I just started taking driving lessons - I'm driving a manual shift car, like everybody else in my country because it's how you get your drivers license. I did quite a few KM, I start on shift 1 and a few seconds later I need to step the clutch and shift to 2 immediately - I never got to shift to 3 because I'm only 2 lessons in, and we're taking it slowly. Driving is fun, not as hard as it looks. 

How do automatics work? Do you have to ever shift at all? Is there a third pedal like the clutch or is it just the accelerator and brake? Did you take drivers license with an automatic or manual? BTW, the car I'm using is a ford, dunno the model, and it's diesel.

I'll probably buy a manual car when I get my drivers license, pretty much 80% of cars sold are manual, come cheaper and generally fuel in Europe is so expensive that it's easier to come a across a fuel efficient car that is manual. Why do some parts of the world like the US and Canada prefer automatic, and why?

People still drive manual? We're coming into the age of cars that can drive themselves, and people are still making cars where you need to change gears manually?

I am in the US and prefer a manual. I just got a new car, and to get a manual transmission would have meant extra money and a long wait, as it would have been especially made. It's hard to find manual transmission in the states now. We had one until a few years ago, a Jeep.

Automatics shift on their own, you don't need to do anything other than to put the car in drive. There's only the brake and accelerator.

Nah I don't.

(November 14, 2015 at 12:14 pm)Chad32 Wrote: People still drive manual? We're coming into the age of cars that can drive themselves, and people are still making cars where you need to change gears manually?

In Europe it's more popular, American tourists complain about coming to Europe, wanting to rent a car and not finding an automatic for an affordable price. I don't mind learning how to drive a manual, it's more useful because I'm legally qualified to drive both manual and automatic cars. Well, for the reasons mentioned, they come much cheaper in some countries, and you just get used to it after taking your drivers license. It would be cool to have cars that drive themselves, but as an optional feature.

Manual. Quite apart from better fuel economy, you can still roll start the engine on a flat battery. With an automatic gearbox, you're knackered.

(November 14, 2015 at 12:18 pm)Mermaid Wrote: I am in the US and prefer a manual. I just got a new car, and to get a manual transmission would have meant extra money and a long wait, as it would have been especially made. It's hard to find manual transmission in the states now. We had one until a few years ago, a Jeep.

Automatics shift on their own, you don't need to do anything other than to put the car in drive. There's only the brake and accelerator.

In Europe it's the other way around - Not specially made, however sometimes the company needs to import a car specifically from the manufacturer's country just for you, as most people just buy the manual. You can find some automatics, one issue is that many are brands like Smart that are mostly done to drive inside towns but not the highway, so if you want a more "powerful" car it's easier to come across a manual. I think it's kinda like why in an age of E-cigs people still smoke pipes.

As a German, I naturally have learned how to drive manual, and do. Our other car is automatic, though

I have a couple of trucks with a 10 speed, the SUV, pickup and van are automatic.

The ATV has a different kind of system, you can select (when stopped) hi forward, lo forward, lo reverse, and then 4WD, and 2 forms of 2WD; locked rear differential or unlocked differential. Differential keeps the rig from tearing up the lawn. The 4WD is a little odd, until the front wheels slip 1/2 a turn or so, it's actually 2WD with locked differential. On dirt or pavement, you don't notice, on snow, the effect of it is unsettling enough I generally don't drive in snow.

I used to prefer manual, but driving in stop-and-go traffic gets old so I drive an automatic now, though I more often take the train or a bus.