# Stick or Auto?



## Leroy77

Fun little question here: Do you prefer stick or automatic transmission, and why? 

I drive automatics myself simply because most cars nowadays come standard with them and it just worked out my cars always had automatics. The only time I drove stick is when my cousin's dad let me use one of the multiple older vehicles he always seems to have sitting around for 3 or 4 days while my mercury was broken down. It was a Ford Mustang T-Top. (Circa 1980's with a 4 cylinder, nothing to drool over. lol)


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## Mullet Man

I prefer the automatic because I am a lazy American!

Manual is fun though.


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## UpFromMyDown

Definately a Stick


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## sinclair_tm

depends, in bad rush hour traffic, stick is a pain, as well as very hilly places. the rest of the time its a blast. i love driving stick, but both my cars are auto's.:4-dontkno


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## crazijoe

I usually prefer sticks because of the control you have. All my daily drivers are sticks. Even my haul vehicle, '80 Chevy Van 350 with a 3 on the tree.


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## yustr

I drive a 99 Subaru Lagacy with 5 Speed manual. On one hand I love the control the manual gives me. And I can pretend its a Ferrari. But on the other, after nearly 100K miles there are plenty of times where I long for an automatic. 

And, when I drive my other car I feel silly reaching for the clutch pedal and gear shift that aren't there. :laugh: 

Does anyone drive one of the new auto-shift cars - where you can do either? It sounds like a gimic to me. That's they're fun for the first few weeks then you just put it in D and forget the shifting capability is there. But am curious.


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## bry623

yustr said:


> I drive a 99 Subaru Lagacy with 5 Speed manual. On one hand I love the control the manual gives me. And I can pretend its a Ferrari. But on the other, after nearly 100K miles there are plenty of times where I long for an automatic.
> 
> And, when I drive my other car I feel silly reaching for the clutch pedal and gear shift that aren't there. :laugh:
> 
> Does anyone drive one of the new auto-shift cars - where you can do either? It sounds like a gimic to me. That's they're fun for the first few weeks then you just put it in D and forget the shifting capability is there. But am curious.



I prefer the stick because I like the control it gives me in the winter. DOWNSHIFT!!!!!!

That is so funny yustr, my wif is constantly telling me that the van only has 2 pedals!


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## Monterey Jack

Manuals only. Less maintnance, less things to go wrong, can bump start with a dead battery, tows better and more fun in snow.


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## NovaRod

Overall I prefer Automatic for the reasons described in previous posts, plus if you race quarter mile, you can better your time and be more consistant with an automatic because you can put a converter on that will stall at the rpm where your power is and bring your engine up to the powerband you want quicker.

I do have a 5-speed Civic that I enjoy driving. The manual seems to interface with humans better and gives me more control when driving.

NovaRod


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## Lectraplayer

I have a preference for the stick, though I like my Taurus fairly well and probably will drive it until it's a beater. :wink: However, there are many times in which I wish I had an in-between-Drive-and-1 (where's that 2? :4-dontkno ) so as I can power-brake it down. The way I drive is better suited for a stick, as I use the engine heavily (and not just for acceleration either! :tongue: ). ...that and going through the gears is more fun with a manual. :grin:


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## Rod_N

yustr said:


> Does anyone drive one of the new auto-shift cars - where you can do either? It sounds like a gimic to me. That's they're fun for the first few weeks then you just put it in D and forget the shifting capability is there. But am curious.


This new toy of mine is a little interesting :wink: 
The right hand gate is normal auto, and the left hand one for gears 2 through 5 (with 6 as the "D" position). So you can actually treat it like a manual, but without a clutch.

And it starts to get really interesting when you press that little "S" button :grin:


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## crazijoe

NovaRod said:


> Overall I prefer Automatic for the reasons described in previous posts, plus if you race quarter mile, you can better your time and be more consistant with an automatic because you can put a converter on that will stall at the rpm where your power is and bring your engine up to the powerband you want quicker.


I guess it really depends what type of racing you would do in this matter. Drags, yes, auto would be benificial. Especially with a healthy stall and a transbrake. However if you do look at the pro-stock cars they do use sticks.
But if you look at all the other racing, they are all sticks. What is cool are the fully syncronized stick transmissions they use in the Rally and F1 circut. Shift on the fly with no clutch.

Ok, let's see if there are any gearheads that can show their age. Does any one remember the Fairbanks turbo clutch or clutchflight transmissions?


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## Lectraplayer

crazijoe said:


> Ok, let's see if there are any gearheads that can show their age. Does any one remember the Fairbanks turbo clutch or clutchflight transmissions?


