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Why don't North Americans drive manual cars?

38K views 378 replies 167 participants last post by  NeverEnoughCars 
#1 ·
Driving manual is proper driving. Automatic causes distractions and promotes laziness. If more people drove manual we'd have less accidents, better drivers, more fun, etc.. So why not?

 
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#39 ·
I am willing to bet $20 bucks that if everyone began driving manual there would >50% less traffic...nationwide.
 
#40 ·
Some cars just make sense in auto form (trucks/suv/vans).

I like MT, and driven it in many large cities. Stop and go traffic doesn't bother me. It wouldn't foce me to go auto. Maybe later when I get older lazier, dsg/auto would be a nice option to have. I just don't know why I have to pick sides. Both serve a purpose. It would suck if we had only one.

Just imagine the chaos if every day US driver had to drive stick. There would be more accidents, delays etc. Texting, shifting, eating at age 17, would be a killer.

Important question is why does auto trans offend your manhood???
 
#41 ·
Just imagine the chaos if every day US driver had to drive stick. There would be more accidents, delays etc. Texting, shifting, eating at age 17, would be a killer.
Ya maybe the day after you implement that law... after all the dumbasses die off we would have a much better driving experience.
 
#43 ·
Never, ever, will I have an auto...or a stick that's not connected to the trans. If I have to remain in the past so be it, however brought up to or exceeding modern tech (St-40 Stoptech, methanol injection, full v band, wideband, Avcr, hardwired radar, dvr, rear veiw, audio & alarm, etc).
 
#44 ·
Joke is on you, OP.

Europeans prefer automatics, too. They just couldn't get/afford them until recently, and the mileage penalty was too high. All things of the past, now.
 
#46 ·
North Americans don't drive manual cars because a special drivers license is required to drive a manual transmission car. To get the license you have to prove yourself worthy by double clutching while blind folded, ear plugged and nose plugged. You then have to recite the manual code of conduct while stopping on an incline using only the clutch and gas pedal to keep the car still. If you can pass that and a few other secret hazing rituals you can then pay the $10,000 fee for the manual license. That's why
 
#52 ·
When I started driving in the mid-80s there were plenty of cars with manuals on US roads. However, that was a time when you had 4-speed automatics that would literally roll you forward at 10+mph if you took your foot off the gas, cost $500-$1,000+ more than a standard, and got a sizable mileage penalty.

Today none of this applies - automatics have the same or more speeds than manuals, don't cost anymore (and in some cases it is the manual that is more expensive), and have no mileage penalty (at least on paper, which is all most people care about).

And that's before taking into account the convenience factor.
 
#53 ·
I drove a stick for four years and switched to an auto in September.

There was....no difference except that I got to pick my gear with the manual. Which I can do with the auto too now that I think about it.
 
#59 ·
i'm doing my part to reverse this trend, i just ordered up a Focus 5 door Se with a Manual trans. :thumbup:
Funny thing is, i HAD to order it in as they didn't have a single manual on the lot! Goodbye to the Equinox in 4-6 weeks. :p
 
#60 ·
It doesn't bother me that less and less people are buying manuals
It does bother me, however, that some people claim to be "enthusiasts" and can't even drive a manual
 
#64 ·
The vast majority of Europeans with manual transmissions are driving tiny ****boxes that are cheap and get good fuel economy.

It's a simple matter of economics, not that they have some love of shifting gears. The trend is moving more toward automatics, just like it did earlier in the US as they become closer in price to manuals, and the fuel economy gap decreases.

As mentioned earlier, when it comes to performance cars the American market is the major driving force in KEEPING manual transmission. :facepalm:
 
#65 ·
Autos for dailies, manuals for fun.

Usually I miss having an auto box in my current daily when I'm sitting in rush hour traffic. I do enjoy it when I get onto a back road and throw it around corners. And my other daily, the Golf econobox would not really make sense with slushbox. New DSGs are different though. On a side note I used to own a diesel 6 cylinder Merc with a manual box. It made as much sense as replacing used underwear with some other used underwear.
 
#71 ·
I drive a manual (weekend) and an automatic (daily).

Why is it many manual drivers are constantly trying to get the automatic drivers to go to a manual but I have never seen an automatic driver try to convince the manual driver to go automatic?

There used to be a lot of reasons to get the manual that don't exist now. Used to be the manual was faster, got better mileage, more gears (less noise on the highway), auto's shifted slowly, and there was less road congestion. At this point besides a little less expensive manual drivers talk about "feel" and "real drivers" but don't have a lot of other reasons.
 
#75 ·
The manufactured angst in this thread is just comical. Why the **** do you care what someone else is driving?! How does that impact your life whatsoever? Find something significant to rail against!


The entire notion that people driving manuals are safer or more attentive is just absurd. I can talk on the phone, chow on a Big Mac, and STILL chirp third anytime I want. The fact that a car has a manual transmission doesn't do a damn thing to deter bad driving habit.
 
#86 ·
Sig'd:thumbup::beer:

More for the laugh factor than anything else but I am on the bandwagon of the whole "connected to the car" function. That and I am a true believer that driving a manual makes you more engaged and concentrated on your actual driving than anything else.
 
