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The long overdue death of the stick shift car
- JoeAltmaier 3y agoCute. Here in the Midwest, we drive over rolling hills. The automatic is always shifting to too high a gear on a roller, getting surprised when it immediately rises again and shifting down too late. Resulting in roaring and lugging. Also on ice or slippery roads (an entire season here) I get frustrated at the automatic's total incompetence. I pull out of a parking lot to turn left in the far lane, give it a little gas to slide the back-end around to put me straight and it engages some idiot traction-control feature that means, essentially, it oscillates the power in a futile attempt to gain traction (there isn't going to be any) and slides into the far curb like one of those little football players in a vibrating football game (does anybody remember those?) Mock the stick all you like, unbelievers. That just marks you as one of the ignorant.
- OnACoffeeBreak 3y ago"In the US, there’s apparently a young (also predominantly male) demographic that is embracing manual driving — championing it as retro, much like Gen Z’s affinity to typewriters and vintage cameras. They feel there’s something authentic about it: a connection between driver and vehicle that automatization cuts out." I am way older than gen Z and bought my first manual transmission car six months ago not knowing how to drive one. Why? For some reason being competent at driving a manual transmission car has been on my bucket list ever since I started driving. (I could be a total cliche of a mid-life crisis if I bought a Mazda Miata, but I bought an 11-year old Civic.) I love it! I feel more engaged while driving. I love the learning curve and the challenge of shifting smoothly at the right time. I love the feeling of control. My phone use while driving is also way down.