While I'm not one of these people, I have heard that during this time VW had some type of sports-shifter of their own that they would occasionally drop into a VW Beetle. Has anyone seen such an object? I know some of the older cars, I've heard about (the Nissans included), you still had the clutch, but once you got rolling in first, you could barely (as in accidentally) bump the gearshift and it would shift to the next higher gear. Could this be your clutchflight transmission? :4-dontkno


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## V0lt

I pleaded with my dad to get a stick in our new Jetta, but at the last minute he got the automatic because my mom doesn't want a stick and my brother was being a girl about it. It has the tiptronic system, which I use all the time, but it's just not the same as a stick, and it sure doesn't have the same feel to it.


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## crazijoe

Lectraplayer said:


> While I'm not one of these people, I have heard that during this time VW had some type of sports-shifter of their own that they would occasionally drop into a VW Beetle. Has anyone seen such an object? I know some of the older cars, I've heard about (the Nissans included), you still had the clutch, but once you got rolling in first, you could barely (as in accidentally) bump the gearshift and it would shift to the next higher gear. Could this be your clutchflight transmission? :4-dontkno


I do remember the VWs. The called them Semi-automatics. A buddy of mine had one in high school. 
Back in the 70s a company, Fairbanks Racing Automatics (used to be well known, like B&M. Till this day I still prefer Fairbanks shiftkits over B&M) they used to make Turbo Clutch and ClutchFlight transmissions. They would take a GM Turbo 400 or TorqueFlight 727 transmission and whack off the bell housing. They would modify them so you could bolt up a manual trans bell housing and modify the input shaft for a clutch. The fluid coupling, also known as the torque convertor, was replaced with a clutch. You would start out with the clutch, but the automatic would take over to shift from 1st to 2nd and 2nd to 3rd.


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## bandit109

I Like Auto Trans For The Everyday Stuff, But I Had A Souped Up 94 Camaro That Was A Stick ----- Thats The Only Way I'd Have Another Sports Car !!!!


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## V0lt

Just drove my friend's '87 BMW convertible, which has a 5-speed. I did pretty well, except that when I went into reverse, even though I let off the clutch really slowly, it stalled because it was on some crusted snow and didn't have enough power to make it over it.


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## Lectraplayer

Fox said:


> Just drove my friend's '87 BMW convertible, which has a 5-speed. I did pretty well, except that when I went into reverse, even though I let off the clutch really slowly, it stalled because it was on some crusted snow and didn't have enough power to make it over it.


Just need some practice, and a few more RPM's. :grin: ...of course, I learned to drive on a stick, and here in Alabama, we get no snow, and should I need to drive a stick on snow (or an auto for that matter), I would likely end up as twisted metal. 

btw: do you still play Star Fox? I loved that game!:wink:


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## V0lt

I drove that car on the road on friday- I stalled it so many times coming off a stop sign, only to realize that I had put it in not first, but third gear :dead: 

Actually, I've only played starfox in an emulator... and I didn't play it for very long. In fact, my username really doesn't have a whole lot to do with the game; I just think foxes are cool.


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## sinclair_tm

so who knows how to slip shift? i love doing it to people that have no clue that it can be done, and they freak out when you are shifting w/out the clutch. the only man trans equiped car that i haven't slipped in was a brand new (03) zo6 vette. buy the time you get the rpms where you can do it, your doing around 50mph, and the computer is forcing 1st to 4th shift. that and it locks the gates unless the clutch is pressed.


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## Lectraplayer

Fox said:


> I drove that car on the road on friday- I stalled it so many times coming off a stop sign, only to realize that I had put it in not first, but third gear :dead:
> 
> Actually, I've only played starfox in an emulator... and I didn't play it for very long. In fact, my username really doesn't have a whole lot to do with the game; I just think foxes are cool.


You can come off a stop sign in third *if* you're good. It's hard and takes forever to accelerate up to where 3'rd gives you decent acceleration, but it can be done. I've done it with my '87 Stanza. :grin:

I also think foxes are pretty cool, and I have played the crap out of the original Star Fox. Strangely, I have never gotten it working right in an emu. :4-dontkno I gotta bust it out again. :grin:

Also, have you had a fox actually bark at you? I have--twice!:wink:


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## V0lt

> You can come off a stop sign in third if you're good. It's hard and takes forever to accelerate up to where 3'rd gives you decent acceleration, but it can be done. I've done it with my '87 Stanza.
> 
> I also think foxes are pretty cool, and I have played the crap out of the original Star Fox. Strangely, I have never gotten it working right in an emu. I gotta bust it out again.
> 
> Also, have you had a fox actually bark at you? I have--twice!


