Who still drives a stick in 2025?

[sd455dan]

So presently my wife and I both drive manuals. We both prefer them. My wife would not even concider an automatic when looking for a replacement car. She's 67 by the way.

2 of my 3 men drive manuals. I've taught a few ladies how to drive manuals. A dodge Cummins works great for teaching as you don't have to be concerned with the throttle. Just learn to manage the clutch and the throttle operation comes naturally.

Some fun notes. I've converted several vehicle to manuals. Mostly because a manual has never left me stuck on the side of the road. I've always been able to get home. My 2001 TDI gained about 10 mpg with the manual and a lot more fun to drive. My 1990 Cummins gained about 6 mpg and a pile more reliability when swapped. At one time this winter we had 8 Jetta's, a Polo, a Rabbit and an Audi on the yard. Out of the 11 only 2 were automatics.

I suppose at some point in time we will own an automatic transmission vehicle but right now at 68 I don't feel like I'm old enough.

Honda's early automatics sucked compared to the 5 speeds. I had several 5 speed Honda Accord LX's and Civics, but just 2 autos. The 1980 Accord LX auto would run down the hiway at well over 3000 RPM if you tried to cruise at 70. Could pull several more MPG out of the manually shifted Honda's
Like you, For whatever reason my 6 speed manual 3500 Ram gets considerably better MPG than the wife's very similar auto version -both with 5.9 Cummins power.

I do find the autos much easier to drive, and holding the clutch in at say road construction or a Long light can get old on the NV 5600 or the M-22's 3800lb clutch. That said the EV is simplest of all. 0-155 in first not that I would test it.

 

[Too many Kubotas]

Clutch?
Shift fork?
Output shaft?

Those all can break and leave you along the side of the road.

Yes, things can break in manuals, but I've driven several hundreds of miles with clutches that didn't work, and some other transmission ailments. As have others according to earlier posts.

But the one time a transmission failed to get me home it was an automatic. Specifically, broken welds on a torque converter.

 

[Too many Kubotas]

I do find the autos much easier to drive, and holding the clutch in at say road construction or a Long light can get old on the NV 5600.

If it looks like a longish wait at road work, I shut the engine off.

Wouldn't even dream about keeping the clutch pedal depressed if it was a manual. Changing throw out bearings isn't hard, but it's not particularly fun, either.

 

[sd455dan]

If it looks like a longish wait at road work, I shut the engine off.

Wouldn't even dream about keeping the clutch pedal depressed if it was a manual. Changing throw out bearings isn't hard, but it's not particularly fun, either.

Well on the TA it was actually driving it in a slow moving Parade every year that made me do the left foot workout.

On the RAM with NV 5600, it started having a slight drag problem with taking it out of gear and not wanting to go back in sometimes, thinking a slightly warped pressure plate or maybe a dragging pilot bearing. So until I take some time and just put a new disc pressure plate throw out and pilot bearing that is how I do it.

If I was ever to run a truck plowing again I agree with Hay Dude. I have run both and will take the auto any day every day.

A person is a lot less worn out at the end of a long plow day using an automatic. jmo.

As far as killing them, I managed to mis shift a 4 speed in a Mercedes 230 SL Convert. and broke a gear.

Bounced off the rev limiter in the TA before shifting out of first and broke a tooth off 1st on the Cluster gear. Have had at least 4 T-400 autos wear out the direct drive clutch and had to have them rebuilt. Hard on rear axles as well and also broke a driveline in half on a 67 GTO taking the rear axle pinion with it. I am reformed now.

 

[FullMetalBucket]

Learned and took my drivers test on a standard. Drove many throughout the years. Most fun was the factory Hurst 4 speed in my 79 Firebird that had the built 400.

Current truck is auto, don't think they make a manual Colorado any more. Traffic is terrible around here anyway.. commute would be terrible.

I guess I can get my fix on the Guzzi.

