Manual in traffic stigma

[SloS14]

Originally Posted by bdanisi

Don't get me wrong with my manual I still text and drive sometimes

awesome!

[chillywilly]

I drive a manual in heavy rush hour daily, it does take some concentration to twinkle toe the throttle to crawl along smoothly. I sometimes over rev the engine when letting the clutch out in 1st and end up jerking the car violently. Its a minor inconvenience that will probably get better with practice.

I wonder if there is a way to adjust the sensitivity of the throttle, its just that initial 1/8" I find to be very sensitive.

[MVJ1975]

Call me the stereotype. I'm old and have sciatica. My legs cramp up even with the auto in bad traffic. A manual would be unbearable for me with my daily commute.

[jlu]

I drive an AT, and as far as I know, I have never fallen asleep in traffic. :P

(Although checking your phone in traffic? That's a no-no, no matter your transmission choice imo. Too many idiots on the road!)

[kthxbai]

Originally Posted by naikaidriver

The manual in the FRS is a cake-walk! I had a 1968 Camaro SS 327 with an M-22 Rock Crusher 4-spd. The 3-finger clutch in THAT was HELL in Seattle traffic!

Scott

I definitely agree, I would probably pee my pants sitting in traffic trying to keep that '68 SS from stalling! When I was in high school I begged my dad to teach me how to drive his '84 Ford Ranger M/T. After a few days of saying no, he finally couldn't say no to his little girl anymore and gave me what I asked for. We'll just say I was quite happy learning to drive in my mom's camry from there on! Not as insane as your SS but man, our electronic aided clutches today make learning to drive a manual so much easier!

[f0rge]

There are a lot of valid reasons (like spouse, sciatica), but mostly it's because people who can't drive manual think it's difficult and are intimidated and just don't want to learn.

[kthxbai]

Originally Posted by chillywilly

I drive a manual in heavy rush hour daily, it does take some concentration to twinkle toe the throttle to crawl along smoothly. I sometimes over rev the engine when letting the clutch out in 1st and end up jerking the car violently. Its a minor inconvenience that will probably get better with practice.

I wonder if there is a way to adjust the sensitivity of the throttle, its just that initial 1/8" I find to be very sensitive.

My very brave fiance taught me how to drive his M/T '05 tC and this is exactly my experience in traffic when I was first learning (mostly because of nerves and I didn't want to wreck his car). He taught me a bit of a cheat when at a stop to go to a crawl. While having the clutch depressed, tap the gas a bit to get the RPMs up slightly (~1k-1.5k) and slowly lett the clutch out to start the crawl. Once you get comfortable with where your clutch engages, you'll have a better idea of the window of engagement and everything should smooth out eventually. After 5 months of owning my first M/T car, I don't have to use the tap-tap technique too much anymore because Florida is relatively flat, but I do use it when I'm stopped on a slight incline (which still makes me nervous, but i'm working on it).

[shawnperolis]

Everyone that I've ever met in person who drives a stick never complains about driving it in traffic. Everyone I've ever met who doesn't know how to drive stick always ask me how I stand it in traffic (when the subject comes up, obviously. I don't go around asking random non-driver people about such a weird subject haha) Fear of the unknown and lack of understanding are pretty much the main reasons for this stigma, I think.

[GNS]

Don't get me wrong with my manual I still text and drive sometimes

Tell us more.

[f0rge]

Originally Posted by shawnperolis

Everyone that I've ever met in person who drives a stick never complains about driving it in traffic. Everyone I've ever met who doesn't know how to drive stick always asks me how I stand it in traffic. Fear of the unknown and lack of understanding are pretty much the main reasons for this stigma, I think.

This is what I tried to say, just much better written lol.

[gzpermadi]

like it or not, manual transmission will be gone soon.

Who knows maybe this is the last good manual car we can have.

[chillywilly]

Originally Posted by kthxbai

My very brave fiance taught me how to drive his M/T '05 tC and this is exactly my experience in traffic when I was first learning (mostly because of nerves and I didn't want to wreck his car). He taught me a bit of a cheat when at a stop to go to a crawl. While having the clutch depressed, tap the gas a bit to get the RPMs up slightly (~1k-1.5k) and slowly lett the clutch out to start the crawl. Once you get comfortable with where your clutch engages, you'll have a better idea of the window of engagement and everything should smooth out eventually. After 5 months of owning my first M/T car, I don't have to use the tap-tap technique too much anymore because Florida is relatively flat, but I do use it when I'm stopped on a slight incline (which still makes me nervous, but i'm working on it).

haha yup thats what I generally try to do. But sometimes when I'm in a hurry, I would accidentally over rev to about 2.5-3k while letting the clutch out.

My last car was a A4 1.8t and it was much more forgiving in rush hour traffic, I usually let the clutch out slowly without applying any throttle in stop/go traffic but I tried that in the FR-S it ends up stalling, probably because lighter flywheel on the FR-S clutch? Its a trade-off between a sporty engine response vs comfortable ride I'm still getting used to.

[jlu]

Originally Posted by f0rge

There are a lot of valid reasons (like spouse, sciatica), but mostly it's because people who can't drive manual think it's difficult and are intimidated and just don't want to learn.

Originally Posted by shawnperolis

Everyone that I've ever met in person who drives a stick never complains about driving it in traffic. Everyone I've ever met who doesn't know how to drive stick always ask me how I stand it in traffic (when the subject comes up, obviously. I don't go around asking random non-driver people about such a weird subject haha) Fear of the unknown and lack of understanding are pretty much the main reasons for this stigma, I think.

Or maybe it's because historically, clutches could be a lot more difficult to work than the FR-S's? (as demonstrated by the old timers on the board chiming in)

The stigma is probably from that precedent, and just hasn't ever really gone away.

[btd800]

OP just makes me think of this story.

http://www.news.com.au/world-news/fi...-1226618691883