While scrolling through Facebook the other day, I came across DriveTribe’s repost of a commentary about manual transmissions and automatics, following a Volkswagen review by Jeremy Clarkson (Grand Tour Nation; formerly of Top Gear UK). It was titled, “Jeremy’s Thoughts on Driving a Manual,” which, having absorbed Jeremy’s entertaining reviews and rousing enthusiasm for a whole decade, who wouldn’t want to know his thoughts on driving a manual? I eagerly clicked over to the Grand Tour Nation tribe to read up, but was subsequently thrown a curve.
The write-up, posted by one of GTN's staff writers, Tony Hsieh, points to a remark by Clarkson about not having any desire to weather a clutch in pouring rain and heavy traffic. While I wouldn’t exactly grant this sole statement of Clarkson’s as his ultimate “Thoughts on Driving a Manual” (rather, a thought) and thus felt a touch mislead, the author does proceed in telling us his own thoughts, being that of a die-hard MT fan “wishing” an automatic was in possession when he, himself, had simultaneously driven in pouring rain and heavy traffic, all the while on steep inclines in San Francisco. After ending his post with a request for readers’ preferences of the two and why (as he implores, which they “PREFER,” not which they think is “better”), my curiosity lead me deep into the comments section, where I thus formed my own thoughts, and shared them only out of the gnawing inadequacy of what I was reading.
Here is my comment, which received a few good "bumps," with one person’s direct reply suggesting I "summed it up":
“I think the activity of driving manual corresponds with its very function: it’s engaging. I find myself doubly alert and conscientious when responsible for gear changes than when drifting in thought and feeling bored in an automatic. It’s certainly easier, and sometimes even faster to zip around light to light or bumper to bumper in an automatic, but I’ve found, in myself and others, that too much convenience (i.e., longer durations) inevitably leads to ignorance and poor judgement. The most skilled, knowledgeable, responsible, and grateful drivers I know drive manual transmissions [more frequently], and so I believe MTs simply make for better driving, and better drivers – perhaps, minutely, even better character. Long live the stick.”
Now, Matches is my first manual car, ever. So, I guess you can call me a convert. I learned to drive in a 1991 Jeep Cherokee, and moved into my great grandfather’s 1973 Plymouth Gold Duster before painfully sharing a 2002 Toyota Tundra with my 5-inch shorter dad (seat wars), and then landing a used 2003 Pontiac Grand Am at auction – my first my-car. Even so, I always found the most joy and liberty in driving anything.
After college, I was preparing to purchase a new car and discovered an ad for the “track-ready” 2010 Subaru WRX STi Special Edition on Subaru’s site. Stunning stance, beautiful Dark Gray Metallic color, track-tuned suspension, and… 6-speed manual. Determined, I searched relentlessly for instructions and tips on driving manual. Luckily, someone had published a lucid description of manual operation online, and with enough exact detail that I was able to imagine the reflected sensations and movements by moving from neutral into drive with the Grand Am. (Don’t do what I did.) It may sound questionable, but for me, it worked. I flew to Arizona, successfully test-drove Matches around a giant donut in the front driveway - the salesman said my smile covered my whole head - and drove six hours home for a nice engine and clutch break-in right out of the gate. I just didn’t figure out the reverse lever until the next day, after looking it up in the owner’s manual. Duh.
It was true love. Multiple people had previously “warned” me I would grow weary of a manual transmission, but I drove Matches every single day, even if just around a few blocks to get out, and detailed him every other week. My Subaru was (still is) my pride and joy, and would later prove to be my protector. All things considered, though, I worked only a couple miles from home, and didn’t have to drive everywhere I was going at the time – I had the convenience of controlling my own schedule and distance traveled. It was after an ignited fuel tanker shut down the 91 freeway and it took me hours to drive the two miles home on choked surface streets, and the obligation of later having to endure the 45 miles of traffic in and out of Los Angeles, that I started [kinda] missing my automatic – just like Hsieh.
