Ask Men's top 10 reasons why real men drive stick [w/VIDEO]
Real man driving a stick - click above image to watch the video
Yes yes, we're well aware this post will result in screaming matches in the comments between adherents of three pedals and those of you that can't drive stick. Regardless, our pal Justin Kaehler wrote a pretty funny article for Ask Men explaining just why it is that men specifically need to row their own. Here's the first bit of the first reason given, just to give you a taste:
To that we say: exactly right. There are nine more reasons given and you can pretty much read between the lines and guess the number one reason. Pop on over and have a look. We're also including a pretty noisy video of a man making a woman squeal. Save a few expletives, totally safe for work, after the jump.There's a reason we have to suffer the unfunny jokes about how men don't like to relinquish the TV remote: men do enjoy being in control. It goes without saying that most men would rather be the boss than the subordinate. A car with a manual transmission lets the driver be the boss of the car; throttle response will always be immediate, intuitive and easily controlled.
[Source: uk.askmen.com]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 7)
RamblinReck89 8:09PM (9/18/2009)
Case closed. Learn to drive a stick you girly men. And don't give me that "I live in the city" crap. If I can do it in Atlanta traffic, you can do it anywhere.
Reply
the4thheat 8:31PM (9/18/2009)
Sure you *can* do it anywhere, but I think after literally spending an hour and a half attempting to get across the 59th street bridge in NYC during a traffic jam I think you'd find out that driving a manual transmission is not a sport so much as a repetitive assembly-line type task.
Clutch in, shift to first gear, let out the clutch enough to let the car move 3 feet, clutch in, shift to neutral, sit there for 5 minutes, repeat until your brain turns into mush.
Lanehog 9:12PM (9/18/2009)
Oh please the4thheat I drive across the verrazanno,278 and the brooklyn bridge on a regular basis to get to work. And across the LIE and the Grand Central parkway to visit my family on a regular basis for almost 10 years and am subject to some of the worst traffic in the country and yet still wouldn't sacrifice the love of driving a stick down in awesome road cuz "oh no this is annoying and my legs hurt!"
paul34 9:14PM (9/18/2009)
Not really, th4. If you know how to drive stick, and haven't picked up bad habits (like poor sitting positions, constantly flooring it and braking hard just to move two inches to nowhere, following too closely, or not shifting, launching, and revmatching at least somewhat well), it's no different than driving a slush. I find a slush much more brain-melting, especially with the need to constantly hold on to the footbrake. Man I hate slushie creep... it really encourages the inefficient "creep" as well.
I often hear that argument, and I know that in all honesty (no offense), it's just from someone who doesn't know how to drive stick. How do you think the millions (billions?) of people outside North America drive in their crowded, much more chaotic cities EVERY DAY?
stretchsje 10:01PM (9/18/2009)
City (stop-and-go) traffic is where I loathe an automatic most. I had a 3-mile commute that would somtimes take 45 minutes. Shifting gears gave me something fun to do to keep driving at least somewhat entertaining. And how freaking annoying is a car that always wants to creep forward? You don't need a manual transmission for highway driving because you're not shifting on the highway anyway!
Judy Zik 10:01PM (9/18/2009)
EVERYONE should know how to drive stick. It is annoying the way it is so hard to find cars with manuals anymore because people are so lazy. Manuals give you far better control. Especially in stop and go traffic when you may need to make a controlled stop in a hurry.
My favourite quote from the article though has to be..."If your date fully understands what you just tried to say and calls you out on it, you found one of the few women in the world who knows and cares about cars. If you can convince her not to leave you for using such a cheesy line, marry her -- now." I know my husband was pretty shocked to find out I knew anything about cars. I guess he would agree with their advice.
onrails 10:19PM (9/18/2009)
Auto's are for bitches. DCT's be damned.
siddharth s 3:55AM (9/19/2009)
Well I drive a manual (Porsche Carrera) and an automatic too (BMW). There is no comparison between the driving experiences (apples to oranges in my opinion) but to intentionally drive a manual in city traffic jams is ... not a wise decision. It's pure masochistic! If you must prove yourself try autocross or track days ...
Folks driving manuals in insanely congested areas are (mental) wimps and those driving automatics otherwise are wimps too :P !!
Vizel 12:54AM (9/19/2009)
So, I guess I am not a real men T___T... do I get any brownie points though for driving a Infiniti G35?
Clay Garland 12:58AM (9/19/2009)
And for the love of Christ don't use the example video in #7. That is some of the worst instruction on how to drive a stick that I've ever seen. If you fellers want, I'll take a video of my freaking feet while I'm driving.
RamblinReck89 1:01AM (9/19/2009)
Vizel, you almost got points. But then you used that thing I can only assume is some form of emoticon and you lost any man points you ever had.
