Ford is recalling more than 550,000 pickup trucks in the U.S. because the transmissions can unexpectedly downshift to first gear no matter how fast the trucks are going.
Eh, not really. The tricky part (which isn’t even that tricky) of learning to drive stick is modulating the clutch, not somehow accidentally downshifting
Maybe, if you’re also driving an antique that doesn’t have high-RPM lockouts to prevent overspeeding the engine. But even my old cars going back to the '90s have those.
06 Subaru has no problem pulling a money shift, the reason you’ll never accidentally hit first isn’t because of lockouts but first not having a synchro. Now grabbing second from fifth on the highway, yea, that can happen
Nah, the only thing that might be worth worrying about learning to drive stick is the clutch, and that’s a wear item designed to be replaced anyway. (Not necessarily often or cheaply, but still, a wear item.)
Even then, unless somebody’s truly hopeless, they’ll figure it out well before putting on any noticeable excessive wear. (Source: I’ve taught at least five people to drive stick using my own cars, including myself, and haven’t had to replace a clutch due to wear yet.)
To be fair nearly all my concerns about manuals are from stories others have told me. We have had two manual cars for maybe a decade now and haven’t had a single bit of trouble with the transmissions or clutches.
I even taught myself to drive stick driving one of them home from the dealership. Plus I didnt become proficient at it for a bit of time after that.
I really prefer manuals at this point. Feels simpler.
One of the first lessons from my instructor was to push the gear stick from the right with your palm for 1/2, top for 3/4, and left for anything else.
That way, there is less chance of shifting from one section to another. Useful when you car sometimes needs a downshift on the motorway, and 4th is adjacent to R.
Eh, not really. The tricky part (which isn’t even that tricky) of learning to drive stick is modulating the clutch, not somehow accidentally downshifting
If you dont know the shifter well you can definitely put it in the wrong gear though.
Maybe, if you’re also driving an antique that doesn’t have high-RPM lockouts to prevent overspeeding the engine. But even my old cars going back to the '90s have those.
06 Subaru has no problem pulling a money shift, the reason you’ll never accidentally hit first isn’t because of lockouts but first not having a synchro. Now grabbing second from fifth on the highway, yea, that can happen
I’m more worried about beating the transmission to death, but I didn’t know about high rpm lockouts so thanks for sharing that.
Nah, the only thing that might be worth worrying about learning to drive stick is the clutch, and that’s a wear item designed to be replaced anyway. (Not necessarily often or cheaply, but still, a wear item.)
Even then, unless somebody’s truly hopeless, they’ll figure it out well before putting on any noticeable excessive wear. (Source: I’ve taught at least five people to drive stick using my own cars, including myself, and haven’t had to replace a clutch due to wear yet.)
To be fair nearly all my concerns about manuals are from stories others have told me. We have had two manual cars for maybe a decade now and haven’t had a single bit of trouble with the transmissions or clutches.
I even taught myself to drive stick driving one of them home from the dealership. Plus I didnt become proficient at it for a bit of time after that.
I really prefer manuals at this point. Feels simpler.
One of the first lessons from my instructor was to push the gear stick from the right with your palm for 1/2, top for 3/4, and left for anything else.
That way, there is less chance of shifting from one section to another. Useful when you car sometimes needs a downshift on the motorway, and 4th is adjacent to R.
For me it was only a problem when I had to drive two cars:
A pickup with the shifter on the steering column (makes me sick thinking of it, horrible design)
A jeep with an absurd shifting handle which made the gears miles apart.
I accidentally shifted from 4th to 1st instead of 3rd when I was first learning. Shit happens.