 

[sd455dan]

Learned and took my drivers test on a standard. Drove many throughout the years. Most fun was the factory Hurst 4 speed in my 79 Firebird that had the built 400.

Current truck is auto, don't think they make a manual Colorado any more. Traffic is terrible around here anyway.. commute would be terrible.

I guess I can get my fix on the Guzzi.

My all time favorite shifter- still attached to the same close ratio M-22 that I once broke the cluster gear on.
Car was in need of a good clean for sure.

 

[Hay Dude]

Honda's early automatics sucked compared to the 5 speeds. I had several 5 speed Honda Accord LX's and Civics, but just 2 autos. The 1980 Accord LX auto would run down the hiway at well over 3000 RPM if you tried to cruise at 70. Could pull several more MPG out of the manually shifted Honda's
Like you, For whatever reason my 6 speed manual 3500 Ram gets considerably better MPG than the wife's very similar auto version -both with 5.9 Cummins power.

I do find the autos much easier to drive, and holding the clutch in at say road construction or a Long light can get old on the NV 5600 or the M-22's 3800lb clutch. That said the EV is simplest of all. 0-155 in first not that I would test it.

I keep emphasizing modern automatics. Like less than 10 years old, unless it's an Allison.
Ford and Dodge continued to try to beef up 4/5 speed car automatics, which were pretty bad (E4OD, 4R100, etc)

 

[Oaktree]

Driving an Automatic Stick Shift VW bug for the first time (a 3-speed trans witha torque converter and electrically activated (via stick shift position) clutch, so no third pedal. Still had a stick on the floor, but very wide range in speed per gear. I'm doing about 20mph in it's first gear, time to shift it to the next gear. It had a really wide brake pedal. You can guess what happened next - as I go to make the shift my left foot stomps the pedal to the floor. The extra wide brake pedal that is... My passenger hit their head on the windshield. As Gomer Pyle says, surprise, surprise, surprise!

I got in the habit of using my left foot for braking for that very reason back in the days when I (mostly) drove stick shift vehicles. Too much instinctively bringing down my left foot as I neared a stop!

Who would want to? Three on the tree was a pretty anemic transmission back in the 70s. I replaced my F-100 three on the tree with a floor shift 4 speed after about a year.

Not to mention the linkages were always kind of clunky and would occasionally jam up as a vehicle got older. Lots of floor shift kits were sold for that reason.

 

[Engineer42]

My Western Star long hood conventional would be lost without an 18 speed Roadranger and so would I. Always been a Star fan as they are all I drove for the company I retired from, drove them for over 26 years and 99% of them were big Cats. A couple 13's and the rest 18's All on air and all with double bunks. I really liked the 97 Star I drove with the 'Vestibule' sleeper in it. Sort of a 'private entrance' to the sleeper and a great closet to keep work clothes in. We all drove large cars that never went anywhere actually. We we all home almost every night and if for some odd reason we did get hung out, the company covered us staying in a Holiday Inn and paid our dinner and breakfast as well.

I only ran Northern Ohio and lower Michigan and rarely a trip to Gary, Indiana to pick up a permit load of master coils.

The reason why the owner of the company bought large car Stars was for eventual resale. In fact they always had a waiting list of drivers who wanted to buy them and they came out of fleet at 750L miles, sometimes less. When I retired I bought the tractor I was driving so it retired along with me and they gave me a fantastic deal on it with the stipulation that if needed, I would pull their Talbert detachable when big stuff needed moved. I complied with that, no issue because it not only paid well but they got all the permits as well. I moved many large, heavy and od machinery pieces for them as they were in the steel processing business and that entails large process machinery.

