Can you drive stick?

[lilboo]

On two different driving tours abroad (very difficult to rent an automatic abroad)it was pointed out to me that if something were to happen to my then partners in crime-where would we be? I can't drive stick-we didn't have cell phones or anything back then...

Of course it seems very sexy, very BOND-but I can't drive a manual-I'm very mean with an automatic though...

Are you one of the devil-may-care, stick-shift driving temptresses- maybe I need a copy of Stick-SHift for Dummies ....

[SPAGo 98]

i wish i could, but i haven't learned yet. :(

[catsrule]

no

[janette]

My 1st new car was a manual, don't know why I decided I needed that. It takes a bit to remember to use both feet but it's something you don't forget.

Probably the most dangerous part of switching is one time I hit the brake with my left foot just like it was a clutch, almost put one of my nephews through the window. :rolleyes:

[lilboo]

There's that scene in Mission Impossible 2-they're driving through some coastal "riviera" town and the scenes are so BALLETIC-

and when you actually get in a stick shift, the first time is hardly graceful, more like suicidal...

[Michelle]

Sure! :) I owned two manual transmission cars for many years.

[catsrule]

Saw Gena Lee Nolan getting into her Porche and leaving at MGM last year. It was quite obvious she was driving a stick, and new at it.:teeth:

[Lisa L from MI]

So funny......I was working back in 1990...I, for some reason, didn't have my car with me...and asked at work..if I could borrow someones...it was a stick!!!!

I didn't say anything...and I did quite good....but, I really hated it.....I had to make sure I was somewhere where I didn't have to back up...
It is a much longer story...but, well you know.....


Lisa

[lilboo]

Saw Gena Lee Nolan getting into her Porche and leaving at MGM last year. It was quite obvious she was driving a stick, and new at it

hilarious!

Oh and a not so graceful stick moment in movies-how could I forget-Richard Gere, Pretty Woman...

[HugsForEeyore]

Yes - I love stick!! The only cars I ever owned are stick shifts. I have had two Honda Accords. I learned to drive stick at age 20, and boy - did I stall out everywhere! I burned up that clutch so bad! But now I drive perfectly - my current car has 129,000 miles on the original clutch.

I must say, the best thing about stick shifts is that most people won't ask to borrow your car! :)

I hope they still make them when I am ready to get my next car, hopefully in a few years. I love the power and control the stick shift gives! :)

[crazyme5kids]

I love manual shifts! Unfortunatly I don't have one because I drive a suburban. When I go back to driving a small car it will be manual.

[Tiggerlover91]

I've driven both, automatic and standard. I like having a stick better. Gas mileage is better on the highway and they are just fun to drive. :jester:

[helenabear]

Yep, I learned how to do it even before I got my license (parking lots of course). My current car is a manual and as long as I can help it, that will be what I drive. It's just so much fun and I get better control of what I want to do. It also keeps DH from driving my car since he's not too good at it ;) (j/k)

[snoopy]

We have cars with both manual and automatic transmissions, I prefer driving automatics.

Maybe I'm getting old, but all that footwork makes me tired driving around in this city traffic..

My first car had a manual transmission. First my father tried to teach me and yelled at me, then my BF (now DH) tried to teach me and yelled at me, then finally my patient and sweet mother sat on a hill with me and let me stall out about 100 times without saying a word. I finally learned. :)

[sharbear]

It's funny that the people who know how to drive a stick love it. Me too! But I drive a minivan now. But just wait until my mid like crisis, a little sports car, here I come. I learned how to drive on a stick there is nothing quite like it. You are never bored driving. My FIL bought a VW Jetta Diesel with a manual transmission and my MIL won't even attempt to drive it. And she knows how. It's kindof annoying because my FIL has to drive everywhere even long car rides to Florida.

[DaveH]

Yes.:teeth: Both oy DS'S learned to drive using a stick.:earseek: :earseek:

[Serena]

I know how, I had to learn in germany, but I haven't done it in 15 years.

