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All hail the stickshift! - A website for lovers of the crashbox
We like manual transmissions. We don't like how rare they are these days. Sometimes, we're tempted to act like Stephen Wright and just say "I can't drive automatic." Standard trannies make you feel more in-tune with what the car's doing. Driving is an active passion for us, regardless that everyone else is trying to make it something you do while talking on the phone.While our passion for driving can border on fanaticism at times, the folks at shiftyworld.com have totally fallen into the abyss. Their website is full of heartwarming tales of learning to drive a manual shift, odes to the joy of rowing your own and interviews with race drivers and celebrities. It's chock-full of good stuff. If you become a member, they've even got a tips section and a searchable database of who is still equipping their cars with a good old box full o' cogs.
Thanks to tipster amp!
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
M. 1:59PM (12/21/2006)
You really do not have manual transmissions on your continent?
Funny!
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Proud Japanese 2:05PM (12/21/2006)
In the rest of the world, even grannies drive a manual.
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dl 2:22PM (12/21/2006)
#1. Sad but true. I've been driving 34 years and
have only had manuals.
But, that being said, todays autos are pretty good. I could use a auto right now, I banged my right foot up a
couple of weeks ago, and the on/off of the gas pedal for each shift, hurts like hell.
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Hamud 2:22PM (12/21/2006)
Don't know if this is bad or good, but here in Brazil is very rare to see auto trannies as optional on our cars, most of them come out with manual ones. For me, cars made with good performance should always stick to manual transmission, put the auto as optional, cars made to day-by-day drive (home to work, market, grocery, etc) should have auto tranny as standard and manual as optional. But always offer both, so we can choose.
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Patrick 2:25PM (12/21/2006)
It is a sad state of affairs, indeed, that the average American driver does not even know how to drive a manual, let alone actually prefer one.
Personally, as long as my left leg is functioning, there will always be a third pedal in my cars. However, even if I didn't prefer a manual, the thought of there being cars out there that I couldn't operate if I wanted to would be extremely disheartening. I don't understand why people are so afraid of a proper gearbox in America. It's sad, really.
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rwdmtparkingonly 2:26PM (12/21/2006)
I've had four cars and they've all been rwd stick (240SX(totaled)/318i(have to get around to selling)/MR2 Spyder/Rodeo), that's an incredibly difficult thing to find in this country. A Dodge charger 3.5 with a six speed would be an amazing car, but the US market won't support something like that. I know the US stick purchase rate is way below 10 percent, but I can't believe it's still as high as this chart claims in Europe:
http://shiftyworld.com/industrytrends.aspx
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epp_b 2:31PM (12/21/2006)
["You really do not have manual transmissions on your continent?
Funny!"]
Sad, actually. North Americans are generally too stupid and ignorant to drive manual transmissions as most of them treat driving as way of getting to work while yabbering on their cell phones and eating.
I say all cars should have manual transmissions. They give you an appreciation for how much attention and involvement there should really be in driving a vehicle. If you can't drive a manual, you shouldn't be allowed to drive.
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voodoobru 2:33PM (12/21/2006)
americans barely know how to drive, let alone drive stick. anyway, there is decreasingly little non-subjective reasons to drive stick anymore. gas consumption, shift times, maintenance have all come pretty close to stick and dsg performs even better (same with other clutchless manuals). regardless, i drive stick for the fun of it and don't plan on changing. in the end, it's just for the feeling.
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Patrick 2:36PM (12/21/2006)
#6, have you been to Europe? If you walk down the street and glance into every parked car, you will definitely see that 9 out of 10 cars are manual.
In contrast, here in America, you walk down the street and glance into a row of parked cars and it'd be unusual for you to see more than 1 in 10 cars with a manual.
I can't be the only one who always glances into the center console of cars I walk by to check what the transmission is, and therefore judge the personality of the owner... can I? :)
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Bunker 2:36PM (12/21/2006)
Yeah, the stats showing almost 90% in Europe cars being stick drive is pretty much true cause I've yet to come across an automatic yet. If you do a search of used cars in stock in the UK for example, you'll see it's the exact opposite of the US where most cars are manual.
Personally, a stick is just so much more fun than an automatic.
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Eric L. 4:21PM (12/21/2006)
While I agree that driving a manual is more fun and involving, it is ironic that autoblog posts "we love manuals" when the only two vehicles I've ever seen here that the actual editors own are an old Chevy truck and an old Impala, both automatics.
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tim 2:38PM (12/21/2006)
north americans are lazy, not stupid.
and it's lots easier to put on makeup, talk on a cell, and beat your kids in the back seat with an automatic. :) (i jest, i jest!)
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Paul 2:55PM (12/21/2006)
I think one thing that is missing is that many car manufactures REFUSE to offer manual here... for many its just not an option... i never thought i would drive an automatic but unfortunately the car i found that i liked was one. I wont ever get an auto again but sometimes here manuals are hard to come by.
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rwdmtparkingonly 2:40PM (12/21/2006)
#9, I knew it was historically around 90 percent in Europe, but I thought that paddle shifts, cvts and dsg were knocking that down a bit. That said, I’m glad it is that high in Europe.
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Bob 3:00PM (12/21/2006)
As an American who has never owned an auto tranny, and learned how to drive with a stick (and no power steering!), I will be sad when I bring my grand children to an auto museum and they ask, "What's that third pedal for?"
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JayP 3:04PM (12/21/2006)
Manual Transmission = Theft Deterrent
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Jay 3:07PM (12/21/2006)
#9 (Patrick)--No, you're not the only one. I do the same thing--looking in at the center consoles of cars as I walk past. Some I don't bother--Oldsmobiles, Buicks--in fact, most American cars--but there are some that I look at and say "God, please let it be a stick," like any BMW or Honda, and if it is (rarely), I do a little fist pump and say to myself, "YES! Somebody knows what I'm talkin' about!"
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epp_b 3:15PM (12/21/2006)
["I can't be the only one who always glances into the center console of cars I walk by to check what the transmission is, and therefore judge the personality of the owner... can I? :)"]
Nope - me too!
["Manual Transmission = Theft Deterrent"]
At least in North America ;)
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Riker 3:13PM (12/21/2006)
All bitching and bashing aside, I've been looking for a website like this for ages, thanks for posting about it!
I know my friends and I are in the minority, but we are all Americans and all refuse to own vehicles without stickshifts.
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Dave 5:09PM (12/21/2006)
#16. hahaha i do the same thing. not always a fist pump but i look into bmw's, hondas, and saabs (which i have) to see if they have a stick and if they don't, the word "pussy" usually comes to mind.
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