#78 ·
North Americans drive automatics because they can afford it.

It has nothing to do with enlightenment or appreciation for "the driving experience." Oh, you met a car enthusiast in Germany who likes to drive manuals? Tell me more about your worldly experience!

Seriously, people, this isn't that hard. The dominance of the manual transmission in the rest of the world is due to high volumes of craptastic little carlets and trucklets being sold in developing nations--cars that 99% of enthusiasts wouldn't touch with a ten-foot gear lever.
 
#79 ·
Automatic causes distractions and promotes laziness. If more people drove manual we'd have less accidents, better drivers, more fun, etc.. ]
Disagree with the better drivers part. I can think of several friends who have driven stick their whole driving careers, most of the time they are texting, smoking a cig, and playing with the radio simultaneously. Add to that 6k rpm shifts in gears 1-3. Automatic transmissions don't promote laziness, laziness is what promoted the automatic transmission... My car is DSG
 
#84 ·
More fun? I doubt your manual trans econobox is any more fun than this:



And those don't have any shifting whatsoever. Yet are massive fun. How could that possibly be?

I rpefer a good manual in a small engined car or traditional sports car, But I have as much fun with automatic equipped sport sedans and musclecars, and even like the single speed trans in the Volt that I DD.
 
#119 ·
More fun? I doubt your manual trans econobox is any more fun than this: (image removed)

And those don't have any shifting whatsoever. Yet are massive fun. How could that possibly be?

I rpefer a good manual in a small engined car or traditional sports car, But I have as much fun with automatic equipped sport sedans and musclecars, and even like the single speed trans in the Volt that I DD.
Comparing a car to a gokart with slicks isn't even a fair comparison. Of course a badass gokart on a racetrack is going to be a fun time either way. I'd still have more fun with a shifter kart banging through the gears

I'm going to keep asking this.

Also

Manual fanatics say: " Driving a manual takes time to get used to it. And we can all agree that eventually you don't even notice driving a stick."

And yet it ALSO, even though you don't notice it once you get good at it, supposedly adds more fun than not shifting. Which is it? You notice it every time you shift or you don't? You can't have it both ways.

I say that those who are having fun with it all the time are not yet good enough at it to not notice it. Therefore, the logical conclusion of the statements of manual fanatics is that most of them are not very good at it yet, and are shifting noobs still infatuated with the fact that they are moving more than one limb at a time occasionally. :laugh:
When I'm driving my car, I'm fully aware of what I'm doing.. I don't go into autopilot mode and forget that I have a clutch. Kinda have to be alert with a lw flywheel, grippy clutch, and basically solid motor mounts. Being able to rev match down shift, through twisties and bang through the gears is very enjoyable. Stuck in traffic on a hill, not so much, but I still wouldn't trade it for a regular style automatic that continually hunts for the correct gear whenever you breathe on the go pedal. That just makes for an incredibly vague driving experience. I could however make due with something like a DSG since it has a manual sport mode with the paddles. I could get used to that, but I think I'd still miss the clutch and shifter. It's just all about what you're into, and how you want to drive. If you don't want a manual, that's fine, but don't argue just for the sake of arguing or because you think that we think we're better than you are because we have a clutch. That's not it at all
 
#90 ·
I think it's because it's "easier". All you have to do is get in and steer basically. That makes it more accessible for people to get a license when they don't have the hand / eye / foot coordination required to operate a manual. That's not to say that everyone who drives an slushbox can't drive a stick, but I do think it contributes to it.

As for myself, I feel that driving a manual transmission vehicle is a much more immerseive driving experience. I'm no Andretti, but I like to "drive" a car, and have fun with it. Just sitting there stabbing the gas and aiming it in the right direction isn't fun to me. I'd rather just have someone else drive. With a manual trans, rowing through the gears is where all the fun is. I'd rather have a 150hp rollerskate with a standard than a 250hp slushbox and la-z-boy seats. That just sucks all the enjoyment out of it for me.

I also do believe that the ease of driving an automatic does contribute to the terrible drivers we have. You don't have to be as attentive (not that all stick drivers are) and aware of what is happening when driving an auto, and I think that just breeds bad habits in some people, especially teens
 
#99 ·
As for myself, I feel that driving a manual transmission vehicle is a much more immerseive driving experience. I'm no Andretti, but I like to "drive" a car, and have fun with it. Just sitting there stabbing the gas and aiming it in the right direction isn't fun to me.

More fun? I doubt your manual trans econobox is any more fun than this:



And those don't have any shifting whatsoever. Yet are massive fun. How could that possibly be?
I'm going to keep asking this.

Also

Manual fanatics say: " Driving a manual takes time to get used to it. And we can all agree that eventually you don't even notice driving a stick."

And yet it ALSO, even though you don't notice it once you get good at it, supposedly adds more fun than not shifting. Which is it? You notice it every time you shift or you don't? You can't have it both ways.

I say that those who are having fun with it all the time are not yet good enough at it to not notice it. Therefore, the logical conclusion of the statements of manual fanatics is that most of them are not very good at it yet, and are shifting noobs still infatuated with the fact that they are moving more than one limb at a time occasionally. :laugh:
 
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