I would rather drive an automatic, but I will drive a stick if I have to. But it wouldn't be graceful. lol

[Cindy B]

Yes, I have had manual cars for a long time.

Manual shifts are cheaper to buy, and better gas mileage.

Our current one is a Geo Storm, but before that was a Mutsubishi Eclipse.

I owned a Mustang with manual shift as well.


I remember my dad, (truck driver that he was), saying girls shouldn't learn manual.. he said it was too hard, and too much to think about.. (he's a little old fashioned)

I bought a manual car in college. I had my boyfriend teach me how to drive stick on an old late 70's Subaru...

Then I showed my dad!

And yes it is true, people don't borow your car.

[ChiTownZee]

When I was 16 and learning to drive, my step-mother told me I HAD to learn to drive a stick as well. That you'd never know when you would need it (i.e. at a party and the driver I came with couldn't drive, borrowing someones car, etc) And she was right! (don't tell her I said that!;) )

[EpcotKilterFan]

I do!! And I love it!!!!!!

And until I can't physically do it anymore (of course my bad knee is my clutch leg) I will drive stick.

Debbie

[jldriscoll]

Dh and I both love driving a manual. The last time I bought a car, they had my model in stock in automatic, even offered it to me at the manual price....I waited for them to bring up a manual form Ohio!!! :teeth:

[Kitty 34]

My VW was a stick but that was years ago. My DH's truck is a stick but I never drive it. However, I think if I had to, I could......isn't it like learning how to ride a bike!;) :jester:

[abaldacci]

First car was a stick and i loved it but I drive a automatic now. I live in the city to much stopping and starting. unless I move I will stay with the automactic. I can also drive a schoolbus and a firetruck(tanker). stick. Long story don't ask

[EROS]

I've never purchased a car with an automatic transmission. I love downshifting ;) ;) ;) ;) ;) , except in bumper-to-bumper traffic. I now drive a '94 Volvo with a stick; when I was shopping for it I found out that Volvo only imports 3% of their cars into the U.S. with manual shifts.......

[browneyes]

I've owned 5 vehicles.The one before the one I have now was the only automatic and I hated it. The one I drive now actually has 2 gear sticks (4x4).;) My kids will need to learn how to drive a stick. My truck, my SO's truck and my SO's car are all stick shifts. His motorcycle is a manual too.

[Blondie]

DH tried to teach me how to drive a manual with his 1972 Corvette! All you had to do was blow on the gas pedal and that thing flew.

That was back in 1983.

Haven't attempted a stick-shift since. No thank you!

Shame too because we have a 1999 Saturn Manaul (DH's car) in the drive-way that I'll probably never drive!:rolleyes:

I have no desire to learn how to drive manual.

[poptartlette]

Yes, I can fly on my Stick rather well, Thank-You.

[Breezy_Carol]

I prefer stick shift. My 2 Toyotas both had stick. Then when I moved up to the Taurus station wagon I had to go automatic. DH had a Ranger pick up with manual transmission. We are trying to convince 16 yo DD, who is now learning to drive, that is it ok for a girl to drive stick. I thought it was cool when I was in high school.

[Dream]

I can drive a stick if it's a matter of life and death but I hate it! DH will ONLY own a car with a stick...I will ONLY own an automatic (another way we are oh so compatable;) ). My BIL attempted to teach me how to drive a stick when I first got my license....a yellow punch-buggy. To this day he says it is that experience that started turning him grey!!! DH finally succeeded in teaching me the process when we were first married and our only car was HIS car...a cute little green Mustang with a white top and a killer stick shift!!! He quickly found some leeway in our budget to get me a used AUTOMATIC....he loved his car too much to put it through that for too long!!!;)

[newmousecateer]

Nope. Never learned how.