It was my dad who taught me that in keeping distance in traffic, I would have to shift less often by hanging back in 1st gear, or even 2nd if traffic permitted. While this bit of info helped on freeways and in general, other drivers would still honk, follow dangerously close, and/or cut me off because of the space, and varying visits to Hollywood hills came as an especially grueling challenge for me. Matches had hill assist, which helped a newbie out, but I’d prepare my feet in anticipation of its cutting out to permit acceleration before the car rolled back, as I’d either stall or overburden the clutch if advancing with it engaged. Additionally, people often thought it wise to stop right at my bumper, sometimes creeping further forward as soon as the light would change. At the end of the day, I’d wind up with a severely sore left leg, sometimes even a sore back, and felt especially burned out from constant shifting around the impeding petulance of other drivers, as compared to the sole stress of simply wanting to move in the Pontiac.
There was always something more rewarding about it, though. I was growing more patient, more tolerant and more considerate than ever before, and I was proudly avoiding, and possibly even preventing more accidents than I can count. (Plenty of track time has absolutely played a role in that, as well.) Each day, I was enlightened with new or familiar information about cars that I had previously overlooked or stopped short of understanding, the greatest discovery being the enthusiast community, all of which acting to enrich my analytical skills and embolden my grasp of accountability. Call me crazy, but history tells I’d still be a bored, ungrateful hack today if I’d bought into another automatic. And, that’s certainly not to say all automatic drivers are. There are some people who simply lack the coordination (or physical ability) to learn or operate stick, so they have no choice but to choose automatic; and, I’m not saying manual transmissions are an overall better choice, nor is it right to suggest that all automatic drivers are lazy or incompetent. I obviously steeped in convenience, and even acquired some essential skills from driving the Grand Am, especially after installing adjustable suspension and forged wheels with performance tires because I decided the stock setup required too much braking into turns. If that isn’t a tell-all, I was clearly just more of an asshat then, and it would be improper of me to deny having my “moments” with Matches, too. (I still don’t brake into a majority of right-turns at intersections, but never without 100% visibility.) The advancing technology that's refining customizable DCT and responsive CVT transmissions are total game-changers, too, each closing the gap between luxury and enthusiasm. However, a copious amount of people – myself included – generally tend to slack off when driving an automatic, and they often neglect proper maintenance or “don’t care” to educate themselves about even fundamental operations and components, which I personally find irresponsible. Every MT owner I've come to know is at least twice as knowledgeable and meticulous about their cars than A/T owners – after all, would it be improper to say that to respect and value responsibility is to respect and value life, and not just that of the car? (To care about anything says a lot about a person, amiright?)
Between an unavoidable accident in 2015 that left Matches in the shop for nearly ten months, and now being on jack stands for his track transformation, I’ve been driving an automatic FJ Cruiser (my “funny jeep”) to get around. While I admit it’s a nice break from a manual transmission every now and then, and its off-road capabilities are an exceptional bonus, I’m never more focused and aware than when I’m behind the wheel of Matches – you know: on the road and in life. The convenience is certainly there, and as other people commenting on the post had mentioned, old age might eventually desire, or require an automatic setup, but until I’m gray and tired, have multiple children, and/or our absurdly increasing power to the state moves to impose automated transportation and outlaw manual control of our cars (and lives…), I’ll easily be choosing stick over automatic.
In short, I think the easier things are, the harder things get, and when something is more difficult, there’s more reward, respectability and ease once you get through it. I also think a certified week of HPDE should be a requirement for obtaining a driver’s license, regardless of the transmission setup… but, that’s just my 0.02¢.
/RANT
Seriously: what’s your take?
JEREMY’S THOUGHTS ON DRIVING A MANUAL | by Tony Hsieh (Drive Tribe Nation):
https://drivetribe.com/p/cQ1g_-_3TIm297lEzRa-9A?iid=QOijwCUwS9aCsN1HCAgEPA
REFERENCE LINKS:
Until next time…
Maintenance regularly; drive often.
All photos/videos by me, unless otherwise noted.
Life’s obstacles are more entertaining with a sports car.™
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