Who Here Can't Operate A Standard Shift Vehicle?

[Mowingmaniac 24/7]

I was surprised to learn my Granddaughters can't.

Vehicle has to be an automatic drive or no go...

How about you and yours?

Can you operate a standard shift vehicle?

Can your wife or kids or Grand-kids?

PS, my wife could NOT catch on how to operate a standard shift no matter how much I yelled at her...no, I didn't, but gently letting out the clutch while simultaneously applying pressure to the accelerator was something she just couldn't do...

Also, wonder if car makers still make standard cars/pickups?

PS, it's OK, if you don't know how to drive a stick shift...maybe you never had the chance...?

 

[ZX9RCAM]

Was driving standard at age 6 or 7.

ETA: That might not be true.

It was an old jeep, and can't remember how old I was when I could reach the pedals.

 

[PUCKER]

We own the last generation of Corvette's that were available with a stick, 2017 Z06 7-speed manual. I'd like to get a new C8 but the wifey refuses to sell the Z06, she likes the stick!

Yes, there are a few, very few though, sticks still available new. One of them is on my possible's list - 2024 Caddy CT5-V Blackwing, 668 HP and 659 lb.-ft. of torque. For reference, my Z06 is 650/650.

 

[crystalphoto]

I was married to my first wife several years before we bought a vehicle with an automatic transmission... Most of our cars were British sports cars.

 

[kbaxter60]

First drive was a '23 Model T. My dad would not buy automatics, as he saw it as one more thing to go wrong. He was proved right when we owned a Taurus.

 

[robertc1024]

4 out of 5 in our family can drive standards. I daily drive one - Mazda MX-5.

 

[Lead Belly]

Standard transmission is anti-theft device.

 

[Tnhawk]

All of my family members can operate s standard transmission. If it had been available, all of my vehicles would have been purchased with it.

 

[jmohme]

In 2008, my sold her motorcycle and wanted a convertible. I hate rag tops so we found her a Miata with a retractable hard top and manual transmission.
When we showed it to my daughter.

Her: "why did you get it with a stick shift?"
Me: "Can you drive a stick?"
Her: "Touche"

 

[wakosama]

My 2016 Kia Soul; had 12000 less miles, was 1+ year newer; it was also $2200 cheaper because of the 6 speed. who cares if they don't want to learn stick.

 

[PUCKER]

My 2016 Kia Soul; had 12000 less miles, was 1+ year newer; it was also $2200 cheaper because of the 6 speed. who cares if they don't want to learn stick.

You raise a great point - sticks are cheaper! Sometimes by a MASSIVE amount!

 

[fordw60s]

Always had a stick since I could drive. Started when I could reach the pedals on our old John Deere 950 from grandpa. Maybe around 8-10 years old. Then started on a 3 on the tree GMC truck. First automatic is my F350 idi that was given to me. Once I can I'm switching to a zf 5 speed when I can.

 

[popsgarland]

Drove my 1st stick shift at the age of 14. It was a 1950 ford. took my drivers test in a 57 Chevy, 3 on the tree.

ETA..I can still drive a stick shift.

 

[TX oddball]

4 out of 5 in our family can drive standards. I daily drive one - Mazda MX-5.

My wife, my son, and I all drive stick with three pedals on the floor.

And I too drive an MX-5, a 2022 RF Club. Manual of course.

 

[PUCKER]

Also - on the racing front - even with the advent of paddle shifting / PDK, there are still racing series that build new cars that use stick, albeit dog boxes - which are FANTSTIC - you only need the clutch for starting / stopping, you blip throttle on the downshifts:
-NASCAR (Cup uses sequential, XFINITY and Trucks use 4-speed, Andrews gearbox is one of them)
-TransAm (TA2 class use 4 speed, Andrews is very popular, what I used, the TA1 cars typically are Hewland sequential boxes)

 

[Shady]

come on over I will let them learn on my tractor

 

[dsgrey]

Learned on a stick and drove a stick until 2016. I'm older and it became a hassle in commuting traffic. My wife learned sometime before we started dating around 40 years ago.

Kids are another story. Son in mid-30s learned when I sold him my stick car back when he was around 20yo. My daughters in mid-20s and early 30s couldn't drive a stick to save their lives. I offered but they never wanted to learn.

Finding sticks can be hard. My last cheap commuter car I wanted with a stick was a Ford but no dealerships had stcks. Of course Ford & Mazda had joint ventures back then and I found the Mazda version of the car with a stick. Funny since I remember the 70's invasion of the cheap Japanese cars when everything was a stick. It wasn't easy to find an automatic in most models plus an auto would add $500 to that $6k price tag.

 

[Jakashh]

Instead of teaching people to give gas while letting out the clutch, I tell them to let out the clutch til you can feel that the car may move a tiny bit on its own power and then begin to lightly give gas while letting the clutch out slowly.

I find that just telling them to give gas while letting the clutch out leads to them over revving way too high and then having a harsh takeoff from first once the clutch catches.

4 out of 5 in our family can drive standards. I daily drive one - Mazda MX-5.

I miss my 2018 MX-5 every day.

 

[msharley]

This gets regular usage....

460cid. 4spd (1st being "granny")...

4:10 gear...

 

[TXAZ]

I made all of our kids learn on a stick.