OT: Talking Cars Tuesday (On a Wednesday again)
I didn't want to clutter the board yesterday after the Used Car Advice thread was posted. We need room to discuss every tweet!
That said, keeping it simple this week while acknowledging the purists:
Can you drive a standard? What did you learn on? Do you own one now?
I can't remember exactly which I learned on first; a dirt bike or an old VW beetle. Since then, I've owned a bunch of other manual transmission vehicles: motorcycles, a VW Van (lime green, baby), and a sports car-type thing. I tried teaching my wife but that didn't go so well.
I learned how standards work on my first dirt bike when I was 12 or so, and it wasn't hard to translate that into driving a stick. The first car I really drove extensively was my ex-gf's father's 944 in high school.
Were you as dreamy as Jake Ryan (NTJR)?
When I was a teen I lied and said I could drive a standard to get a job at a large plant nursery. I thought it might be a car they needed me to drive, but it turned out to be a large truck. I learned on the fly, sort of. I ruined the clutch within a week or so.
Yes, I learned mostly by just straight buying my WRX back in 2005 and forcing myself to learn. It wasn't pretty the first week or so, but I still have the car, 10 years and 130k miles later, original clutch, and no mechanical issues.
I tried to teach my wife how to drive it, but she just gets frustrated. I'm hoping to convince her to let me replace it with another manual when it comes time for me to retire the trusty Subaru.
Just tell your wife that the New Rex only comes with a stick (not true anymore). If she doesn't buy that, tell her the CVT sucks (definitely true)
I'm hoping to either upgrade to an STi (hoping they bring back the hatch soon), or move to a Focus RS (345hp in a hatchback sounds like a goddamn blast). I got the WRX when I was still in college (thanks to not having student loans, a pretty good internship, and a fellowship for my Master's degree), so hopefully I can make the upgrade to something a bit faster. Not that the WRX is slow or anything, but I sometimes find myself wanting just a bit more.
For cost reasons (and timing, the Golf R Manuals aren't here yet) I told my (now) wife that I wasn't allowed to drive a Golf R. Had I driven one, i would have wanted one.
Wheels Wednesday?
Many hihg performance vehicles can be had with an automatic transmission.
Except for the affordability thing.
Most high performance sports cars come in automatics with paddle shifters. Automatics, with the 7 and 8 speeds, and dual clutches, are now performing better in acceleration and mpg. I do believe that manuals will become even more scarce with the advancment in automatics becoming the better performer in both high end and low end vehicles.
But I still prefer a manual. I honestly thing I have a better feel for the vehicle.
Learned to drive a stick on my Dad's 1970 Camaro, which I bought from him for my first car in 1975. Drove it until 1984, when the floor was so rusted out you could see the road in spots. Drove it to Florida with a Michigan buddy in 1978. That car was so low and wide that my favorite thing was to accelerate into turns - that freaked people out. No power steering and not even rack-and-pinion, so parallell parking on Sybil Street in a tight spot was a challenge. Great car, except it was a shade of baby-shit green that never should have been used on a vehicle.
A) Yes.
B) 80 somthing Dodge Colt. My cousin and I were working for my Dad. She wanted some pops and asked me to drive and get her some. I told her I couldn't drive a stick. She tossed me her keys and told me to figure it out. So I took the 80 something hp Dodge Colt onto Plymouth road in Livonia during Rush Hour and figured it out. I squealed the tires alot because I was NOT going to stall.
C) I do. '94 Miata. I think the Miata shouldn't have an automatic option. :-)
4-speed. I could get it up to 107 in the 5 miles of I-94 between the pizza joint i worked at to the exit where I lived when I'd go home at 1:30 in the morning. Quick point about this thing: it was a weakling, but had enough torque that I could drive it home with one foot after a third-degree sprain of my ankle. Granted, I wasn't taking off uphill, and I was rolling through stop signs, but it was nice to know that I could get it rolling with no gas pedal.
