For Manual Drivers, I thought this was funny!

I'm 19 and prefer a manual most of the time, but VW's DSG and Audi's S-Tronic work just as well for me.
 
Great thread here.

I drove an automatic until 2007 (no one ever taught me how the drive a manual and I never thought about just learning).

In 2007, I bought a MINI. My husband said I HAD to get one that had a manual transmission. So I did.
Now I can't imagine having a car that's an automatic. I love going through the gears.

It makes me sad that more and more cars are going with the flappy paddles rather than a true manual.

Oh and FYI: the proper shift pattern has the reverse at the top left :cool:
 
Having a "stick" kept my wife from ever driving 'my' truck(s) for over 40 years. But, alas when I got a new truck (04), it was an auto. BUT, she won't drive that...too big. LOL!

Bill
 
DetailKitty said:
........Oh and FYI: the proper shift pattern has the reverse at the top left :cool:
Click to expand...

Score one for me then!

2011-mazda-mazda3-5dr-hb-man-mazdaspeed3-sport-gear-shift_100326693_l.jpg
 
I love to see a discussion like this be so popular.

I'm not as in love with the manual transmission as I used to be...remember 3 of my 4 cars are stick and I just got my new car with one.

I've had the opportunity to drive some excellent automatics as well as automated manuals. The 8 Speed automatic in my A6 is buttery smooth around town, and surprisingly quick shifting when I need it to be, much like the new Jaguar F-Type's. I've driven dual-clutch offerings from Porsche, Audi, VW, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and of late, they've been excellent, far better than any human could ever shift.

The 6 speed in my Porsche is by far the best I've ever driven, and I can shift it ridiculously quickly, as opposed to my Jeep, or even my A4, which require a little bit more deliberation.

Chris Harris had an excellent point in his 991 GT3 video. Coming into a turn with PDK, one can execute the equivalent of two perfect heel-toe downshifts all day long, exit the turn at speed, and up-shift faster than one could with a third pedal, with little to no power loss between shifts.
 
DetailKitty said:
Great thread here.

I drove an automatic until 2007 (no one ever taught me how the drive a manual and I never thought about just learning).

In 2007, I bought a MINI. My husband said I HAD to get one that had a manual transmission. So I did.
Now I can't imagine having a car that's an automatic. I love going through the gears.

It makes me sad that more and more cars are going with the flappy paddles rather than a true manual.

Oh and FYI: the proper shift pattern has the reverse at the top left :cool:
Click to expand...

Glad to hear you took the leap Kitty but I've gotta ask you about the Mini, you said you bought one in 2007, was or is it a 2007 or newer? I had a brand new R56 back in 07' and I hate to say it but it was the biggest POS I've ever owned, recalls, repeated repairs on the same thing and didn't like the cold, literally. The car broke my heart because I loved it, loved everything about the car and ofcoarse I personalized it too, ofcoarse! The 6 spd in that car was great and it had a factory LSD too.

Hey Profits, your post a couple ago couldn't have been more spot on, good stuff right there! The one thing I disagree with though is the seats in a Mazda, 2 of my buddy's have Mazdaspeed 3's and those seats fit right and are comfortable.

Now as far as affordable car manuals go, well my CRZ has a great trans but that goes w/o saying, its a Honda! After moving on from the MINI I had to get a car and ended up in a 2010 Honda Fit sport but it had an autotragic because they couldn't find a manual for me, supposedly, so I took it...only to get out of it a year and a half later and into my CRZ, adding the extra pedal made me VERY happy!

It was brought up about the seats in the Focus ST being sourced from Recaro and I got to drive one and can honestly say they're the best seats I've ever sat in while driving a car! Yet another sub $30k car w/ better seats than a Corvette!

Sent from my SPH-M930 using AG Online
 
Profits said:
If they wanted to, they could just source them from Recaro (they apparently did this in the Ford Focus ST in the European market) :xyxthumbs:
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You can get the Recaro seats in the Focus ST and the Fiesta ST as well here in the US.

rec_fordfocus_st.jpg


fie14_ST_pg_lg_3.jpg


YOu could get Recaro seats in the Cobalt SS at one time:

2136881_15_full.jpg


My seats:
2010-mazdaspeed-3-seats-photo-315268-s-1280x782.jpg


Ignore the cheesy red wave pattern and they are comfortable and well bolstered.........
 
The manuals in the Porsches now are not your average old school manual. They added automatic rev-match down shifts to the CPU which is good, but it takes the away the skill in tracking a manual.
 
