Dec 29, 2001 02:15 PM
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(Updated Dec 29, 2001 10:09 PM)
Once upon a time there was a 26 year old girl who was learning to drive for the first time. She was relatively poor, although she was about to receive a small inheritance after her grandfather’s death, which would enable her to purchase her first vehicle. She hemmed and hawed- what sort of vehicle should I learn to drive, automatic or manual(stick shift)?
Actually, there really was no choice. Her boyfriend at the time was the only one to teach her, and he drove a manual transmission vehicle. So, with many a herky jerk and stall, she gradually mastered gears one through three. Four and five were a couple of weeks away yet. She was pretty confident on the roads after this relatively short learning period(two weeks or so), and could drive at thirty-five miles per hour with the best of them. City streets, here she comes!
Gears four and five were a bit more of a challenge, since by this time, she had purchased her brand-spanking-new Geo Metro(ok, it was a bit used, but it was new to her), the Wonder Egg. This meant she needed to drive on the freeways- a prospect that in California, with the world’s lousiest drivers, terrified her to no end. Still, after a couple of more weeks, she pretty much had the hang of it. She was now cruisin’
Her new little Egg had a bit of a warranty defect, which caused her clutch to fail early in her car ownership. She was able to obtain a rental car for the duration of her Egg’s shop stay. The tragedy! It turned out her rental was an automatic- car rental places in the United States don’t rent out cars with manual transmissions- and she didn’t have the faintest clue how to drive one! The rental guys had to show her how to start it, since she couldn’t find the clutch:-) This little adventure pretty much told her everything she needed to know about her future transmission choices.
A barely averted disaster struck her a couple of miles down the road when she tried to make a right turn. In a manual transmission, she used to brake first, clutch in, downshift, and accelerate into the turn. When she tried to accelerate into the turn as she would have done, had she been in a car with a stick shift, she nearly wiped out, rolled the car, and smashed into the traffic signal. Luckily, she realized her mistake, and hit the brakes in time. In an automatic, you do NOT accelerate into the turn, she learned, with a huge shot of adrenaline. This was not the last of the differences, she noticed. To shorten the story significantly, the differences will be put into a numerical list, and analyzed accordingly.
1. Acceleration. A manual transmission accelerates more rapidly, and evenly throughout the gears, especially in a situation where one needs to merge into traffic more quickly. Automatics, on the other hand, start off very slowly in the lower speeds, then accelerate more in the higher speeds. This makes it very difficult to predict just how long it will take to reach the targetted speed. Score 1 for the manual transmission.
2. Maneuverability. Due to the acceleration differences above, an automatic is less maneuverable in a crisis situation(say, quick lane changes when being cut off), whereas a manual is just as peppy as its owner. Advantage: manual.
3. Assistance in maintaining alertness. Since one is constantly shifting gears in a manual transmission vehicle as traffic speeds change, one is forced to stay alert. This is especially important in stop-and-go traffic situations, where the car can stall if one isn’t alert. Automatics on the other hand, require no adjustment or attention, as the correct gear is always engaged. In a traffic situation, this could cut down on one’s alertness. This is especially dangerous when dealing with erratic drivers who will change lanes without signalling in tight quarters or any of the other myriad hazards such as rear-endings that come with thick traffic. Advantage: manual.
- Fuel efficiency. An automatic guzzles far more gas than a manual vehicle- EPA statistics and ratings on fuel efficiency show exactly that. This is because some energy is used to power the gear-shifting mechanisms in an automatic vehicle. A manual transmission requires none of that energy, since the driver does all of that him or herself. Advantage: manual.
5. Calorie burning. An automatic requires the actions of only one bodypart, the right leg, alternately pressing the gas pedal or brake, and maybe the hands for some occasional steering. A manual transmission, on the other hand, requires the use of both legs, with the left leg engaging the clutch as necessary, the left arm constantly steering, while the right arm shifts gears. The right leg is used in the same manner as the automatic. So, driving a manual transmission is more of a workout than driving an automatic. Advantage: manual.
6. Wear on brakes. When going downhill, in an automatic, one must constantly keep riding the brakes. In a manual transmission, on the other hand, one merely needs to shift into a lower gear, and with minimal useage of the brakes, one's speed can be controlled quite easily. This girl noticed a huge difference the first time she had to go down the other side of the Santa Cruz Mountains- she merely downshifted to third gear, and her speed was very controlled, while she saw continuous brake lights and smelled burning brake pads from the automatics all around her. Advantage: manual.
7. Startup due to battery failure. In an automatic, a jumper cable and additional vehicle are required, to restart a car with a depleted battery. On the other hand, one merely needs to push a manual transmission vehicle, and get it going at a reasonable speed, then jump in and start the vehicle- it will start up with no problem, and the battery will recharge as it is driven. Advantage: manual.
Based on the seven advantages the girl found out above, she determined that all of her future vehicles would be equipped with a manual transmission. When it came time for her to purchase her current vehicle, a Toyota Echo, she made sure to obtain the two door coupe, the body style that was equipped with a manual transmission. Only stick shifts for her!
