What % of the US population can drive a manual transmission vehicle?

Think the majority of the us kids today learned in those japanese imports with the annoying mufflers. Assuming they are manuals?

i have only once driven a automatic car and it was nearly a disaster i put my foot on the brake thinking it was the clutch to change gear boy that car had good brakes it stopped in about 10 feet and could it drink fuel never again i know now to tuck one foot away .

For the manual guys - do you instinctively put the car in gear when parking?

I don't on flat ground - my oil change place did - started the freaking truck not thinking about it & almost went through the plate glass window of the place.

Yikes - hit nothing but always check now.
lol

The first manual tranny I ever bought was a 5-speed Ford EXP in the early 80's. It was an adorable tiny 2-seater with a hatchback for my big dog. I rode along while my mom test drove it and then followed her as she drove it back to my house. I had no idea how to drive a stick and it sat in my driveway for a few days. Then out of the blue, my grandpa showed up at my door and offered to give me driving lessons. Reportedly, he overheard a phone conversation between my mom and my grandma about how I had bought a car I couldn't drive. I've been driving a manual ever since.

reply to post by BABYBULL24


Always put the car in gear and the parking brake on when parked.

reply to post by BABYBULL24


When you drive a manual transmission you get in the habit of putting it in gear when parking. It's safer and actually works as a brake system.

When you're on a hill you also turn the wheels just in case it and also place it in gear. I always put the emergency brake as well because I have watched too many Youtube videos.

I actually ride bus now but I always drove manual.

randomtangentsrme
reply to post by BABYBULL24

 

Always put the car in gear and the parking brake on when parked.

I know - I know - always put the parking break on but rarely leave it in gear even on hills.
Never had 1 roll away on me yet but putting it in gear is good practice...but never do it.
& think about it always & say screw it - it ain't going anywhere.

Dumb thing to do - yup!

reply to post by BABYBULL24


Flat-lander. . .

I bought a Jeep Cherokee on the spur of the moment as the price was good, and my truck (manual) was turning into a money pit. It took almost a month before I got used to the automatic.

Waving my hand around and stomping the floor. LOL

I would recommend never buying a Cherokee if you do a lot of driving. No legroom, (and I'm a short guy). But it does have a pretty strong engine.

I will search high and low from now on for a manual transmission on my next truck.

A guy in our city a couple of years ago had his cruise control freeze up on the freeway which gets quite banked up at that hour.

He didn't know what to do and managed to hit the median strip which brought him to a less destructive stop...

when that story made the news, they had to tell people over the radio how putting it in neutral is the first thing to do, which is quite worrying.

Now i work with cars, and i've actually had electronic throttles lock up on me in the mid-range. They are also always new automatic cars, like the holden commodore VE (which was quite new at the time).
Luckily i knew what to do, and was able to stop quite quickly, because i learnt in a manual.

But it's quite scary that people with automatic licenses are driving these "amazing new, convenient, tech'ed out cars" without an idea of what to do if they encounter a situation like this.

I see cars all the time with huge amounts of brake dust on their wheels, and cars sitting up my arse when i downshift towards a set of lights - as if they need to see my brake lights to know i'm slowing down.

People are being made dumber... especially when people tell our younger drivers that "you don't need a manual in this day and age"

Are you suggesting people who drive autos are dumber than manual drivers
That is the way it comes across

Surely by that logic, horse and cart drivers are smarter than all car drivers.

I have two autos and am not a little want to be street racer boy crunching gears to thrash the engine


I have a er6 for that

Really they are just cars and not every body needs to drive the way others do, autos are fine

borntowatch

I have two autos and am not a little want to be street racer boy crunching gears to thrash the engine

Tell me, how do you think an automatic transmission works?

Instead of you changing gears, a computer tells it to change gears. How do you come to the conclusion that that saves your engine? Are you a bit too lead footed that you require something to tell you when to change?

You've just become your own worst enemy, and assumed that all manual drivers are "street racers"...