Klasse Act said:
Glad to hear you took the leap Kitty but I've gotta ask you about the Mini, you said you bought one in 2007, was or is it a 2007 or newer? I had a brand new R56 back in 07' and I hate to say it but it was the biggest POS I've ever owned, recalls, repeated repairs on the same thing and didn't like the cold, literally. The car broke my heart because I loved it, loved everything about the car and ofcoarse I personalized it too, ofcoarse! The 6 spd in that car was great and it had a factory LSD too.
Click to expand...

HAHA! Sooooooo glad you brought this up.
No, I bought an '03 in 2007. In 2009 I bought the new R56, and like you, HATED it.
I traded that turd for the "Holy Grail" of the MINI world... a late build 2006 :cool:
Tho my R56 wasn't in the shop all the time, I felt it completely lost the soul of the R53.

And to steer this more back to topic, I hated the clutch on the R56. The catch point floated... BMWs "shifting for Dumbies".
 
Glad you got an R53 then, styling wise the R53 is alot nicer on the outside but not on the inside IMO, this is where the R56 shines....atleast it does something good, LOL! When the engine is actually running and w/o problems, the turbo'd 1.6L crushes the blown 1.6L and also crushes it at the gas pump, this is why the car really dissapointed me.

Have you ever driven an original MINI? Old car sticks are so much more mechanical than new cars but I thought driving the old MINI wasn't as bad as you might think, even got to drive a RHD MINI where the pattern is the same but you shift towards you instead of away but its natual when you get in there, trust me!

Hey Kitty, your avatar, I take it your a fellow Dragon Slayer?
 
Long live the manual! :props:


There is just something engaging about driving a manual that I love. :hotrod2:


 
Klasse Act said:
Glad you got an R53 then, styling wise the R53 is alot nicer on the outside but not on the inside IMO, this is where the R56 shines....atleast it does something good, LOL! When the engine is actually running and w/o problems, the turbo'd 1.6L crushes the blown 1.6L and also crushes it at the gas pump, this is why the car really dissapointed me.

Have you ever driven an original MINI? Old car sticks are so much more mechanical than new cars but I thought driving the old MINI wasn't as bad as you might think, even got to drive a RHD MINI where the pattern is the same but you shift towards you instead of away but its natual when you get in there, trust me!

Hey Kitty, your avatar, I take it your a fellow Dragon Slayer?
Click to expand...

I like the R53 better in every way... it's smaller, has better lines and I actually do like the interior better... the seats don't jam your head forward, and it doesn't have a gigantic speedo/stereo in the middle. You can actually replace the head unit easily.

Plus you can get over 300hp out of the R53 without blowing it up Im the MAN

As for mpg.... I've never cared. I live 3 miles from work and drive my car hard, so I get surprisingly low gas mileage :rolleyes:

I've never driven a classic- WANT one in the worst way! RHD would be even better.

And lastly- yes, I am a 3 time Dragon slayer... will be back next year for year 4. My avatar reflects my car- it's named Ryu, which is Japanese for Dragon.

Back on track and something I forgot to add... manual cars are easier to tune and dyno. I'm a bit of a tuner, so :props:
 
DetailKitty said:
.........And lastly- yes, I am a 3 time Dragon slayer... will be back next year for year 4. My avatar reflects my car- it's named Ryu, which is Japanese for Dragon......
Click to expand...

Klasse will be in heaven now. He's a 10X Dragon Slayer (2X myself). He loves that place so much, he's going there for his honeymoon this fall!! Great road for sure! :dblthumb2:
 
All roads lead to the Dragon and are much better with 3 pedals!

Sent from my SPH-M930 using AG Online
 
jayshut11 said:
Chris Harris had an excellent point in his 991 GT3 video. Coming into a turn with PDK, one can execute the equivalent of two perfect heel-toe downshifts all day long, exit the turn at speed, and up-shift faster than one could with a third pedal, with little to no power loss between shifts.
Click to expand...

I still can't get over how awesome that review was.

Did you hear the part where he talks about pulling both paddles and being able to disengage the clutch, so you can re-engage at a higher RPM and snap it around a corner? Pretty awesome...

And... it only has two modes. Sport and Race. :xyxthumbs:
 
Did any of you get the future heel & toe historian blipshift shirt? I picked it up, my Camaro is the first manual car I have bought and taught myself on it. I don't think I'll ever go back.
 
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