Pour One Out For The Manual Transmission Homies

I enjoy driving stick, so long as I'm not stuck in Chicago traffic... Still, a lot of my decision comes down to the quality of the stick. We have an 02 Miata and an 88 Fiero, both stick. And both are awesome sticks. The Miata's is better, no doubt, but still, I enjoy driving them both immensely. On the other hand, I've gotten rid of two cars that were stick shifts, because they were both horrible. And both Fords. The first was a 98 Contour SVT. It had an RPM hang issue, where the revs refused to drop in between shifts. I was able to work around that one, but trying to predict where exactly the clutch would engage, was anyone's guess. The car was impossible to drive smoothly, but an absolute joy to drive hard. Problem was, I only drive it like I stole it on the rare occasion. The rest of the time, I aim for smoothness. But not in that car. The second was my Ford Escape, FWD, 4cyl. It suffered from the same malady as the Contour. I couldn't drive it smoothly. The issue was markedly worse on humid days, when the clutch would chatter and the little SUV would jerk badly. I LOVED the car, but hated the tranny. So off it went. Had either of those cars had automatics, I'd probably still have them. The stick was a deal killer. I've had some crappy automatics, autos that hunted or had poorly chosen ratios. Still, a bad stick is usually worse than a set it and forget it auto.

I love manuals. And if you're here on an automotive site, you probably love them, too. Unfortunately... most people buying new cars don't seem to share our sentiments. Given, since I actually do the occasional commute where I'm stuck in two to five hours of traffic to travel a measly twenty to forty miles, the fact that my car has an aftermarket racing clutch that requires the leg strength of a body-builder to use sometimes gets... annoying. I can appreciate automatics in such cases, as long as they give me actual manual control when I need it. Very few do, however... in the past six years of driving new cars, there are only two or three automatics that I've felt were adequately responsive... and that's out of dozens of cars. Interestingly, neither of the two were DSG, though one was an SMG... which probably doesn't count as an automatic, at all...

I'll be frank. I've owned exactly one vehicle with an automatic transmission: A Jeep Comanche rigged to the nine's for towing a 35-foot 5th-wheel RV trailer that was about 10k lbs. Jeep's still running like a top, and averages about 20mpg on the highway so it's not going anywhere. I waited 3 months for the Yaris I wanted. It took me nearly 2 weeks of calling back and talking to higher and higher-ups at Toyota from the Dealership to the Regional manager to finally get them to accept a custom order. They didn't believe I'd actually pick it up, but I did. I signed the final loan paperwork and accepted delivery before they even put the rear-view mirror on the car, or put the rear sway bar upgrade on. I got what the dealership thought was the strangest mish-mash of options: Zero visual mods, but a small bible-worth of suspension and handling upgrades, along with pegging the warranty. I pamper it, and am up to 42k miles, of which I can personally claim 40k or so are me behind the wheel. And I haven't even hit the 2-year mark on it yet. The largest reason I pegged the warranty is because I knew I was getting a first-gen Yaris Liftback, with all the kinks and oddities, and wanted to know I'd get all the TSB's for a very long time. It's already payed for itself just on two TSB's that popped up after I broke 36k miles, so I'm happy. And yes, I have some aftermarket mods, but they're purely visual (custom-drawn vinyl gryphons) or comfort (sewn-on leather-wrapped steering wheel), not body-trim or other uselessness. But I'm already having to custom-order a manual and wait 3 months. I fear the day they're flat-out no longer available. Oddly... I don't fear the day of CVT's, I fear the day of being forced to buy an Automatic, and not at LEAST having the option of a CVT instead.

My 1986 190 Benz 5 speed manual has 430,000 miles on the original clutch. I had to special order it even then. My wife's 2002 VW Jetta 190,000 with MT Our 1992 Ford Explorer with 110,00 MT,Vintage 1946 MGTC with God only knows how many miles MT. BMW R69S motorcycle MT. And tomorrow goodbye to the Ford cluncker, 2009 Subaru Forester with MT. But last year in Tahiti needed to rent a van for the 5 of us, gave me the keyes didn't even ask and you guessed it an MT !!!! PS next birthday is 70 still shifting !!!!