent purchase was inspired by the better gas mileage rating for the CVT over the MT. It makes sense to me that a computer can change gears more efficiently than I can. Having said that, I look forward to the day I buy a car that drives itself so I can read, sleep, etc. as I get moved to my destination.

 

I'll drive a MT until my legs no longer work. In the event that the MT is no longer available, I shall cease buying new vehicles and rebuild an older vehicle with a MT!

 

You don't play video games then do you?

 

When i'm old and Have knee problems, I'll probably have to drive stick. Why any young person would wanna drive auto is beyond me... Whenever I go camping and I encounter hills and and curves and turns, my manual transmission is a god send. Especially when going up hills with a canoe strapped on the roof! different strokes for different folks.

 

how big of a job is it to change the fits transmission for the CR-z's 6 gear transmission? what all would need to be swapped? any idea on cost?

 

The manual transmission isn't dead yet, but that day will come soon enough. As more and more manufacturers have to meet strict CAFE standards, more sophisticated automatics and CVTs will be needed to get higher fuel economy numbers. Contrary to the old days, modern automatics are now typically more fuel efficient than manuals, and the gap will continue to widen. Manual equipped versions of any car will bring down the average fuel economy of the fleet and already add cost by having to engineer an additional transmission. Already dwindling buyer demand, at least in the US, is another nail in the coffin.

I’m personally sad to see manuals go. When I bought my new car last year, the availability of finding a Fit in manual was one of the reasons I bought the car; they were a lot of them in a variety of trim and colors. Some of the other small cars on my list, like Hyundai Accent, were impossible to find in manual. The Fiesta, like the Fit, at least had a lot of manuals.

Most times I visited a dealership and requested a manual, the salespeople would try to talk me into an automatic, because it’s all they had. Even if you want a manual, like I did, it’s almost tempting to give in. I’m sure many manual drivers convert for that reason alone. I dread the next time I have to buy a car and what few options there will be.

Most of my cars have been manual, and even though I live in traffic-clogged LA, it isn’t a bother. It keeps me interactive with the car, makes me more aware of traffic ahead, and prevents me from being distracted by texts. As some have stated, anyone can drive an automatic, but it takes skill to drive a manual. It gets me lower car rental rates overseas,and I feel confident in an emergency if a manual is the only option to drive.

Speaking of overseas, I was in South Africa earlier this year for work, and 95% of the cars on the road are manual. Even the Mercedes C250 chauffeur that picked me up at the airport was a manual. All of the rental cars that I rented were, and while walking and glancing in parked cars, all were manual. When I asked some South African work colleagues about this, they said everyone drives a manual. Automatics are solely for the disabled, or the elderly. That gave me a chuckle

 

Contrary to the automotive, the North American motorcycle world is overwhelmingly manual shift. There is the odd unique model, but these sell very poorly. Yes, there are scooters with their CVTs, some with large engines, but the biking culture just is not there for CVTs.

You can drive a manual to maximize fuel economy, but if you have the skill, why would you not have fun. There's more to a vehicle than pure economy. Motorcycles in India, while they are manual, are geared for max fuel economy, meaning that they are geared with low torque. Do we all really want to drive this way?

 

I refuse to believe the manual transmission is dying at all. Granted us Americans are more interested in the gadgets and gizmos than actually "driving" a car these days. The fact remains that manual transmissions are cheaper and simpler to manufacturer. No pump for active lubrication, manual transmissions commonly rely on splash design. One electric switch for the reverse light, and thats it for electronic involvement at all, the rest is mechanical.

The manual is being manufactured less because sales say so. Long as one can still "special order" a manual transmission, i'll be happy camper. The day I drive an auto is when my legs no longer work.

 

If you actually have the skill, you can apply it and get performance that doesn't come from the car: carrying momentum through a turn can help your time as well as your mileage. Applying force efficiently can do the same. Timing a light correctly can be the difference between a standing start... and already doing 40 or 50 when you roll across the line. Which, again, helps your time and your mileage.

Efficiency is performance. Skillful driving can be used to achieve any goal- and asking if you have the skill, why would you not have fun is like asking why if there's an ice cream stand in town, why you would not only drive there. Because there are more places to go and more kinds of fun to have.

I've got a job and I have to drive there. I have to get to the grocery store and other places- and traffic happens. I can make a couple beautiful passes and get where I'm going a few moments sooner or hit the next tie-up a few car lengths ahead of where I would have been. Or I can get where I'm going at the same time while racking up mileage numbers that Honda never intended.

Driving like your grandmother is not hypermiling, and performance driving is fun- whether you're going to work or the ice cream shop.