Maybe I am in the minority here, but I hate standard. I'm 20, I spent a day trying to learn in my uncles 2013 Jeep. I do fine until we get to hills, or I have to downshift lol. I either keep stalling or end up in the wrong gear. Call me a dumb American if you want, I just couldn't get it no matter what I tried. Also, I was glad it didn't drift back like in my buddies Honda although his was easier to shift in on the hills I again stalled but I also had to worry about smashing into the people behind me.

My Uncle dave - who is almost in his 70s now - was telling me how lucky we have it today; when he first learned there was an actual starter pedal, too, that you had to use to initally start with if I remember what he said correctly.

Does a bike count?

reply to post by wwe9112


The point i was trying to make was that it's all well and good driving an automatic, but "most" (not all) automatic licence holders don't understand how to downshift or get out of a situation where the option of using the brakes is unavailable.

And on a place like the roads, where other people are also driving their cars (not just you), it's sort of important to have that knowledge, rather than throwing it in the "too hard basket".

It's like operating machinery in a workshop without taking the warning signs seriously, except with driving, your choices can also affect others.

It begs the question. I was in the market for a new pickup a few years ago and discovered it is nearly impossible to buy one with a manual transmission. There are one or two out there. But try to buy the pickup of your choice, such as a Chevy Duramax with 650 pounds of torque that can pull anything, and you get an Allison automatic, a very nice and sophisticated transmission, but automatic.

The point is that it used to be you had to pay extra for an automatic transmission. Now you have to hunt for a vehicle that does not have one. It can be done (Even the Cadillac CTS-V has one), but you are restricted in the models you can get.

So that begs the issue. If 95% of all vehicles come "standard with an automatic" (sorry) then your actual need to know how to use a clutch is right up there with your need to know how to saddle a horse. Nice if you know how, but not really necessary.

I understand your point. Drive a stick and you can drive anything. I started with a 48 Chevrolet Fleetline and have driven busses and dump trucks with two speed rear-axles. From a nostalgia standpoint, it's too bad the manuals are disappearing, but from a practical standpoint, few people really have a need to know.

BABYBULL24
For the manual guys - do you instinctively put the car in gear when parking?

I don't on flat ground - my oil change place did - started the freaking truck not thinking about it & almost went through the plate glass window of the place.

Yikes - hit nothing but always check now.
lol

Haven't had the need yet to look for a new vehicle, my 93 Silverado has a manual (standard) and I wouldn't have it any other way. That stinks to hear that I'll have problems finding one when I finally do have to get a new one.
To answer your question, it's already in gear when I park - so I just leave it that way (Except for that one time when I had a brain-fart and took it out of gear, wind was blowing sooo hard that it blew it back into another vehicle. On flat ground no less...)
Has a neat little safety feature which won't allow it to be started unless you have the clutch depressed, helps to eliminate those oil-change-place type of accidents.

originally posted by: BABYBULL24
Do think it is an important driving skill to learn especially in an emergency situation just to have done it a few times so you know the concept.

What kind of emergency?? Had to steal a car because it's the end of the world and you're trying to run away from a mile-high tsunami and the only car available is a Porsche GT-3 stick shifter??

In that case it's probably useful.

I drive both stick and auto. I used to be a light truck driver with a stick. In light traffic, there's very little difference between auto and stick if you're used to both. In both medium to heavy traffic, auto is absolutely better especially in weaving in and out of traffic, takes a lot less effort.

But stick diesel light trucks have a very unique quality. They could crawl around at very low speeds without stalling without changing gear so often so it's actually easier to drive a stick diesel truck than a stick petrol car in slow, heavy traffic.

Automatic transmission is nice sometimes, if feeling lazy. Saves your leg muscles...

That is my opinion.

But if you want to control your car, then manual (or standard as they say in US)

Automatic transmission + snow = AWFUL
Automatic transmission + mud = AWFUL

When you need fine traction control, nothing beats a real clutch under your feet.

That is just a fact.

BTW, I still love cars without power steering. You can really feel the curvatures or loose gravel on a road. IMO that is more safe than without that sense.

But yeah, each to its own or how they say it?

I prefer 6 speeds

MMM... you hear that supercharger whining??? I smell rubber!!!!


More fun anyhow!