you know anybody that CANNOT drive a stickshift?

[cwoodyt87]

What I want to know is who can drive an un synchronized manual transmission ? I drive one all day in my tractor and did it once in an old english car . I "speed shift " my tractor. I only use the clutch for starting and stopping.

My buddy's father has a 1920's Ford Model A and he lets us drive it all the time. Double clutch and you're good.

I had driven a manual maybe 5 times in my life, and decided enough was enough - I leased a 5 speed about 2 years ago. Lot of angry drivers behind me on the drive home...

I know more people who can't drive manuals than can.

 

[Nomountainsarroundhere]

Well, arround here 99% of the cars are stick-shift. So all driving-ed is in manual/stick shift cars. I have the deepest respect for the men and women who choose teaching 17 years old teenagers to drive as career.... I do not understand how they keep their cool

 

[Backpack Hunter]

I learned when a friend got so drunk he couldn't drive home....had to do it. My wife still can't, in her defense she had no one to teach her and now no real reason to learn.

 

[boom]

I learned when a friend got so drunk he couldn't drive home....had to do it. My wife still can't, in her defense she had no one to teach her and now no real reason to learn.

i do track days with an old car..so i can heel/toe, and double clutch like a mofo. but on the streets, i have to give the nod to my wife. she is the better stick shift driver. she never stalls on hills, or chatters away from a stop. i'm kinda lazy. i will pull away in 2nd..take slow corners in 4th.

i've stalled on SF streets. big hills. talk about sweaty palms.

 

[Ozz08]

I fall into the 16 year old girl club. I learned how on a simulator during drivers ed in high school but have never attempted it in an actual vehicle. No manuals in the family and all my buddies growing up had autos.

 

[robby denning]

My daughter Grace is 11 and we started teaching her this summer by allowing her to drag the harrow in the pasture and when I buck hay. She's doing pretty good as long as the ol' man can keep his patience. The way I look at it, if you can handle a stickshift, you can drive anything.

 

[bbrown]

When I was learning my parents made me learn on a manual. To make things worse my old man would set his coffee cup (almost full) on the dash and if I spilled it I was done driving for the day. Needless to say I figured it out pretty quick.

 

[Becca]

My first two cars had manual transmissions, so it was the first way I learned to drive. I remember my mom sitting on the curb while I lurched back and forth in an empty parking lot as I tried to get the hang of the timing. Once I thought I had it down, dad took me to a gravel road and parked me on a hill then made me stop and start until I really had it figured out. I have always thought manuals gave you more control, particularly when driving on ice and snow since you can downshift instead of braking. My current vehicle is an automatic, and I will say it's much easier to drink coffee and drive an automatic at the same time. Still, glad I know how...

 

[unm1136]

What I want to know is who can drive an un synchronized manual transmission ? I drive one all day in my tractor and did it once in an old english car . I "speed shift " my tractor. I only use the clutch for starting and stopping.

My first car was a '63 dodge dart. The car cost $150 dollars, and I loaned the folks $100 for it for my 16th birthday, at which time the car was nearly 30 years old. It had a three speed on the column. Thought speed shifting was a neat trick, and did it all the time...

Three years ago my daily commuter, a 1993 Nissan 2wd pickup, blew a head gasket at almost 190,000 miles. Had no problem speed shifting this one, either, and never replaced the clutch. Started shopping for a new car and surprised the wife when I announced that I wanted a '10 Focus. Since we needed a commuter car right now, we couldn't afford to save for it so I reasoned that after the five year repayment on the auto loan that my oldest would be learning how to drive, and I was going to be damned if I bought any of my kids a new car. So we scoured the town for Focus with a five speed manual, manual windows, and automatic locks. Found it, will have it paid off almost a year early, and we have a kids car that requires learning a manual transmission that will be pushing 100k miles by the time the kids are driving. So when they run it into shopping cart, or scrape it on a light pole or whatnot it will be all on them.... I will be saving for my pickup truck so I can drive more questionable forest service roads. Hunting in a minivan really limits how far in you can get.

pat