I had a 5-speed wrangler that I loved, but had to sell when my kids were born. I will have another.
Yeah my daily driver is a manual. '99 Escort with 282,000 miles. The shift linkage is so loose now I have to tell my wife to move her leg when I shift to 5th gear. I refuse to put any money into this car becuase I know as soon as I do it'll die. Also, I can't use the E-brake for steep uphill starts because it doesn't work anymore. I thought about adjusting it so it would start working again, but then I realized if I did I'd probably have to change the rear brakes (which are original). Also, no ABS, traction control, or cruise control. I don't want to spoil myself.
I grew up racing motocross so the transition to a stick shift car was fairly easy. Just different coordination.
Learned on an air-cooled 70s VW Bug. Finished my education on a Kawa Ninja 250 and haven't looked back to auto since. Currently clutch'n shifting on an ATS and GT1000.
We ever done a TCTu on bikes, or was I just sick that week?
Not a motorcycle rider, so I wouldn't know where to start a Bikes thread. Feel free to do one next Tuesday though!
I love these threads. Here's my inauguration story.
My Dad has driven manual cars forever. So when I got my permit at 16 I wanted to learn too. I practiced in the driveway a few times. Yea, the clutch engaged pretty quickly and I stalled a few times, but hey, I got this. Most importantly, I know how it works mechanically, was obsessed with racing when I was younger, and was also pretty good at those realistic arcade race car driving games with manual shifting...
Soonafterward I went with my Dad to pick up my best friend to hang out. My Dad drove on the way there, but after picking my friend up in Saline I said hey Dad how about I drive home? This would be the perfect opportunity to show my friend how cool I was.
It was a 15 min. straight shot drive from Saline north on Zeeb Rd. to Ann Arbor. Strangely enough we hit every single red light. And I stalled out on every single one of them. By Jackson road intersection I had a long line of cars behind me, patiently waiting. My face was red by the time we made it home, and I never said a word to my friend about it. Thankfully he hasn't either.
Another story.
A few years later my sister learned to drive. I'll never forget hearing about this. One night driving home from Pioneer high school with my Dad, my sister hit a red light on that hill on 7th St, to take a left onto Miller Rd. Apparently when the light changed she gave it so much gas they peeled rubber (in a civic) all the way around that turn and my Dad, who is normally very reserved, was cracking up crying all the way home.
As an Ann Arbor stick shift learner there were many problem spots. 7th and Miller, 7th and Huron, the whole heal on the brake and toe on the gas was tough to master at 16.
My mom took me to a hill in Holland that didn't have any traffic and we practiced getting off the brake and onto the gas/ friction point in clutch. I'm glad I got to practice with no one around.
My stall through an entire green light story: My mom kept telling me to give it more gas. I was adamant I was giving it a lot of gas. Turns out I was in 3rd and not 1st (I can handle that now, but not as a new driver). My friend did the same thing when he got his WRX in college. Except he had a bunch of girls laughing at him stall after stall.
The best feature about standard shirt cars is the ability to push/pull them to get started. I had a flukey starter on my truck and had to park on hills until I could get it fixed. I also remember a crappy Volvo ala "Slovo" my brother had that we used to have to to down Scio Church at 50 mph to get it running, I rmember a buddy pushing my truck out of a gas station on Washtenaw where the speed limit is 45 on the way to the dump that was on Platt Road, exiciting times.
So what is your best story about a memorable push start?
The low range transfer case meant little to no drama in push starting a Jeep. Thing would crawl and start
We used one car to push the other to get it up to speed.
I worked with an engineer who drove a stick right after college who would put it into neutral when he pooped the clutch. I was amazed that he was both an Engineer and a stick driver, and thought that was how you could start a car by popping the clutch.
Yup, I learned on an old Honda in about 20 minutes, next day I bought my first manual car.
Currently driving a '13 Focus ST.
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My commute is LSD, lower wacker, and the Ike. I'll give you traffic....
