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I actually was a real advocate for gears, then I drove my wife's new car for some time. Modern automatic isn't only comfortable, it's actually more (fuel) efficient, especially in the city. Now I'm an automatic guy. And - the circle of life - my daughter, looking for her first car this year: "No, I want gears!" Now she's got gears. In a car that weighs less than my phone, but hey, what do I old 🥔 potato know.
I'm resigned that manual transmissons are a thing of the past, but man, it's such a huge part of the enjoyment of driving for me.
Getting that perfect shift, especially if accelerating quicky or going up a steep hill is just so satisfying... Or the "minigame" of balancing the clutch and throttle from a full stop uphill without using the handbrake... And that feeling when you smoothly downshift going down a road and the revs pick up, while you ease up on the brake...
Yeah I really like driving.
Learned automatic then later manual out of necessity and this is just nuts to me. People enjoy that? Driving is already fairly obnoxious just getting around traffic and the extra tedium of having to shift gears at every stop and go was awful. This has to be some kind of Stockholm syndrome or nostalgia or something
I'm a computer geek and I always look at it like a computer. Is a Mac or Windows easier to use? Arguably yes.
Yet I use Linux anyway because I like the full control despite the trade offs. And some tradeoffs I actually prefer
I could just click install on Windows and Mac (and on Linux),, or I can download a program and manually put each of it's constituent files into the correct place in order to run it.
I'm a computer guy and view an automatic as just that: Automation to do away with a needless repetitive task. Not to say that I missed your analogy, but "full control" is an awfully overblown way to put it when it comes to a manual unless you're doing NASCAR or something. Our programmers and engineers know what they're doing. Your car can automatically shift gears and do more than well enough to get you to work and back.
My attention drifts too much when I drive auto, I prefer the extra thinking and functions that manual driving needs.
For those with a similar view on the subject, keep in mind motorcycles are still almost exclusively manual shift in North America, so when stick shift is basically dead, there is somewhere to go, technically.
I cycle to work from time to time, even tough I own a (manual) car.
It takes longer to go by bike, I get sweaty, it might rain in the afternoon but I still take the bike over the car. Because it’s fun. (Even more then driving a manual.)
Yeah they've been more fuel efficient for awhile now, but you can take my 6 speed from my cold dead hands 🤣
I just like it.
I have an auto truck because I needed a truck and that was what was available for the price I wanted to pay, but my daily driver is a stick and imma drive it till one of us dies lol
Word. I give not a single fuck that modern autos are more efficient and quicker than manuals. They are boring as hell. If I ever switch to an automatic, it will be because I’ve switched to something electrified and manuals are altogether gone.
I say this as someone who has dealt with the stop-go traffic on a daily basis.
Oh same, I lived in Philly for years lol
Should have put her into an old SAAB. I'm talking pre-'92, before GM bought them. They had gears, power, and speed. They also weighed over 2 tons, and are insanely safe. I've crashed several on the track, and walk away with scratches every time. It's a really expensive hobby at times.
That's a myth, new cars are much safer, like insanely so. It's not even close.
Yup, this is fact, no arguments here.
But it doesn't feel this way though, because new cars kinda... crumple... in a crash.
I get that it's how they protect the driver, by deforming and absorbing the energy instead of just thrusting all into the occupants, but really makes them feel flimsy, compared to those olds hunks of steel.
I'd rather be alive in a crumpled wreck that dead in a barely dented tank though.
Modern CVTs will always beat manual transmissions in efficiency now. And probably reliability with reputable brands as well. It's only a matter of time for consumers to catch up at this point.