[debster812]

Yup,

My first car was a Plymouth Scamp with a 3 on the tree (3 speed manual, with the shifter on the column instead of the floor). My dad found me the car and said if I could drive this, I could drive ANYTHING (the whole being able to drive if my driver could not, and all).

It was bizzare, but a lot of fun.

[Towncrier]

I love the manual transmission on my Saturn SC-2. It helps make up in part for the wimpy 1.9L engine. I have always preferred a manual transmission (except, as Eros said, in bumper-to-bumper traffic). When I met DW Sue, she was driving a Ford Escort with a manual transmission. It was love at first sight. :)

My favorite vehicle of all was my 1979 AMC Spirit. It had a 5.0L (304 cubic inch) V-8 engine and a manual transmission. That car could MOVE. Especially after I tricked it up with a 4-barrel carb, new intake manifold, and header exhausts. You could hear me coming a mile away. Ah, the good old days.

[skuttle]

Yes, I can. :)

DH (then boyfriend) tried to teach me in highschool, but I paniced, stalled a bunch , and started to cry, so we gave up.

A couple of years ago, before I got my new car, my old car died and I had to go to work so DH and I went into a big parking lot and I learned. It doesn't bother me anymore. Of course now, DH's new car is a standard so I don't have to worry about it!

[MerryPoppins]

No. I'm atomatic all the way!

I have a funny story to tell. When we went on our Disney cruise, one of the ports was St. Maarten. DH rented a car to drive us around the island. He chose a manual, since he was the only one intending to drive.

We went to the beach. DH wears glasses, so he wore his croakies to keep them on. DS wandered out a little too far for my taste, so DH went out to tell him to come in closer. A big wave washed over them and sucked his glasses off, croakies and all. He looked down and saw the croakies, picked them up, no glasses!

Now, DH is blind as a bat without his glasses. He can see colors and shapes, but that is about all. He had an extra pair on the ship, but that was on the other side of the island. And I couldn't drive the car! We finally headed back around the island. He drove with me as co-pilot. It was a hair-raising experience! Other than one speed bump incident :eek: it went pretty well. No accidents. We made it back in one piece. It's a fun story now, but at the time I was scared to death.

[tiggerlover]

I can, but DH can't. He had a hard time buying a 2nd car when we arrived in Italy because he couldn't, but luckily he found a stick that was converted to an automatic for an elderly person.

:bounce::wave::bounce:

[mouseclick1]

No, but I wish I could drive a stick. DH has a jeep with a manual transmission, and I really wish I could drive it! He tried to teach me, but I really didn't like it. It's a pain because we can never trade cars for the day. Someday I might give it another try!

[mjenni27]

I learned to drive on a stick shift. A triumph spitfire that had a habit of vaporlocking. You would drive down the road and the engine would lock up so you pulled over, opened the bonnet, took a monkey wrench and turned the motor one rotation and it fired right up. I miss that car.:( There is a used car lot near here with a spitfire but I cannot get my wife convinced that we need it. OH WELL, I can still remember.

[DixieDreamer]

Yes I drive both. Many of my cars have been stick shift - although my current one is an automatic. I learned in my early twenties - DH taught me to in our then new Toyota truck. Our marriage survived the training... and the marriage lasted alot longer than that poor truck did. :rolleyes: :p

[binny]

yep my dad gave me the keys and said " Hop to it come back when you figured it out" LOL
It was rough go around the neighbourhood but I learned. :)

[shep]

I can drive a tractor...does that count??..:o

[Wish Upon A Star]

My first and ONLY experience with the dreaded "stick shift" was when I was 16 and working p/t at Domino's Pizza.

My dad found out that I had to use my own vehicle to deliver the pizza's and he wouldn't allow me to do that . . .said I should be able to drive the Domino's truck . . .I had a 67 Mustang that he had bought for me and fixed it so it was MINT and he didn't want anything happening to it when I was delivering . . .