I remember one time I moved an overwidth machine base from Gibraltar, Michigan to Toledo, Ohio and the routing was down M125, smack through downtown Monroe, Michigan and I hit it at rush hour and the road was 2 lane and I took up every bit of the south side plus the berm and I pizzed off a lot of drivers that day. Glad I had a Michigan State Police escort on my rear end. If I remember, I was 14-6 feet wide. Not high but real heavy as well. Had the flip axle down and all lit up and all the signage and flags in place. Took a pair of mobile cranes to lift it off. I hauled many oversized in width and height pieces for them and then they divested themselves of the trucking company and it was no more, but I still own the Star and a Timpte 42 foot hopper bottom trailer. Complete OO package inside and a sleeper I never slept in. twin 1220 gallon polished tanks, all polished aluminum wheels, inners and outers, diamond tufted interior, wood laminate dash, Newway air ride, 44K rears, every factory option available. It's bright red metallic with black interior. Air ride seats on both sides too. 255" wheelbase and a football stadium sized turning radius.

Quite a unit that I only use for hauling local grain now. I should probably sell it.

That's a lot of fuel to be lugging around.

 

[oosik]

I learned to drive by holding the reins in both hands. Two mules pulling a big 'ol farm wagon. As I drove by the workers would throw on the bales. One on the wagon to straighten everything out.

My first "stick shift" a Massey that replaced the mules.

 

[jmc]

My current 2013 Outback is a 6 speed. Some guy ordered it and then cancelled the order, leaving the Subaru dealership stuck with it since manual Outback's didn't sell well, even back then. They were glad to see me; I was glad to find it.

Wanted a 6speed 1999 F250 and had to order it. Nobody stocked those either. And manual F150s back then only had some ridiculously low tow capacity- maybe 2000 lbs, IIRC. They musta had plastic gears!

 

[5030]

That's a lot of fuel to be lugging around.

Not really. OTR tractors that travel long distances usually come equipped with large fuel tanks as standard equipment and the one I own started life as a long distance tractor and like I stated previously, even though the outfit I retired from, none of us drove long distance over the road, the owner always bought and spec'd the tractors as long distance, over the road units simply because they are much easier to resell once they came out of the fleet and they were always in demand because of the way they were ordered plus the company owned the dealerships and all the units were carefully maintained by factory certified and trained mechanics.

I never had to be concerned with any issues. If I wrote up my unit on a PTI (Pre trip inspection), when I got back to the yard, it was immediately addressed and corrected and if it was an issue that needed immediate repairs on, I took a spare unit out while mine was being repaired. In my entire driving career with them, I was never subjected to a roadside vehicle inspection simply because the state and Federal DOT knew the units were always top notch. In fact, one of the safety and compliance officers the company employed was a retired DOT officer. Always good to have the right people on the payroll and the owner (who I know and associate with to this day), knew what it took to 'fly under the radar', which is pretty common in the trucking industry, especially in the specialized hauling industry we were employed in. To this day, I see our units all over the country being operated by other companies that bought them from us when they came out of the fleet and I also own one myself.

Buying anything used usually comes with a level of consternation, but not so with the trucks we drove because of the level of care they received.

I bought the tractor I drove for them when it came out of fleet service at 750K miles and prior to my buying it, I had Tom, who was the service manager and who I hunt with presently (and a close friend) turn it up for me. Mechanically injected Caterpillar's are fairly easy to turn up so long as you know what you are doing and Tom is and was always a master at doing that. When it came out of fleet, the owner knew I was going to buy it and I got a price that was fantastic and I paid cash for it as well. I've owned it for over 13 years now and other than normal maintenance, I've had zero issues with it and it's a classic long nose Star as well. I don't maintain it myself, I still have the dealership that they no longer own but the mechanics are still there, do the routine maintenance on it and I still get 'employee pricing' on that plus I buy quite a bit of stuff from their parts department like starting batteries and fuel additives, all at my employee discount, which is 10% over their cost.

Dealing with and being friends with the right people has it's rewards...

 

[dodge man]

I keep emphasizing modern automatics. Like less than 10 years old, unless it's an Allison.
Ford and Dodge continued to try to beef up 4/5 speed car automatics, which were pretty bad (E4OD, 4R100, etc)

I’m pretty sure Dodge, Chrysler and Ram are all or mostly 8 speeds. My 2017 F150 is a six speed and I think they are all 10 speeds now. And please don’t ask 5030’s opinion on Ford 10 speeds.