Learned on a motorcycle first. Then jumped into a 67 Mustang three speed and just drove away. Mom was blown away. "How did you do that?" "Motorcycle mom." She had a story about learning and mistaking reverse for 1st.... Fortunately, it was a country road.
Still drive one. Original owner of an 85 Pontiac Fiero GT. Painted maize with blue trim.
or it didn't happen. i have to see this.
as an aside, back in the late 80's when i was living out west and painted my old blue suburban with yellow poster paint to the effect of the wings on the hood and fenders, with the stripes going all the way to the back tail gate. added a few footballs on the tail gate for good measure. drove that rig to the rose parade and watched michigan play in the rose bowl.
the actions just set into motion.
Did not have a ready pic.
Live on a 1/2 mile long dirt road. Can't take a pic of dirty car. Washed car while wife laughed at me, "Amazing what motivates you sometimes."
Then, have to figure out how to upload. Image color adjustments are still in effect. The blue appears black.
So, take that XM!
and while i may not be much for sports cars, even i can dig a maize and blue fiero. and as fieros go, that has got to be the absolute top of the food chain.
Speaking of Fieros...
My 87 GT that we're about 80% done restoring...
for pink slips. somebody get the track lit up, time to put some $ on the line.
Mine's a ringer: It has a 2.8 lookalike F-body 3.4 in it. But it's also an automatic, so it might be close.
I learned on my parents' Dodge Stratus. My first car was a 1991 Dodge Daytona with a five speed, but someone had managed to ruin first gear, so I spent the next four+ years starting in second. That $500 car with no first gear was remarkably reliable. I still miss it.
I haven't had a standard since, but I'm hoping to get back to that the next time I need to buy a car. In the meantime, if I miss driving the way it was intended to be I go borrow my parents' Jeep Patriot.
learned on a friend's omni. how many people on this blog even know what that is. representative picture here:
the owner was a buddy of oldest brother and wanted me to do some errand, and i took the keys and took off. it was a very soft/easy clutch so it was a perfect car to learn in without doing any damage. have had a few other manuals in the intervening years, and would gladly have bought our trucks with sticks if they were more widely available.
do have an '06 diesel jetta with a 5 speed - mileage is very good with that combo, up to 50 mpg. tractor is basically a manual too, though pretty simple.
Sister car to the Plymouth Horizon.
The Dodge had a GLH "performance" version, though.
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"Goes Like Hell"!!
original dirt cheap pocket rocket's have a warm place in my heart. They are, to me, part of the dawn of the performance revival in the 80's.
I learned on a used Toyota Tercel back in the 80s. It was going to be the company delivery car; my boss at the time taught me. It was a bit finicky about the timing of letting up on the clutch and giving it gas, so I stalled in 1st a fair amount. Admittedly, I was too quick to let up on the clutch.
We had to go to Jackson to pick up some stuff, and he let me drive. I stalled at some stoplights, but when it came time to get back on the freeway, turning left across fast oncoming traffic, I nailed it (much to my relief).
I later had the opportunity to drive some friends' Accords and marvelled at how much easier it was getting going.
Currently I drive a 2004 Honda Civic EX with standard - I chose it because I remembered enjoying driving a stick more than automatic, which my previous cars were.
One time when I was moving, I had reserved a 10' van at U-Haul. When I got there, they had nothing, as there was a breakdown, and someone else had priority over me. But then a 24' van came in, and I was asked if I could drive a stick, which I could. Man, that clutch was stiff! It took effort to push it all the way to the floor, and I ground the gears a few times when I didn't quite get it all the way down. Also, I don't think it had power steering. But I managed. I only had stuff from a 1-bedroom apartment - I don't think we had to stack anything with so much space.
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I learned on a '98 Trans Am. Super easy to learn with a car that has a decent amount of torque. No need to rev the engine up. Loved that car. Would get 24 mpg all day long. 29 mpg on the highway.
Done. That'll be next week. The less rational the reason for the hate, the better.