Each Decade That Passes, Fewer People Report Knowing How to Drive Stick Shifts

Re:Each Decade That Passes, Fewer People Report Knowing How ... by switch007 on Thursday February 18, 2021 @02:12PM (#26184150)

I hire cars a lot. I can count on one hand the autos that I’ve been satisfied with. I admit they get slightly better each year.

They’re unpredictable, too eager to shift down even in torque-y engines, annoying going up hills where they’re too eager to shift up.

The only time I really appreciate an automatic is in a big diesel car. Manuals are painful in heavy diesels, especially in start stop traffic.

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Re:Each Decade That Passes, Fewer People Report Knowing How ... by letitbeirie on Thursday February 18, 2021 @03:00PM (#26184667)

I've driven a diesel tow truck with a manual before. It gets really tedious driving a manual when you redline at 3000 rpm and your final drive is geared to be able to pull a Honda out of a ditch.

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Re:Each Decade That Passes, Fewer People Report Knowing How ... by switch007 on Thursday February 18, 2021 @03:05PM (#26184721)

Well, a tow truck is quite niche...

Vans in the UK (almost exclusively diesel thanks to the torque) tend to be quite long geared. If you aren't hauling much you can even often skip a gear and shift up quite eagerly. I don't find manual vans very tedious, but then again, I've never had an auto van! I'd say they either don't exist or are exceedingly rare in the van rental market in the UK (I can't imagine an auto tow truck existing either)

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