Note for the future (should you ever need it); second gear works best for the roll-start.

 

I learned to drive a manual on an employer's Toyota pickup in San Francisco in the 1980s-- had to deliver some small carpets to a place on Nob Hill that first day with the pickup.
Actually only stalled the truck once, IIRC, and that was at the warehouse where I was working during the summers and not on the hills.

My son is in college, but his 5-speed MR2 Spdyer is at the house, so I've been driving it around.
A manual is more fun than an auto, even in L.A. traffic.

 

Fun =/= Fast... at least this seems to be the case with these high hp cars nowadays... you just need to get the power down to the ground and as a human you can't beat a computer... driving MT is a lost art and i hope to pass on that to my kids one day but with the direction that electric and self driving cars are going, i fear by the time they are ready to drive, everything will be uber... it is seriously the best theft deterrent out there and i probably have the most fun in my MR2... it's not fast by any means, but i have the Vagon for that... and sometimes fast can just be downright scary...

 

It's not quite as high a percentage as you say (I lived in Germany from 1996-2004 and 2011-2016. They definitely have a lot more manuals than autos, but autos are becoming more popular (given the traffic there).

The very small compact cars are mostly manuals there (think Volkswagon Up, Renault Clio etc...) Now the CLA from Mercedes could be had with a 6 speed (I drove one on a test drive, and it was a diesel) as well as the E class 2 door (E200 only), and the A3. BMW still offers a manual with their 3 series (all of them) and on the 520d car and wagon. Adi still offers a 6 speed in the A4 models as well, so there is a lot of choice.

But it's not 90%. My estimate would be about 60/40 Manual to Automatic. All the newer SUV's are autos, along with the bigger cars.

 

This is a good summary. Especially when talking about street use, FUN always trumps Fast. If you can run through the gears, hit redline, and take some spirited corners without having to reach crazy speeds, better off for all.

Also, when I was a young boy into cars, that was exactly my biggest worry - that when I finally got my license, there would be only automated cars. I think I cried once from the thought of not being able to drive a sports car.

 

^this exactly... with fast, we just don't have the roads to utilize it to the fullest potential... my cousin's husband who has a Ferrari California T always has it in the shop for a bent wheel or popped tire... the roads suck around this area and with the traffic, your window closes fast at high speeds... it's fun for the occasional 130 mph push... but even still you run out of road very quickly...

if we lived in Europe with the Autobahn then that's a bit different... but for half the year when snow tires are required, they aren't even speed rated for that kinda run...

 

I've been driving a manual transmission for 30 years this year. I don't really care about 0-60 speed now being quicker in automatics or even if the MPG is better in automatics. I prefer rowing the gears because I feel like I am more in control of the car. I like the idea that I am in control of the downshift to make lane changes and pass slower vehicles on the highway instead of any delay or wait for the auto to make a decision. I like the idea that I can keep the transmission in an upper or highest gear going downhill instead of the automatic dictating that I'm a few MPH too slow for that gear.
We will see what happens but am guessing my next ride will be an automatic because options are so limited as we move forward.

 

I agree with everything you wrote; when I travel and am forced to rent a car with an autotragic transmission, I am always annoyed when it either shifts when I don't want it it, or doesn't shift when I want it to. Even with the flippy-dippy flappy paddel thingies it isn't the same.

The good news for my wife and myself, we're old(ish); I figure we have maybe twenty to thirty years of driving left in our lives, and if I start stocking up on a few manual cars over the next few years, we should be good to go until we hang up our driver's licenses.

 

get them a car with manual and tell them to deal with it.

 

My current 4GC is the first auto car since my 2001 CL-S and i have had about 10 cars in between and they were all 6mt. (1 first gen Scion xB 5mt)

The ZF8 is the best auto transmission i have tried in any car, it is not boring to drive and it gives you the "powershifting" feel when you go all out. But if BMW offers 4GC with 6mt tomorrow, i will ditch this shit today!

 

 

When my neighbor's daughter turned 16 he bought her a car, with a manual of course, and said, "Here are the keys to your car; until you master driving that car, all other cars in the family are off limits."

Our son wasn't so lucky (or was exceedingly lucky from his perspective), we didn't own any cars with an automatic transmission at the time so he could take Mom's car or Dad's car, but he had to row his own regardless. He ended up teaching the neighbor girl how to drive the stick.

 

i hope he got compensated for those lessons...