Clay Garland 1:28AM (9/19/2009)
Vizel, you drive an automatic version of a car that is available with a manual. You get points deducted. Coupe or Sedan? I have an '06 coupe. . . Manual.
dm789 2:09AM (9/19/2009)
Yea I did it in NYC with Custom Heavy Duty clutch stage2 very2 interesting in traffic jam on the bridge especially on the uphill
cWj 3:33AM (9/19/2009)
While I don't see a manual as being necessarily problematic in the city (depends on the vehicle), I don't exactly understand the problem some have with "auto creep".
You see, there is a cure for that.
It's called "neutral".
There are people, some who I swear have been driving longer than me, that have wondered if my trans is manual because I regularly shift my auto to neutral at lights.
Of course, that cool top-mount shift button on my '00 Tacoma might add to the confusion.
PJ 4:45AM (9/19/2009)
"I don't exactly understand the problem some have with 'auto creep'. You see, there is a cure for that. It's called 'neutral.'"
There is another cure for that. It's called *drive a manual* if you're going to be shifting in and out of gear anyway, and save yourself a bunch off the car's purchase price, maintenance bills, and fuel costs. Automatics hate thunking in and out of Drive for no reason, and the drivetrain and brakes hate being stressed against each other.
The ultimate fail is the folks who shift their autos into Neutral to "roll back" before jolting into Drive at stoplights. This is usually done in fifteen-year-old Civics with cut springs and Pep Boys Altezza lights. Fast 'n Furious1!1!
On a side note, I think a lot of the anti-slushbox indignance comes from the fact that a lot of the vehicles whose owners get in everyone's face about how badass their car is (i.e. lifted trucks, Hummers, AMG Mercedes, SRT Dodges, SS Chevy trucks, etc.) don't even offer the option of a real manual transmission. Hey, how about you *learn how to drive a car* before you bag on my Miata's 0-60 times? Or maybe that's just me. ;-)
naggs 5:09AM (9/19/2009)
manuals give better economy, if you short shift you easily beat the EPA rating
the entertainment factor makes any commuting situation better, just practice letting off the clutch so slow that you can get up to a slow roll without touching the gas.
Richard 7:07AM (9/19/2009)
I'm with RR, here but...Atlanta isn't the place to be bragging about your mastery of the old clutch and stick thing....try San Fran, where there are some hills...and plenty of women looking for real men!
Quantumphysics 8:11AM (9/19/2009)
I agree with the4thheat.
I'll never switch from automatic transmissions. I live in NYC too and your dead on about traffic.
HOWEVER, on my next car I want manumatic paddles... that's really cool to me. Either i'll get an E class AMG or the S63/
Derek 9:05AM (9/19/2009)
City traffic is where I find an automatic the most annoying. Gas, brake, gas, brake. Always having to shift my right foot back and forth and waiting for the irritating torque converter lag whenever I go back to the gas and having to push the brake harder and sooner then I should because of the lack of engine braking. How can anyone stand that? I want the instant response and control (engine braking) that a stick gives.
naturalyshocked 9:42AM (9/19/2009)
@the4thheat
automatic gearboxes use an average of about 2 liters more per 100km/h than a manual geared card(not counting robotized boxes) and you use more brake pads.
i own a garage auto data book, i have studied this book for a long time, data showed that auto box car uses more fuel, an avarage of 2 liter more per 100km than the same car with the same engine with a manual box.
for being lazy, you waste more money on fuel and brake pads.
while i never changed a clutch on my cars.
if i'm a in relax mood, i'm beabled to stop the car without using brakes at al and perfectrly park the car on about a meter distance from the car in front of me @ a red traffic light.
or i keep the car moving and once it become green, i overtake the car in front of me once it become green.
you can't realy drive sportive in a auto box car, because in case of emergency braking, the car turns in a death weight.
while with a manual, you can shift back rapidly and avoid the object.
on twisted roads it's realy cool to drive a manual car, rapidly shifting back into 2nd gear just before the corner, upshift to 3rd and when reaching about 50% of the corner, floor it, shift up to 4th and focus on the next corner, back to 3rd, 2nd, a litle braking before entering and start all over again. making the car scream.
this feels like total freedom simular to driving a motor cycle in 'motogp' style, that's not including harley davidson (witch have a higher than avarage weight and not so good brakes).
driving on frozen road is rely cool, rally style.
a while back a saw an onboard Ari Vatanen or Colin McRae rally video on youtube, there was a comment from an american, that said, "my gosh, who want to drive like that", i fell from the chair.
hahaha
it should be law that everyone who wants to take driving lessons, learn to drive manual standart, if you can't pass the exam than a 2nd exam on auto with a stamp in the drivers license, to prohibit manual driving, just like in the Netherlands.
manual driver are no doubtly more skilled drivers than auto slush drivers, NO argument possible.