Sooooooooo . . .I told my manager I couldn't use my car and asked if I could drive the truck . . .All was well and fine until I got in the truck and realized it was STICK shift! I had no clue how to drive that thing! I couldn't go back in because I had 2 pizza's to deliver (in 30 minutes or less) so off I went . . .

Let me just say there were alot of unhappy drivers behind me on the road! I was grinding and bumping forward and sliding backwards . . .I was a mess!

Needless to say, I will NEVER attempt to drive stick again!

[julie_yet]

<font color=#0066FF>I have no clue how to drive a stick.</font>

[shep]

Originally posted by Wish Upon A Star
My first and ONLY experience with the dreaded "stick shift" was when I was 16 and working p/t at Domino's Pizza.

My dad found out that I had to use my own vehicle to deliver the pizza's and he wouldn't allow me to do that . . .said I should be able to drive the Domino's truck . . .I had a 67 Mustang that he had bought for me and fixed it so it was MINT and he didn't want anything happening to it when I was delivering . . .

Sooooooooo . . .I told my manager I couldn't use my car and asked if I could drive the truck . . .All was well and fine until I got in the truck and realized it was STICK shift! I had no clue how to drive that thing! I couldn't go back in because I had 2 pizza's to deliver (in 30 minutes or less) so off I went . . .

Let me just say there were alot of unhappy drivers behind me on the road! I was grinding and bumping forward and sliding backwards . . .I was a mess!

Needless to say, I will NEVER attempt to drive stick again!

Did the pizzas get delivered in 30 minutes or less???:confused: :jester:

[Zurg]

No problem with a stick. I have never owned a car that wasn't.

I used to have problems in a automatic putting mu clutch foot on the breaks

[denisem]

I LOVE LOVE LOVE MANUAL TRANSMISSIONS!

(For those of you with bad experiences, try another "teacher"/car).

I.E. my 1st experience was my brother teaching me on his Corvette (a hundred years ago). Kept stalling out. Learned later on a VW bug and it was simple and fun. Then worked for a German car mfg. and regularly drove sticks.

It CAN be a pain in heavy traffic, but I've found it gives you more control and keeps me lLOTS more alert (downshifting to compensate for traffic, etc).

Denise < ---- drives an automatic now, reluctantly. Funny, when I sold my last manual transmission, *I* had to teach the kid in a shopping center parking lot, his parents didn't know how ;)

[Serena]

After I got home from germany, the only time I've needed to be able to drive is when my h and anothe guy got metal in their eyes and couldn't drive themselves.
We had to borrow a car, we had a motorcycle in Georgia, to go to Savannah. I had to drive the stick for the first time in years with two men already in bad moods. Then I had to drive them back. It was an hour each way. Not fun. :eek:

[Wish Upon A Star]

Did the pizzas get delivered in 30 minutes or less???


LOL!! Ummmmm well there was this other problem . . .I was pretty terrible with finding the houses and/or apartment buildings. So needless to say, one of the pizzas was really late . . .like 45 minutes . . .:p

P.S. I think people are glad I don't moonlight anymore as an EMT! I was "lost" a few times driving the ambulance too!

Ok, so I'm not good with direction! BUT, I've never been lost at WDW!

[Lynn CC]

Yes, but I hated it! I had a car that was a stick and it sat in the driveway a lot.
I'll never get one again.

[nativetxn]

Why, yes I can :) When I learned to drive I learned in a VW Beetle, with 4 on the floor. I can drive a stick shift, it's really easy :)

[gumdrop]

Yes. My father wanted me to learn on one, just in case I was ever in a situation where I would have to drive a manual car. My first car was a manual VW cabriolet. Now I have an automatic and I can't say that I really miss the manual transmission (or the VW for that matter, but that's another story entirely! :rolleyes: ) especially in this constant stop and go Jersey traffic! It's nice being able to just get into the car and drive. I am glad that I know how to drive a manual though--you never know when a situation can arise that requires you to drive one, and it has happened.