Driving stick

[pauldun170]

Originally Posted by VatorMan

Traffic and steep hills-stay in an auto. Stick shift is only mandatory in sports cars. Only chicks drive a sports car with an auto.

I have traffic and steep hills.
I still vote stay in stick.

Only people I tell to avoid stick are amputees and Russians

[LeeNetworX]

Driver's Ed in my day required everyone to be able to drive stick as well as auto. In high school / college, if you were a guy and didn't know how to drive manual, you were ridiculed until you did learn.

[OneSickPsycho]

If you understand the clutch, gas, gears relationship from just about any system, it's easily transferrable.

[shmike]

Originally Posted by defector

As a kid, learning how to operate a manual was sort of a rite of passage. That, and backing up a trailer.

Originally Posted by LeeNetworX

Driver's Ed in my day required everyone to be able to drive stick as well as auto. In high school / college, if you were a guy and didn't know how to drive manual, you were ridiculed until you did learn.

Plus a billion to both of these.

I never took driver's ed but among my friends: if you didn't know how to drive a manual and a trailer BEFORE you got your license, that was rare.

If a male couldn't drive a manual AFTER getting his license, mockery was required.

[OneSickPsycho]

I fucking hate backing up with a trailer... I can do it... just slowly...

Watching my old man do it though... makes me feel fucking retarded.

[LeeNetworX]

Originally Posted by OneSickPsycho

I fucking hate backing up with a trailer... I can do it... just slowly...

Watching my old man do it though... makes me feel fucking retarded.

Best advice I got for backing up a trailer - either look back over your shoulder or use you mirrors. Just one or the other, not both. When you mix the two is when you make it more difficult on yourself than it is.

[OneSickPsycho]

Originally Posted by LeeNetworX

Best advice I got for backing up a trailer - either look back over your shoulder or use you mirrors. Just one or the other, not both. When you mix the two is when you make it more difficult on yourself than it is.

Best advice I ever got for back up anything... don't look over your shoulder, use your fucking mirrors. The driver's ed morons always taught to look over your shoulder...

[LeeNetworX]

Originally Posted by OneSickPsycho

Best advice I ever got for back up anything... don't look over your shoulder, use your fucking mirrors. The driver's ed morons always taught to look over your shoulder...

What works for one will not necessarily work as well for another. I can back the shit out of trailers looking over my shoulder (when applicable). And I don't have to do it slowly.

[shmike]

Word.

I can back a trailer pretty damn efficiently with my mirrors but I can do it fast as hell looking out the back window.

Edit: It's also situational:
Looking out the back window doesn't help much when backing a 30' enclosed, just like mirrors are pretty much useless when backing up a PWC trailer.

[VatorMan]

I can't remember the last time I towed a trailer I could use the rear mirror.