How many stick shift drivers do we have?

[glennc]

My '03 50th Anniversary Special Edition C5 Corvette w/6-speed manual...what a blast. Grew-up driving 60's 4-speed muscle cars back in the day.

 

[jfrey123]

Me. Been driving stick since I was like 8 years old. Every vehicle since my second has been a stick. I enjoy the control over the vehicle and the thrill of banging through the gears.

 

[titanNV]

Sweet vehicle.

After I buy a swimming pool, build and sell another house, and have a bunch of cash in the bank - I'll have to get me one of them!

 

[bigx5murf]

I have a 2004 turbo miata 6speed I daily drove for years. It's been sitting for awhile though. I wished stick shift pickup trucks were still a thing. But with even high performance cars dropping the stick shift option, the future looks bleak for manuals.

 

[NYECOGunsmith]

Have always had and driven a stick, prefer it to an auto for fun and versatility. Grew up driving an old Allison Chalmers semi converted to a ranch truck , with 32 forward gears and 8 reverse gears thanks to the combination of the transmission, brownie box (auxiliary gear box behind the transmission) and 2 speed differential. Lots of fun going down the road, steering with your knees alternately (whichever one wasn't being used at the moment to press the clutch or gas pedal!) with a gear shift in each hand (three gear shift levers total, as the 2 speed differential had a mechanical shifter on it, not electric like later ones) split shifting it to get a heavy load up to speed with only a 56 Horsepower engine pulling it.
Today only that old Trans Am of mine has a manual in it, it's still fun to drive.

 

[scarecrowX52]

Learned to drive on a stick. First two cars I owned were auto, then a three on the tree, then one more auto that didn't last very long, nothing but five speed manual ever since.

 

[bigx5murf]

Anyone else notice some of the few newer cars that still come in manual have an auto rev match on down shift feature?

 

[pick_six]

there was an article out recently that a car thief was thwarted by a stick shift. whooda thunk it to be an anti-theft device.

the first 5 cars i drove regularly were manual, 4 sticks and 1 tree. not bad, but for city driving, not preferred these days.

dad had 2 bad knees and f100/3tree back in the day, and it was like a workout for him living in the city. he was much better on the open road.

 

[jfrey123]

I have a 2004 turbo miata 6speed I daily drove for years. It's been sitting for awhile though. I wished stick shift pickup trucks were still a thing. But with even high performance cars dropping the stick shift option, the future looks bleak for manuals.

Nissan for sure, and I think Toyota, still offer a manual on the midsize trucks. I think itms a travesty so many of the manufacturers are dropping them in the USA, because amongst almost all models (cars and trucks both) over seas they offer manuals.

 

[Gullwing]

Dads car has a manual transmission, but it is automatically shifted.

Performance cars are going to dual clutch autos because they can (poop) quicker than any manual. Can now get 0 to 60 a few tenths quicker.

 

[bigx5murf]

Nissan for sure, and I think Toyota, still offer a manual on the midsize trucks. I think itms a travesty so many of the manufacturers are dropping them in the USA, because amongst almost all models (cars and trucks both) over seas they offer manuals.

My last truck was a 2015 Nissan frontier. Yes I recall they did have a manuals available, but it was very limited in which configurations you could get it in. and no dealer will ever have it on the lot, so you'll be paying to have it delivered from across the country. I had the crew cab sv, with extended bed, and I believe I could only get a manual if I gave up the extended bed, which I wanted more. I just got a Titan XD last year, and no manual at all. I don't think the current toyota pickups offer a manual at all either.

 

[Rem222]

I belong to the club... 72 SS 4Speed

 

[jfrey123]

My last truck was a 2015 Nissan frontier. Yes I recall they did have a manuals available, but it was very limited in which configurations you could get it in. and no dealer will ever have it on the lot, so you'll be paying to have it delivered from across the country. I had the crew cab sv, with extended bed, and I believe I could only get a manual if I gave up the extended bed, which I wanted more. I just got a Titan XD last year, and no manual at all. I don't think the current toyota pickups offer a manual at all either.

Toyota does still offer some manual Tacos, but like you mentioned with Nissan it depends on the configuration.

 

[Earthquake]

I took my driving test in 1979 in my Sister's Chevy Luv pickup with a stick. It was either that or a 78 Ford F250 4x4 with a stick.

 

[titanNV]

I could be wrong, but, unless something changed with the newest generation of Titans, they were only available with auto trans.
I had a 4 banger Frontier, brand new, for about 6 months before trading it in on my first Titan. Hated driving it in traffic, being a stick. Of course that only happened when I had to go to east California (aka Vegas!)

 

[MAC702]

I'm FINALLY back in a stick shift. They are especially hard to find in the big pickups anymore. But, ironically, now the automatic transmissions can actually transmit more power and are finally better at pulling heavy. That said, I still jumped on a stick shift when I found it.
2017 Ram 3500 Laramie 4x4 with the 6-speed Mercedes G56 xmission. In one year, I've put 40k miles on it.

I sold my 4-speed 1974 Jeep CJ5 last year. But I still have my 1961 Ford Ranchero with its 4-speed Toploader xmission. And the 5-speed Buell motorcycle counts, too, right?

 

[Just an Average Joe]

I have a 2004 turbo miata 6speed I daily drove for years. It's been sitting for awhile though. I wished stick shift pickup trucks were still a thing. But with even high performance cars dropping the stick shift option, the future looks bleak for manuals.

Miatas are fun to drive, but could never get past the "chick car" thing.



If I lived someplace with lots of curvy roads, like back east, or even CA, it would be a fun car, but for our mostly straight streets and freeway driving the car seems underpowered. Always wished they would find a way to bump the power up to S2000 levels or better. Surprised it never happened.



Did you get the turbo installed here in Vegas? How much HP is your car running?

 

[LASCHRIS]

I learned to drive the farm truck. 1950's ford 3 speed on the column. 3 on the tree. That truck could go anywhere, do anything.

 

[Fogie]

Motors are making too much power for the average driver to handle without killing clutches.
Four-bangers making almost 300hp..Crazy.

 

[DonTom]

I will drive anything.

Lately, mostly my elctric motorcycle with no clutch, no transmission of any type.

I took it here on my RV on a cycle ramp on the hitch. Very handy.

-Don- Flagstaff, AZ (on RV trip to get away from the smoke in both Reno, NV and Auburn, CA, )