driving automatic transmission is like having bad sex. a case can be made that it's better than nothing, but really, it's the automotive equivalent of lying still and thinking of england.
I've heard that sentiment before and I so disagree. I've driven a manual since I started driving (mostly because they were cheaper) but I prefer automatic. It's so much less work, so much less to think about, much more comfortable.
I concede that it's marginally less work to drive an automatic, and that there is less to think about (although not all that much--at worst you have to figure out what gear to choose on those rare occasions you downshift--and some of us like thinking when we drive), but I've never understood the comfort argument. When I'm driving, it's my gas/brake foot that gets tired long before my clutch foot. Most of the time it's not doing anything. And on long trips, the occasional shifting keeps my leg from falling asleep.
It's not that I have to think about it, after almost 20 years of driving a shift it's very automatic (heh). But I'm always aware that there is more that has to be done when I'm driving a stick shift (we have one of each so I sometimes drive an automatic).
Also a manual gets VERY tiring if you get into stop-and-go traffic as I have in the past when commuting. Not to mention more of a pain on hills.
I like the Different strokes comment. I learned to drive on an automatic simply cause it's easier to get a license that way but have since been most happy driving manual shift cars. I *like* the different strokes. And also cool turbo-charged 6 gear cars (the mini cooper S for example) only come in manual shift.
Test drive one. One day I had nothing to do so I went to the BMW dealership and said I was interested in the Mini. (I was interested, I just wasn't *buying* interested.) Could I take a test drive? The guy said, "Sure let me get the keys." Came back and *gave* me the keys. He didn't even ask for my license to hold or photocopy. Most fun. EVER. I think I'll do that with eht new VW SUV just to see how she drives.
:::snort::: I'll have to share this with the English chick in my life, who had to learn to drive manual when she moved in with me because, as I said then, the only cars in this house are five-speeds, learn to drive them or walk.
Wow, I'm not used to disagreeing with you. I'm going to assume it's just because I never quite *learned* to drive a stick. Something to do with my father telling me that that particular vehicle was particularly easy and then admitting that, no, it was actually particularly difficult...
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you can have the automatic. more stick shifts for the rest of us.
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Elektra tells me when my sexual identity comes up I should just say 'queer' (which can mean just about anything nowadays) and let them wonder.
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He drives the automatic so well, it FEELS as good as a stick. :-)
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Diff'rent strokes, I guess.
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Also a manual gets VERY tiring if you get into stop-and-go traffic as I have in the past when commuting. Not to mention more of a pain on hills.
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I only wish I'd driven a turbocharged six-speed. ONE OF THESE DAYS!
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J.
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