Should I Drive Stick Shift?

Question

I live in the suburbs of Georgia about 40 minutes from the city and I was wondering if my next car should be a stick shift. I know the city has a lot of traffic and the area i live in is somewhat hilly. I was wondering if it would be a good decision.

Answer 1

Why buy a stick for city stop and go, and hilly driving? The only reason I could see to buy a stick for that kind of driving would be the "fun" factor. And many new cars have autos with a "sport" feature that allows you to pick which gear you want to be in.

Answer 2

I would recommend the stick shift. It's a pain when you're in traffic, but usually worth it once you get out of the city. It's also safer, easier on the brakes, better on gas, more reliable (much less that is likely to go wrong), maintenance-free (just don't burn up the clutch), and as a bonus: the car can still be started with a flat battery, if you have a small hill in front of you. Great if you accidentally leave your lights on!

Answer 3

I've driven stick for a long time. In compacts, mostly. Back in the 70s it seemed like they were having a lot of trouble with the automatics in small cars, and down through the years I lacked faith in them. There isn't so much reason anymore, but for any car I'd advise a reliability/repair search on the net, and a prepurchase inspection if it's used.

Automatic: I can get spoiled easily. I do like driving them. They get slightly less mpg, but not by much because they've gotten much more efficient. I remember when two-speed automatics were the norm. It's very difficult to push start them if you have a battery or starter problem. They do take a little maintenance, like occasional fluid and filter change. That's a messy job if you don't have a really big catch pan. But it's easy.

Manual: I kind of enjoy being able to do something so few people seem to learn anymore. My daughter was amazed when she went to college by the many people who couldn't do the most basic things on a car and couldn't drive stick. The down side to that is that if you want a small car with stick and air conditioning (my favorite combination), you have to look. That automatically says, "Sports car!" which is not what I drive. Reliability? I never had a problem. Maintenance? Oh, there might be a 50,000 mile oil change. Clutch? Never a problem. I buy them used and drive them as close to 200,000 miles as I can. They do take occasional adjusting as the clutch wears, but that's easy to do. You seldom need to do it if you drive it right. There's a throwout bearing behind the clutch disk and it only gets lubricated when it's put in and is inaccessable afterward, it's what disengages the clutch when you step on the pedal, and you don't want to ever replace it. So if you're at a red light or any other time you have to stop and sit, put it in neutral and take your foot off the pedal. You don't have to be paranoid about this, but you should be aware that it sits in there quietly doing its job and will keep doing so for a long time if you treat it right. The clutch linkage to the pedal is either hydraulic or cable, and neither is difficult nor expensive to fix if it fails. I've done it with both. If it's hydraulic, keep an eye on the fluid level. When you have to keep topping it off (it uses brake fluid) it's time to get a new cylinder, usually the slave but occasionally the master, or a rebuild kit for the old one. Cable will seldom fail if you lube it occasionally. I found this out the hard way. Even so, I drove a car home with a snapped cable. Turn the engine off, put it in first and start the engine AND the car with the starter. Take the engine to a moderate speed, lighten up on the gas so the engine will slow a bit and pull the stick from first to press it into second. When the engine slows enough, it slides right in. Yes, without the clutch. Third is the same. I wouldn't go to a higher gear unless you're a long way from home because downshifting is harder. You have to ease the engine speed UPward until the gears mesh. Some are easier than others to do this with and I always experiment with the newest (always used) car to see how it takes it.

So how does this work out as far as the personality types? I'm probably a bit controlling in the sense that I want to force the car to keep moving in the direction of home and fix it once I get there. I can't do that with an automatic, and that makes me feel a bit helpless. With a manual, I can get it home and fix it easily myself in a day. The transmission itself is almost bulletproof and clutches treated well are just as reliable. Clutches are now a royal pain to get to, so it's up to you to treat it well. I shift to 5th at 35 mph on the level, down to 4th on hills if I can't maintain speed, and it takes a steep hill to get me down to 3rd. Right now, that's in a 1600cc 16-valve GEO Prizm. It has about 170,000 miles on it. I read that computer programmers overwhelmingly prefer stick, and it doesn't really surprise me.

The biggest nuisance is stop and go driving, but that can be handled. I get caught in traffic jams on occasion, but if you leave space build up between you and the car in front of you, put it in first and let it idle along.

Answer 4

If you have never had one then you do not know how tired of shifting gears you will get. Stick's usually get better fuel economy but if your going to drive it for a while you may have to replace the clutch after 90K or so. Depends on your driving habits. Also, an automatic ususually will negotiate snow and ice better than a stick because an automatic allows you to have a little more control of the engines power when taking off. Hope this helps.

Answer 5

I live in Chattanooga, and it is hilly here too. I love my standard trans in my pickup. It is just so strong and durable. It was rebuilt after 320k miles, and all it needed was a freshening up and a new 1st gear sprocket since it is not a synchro-mesh gear. No that is not a typo, 320 thousand miles. Auto transmissions are not as reliable as standard shift, and can cost you a mint to rebuild or replace. I could buy an entire truck for what it cost me to rebuild my automatic in my old car.

Answer 6

well it depends if u r good at driving a stick....but lots of traffic n hills do not help matter of a fact it makes it alot harder...i live in the subs of seattle n we have lots of hills 90% of them being steap, no me no i dont and wont own a stick, as well as my husband will not own stick as well...plus i think they suck..only thing good about them is u can start a stick just by pushing it.....i have never tried that myself but i have seen it done....but like i said all in all i think sticks suck....have a good day..

sonja k

Answer 7

If you do a LOT of start/stop driving, no....( you wear a clutch out with all that stuff). If it's not so much start/stop and you know how to drive one...by all means...try it...

I've been driving a stick for 37 yrs now....wouldn't change unless I REALLY have to...

Answer 8

well it depends if u like to go fast, race, and or just to get you around. If you are about speed then you should get stick shift and if it just to get you to point A to B then auto would be better

Answer 9

Manual (stickshift)
More intuitive to drive, more mpg, easier to maintain and, most importantly, you don't piss people off by having to sit on the footbrake at traffic lights etc.

Answer 10

if you can drive a stick shift then yes hills and trafic arnt going to matter and ive hear that stick shifts get better gas milleage too and go faster VROOM VROOM