 

YEP.

I accelerate to my cruising speed quickly-ish and corner much quicker than most ever would/should even on my LRR Yokohamas.

But my cruising speeds are fairly low and I coast as far from a stop as I can.

 

My mantra is simple -- With a manual, you drive the car; with a PRNDL (sorry, old school here), the car drives you. If you ain't got a clutch, you're just pointing it where you want it to go and trying to stay out of the other guy's way.

 

Heh.

I got put in my place yesterday morning my a Yukon and a Durango, and last night by a lifted pickup. Manly vehicles, every one.

Coming out of a posted 25mph EZ Pass tollbooth and up a hill, I rolled through in fourth gear at 30, moved to fifth when appropriate and hit cruise when I got to 60 to let it take me the rest of the way up the hill when I can start driving again. Once I stopped accelerating and hit the cruise the Yukon crept past me, bellowing with effort and finally chopping over into the right lane. Yeah! Then the Durango that had been stuck behind him (hey, it's got a Hemi) went by, even louder. After it passed the Yukon I saw the Yukon lurch as that driver punched it again and they carried on together, actually picking up real speed once the road leveled off.

It was like watching a couple of drunk 40 year old former high school football players sprinting up a hill- all the same wheezing, extreme visible effort and complete lack of anything resembling performance. They only beat my little Fit- at their own game- because I wasn't actually playing it. A higher cruising speed or a bit of time in third gear would have made them think it was an epic fight. Oh, and when I got in to work I was showing 56.2 mpg for the trip- you know, not having fun.

On the way home with a trunk full of groceries, I was putting at 40-45 in a 45. Some meathead wanted to ride my bumper instead of pass, but he fell back every time there was a curve. I lost him entirely in a long section of twisties, and in the last half mile before my turn it straightened out. He tried really hard, but never caught up. I only got 44.5 mpg on that leg, as the route from the grocery store and other related Friday evening errands is horrible for my mileage. Again, by definition not having any fun.

What is fun driving? taking the car to (past) its limits. Since my commute isn't a few turns around Spa, I've got to find realistic limits to push. Can you spot me in this picture?



I'll give you a hint:
I'm the guy driving the hell out of his car, getting about three times the mileage of anyone else out there- getting double what my car's supposed to get if things go really well.

I have to know intimately every bump, rise and curve on all my routes in both directions.
I need to see and understand the traffic around me to keep it from hurting my mileage, turning it into an aid wherever possible.
I need a complete understanding of what other drivers want, are thinking and will do, as well as what their vehicles can and will do.
I need to game all the engineered traffic delays: lights, stop signs, congested ramps, school buses, drawbridges, railroad crossings, back road long-cuts that can sometimes save time, weather variations and holiday/weekend traffic surges.
I need complete understanding of my car; how to apply its power, how to use and conserve its momentum.
I actually needed to modify my car, adding instrumentation, modifying its cooling and aerodynamics and disabling unnecessary and wasteful systems. I'm not finished with that.

I need to be relentless. Every flubbed curve, miscalculated light or badly chosen route hurts my results. Every short errand or unnecessary rush hurts my numbers. I've got a lovely display rubbing those numbers in my face all the time and the fuel pump doesn't lie unless it's to make my numbers look even worse. In other words, I actually have to drive it.

Driving for mileage in real life conditions is one hell of a challenge. You know- fun? It's much more satisfying than shifting into Dumb and smacking my right foot down to go in a straight line a bit more quickly than otherwise. I suppose letting an automatic make stupid decisions for me would make it more challenging, but deliberately driving around in the wrong gear just isn't something I'm into.

 

Absolutely! My last car was an '04 Honda CR-V EX 5sp. That 2.4 liter 4cyl combo was amazing - chirped tires in second no problem, and a ton of torque all around. When it died Sept 27, and I had to find a replacement quickly, I knew they stopped making them with a stick in 2006 - so I did not look to replace it in kind. i considered the new HR-V - but could not find a stick locally, they were on short supply everywhere, and the loaded up EX-L NAV with CVT was a numb dog ... not for me!
Found a 2012 Fit Sport and fell in love all over again - peppy when I want it, yet it can be driven like a hypermiler when I am so inclined.
FWIW, the cars before the CRV were both Honda Civic SIs, a 1990, and a 2000 we still own.

My first car was a 3-on-the-tree '65 Dodge Dart, and tho I have owned a few slush buckets when a quick used car
buy was in order and that's what I found, generally most have been manual trans.
I generally feel more engaged with the road and the car with stick shift.
Awake, Alert, and Alive!