Cars: Manual or Automatic transmission?

[uepro313]

I am only familiar with driving stick (manual) cars, only ever driven one automatic and that was for about 2 hours!

Very common here, although the automatic is slowly creeping in in newer cars.

[Flounder]

Just to add to my original post over a year ago;

I recently got a new car. Finances have improved and I needed something safer for every day driving and for some film projects I'm doing around the country in the next year, so I bought a 9 year old BMW. I was deliberately seeking a manual, which were fairly thin on the ground honestly for a car pitched at mid-level corporate executives, which I am not :P

I tested a couple of automatics and they were grand, just a bit off-putting in the sense that I really enjoy driving and an auto does take away from that I find.

[eagleday]

Yay for sticks!!!

I find out those who drive auto transmission too much have difficulties going back to the good ol' stick.

[mikeisnude]

Sounds to me like the editor is just viewing the situation through his own preference.   Kids today don't rush to get driver's license for a lot of reasons that have nothing to do with transmission type.   There is the cost of fuel nowdays that keep a lot of kids from owning cars.   Most kids in the USA drink or use some form of drug and the laws are so severe now that no one wants to get caught and getting pullled over greatly increases the likelihood of that happening.

Then you have a chunk of kids that view cars as environmental nightmares and don't want to contribute to the carbon footprint.   Also more and more kids live in large cities where there is public transportation and not only don't have a need for car but would find owning one a detriment.  I know that in Chicago parking is hard to come by people often choose housing based not on the living space but on available parking that comes with it.

As mentioned before the economy sucks big time and even here in this small town that I live in you never see a kid mowing a lawn.  It's all adults trying to make it on what was once teen jobs.  If you notice even fast food places the average employee is now over 20.

Also this editor has no idea of the impact of social media.   Kids would literally perfer to interact in most cases online then getting off the computer and doing it in person.   Even when you go to a bar you will see a group sitting together  drinking a beer and all be on their smart phones with only an occasional word to those they are with.

Ah....ok that turned into quite a rant.....

[nackerpatzi]

All cars I have driven were manual. Guess it's because of their price. Automatic transmissions cost 1000-3000 € more than manuals and you have to drive a manual car in driving school to get a fully license otherwise you won't be allowed to drive a manual car afterward - at least in Austria.

[Advent]

My sister posted on Facebook recently that she hates it when people make her feel like a criminal for never learning stick.

Tough cookies! 

[Mingos]

its so much fun to drive manual cars, you can play much more with the engine and you get more challenged.
automatic is like driving in cruise mode, you can laid back and get relax but i would never change the manual for it.

[nudetrail]

i prefer auto but can drive both

[Justundressed]

Driving a stick is a dying art... with these DSG transmissions etc.

Give me the right car on the right road, and you'd never go auto again!

[Fitz1980]

Sounds to me like the editor is just viewing the situation through his own preference.   Kids today don't rush to get driver's license for a lot of reasons that have nothing to do with transmission type.   There is the cost of fuel nowdays that keep a lot of kids from owning cars.   Most kids in the USA drink or use some form of drug and the laws are so severe now that no one wants to get caught and getting pullled over greatly increases the likelihood of that happening.

I think that insurance is a big one, epically in these tough economic times.  When I turned 16 (back in 1996) insurance was through the roof because I was a 16-24 year old male and that classified me as high risk.

[vfherman]

The editor of Car and Driver magazine bemoans the disappearance of the manual transmission

One of the biggest reason we see manuals going the way of the Model A is because the auto makers have found a way to make the automatics more fuel efficient. There used to be a 5% roughly difference in fuel mileage (stick being better gas mileage), and automatics cost more. Now with computer technology, automatics are much more fuel efficient.

I learned quickly how to drive stick. I always had automatics, and part of my job as a yardman was switching trailers out. So I did learn - on a 18 speed cab over Volvo that couldn't get out of its own way.

I do enjoy driving stick now, and prefer it simply because I can control my speed better than with an automatic.

[dmaxd123]

my first truck was a manual, really liked it and thought I would never go to an automatic.

after enough problems ( "American" truck assembled in mexico)  I ended up going with a chevy where the only option was automatic.

after having my current truck long enough I really do like the automatic a lot.   for a sports car i wouldn't go anything but manual but for towing daily and getting a trailer in and out of tight spaces the automatic is nice, just one less thing to worry about when inches matter

[Districtqc]

i would never buy an automatic car. manual transmissions are just more fun to drive.

I have learned to drive a stick shift when i bough my first car, a 1991 honda civic hatchback. the seller gave me the keys and just said goodbye. so i had to drive home. after a couple stalls, i made it home.

Now i drive a 2002 impreza. manual too :)

[nudetrail]

i prefer automatic especially if you are driving in the city or in heavy traffic.

[transcon123]

My truck is a manual and I wouldn't have it any other way.  I get way better MPG with a manual than i would with an automatic.