[123pugsy]

I hear so many guys going on about how great a standard transmission is.
I for one don't have any more time to waste in my life so I find a 4 speed auto to be very comfortable leaving my hands free to prepare my favorite cake mix or surf the web. What? You got something against Betty Crocker?

Let me here how cool the stick is guys and what makes you better than me, ha...........

 

[vortec710]

Stick reflects days of yore, and manhood….with todays power outputs a good Muncie has a limited life if used/abused. The newer boxes can handle the increased outputs up to a point, where a good auto can be more consistent / reliable with high output motors (turbo, nitrous, etc.) and as we age and get stuck in stop and go traffic the auto comes into its own. Granted there is a certain mystique to a 4/5/6 speed…but miss a shift, break a gear, burn a clutch, etc. and the fun starts to leave. From the guy who busted his share of muncies and is now a “shiftless” person. Be nice to me guys…..

 

[69SHEVL]

It sends a subliminal message to the girl next to you.

 

[427L88]

Better than thou....? Naw man, I simply dig the direct connection to the powertrain is all. And the control. Plus, RAT-ON-A-STICK is as close to sex as I get these days! 10 second automatic cars bore me. My " 12- slow" still puts a smile on me face, rowing that thang.

 

[David Bates]

^^^ What Gene said!

 

[drivejunk]

Potentially higher MPG and lower ET.

 

[mr 4 speed]

Cross ram rat on a stick:

 

[obseSSed]

Cross ram rat on a stick:
View attachment 745856

Soon to be!!

 

[boltupal]

Auto transmissions and power steering were both made so women could drive!!! 123 pugys your skirt is showing!!

 

[Diabel1969]

direct link to the drivetrain, slightly less parasitic HP/TQ loss than with a auto, slightly better performance, however it's been proven that auto is more consistent. I personally just enjoy them much more than auto's, and if I have a car with any kind of power, that's backed up by a auto, I may as well just buy stock in a good tire company. Automatic cars just bore me to death, so I entertain myself by doing John Force style burnouts every chance that I can get.. On a side note. If you drive a stick shift car in snow, you can start off in a lower gear to chug your way out of being stuck...

 

[Hotwire]

Autos are for daily driving. I've built my fair share of 4L60e/700R4 and know what's in them. It's a miracle of engineering and ingenuity they live through anything.

I won't condone anyone for having either drivetrain, but I do long to hear someone snicking gears leaving in a hotrod. Just something about the acute interaction of man and machine, almost like playing a musical instrument, someone can really make a symphony with a gear change. As said above, I do enjoy the direct connection to the drivetrain too, just something about feeling every explosion racking the crankshaft soothes the soul.

 

[Jim Mac]

because having 3 pedals is just plain fun!. jim

 

[Alwhite00]

I've had numerous play cars with a stick shift. I really like them but for whatever reason the last few have been autos. I had a 64 C10 BBWSB with a 283 and a muncie 4 speed with a Hurst shifter. It had zero power but was heaven to drive. Nothing sounds better than a V8 with nice exhaust and a 4spd just accelerating at a leisurely pace. Beautiful.

 

[Rich-L79]

Anymore manuals are a pretty good theft deterrent.

 

[Shift4x]

All of my cars that I have owned through my life have been Sticks, while all of my trucks have been automatics.
Cars are for fun, trucks are for work!😉

 

[Bob Tiley]

Because automatics are boring and stick shifts are fun to drive! Even my daily driver Challenger is a stick.

 

[Stickman]

Daily driver...automatic. Weekend warrior...stick. I was given two legs... might as well utilize both. I eat baked goods, but don't prepare them...

 

[BillyGman]

It's best to have at least one of each: a car with a stick, and another with an auto. Lot's of blanket statements being made here. As far as auto's being developed and marketed for women, keep in mind that the first ad shown in post # 9 was in 1946, and seeing is how women were first allowed to obtain drivers licenses was in 1921, women were already driving cars for 25 years before that ad for automatic transmissions was released. I'm also pretty sure that back in the late 40's and early 50's there were a whole lot of guys, (even single guys) that had some money to splurge with, were buying cars with auto transmissions. The second ad shown was merely for push button drive cars, which BTW were riddled with dependability issues, and were discontinued. But I digress.

As far as the comment about power steering also being for women, did you ever try doing a real hairy burnout with a stick car that doesn't have power steering? Especially a short wheel based car like a Camaro or a Corvette? If the car has some decent power under the hood, but no power steering, then you often will get way out of control once you bang second gear, and you have to back off on the go pedal to either end the burnout or compromise it a whole lot. Otherwise, you and the car end up on your neighbor's front lawn or wrapped around a tree. But with power steering you have a much better chance of staying with the fishtail and keeping the car moving forward while those rear tires are spinning and smoking through all four gears, (again, if the car has the power to do that without having to resort to pouring oil on the street like we did with our dad's under-powered 6 cylinder car when we were 15 years old. ).

Now as far as cars with an auto trans being "boring" goes, IMO if your car is boring because it has an auto trans, then it's just way too slow and way too much under-powered. That being said, I like driving stick cars if they're four speeds. But I had a stick car daily driver that had a T-56 six speed trans, and I didn't like the triple H pattern at all. I really missed having the simple H-pattern gear shift pattern of a four speed manual. And who really needs two over drive gears???

 

[mr 4 speed]

I have watched my GF beat a few stick cars at the track...nothing like losing to a girl with an auto
..but, its just a boring 1969 SS 396 Chevelle that runs low 12's

I like both. For many years, all I ever owned was stick cars.

 

[Cnx1969]

How the hell are you supposed to drive with a cup of coffee, no cup holders, shift and steer? 😂