 

[TractorTech]

1993 F350 460 CID V8 with a ZF 5 speed stick. Very smooth transmission.

 

[5030]

My good friend and hunting buddy Tom, now has and manages a fleet of 50 road tractors leased to Fed-Ex and all his road tractors also have large fuel tanks, long wheelbases and are spec'd to OO specs. That makes his tractors easy to turn over when it's time but he turns his at a million miles simply because they are all run with team drivers running coast to coast and he can rack up a million miles pretty quick. I have no idea what he makes on them profit wise and I don't ask but I do know he pays his drivers well and provides excellent healthcare for them and has no turnover in drivers, which is abnormal in today's trucking industry. I believe his drivers gross over 100K a year. He also has a company (his company not Fed-EX) based 401 and he contributes to it as well. Tom is much like the owner I worked for. Same philosophy, same ethic.

 

[Engineer42]

Not really. OTR tractors that travel long distances usually come equipped with large fuel tanks as standard equipment and the one I own started life as a long distance tractor and like I stated previously, even though the outfit I retired from, none of us drove long distance over the road, the owner always bought and spec'd the tractors as long distance, over the road units simply because they are much easier to resell once they came out of the fleet and they were always in demand because of the way they were ordered plus the company owned the dealerships and all the units were carefully maintained by factory certified and trained mechanics.

I never had to be concerned with any issues. If I wrote up my unit on a PTI (Pre trip inspection), when I got back to the yard, it was immediately addressed and corrected and if it was an issue that needed immediate repairs on, I took a spare unit out while mine was being repaired. In my entire driving career with them, I was never subjected to a roadside vehicle inspection simply because the state and Federal DOT knew the units were always top notch. In fact, one of the safety and compliance officers the company employed was a retired DOT officer. Always good to have the right people on the payroll and the owner (who I know and associate with to this day), knew what it took to 'fly under the radar', which is pretty common in the trucking industry, especially in the specialized hauling industry we were employed in. To this day, I see our units all over the country being operated by other companies that bought them from us when they came out of the fleet and I also own one myself.

Buying anything used usually comes with a level of consternation, but not so with the trucks we drove because of the level of care they received.

I bought the tractor I drove for them when it came out of fleet service at 750K miles and prior to my buying it, I had Tom, who was the service manager and who I hunt with presently (and a close friend) turn it up for me. Mechanically injected Caterpillar's are fairly easy to turn up so long as you know what you are doing and Tom is and was always a master at doing that. When it came out of fleet, the owner knew I was going to buy it and I got a price that was fantastic and I paid cash for it as well. I've owned it for over 13 years now and other than normal maintenance, I've had zero issues with it and it's a classic long nose Star as well. I don't maintain it myself, I still have the dealership that they no longer own but the mechanics are still there, do the routine maintenance on it and I still get 'employee pricing' on that plus I buy quite a bit of stuff from their parts department like starting batteries and fuel additives, all at my employee discount, which is 10% over their cost.

Dealing with and being friends with the right people has it's rewards...

"twin 1220 gallon polished tanks,"

So you carried 2,440 gallons of fuel?

 

[Hay Dude]

"twin 1220 gallon polished tanks,"

So you carried 2,440 gallons of fuel?

It was a big motor and consumed a lot of fuel

 

[sd455dan]

Wow, that is almost 1/2 of what the average Locomotive carries on board.

 

[5030]

"twin 1220 gallon polished tanks,"

So you carried 2,440 gallons of fuel?

As usual I fat fingered the comment. I meant 120 gallon tanks, but then I also suspect you knew that. Being 74, I sometimes need some slack.

In reality, twin 120's are median sized tanks. Some of the trucks in the fleet had twin 150's.

 

[Hay Dude]

Wow, that is almost 1/2 of what the average Locomotive carries on board.

2/3rds of a home heating oil single axle truck.