Who's a Man and Drives a Stick-Shift

[PioneerGuy85]

OK - apologies for the threadjack - but 75center, do both your username and location suggest you are either interested, affiliated, or both in aviation? that's bugging the snot out of me, damnit :yes:

edit: I've been unable to sleep all night, 75 would suggest heading 750 which is impossible. duh...I need sleep? yeah, that's it.

 

[Tom Bavis]

My PT Cruiser, wife's Forester, daughter's Saturn are all 5-speeds. Son (20) has a Ford Contour automatic, but that was Grandpa's - so we COULD give him a pass... but he hasn't learned to drive a stick yet...

A friend says his next truck will be a Ford F-250, since he can't get a Chevy with a stick. Ford Fusion is only American mid-size you can get with a stick... several imports, though even VW has dropped it from the Passat.

 

[GordonW]

Owned 11 vehicles in my life; all but one were stick shift. The one that was an automatic, I sold it within 3 months.

Learned to drive, on two vehicles: a '62 Rambler Classic, with a "3 on the tree" with overdrive (get up to about 35mph, let off the gas for a moment, and it'd would drop into overdrive... remember those?), and a '68 Opel station wagon (4-speed on the floor)...

My Dad had one of the best "shifting challenge" vehicles... a '58 Dodge pickup, flathead 6 and 3-speed. Shift linkage disintegrated... so he cobbled up floor-shift linkage... lever through the floor, with a "pull-cable" on the side. The pull-cable did the same thing as pulling the lever back on a 3-on-the-tree... it put it into the gate for low and reverse. Release the cable, you were in second-high gate.

He used to leave the keys in it, when we parked it in town... figured that anyone who could figure out how to drive it, deserved to have it!

Regards,
Gordon,

 

[Dan Starnes]

I have 4 vehicles with manual transmissions. But my 1930 Ford Model A is by far the most fun, itsa crashbox, then like Sandy said, you got spark and things like that to tend with. I had it up to 67 mph one time. Imagine driving a riding lawn mower about 50 miles an hour, then you can relate to my Model A. And yes, I leave the keys in it, most people could not even find the on/off for the gas.
Dan

 

[godzilla]

I love driving a stick, but as soon as I got my Audi A4 Quattro 1.8t with the Tiptronic I was sold on clutchless shifting...works great in traffic. It got even better once I did an ECU upgrade from APR Tuned...nothing like going from 150bhp/155lb-ft. to 214bhp/247lb-ft. with $499! Steve's European Auto in Waterford hooked me up! The drive there...80 mph...was not as good as the drive back...topped out at 150mph...that's when I got a bit unnerved!