My daughter is 16 and got her license in January. I taught her how to drive on a manual and she picked it up really quickly. Proud of my kiddo and glad she has the knowledge of how a stick works. That said, she prefers driving an automatic. Maybe that will change when it gets slick out.
We’ve taught each of our kids (3 of 4 driving so far) how to drive a stick. They can all do it, but only one of them prefers it. The other two would rather drive autos. I don’t care what it is as long as they know how...
That said, manuals are not as prevalent as they were 20-30 years ago. I think it is a valuable skill, but not worthy of being “mandatory” like it used to be.
I taught my 16 daughter to drive a manual. She didn't enjoy it so we bought her a automatic, but she at least knows how to drive one if she ever has the need.
I have a manual tranny in my '14 Tacoma. After 100k miles it has 5mm remaining on the front brake pads. If I'm the only owner and remain the primary driver, the rear shoes will last the life of the vehicle.
My commuter car is a Mazda Protege that's a manual. Told my daughters that they were at least going to know how to drive it. My oldest got the idea pretty quick but she doesn't like it and said " they don't make those anymore so why do I have to learn!". Getting to be a true statement but she now knows. Probably will go out with the younger one in a few months...knowing her, she will probably like it.
When you get new truck drivers out of truck school a lot of them don't know how to drive a stick, it seems like they are only teaching them on autos. Sad...
I have heard that now when you apply for a CDL that it must state on the license if you are only allowed to drive automatics or a stick. Don’t know if that’s true but I do not doubt it. A lot of fleets are automatic only.
If you think being unable to drive with a manual transmission is a sign of the times, try asking an 8-year-old to sign his or her name.
Signature? What's that?
My 8 year old writes drafts of her daily 2 page story in cursive. She's been signing her name in cursive since she was about 4 in preschool. She didn't learn that in school.
Don, congratulations on your young one knowing cursive! We ask all shooters at our county range to print their name and sign in. Most look at the parents for guidance on what "signing in" means -- and then just print their name again.
I had a 2000 F150 and the ignition was so worn out I'd just pull the key and leave it running. The clutch was touchy and figured almost no one could drive a stick anyways...
Stick shift. My ex really liked sticks and she wanted an IROC. So I bought a used IROC with slush and replaced the 305 with a mild 400 and a Richmond 5 speed. She did pretty good with it but would step on the clutch and roll to a stop from 30, 40, 50, didn't matter. Just never understood using engine compression to assist braking much less downshifting. :doh: Every time I tried to explain the concept she told me she knew how to drive a stick - she taught herself. I'd tell her she had a bad teacher. And the fight was on!
In Shanghai, the city buses are stick shift. In fact, most of the cars are stick too. But everyone there short shifts. I do believe some of those vehicles get worn out and never get over 1500 RPM. The city buses will go though an intersection and often get into 3rd, sometimes even 4th, before they exit it. Grates my soul to hear lugging motors.
A couple exes back thought an MG Midget was a cute little car. Most worthless piece of junk I ever owned. That was when we were living in Bend and I was driving for Shoemaker out of Boise. Well, she drove over to get me and lost the hydraulic slave for the clutch. What did she do? Start in gear and float gears. Kill it at a stop, then start back up in gear. When we got that junker home I fixed the clutch. Hated that car.
Never drove for Montfort or even hauled their meat either. Those guys were crazy but they sure looked good doing it. Like you, I got to see and do a lot of things many people do not see. I’m glad I did it but I’m happy it is over too.
Gotta love Hurst shifters with that Muncie. The one I had in the Nova was an in-line kind of thing. 2nd to 3rd, just shift forward, no need to find the neutral notch and slide it over to find the #3 hole. Pretty slick.
Running with Shoemaker in the mid-70s when they bought a bunch of new Mack cabovers with 350 fuel squeezers and 5 speeds. One of the most comfortable trucks I ever drove. Good suspension seats and A/C that actually cooled the whole cab. Pretty quiet, too. But that fuel squeezer was cut so far back you had to drop a gear at the sight of a slight hill. Or over pass.
It was OK on the flat ground in the prairie states, but nearly as bad as that Cummins 220NA I drove a couple trips out here with real hills. It had a power band from 1,000 RPM to about 2,100 PM. You'd drop over a thousand RPM between gears. If you were pulling any kind of grade you couldn't upshift until you got over the crest. Even on flat ground it would lug until it eventually made it to 1,200 RPM before you could feel it accelerate. A little. It ran empty like a real truck loaded. :doh:
Ironically my next wife's brother was a muckie-muck with Mack. He was the trouble shooter that got sent to dealerships around the county straightening out problems. Nice guy.
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