Five gears. Reverse. Neutral. And a clutch. Easy enough. At least that’s what I thought when I first tried to drive a vehicle with a manual transmission.
The early stages of my learning process were not so pretty, much like many of you who also learned to drive a “stick shift.” Lots of chugs and restarts, as I recall. But, I eventually caught on and actually learned to enjoy shifting by hand. Still do.
I first learned to shift gears manually on a motorcycle. One down. Four up. And, many chugs and restarts, too. But, that Suzuki 185 purred like a kitten once I figured it out.
Then came the end-loader tractors on the farms I worked on. The stress was less, as there weren’t many others around to laugh while I learned.
In the years after that, I drove 16 different cars and trucks. All but two had automatic transmissions. As it turns out, that’s quite common.
According to homegrail.com, 66% of drivers know how to operate a stick shift, but only 13% of the cars sold in the U.S. today even offer a manual transmission. This is a significant drop from the 37% recorded more than a decade ago. Even so, 55% admitted they have owned or rented a manual at some point in their lives, and 27% still have a strong preference for manual transmission.
But wait. There’s more. Even though we Americans prefer our automatic transmissions, that’s not as true in other parts of the world, as 80% of manuals produced globally end up in either Asia or Europe. Unfortunately, our hands are used for other seemingly important tasks like holding coffee cups and cell phones.
Are vehicles with manual transmissions cheaper and more fuel efficient? The answer, according to homegrail.com, is yes. And, yes. Manuals are $800 to $1,000 cheaper than their automatic counterparts, and gas mileage improves by two to five mpg with a manual transmission.
Maybe not surprisingly, most of the people who lease or own manual cars are 55 years or older. Much like writing in cursive or memorizing phone numbers, knowing how to operate a stick shift may have become a lost art — but manually shifting gears still makes me feel like Mario Andretti.
How about you? When and how did you learn to drive a manual transmission, if ever? Send me a note and let me know.
Have a memorable Monday, and thanks for reading.
Shane Goodman
Publisher
Big Green Umbrella Media
shane@dmcityview.com
515-953-4822, ext. 305
www.thedailyumbrella.com
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