Which do you prefer to drive, automatic or manual?

1. 87

   Novel Treasureposted 12 years ago

   Which do you prefer to drive, automatic or manual?
   
   Just wondering who prefers driving what? And if there is a correlation with your gender?

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2. 66

   BSloanposted 12 years ago

   Manual.....I had an automatic car but when I traded my old car in they only had a manual car in the color I wanted.  I use to drive manual cars when I was in my 20's and now I've found it's rather more fun to have the manual car.  It makes me feel like I have more control over the car than before.

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   1. 87

      Novel Treasureposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I think manual's are much more fun to drive. Even though my car is slow, it's still fun to shift and feel like a race car driver.

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3. 72

   BLACKANDGOLDJACKposted 12 years ago

   Definitely manual. You get better gas mileage. You have more power, other things being equal. And it gives you something to do with one hand besides holding a cell phone. Although manual transmissions are becoming an endangered species. The only disadvantage I've encountered in recent years is trying to teach my teenage daughter to drive on a stick shift vehicle. I gave up and bought her something of her own. And, if you want to play sports car driver, you need a stick to get the full effect.

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   1. 87

      Novel Treasureposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I grew up in Michigan and learned on a manual. It was much easier to drive in the snow. I prefer downshifting then having to tap on the breaks. It does seem that manual transmissions are going the way of the dodo bird and I hate that.

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4. 79

   dezalyxposted 12 years ago

   Automatic for me. All of the cars that have been in the family since I was little have been automatic, so it was just easier to learn driving automatic. I haven't tried manual, though.

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5. 0

   Larry Wallposted 12 years ago

   I am one of those guys who never mastered a manual. Furthermore, the traffic in my city is so congested. You are constantly changing gears. However, my lack of experience almost caused a problem once.
   
   I was helping to move my mother-in-law into a retirement community. A lady came up and asked if I could help. She had put the emergency break (the kind with the lever between the front bucket seats) but had it stuck and could not get it to release. "My husband will kill me if he has to come out here." I doubted that, but in the interest of domestic harmony, I said I would help. I knew the trick was to get it to go up one more notch while holding the release button. In a matter of seconds, the brake was released and the car was rolling backwards. Not noticing that it was a manual when I got in, I hit what I thought was the break pedal. The lady strongly urged me to use the other pedal. I was pushing in on the clutch. I stopped the car. Put the emergency break in a less severe position and got out. The person observed that I must not drive a standard much. I said it has been about 20 years.
   
   As I stepped out of the car, I noticed that it was a Jag. I had a  better understanding of her concerns about the car rolling back into the driveway portion of the parking lot.
   
   I will know in the future to look at the pedals when I get in a car to make certain it is an automatic or standard.

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6. 61

   livinggoodposted 12 years ago

   I prefer a manual transmission because of the control and take off speed. But when your trying to eat a Big Mac, fries, coke and talk on the phone it can be a bit of a hassle. Plus my wife is 32 years old and is just now thinking about getting her license. The problem is all we currently own is a stick shift and she is not a very good multitasker. So I'm afraid to even have her try it, in case something goes wrong and she puts it off for another 32 years. Also I have a Class A license and sometimes is nice to drive an automatic because of all the shifting I do at work.

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