Why All Petrol heads should drive a manual
So it is nearing the end of 2016, and it looks like the manual has reached a trend, many more manufacturers are pulling the plug on the beloved 3 pedal stick for the more “friendly” choice of automatic, in other words, the choice for your average grocery getter, visits to the tanning salons and t
So it is nearing the end of 2016, and it looks like the manual has reached a trend, many more manufacturers are pulling the plug on the beloved 3 pedal stick for the more “friendly” choice of automatic, in other words, the choice for your average grocery getter, visits to the tanning salons and the choice for rolling up to your local vegan joint. But that’s not what this article is about, it is here to celebrate the 3 pedal stick, the holy grail of the petrol head, The manual transmission
Okay, so for us petrol heads, the only thing more satisfying than a nice, clean, upshift is a nice clean downshift whether it is just a rev match or a heel toe, there is just a satisfaction when you go into the next gear whether it is higher or lower and have it go in like a hot knife through butter, but it is quite satisfying, literally the equivalent of every satisfying thing put together into one.
With more and more manufacturers pulling the plug on the beloved manual and going with the auto, or the performance equivalent, the dual clutch. The manual is still there raising it’s flag like the true champ that it is, many performance cars only come in with the manual option, including the Doge Viper
….I mean the Dodge Viper ACR, which currently holds 13 Major track records for production cars, beating the P1 and the 918, Manual win much?
Driving a manual provides a satisfaction like no other, especially when all the techniques are done right and in a fashionable manner. Simply rowing through the gears like a dummy chump won’t do you any good unless you have some finesse and not be like this guy
If done right you would look like this
But feel quite like this….
Truth is, if your face doesn’t look like this while you’re driving, it is most likely that you are driving the wrong car, by that i mean you are driving an automatic.
And not to mention, it is the safest way to make sure that your car won’t get stolen, if you live in the states, where only the highest class of car thieves know how to drive it, and not to mention, if you get car jacked, there’s a high chance they’ll stall the car, giving you a chance to save your pride and joy from being driven like a race car by someone other than you.
Not to mention that you won’t have a bae, but that’s okay because you’ll be too busy rowing through the gears to remember anyone anyways.
Bottom line, drive a manual, as soon as you can, because if you have any interest, any real interest in cars, you would fall in love with it like all of us have.
Comments
What about DSG? You can actually enjoy DSGs
This post made me so sad :-( I have not reached a point in life so i can afford a new nice car, but this kind of “trend” makes me not want one. Electronics in modern cars have taken over for the most part with some exceptions. Wich leaves us true petrol heads with options like go rare or go old, wich in either case usualy means more expensive. Filtering away all the lemons and the boring ones leaves us with not many excitig choises in the world of affordable cars.
In my country automatic transmissions were always seen on imported Cars from The us or europe and as a luxury option. Nowadays they are more common and can equip modest cars. I cannot afford a decent ride nor any other different from a DD, and The only automatic vehicles i can afford have The classic slow not sporty torque converter transmission (no double clutch/cvt/etc). So i got a manual and really enjoy it, feels so good when you downshift just right.
PS: here thieves cant stole your car if it is automatic hahaha
Hello. Manual is a manual. But there are some very good autos as well. I have both, and there are rubbish manuals as well as awesome autos. Each gearbox has his particular manner of driving. If is an American binary converter gearbox available in 99.9% of all American cars, they´re rubbish. A good double clutch is very satisfying as well.
Been there, done that, over it. Out of the 25 cars I’ve had, 8 or 9 of them were manuals (including a 330bhp Twin Turbo Supra Mk. IV) and although they feel great on empty windy roads, the rest of the time they suck. They suck when stuck in traffic where you’re moving 10 feet every 20 seconds. They suck when you’d rather keep both hands on the wheel. They suck in performance terms (show me a current car offered in manual and automatic where the manual is quicker). I agree that the 20th century automatics were boring slush-boxes, but that’s no longer true.
My last manual was a Porsche Boxster that I sold in 2000 and it’s the last manual daily driver that I’ll ever have. Gimme the pleasure of fast shifts, that are perfect every time, and keeping both hands on the wheel at all times for the win.
It’s not that I can’t “drive stick”, it’s that I’ve done that and there’s a better way now. I also don’t want wind-up windows, no air-con, an unreliable engine, crappy brakes, and rust … the things that we had to put up with in the previous century, along with manual gearboxes.
Really show me a dct that’s any substantial amount faster than the manual… I believe the new VW GTI has the exact same 0 to 60 time for the dual clutch and manual… Manuals are getting better too. Reading your post made me think you never knew how to drive stick very well. I don’t ever think about it unless I’m driving spirited. If I’m in traffic I stop and go mindlessly just like everyone else. It’s not any harder for me in a manual than an automatic… Don’t know why anyone would think that. Again manuals are getting better to… The difference is I maintain more focus on my driving usually, it’s a lot less boring if I want it to be, driving manual is just the best. Sure if you had tons of horsepower you might want an auto.. But honestly for any road driving in a daily type car you gotta have a manual to keep it interesting..
The argument here is not that a manual performs better than an automatic. We all know that dct is faster and automatics perform better but there is a joy that is hard to describe when driving a manual. It’s not about performance, it’s about engagement.
I think CT user James Cavalleri said it best: “The argument here is not that a manual performs better than an automatic. We all know that dct is faster and automatics perform better but there is a joy that is hard to describe when driving a manual. It’s not about performance, it’s about engagement.”
Excellent write up!
I feel like all this going on about is like the automotive equivalent of reading for teen girls.
“Wow, you can read!? Congrats. Unbelievable! Nobody else can, you are the only one” haha
I get that in America manuals are quite rare. But reading this from Australia, where literally everyone from a 16 year old girl, to petrol heads, to the elderly can drive a manual. It just seems silly to go on about them like they’re this rare and special thing
Epic post, thank you! And wow, Doge Viper -such power, many racing!