Yeah, it was a mixture of no skill, and the fact that I hardly gave it any gas to begin with. 

Never had a fox bark at me (I hear it's more of a "yip"; my uncle says that some of them actually sound like a human screaming at night), but one day we were driving into town and all of the sudden on a curve there was this fox keeping the pace with our minivan. It must have been doing like 35, it was ridiculous. And another time there was one just sitting in a field when my mom drove my bro and I to school.


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## Lectraplayer

The one I had bark at me sounded more like a hoarse chiuaua, and this was at my house--twice. One time, he saw me in a window as I went on the computer, started barking, and it took me several barks to figure out where the noise was coming from. I even went outside, where he barked at me again. When I saw him, I went back in, got some old rolls, and threw out to him. I was supprised that he didn't run. This was at sunset. Another day, I was carrying something to my car (other end of the house) during broad daylight and the same fox barked at me as I was putting the item in the car. There was only about 10 yards in between us then and that thing was as long as a big whitetail deer! ...and yes, I bet that a fox can move pretty fast. A deer can hit 35 pretty easily as well.


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## The Beef

I infinitely prefer stick-shifts. I've got a 1986 Porsche 944 with a manual transmission and the driving experience is simply so much more involved and exciting when you're in control of the gears. Autos are easier, yes, but boring.


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## V0lt

I dunno about boring; today I stuck our minivan in neutral, revved it up to about 5000 RPM and slipped it into drive. It was pretty exciting :laugh:


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## crazijoe

Fox said:


> I dunno about boring; today I stuck our minivan in neutral, revved it up to about 5000 RPM and slipped it into drive. It was pretty exciting :laugh:


That could end up costing you too.


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## V0lt

I think 5000's an exaggeration... and would be pretty close to the redline on that van. I just gave it a little gas and the wheels squeaked is all.


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## EndlessLight

I drive a 350z, 6 speed. I love drifting with it.

Tips: If u wanna try, do it on wet roads, it well save u some tires


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## V0lt

Yeah, you'd think... I drifted on purpose for about 10 seconds in a snow-covered unpaved parking lot. It was fun, I guess...

Only other time my car was sliding sideways was when I e-brake turned into my friend's driveway from a wet dirt road. It was fun, but pretty stupid.


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## ebackhus

Stick. Always.

I drive a 5-speed Taurus SHO and can make that thing haul balls. My dad's selling me his 1974 MG Midget which is 4-speed. I'm not into drifting or racing and I hate ricers. My car is old and repairs are costing more and more for it.


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## bughunta

Remind me never to buy a used car off you please, lol

bug


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## Dodgepu360

crazijoe said:


> Ok, let's see if there are any gearheads that can show their age. Does any one remember the Fairbanks turbo clutch or clutchflight transmissions?


Well, a cluthchflight is a modified Chrysler torqueflight transmission that use a clutch instead of a torque converter 

These were used for drag racing, you could launch the car at what rpm you wanted with the clutch (it was kind of like a variable stall speed converter) and shift it just like a regular automatic with a manual valve body 

With a torque converter you are stuck with what ever stall speed you bought 
but the clutchflight setup is not very reliable which why you don’t see any of them today 

can you guess my age?

My personal favorite is manual transmission because of the control


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## Monterey Jack

sinclair_tm said:


> so who knows how to slip shift? i love doing it to people that have no clue that it can be done, and they freak out when you are shifting w/out the clutch. the only man trans equiped car that i haven't slipped in was a brand new (03) zo6 vette. buy the time you get the rpms where you can do it, your doing around 50mph, and the computer is forcing 1st to 4th shift. that and it locks the gates unless the clutch is pressed.



Actually its called "speed shifting". And that 1-4 skip-shift on vettes (6 spd f-bodies has that also) is easily removed with a $20 part. :grin:


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## alora88

The Stick Shift Auto Racing Simulator is a modification to commercially available steering wheel joystick interfaces for computers. It provides a much more realistic auto racing environment for computer games such as NFS Need For Speed by Electronic Arts), yet requires no special modifications to the computer game. The computer games are very realistic in most respects, but they provide a poor imitation of clutch and stick-shift driving. This simulator add-on involves a simple mechanical modification to the ThrustMaster steering wheel and pedals as well as a true stickshift (the commercial unit just has a cheesy little knob that acts as a stick shift). An 8051 circuit monitors the stickshift, clutch pedal, and throttle; it then controls stick shift and throttle settings based on the current setting and velocity of the clutch and stickshift inputs.


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