Behind The Wheel

Don’t you hate…....?

Chuckles says...

I am really getting to be annoyed by these people who still insist on driving a car with a manual transmission. Today I almost missed lights twice because some kid in a Civic could not find first when the light turned green. And eventually they found third and stalled. Then by the time they found first and got the car started again, only 2 cars get through the light. There is no valid reason these days to change gears yourself.

I am surprised this comes up as an issue any more. It is about time that an obsolete technology from the 1890s is put to rest. A technology that was never meant to have been more than a stopgap until something better came along. I am referring to the manual transmission. Something some people still refer to as a “standard” transmission. Yes, standard. In 1955.

I have heard of many young women car buyers being pressured into buying a car with a manual transmission. A case is the sister of one of my best friends. Her husband persuaded her, when buying a new Saturn a few years ago, to get a manual transmission. After all her husband was a car buff and knew this stuff, didn’t he. She lives in West Los Angeles and right from the start she hated it. She felt so guilty being actually happy when someone ran a red light and totaled it a few months later. Well at least a little guilty. After enduring rowing through the gears in LA traffic, she made sure the replacement had an automatic.

I know a car with a manual transmission can be a load of fun to drive under the right conditions. Like driving west on the Ortega highway out of Lake Elsinore, heading to San Juan Capistrano. But what we use our cars for 98% of the time are not those conditions. I strongly suggest that you, the young female car buyer, that unless you already love driving a car with a manual transmission, that you resist all pressure from anyone to buy a car with a manual transmission. Buy what your feelings tell you is right for you.

Note that the writer knows perfectly well how to drive a vehicle with a manual transmission and is rather good at it. Preference for an automatic is not based on a lack of skill.

There are two main parts of driving. There is the maneuvering of a vehicle through traffic and there is the actual operation of the vehicle.

The writer’s opinion that the first function is what driving is all about. After all, doing it badly can get you killed. The second is a chore to be avoided as much as possible as it distracts you from the other function, the one that can get you killed. Driving a car with a manual transmission is about three times as much work as driving a car with an automatic. We have machines to shift gears for us. Let them do it.

However, you may need arguments to make your case. After all, sometimes the female prerogative of “Because I said so” does not cut it and there can be pressure. A few points a manual transmission die hard may make in trying to convince you to get a manual transmission are:

A manual transmission gets better gas mileage - This is true with one big IF! You have to drive the manual transmission car exactly as if you had an automatic transmission, the way the driver doing the EPA test drives it. You have to shift at 2000 or so RPM and accelerate gently up shifting each time when an automatic would. But no one does this because it is no fun! With a manual transmission, the driver generally accelerates harder, not shifting until 4000 RPM or higher. Why? Because it feels good being pushed back in the seat. But you end up blowing more gas out the tail pipe than a car with an automatic would. Automatic transmissions are calibrated by professionals to maximize fuel economy and to go all out only when you floor it. In real world driving people with automatics generally get slightly better gas mileage. In my case, because I know exactly how these things work, I get a fair bit better, always better than EPA ratings even for the manual transmission versions of the car. And even under the old pe-2008 EPA rating system.

A manual transmission gives you more control. - This is true. You get control over things a machine can do just as well, if not better. And with a lot more work to do it. The few cases where it is claimed a manual transmission is superior usually involve rocking the car to get unstuck in the winter. Yet I have never had any more doing this with an automatic. When I used to live in a place with real winter. Edmonton, Alberta if you really need to know.

A manual transmission can be used to slow down the car saving your brakes - This is also true but by down shifting to stop, you are saving the brakes by using up the clutch. Just remember that clutches cost a lot more to fix than brakes when they wear out. Besides when going down a long steep hill you can do the same trick with an automatic by downshifting to those “2” and “1” positions on the gear selector that no one seems to use. A rule of thumb is to not down shift the automatic to 2 over 30 MPH (50KPH) or to 1 over 20 MPH (30KPH). Or if you have one, by turning the overdrive off.

A manual transmission costs less to repair – True as well. But a modern automatic will generally last 200,000 miles with one major repair needed. In that same mileage, most people go through three clutches costing about the same amount. Sure each incident costs less but total cost of ownership is the same.

With a manual transmission you can downshift easier for passing on the highway or climbing steep hills – Many modern cars with an automatic have a button on the side of the gear shift. This turns off the overdrive and makes a light on the instrument panel come on saying something like “O/D OFF”. Pressing this button will downshift the transmission and give you more power. Just don’t forget to press it again when you don’t need it anymore to turn the overdrive back on as the car uses about 1/3 more gas when the overdrive is off. And if you don’t have an overdrive button just flooring the gas pedal quickly will also do the same thing.

A car with an automatic costs more – This is true. About $1000 more on a new car. But consider that this works out to less than 1 cent for each time you won’t have to shift gears over the life of the car, it is worth it. Also consider that except for true sports cars like the Miata and Honda S2000, a car with a manual transmission generally has lower resale value. When you trade it in, you will get much of your money back for the automatic.

As an engineer, the writer considers the manual transmission to be an anachronism that has little place in modern motoring. Perhaps two seat sports cars. But then, the writer drives exactly such a car, a Mazda Miata, and is quite happy it has an automatic transmission and went out of the way to get one with an automatic. A manual transmission was never considered.

Which is another tip for you. If you want a really sexy sports car, the perfect English sports car but reliable, its hard to beat the Miata. Since most buyers want them with manual transmissions, ones with automatics seem to sell for less. I bought mine for 40% off the blue book value.

In conclusion, a manual transmission AKA a stick shift, can be fun to drive now and then. But not going too and from school/work, at the mall or stuck in traffic jams. If you really want one and have driven one before, great, get one. But if you are not sure, stay away from them and get a car with an automatic transmission. Don’t give into pressure to get a car with a manual transmission.

Have any of you been pressured to buy a stick shift you are unsure you want? If you did buy a car with a manual transmission, did you come to love it or do you hate it and can’t wait to be able to afford to trade it in? Please write with your comments.

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Published on April 26, 2010 by Chuckles | Read all recent Behind The Wheel articles.