Ask HN: Do you drive stick shift?
P.S: how can I conduct a poll here?
No matter how good the automatic transmission is, it just can't anticipate.
Am I slowing down because there's a slow car in front of me temporarily, or will I actually come to a stop because of a red light?
I can see there's a sharp corner coming up, so I would have shifted down before it. That would both slow me down and give me torque to accelerate around the corner. The transmission can't see. So I will have to brake quite solidly to burn off my speed, wasting energy.
And so on. I used to love those twisty mountain roads when I had my SAAB and 5 gears. Now my automatic Merc isn't anywhere near as much fun.
"Yes, I drive stick shift."
"Nope, all automatic."
Etc...
FWIW, I do drive stick, however current cars are automatic.
Newbie w/HN polls here.
Sadly, I didn't keep a link. Was a week or maybe two ago.
I feel driving manual encourages a deeper focus on the road ahead and deeper connection with how your vehicle operates. You tend to plan ahead a bit more, be more aware of hills and curves, cars slowing down ahead, etc. – anything that'll make you need to switch gears. You could still have distracted driving, especially on highways, but driving stick lessens it, I think, though I have zero evidence to support that feeling.
It's a sequence that just happens, similar to typing. You still need to think about what you're saying, etc., but you don't have to consciously think, "now I'm typing an S."
I ride a motorcycle. In the motorcycle version of Driver's Ed, they taught us to simply think of changing gears as the same motions you'd make to wring out a wet cloth. Thinking that way automatically improves the timing and flow.
Once you've practiced enough, you simply stop thinking about any part of the gear changing steps. You don't even need the speedometer or tachometer when gearing up or down anymore because you already know how it sounds and feels. It becomes a subconscious process.
But that initial visualization of wringing out a washcloth makes it really easy to figure out. Soon enough, you have muscle memory and don't have to think about it - you just do it.
That brief moment in an automatic where the car figures out you wanted a change kills the experience of the machine being an extension of me.
Is this a US specific question? In Germany 92% of cars sold are stick shift so driving automatic (usually means paying extra for the feature) would be the exception.
If it’s a US specific question..not necessarily! Altho I think there is a sandwich generation here too who grew up learning stick and now used to automatic.