Why I Like Driving Manual

For over a year now (since mid 2016 – so obviously don’t expect any tips from me) I’ve been driving manual transmission cars only, and it’s been so enjoyable for me. Here’s why I like driving manual, why I do it, and some of my perceived benefits.IT’S FUNThere’s reason number one, in an automatic all you do is press the gas pedal and go. In a manual car you need to work with the clutch, gas, upshifting, and my favorite part – downshifting. There’s like 4x as many things to do which I enjoy doing so it’s way more fun to drive manual.Depending on what vehicle you’re driving, you can drive more efficiently!I drive mostly older vehicles, because they’re cheap, and because “they don’t make em like they used to”… Kidding but not kidding, my current car is a 2002 Volkswagen TDI which I selected specifically for the super efficient 1.9L turbo diesel engine with a mechanical injection pump. This car came with either an automatic (it sucks) or a 5 speed manual transmission (it rocks). You have a hard time getting 30mpg in the automatic yet the manual can pull 40-50 with ease. This is due to an inefficient torque converter and poor gearing – oh and the thing blows up at 150k miles too. The bottom line is when driving manual YOU select the gears, and if you can do a better job than the automatic transmission option then you can save money on fuel… and also rip it into 3rd at high RPM as well so there’s that.In more recent cars with CVT’s and DSG’s the transmissions are often more efficient than even the best manual driver, so there is that to consider if you’re making your decision based purely on fuel efficiency. HOWEVER base models often come with the manual trans and could save you a few thousand dollars, which the slight difference in fuel economy would take years to pay off if you select the more efficient automatic transmission.I like the challenge and love improving at driving manualSome people will pick up on learning to drive manual faster than others – in my opinion it’s ideal to start learning how to drive on a manual car rather than an automatic. It will stick with you forever and I think it makes people better drivers to know how to drive standard.For me I did most of my learning solo, through YouTube videos and reading forums. I was terrible at first but over time I learned more about my car, my timings improved, and I practiced practiced practiced. I consider myself fairly competent after driving stick for a year but there is always room to improve – especially considering that if I’m tired or near the end of a road trip sometimes my shift quality suffers. That means I can further develop my muscle memory and really nail down my technique to be near flawless all the time.I still practice to this day, heading out during the evening at say 9 or 10pm to work on something specific is a nice way to end the day, off of the computer screen and away from the phone. I’ll practice my 3 to 2 downshift, or my 1-2 shift as in my opinion those are the most difficult parts of driving manual and if you can nail those you’re set.I’d rather replace a clutch than an entire transmissionClutches are a few hundred dollars, transmissions are expensive! Like I said I drive older vehicles so I’d rather have to do a clutch job rather than replace an entire automatic transmission or have it rebuilt. I plan on getting an older 3/4ton diesel truck like a Ram 2500 or F-250 and ideally I’d like it to be a manual transmission because IF something goes wrong with the transmission I’d much rather do a clutch. Besides it’s way more fun like I said! And a lot of the older manual transmissions were rated to tow more than the overdrive automatics that went in the old Dodge and Ford trucks. And again like I mentioned the experienced manual driver can be more efficient than some of the older automatic transmissions – and this could be more specifically applied to towing situations where you want to be in full control of what gear you’re in vs letting an automatic decide.Those are the big main reasons why I love driving manual – here’s another little list of reasons/benefits I can come up with, but they don’t quite warrant their entire section.You might need to know how to drive a manual trans. car in an emergency situationIt’s fun to be able to teach your friends and family a new skillIn a turbo diesel if you ever had a runaway situation you can stall out the engineIt makes you drive properly in traffic to try to maintain momentum instead of how some people ram up each others asses as soon as they have any space in front of themDownsides of Driving ManualAnd of course there are some downsides to driving manual – here are a few of my negatives to consider, although there are not many.After a long road trip with the cruise control on, you might not be the best shifter in the world pulling into your destination with a left leg that fell asleep.If you’re tired in the morning, could encounter the same thing of clunky-shifting due to being tired/sleepyIt’s annoying as shit in traffic because everyone gasses it as soon as there is space, and you want to conserve your momentum and not be braking, clutching, neutral, clutching, gearing every 5 secondsIn the winter (I'm from Canada yo), depending on what transmission fluid you use your trans could be notchy/difficult to shift for the first few minutes. I swapped to a 75w80 instead of the 75w90 to alleviate this issue and also hopefully gain 1% fuel economy (lol).If you need a designated driver, not everyone can drive your car.If you ever had a left leg or hand injury you might not be able to drive where in an automatic all you need is your right foot and one hand.Those are some things to consider – but overall are not deal breakers for me. I work from home so I’m not often stuck in traffic and the home stretch of a road trip is a time for me to really focus on my shifting and make sure I nail my shifts even when I’m tired – it’s a welcome challenge.Overall I love driving manual. I hope to be able to drive manual for a long time. I love driving different makes of cars to see how they shift, and I’m interested in driving some super cars with manual shift as well. If you’ve never tried it before I encourage you to find someone you know who has a manual trans car and ask if you can go for a drive! Don’t be shy it’s not too hard to pick up some basics around the parking lot – getting moving is the hardest part.Full post with images of my trusty vtroubleu. via /r/cars http://ift.tt/2tKB3iX