[Lmonus]

Originally Posted by frankiebones

Death before DCT!!!!

<3

[IB M]

Originally Posted by Lups

Right.

Automatic is so much safer since you can pass people without letting go of your hamburger!

Exactly. Automatic is safer in these situations cause when I'm eating with two hands I can steer with my knee.

[nicknaz]

If you let others drive your car (sig other, friends etc) dtc eliminates the money $hift risk.

[dzvero]

Someone please delete this dumb thread !

[rcw119]

I convinced a coworker to buy a stick for their child so they wouldn't be distracted by eating or texting.

[captainaudio]

Originally Posted by rcw119

I convinced a coworker to buy a stick for their child so they wouldn't be distracted by eating or texting.

If you need to be shifting gears to avoid being distracted while driving you probably should not be driving at all.

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by rcw119

I convinced a coworker to buy a stick for their child so they wouldn't be distracted by eating or texting.

They can reserve all texting for highway driving now...

[Agamemnon]

Originally Posted by dzvero

Someone please delete this dumb thread !

I second that! MT vs DCT has been beaten to death on this forum. I drive manual but went DCT for my M3. Drive what you want.

[minn19]

Originally Posted by rcw119

I convinced a coworker to buy a stick for their child so they wouldn't be distracted by eating or texting.

So a teenager couldn't leave it in 2nd or 3rd and grab the phone to text? I had no problem when I was younger eating in my 5 speed S10.

You guys act like these things will never happen in a manual and it is some great solution to these issues. I'm sure it helps a little, but not nearly to the extent you guys think it does.

[captainaudio]

Originally Posted by minn19

So a teenager couldn't leave it in 2nd or 3rd and grab the phone to text? I had no problem when I was younger eating in my 5 speed S10.

You guys act like these things will never happen in a manual and it is some great solution to these issues. I'm sure it helps a little, but not nearly to the extent you guys think it does.

Whenever I see the claims about manual drivers not being distracted I think of the many times I have driven on Route 75 (AKA "Alligator Alley") between Pembroke Pines and Naples Florida. You can drive for hours without having to shift and barely having to steer.

"I'm really starting to lose attention and I'm afraid I'm going to nod off. I better downshift to wake myself up"

[ORA]

LOL

ahhh distracted yes! manual drivers are not able to juggle a bag of chips and sip on a 72oz big gulp while they cut others off into oblivion! how dare they be distracted from 7-11's greatest hits??

[captainaudio]

Originally Posted by ORA

LOL

ahhh distracted yes! manual drivers are not able to juggle a bag of chips and sip on a 72oz big gulp while they cut others off into oblivion! how dare they be distracted from 7-11's greatest hits??

And I suppose as long as we are making silly claims an argument could be made that while eating in an AT, as opposed to an MT, if the car has to shift gears the AT driver will be able to keep one hand on the wheel while the MT driver will have to let go of the wheel while shifting gears with the right hand and eating with the left. And I would not be surprised if many MT drivers have done exactly that.

[trey100]

Originally Posted by captainaudio

Whenever I see the claims about manual drivers not being distracted I think of the many times I have driven on Route 75 (AKA "Alligator Alley") between Pembroke Pines and Naples Florida. You can drive for hours without having to shift and barely having to steer.

"I'm really starting to lose attention and I'm afraid I'm going to nod off. I better downshift to wake myself up"

Yet with an automatic, all roads might as well look like that.

Point is that in most cases, with a manual, the driver is paying more attention than with an automatic. But then again the insurance company says otherwise, so it must be true.

[GrussGott]

Originally Posted by Lups

Right.

Automatic is so much safer since you can pass people without letting go of your hamburger!

This brings up an automobile etiquette question:

15ish years ago my wife and I were unintentionally run off the road by a dirty hippie in a beater-truck pulling a shithole trailer. Unfortunately the Ford Taurus (she was driving) wasn't built for rear-wheel traction differential, and she never learned drifting techniques, so we spun out at 85 MPH on a packed interstate and crossed on-coming traffic twice. it kinda looked like this (fortunately my wife bears no resemblance to Mr. Candy):



Just prior the wipeout I had started eating a delicious McDonalds cheeseburger. When the car finally stopped in massive cloud of dust and median weeds and grass, I was still mid-2nd-bite on my cheeseburger.

So here's the etiquette question for this group:
Post-crash, is it ok to finish that 2nd bite and take down that cheeseburger?

Denouement for the curious:
I've crashed so many fucking cars, so many times, that I finished that god-dammed burger. You're fucking right I did. Do I get any forgiveness for being a flawed human? Fuck no.

[F83]

I don't see many manual drivers barreling along with their nose in their cell phone. MT keeps you engaged in the driving process. This slide is total BS IMHO.

[captainaudio]

Originally Posted by trey100

Yet with an automatic, all roads might as well look like that.

Point is that in most cases, with a manual, the driver is paying more attention than with an automatic. But then again the insurance company says otherwise, so it must be true.

You are either an attentive driver or you are not. As I stated earlier if you need to be shifting gears to be paying attention to driving while driving on the road you probably should not be driving at all.

If you are driving at the limits on a track you need to have full concentration regardless of what transmission you have and in the opinion of a number of race drivers that I know shifting an MG can be somewhat of a distraction when you are racing. There is a lot more to performance driving than shifting gears and in my experience shifting an MT was probably the easiest race driving skill to master, far easier than threshold or trail braking, mastering the racing line or learning to correct for over and understeer. Of course today there are not many race cars (and there are fewer and fewer high performance road cars) with manual transmissions.

I regularly drive both MTs and ATs and I do not find that driving an AT or a DCT in fully automatic mode makes me any less attentive and driving an MT does not make me any feel less safe because I am thinking about shifting gears.

I personally hope that manufacturers like Porsche and BMW continue to give drivers a choice but even they do not offer MTs on all models.

[minn19]

Originally Posted by F83

I don't see many manual drivers barreling along with their nose in their cell phone. MT keeps you engaged in the driving process. This slide is total BS IMHO.

This is probably due to the rarity of MT transmissions as well. I wonder what the overall AT to MT ratio is for car, truck and SUVs out there? 99% to 1%? I don't know, but I'm guessing it is something like that.

[captainaudio]

Originally Posted by minn19

This is probably due to the rarity of MT transmissions as well. I wonder what the overall AT to MT ratio is for car, truck and SUVs out there? 99% to 1%? I don't know, but I'm guessing it is something like that.

According to Edmunds as of 2013 approximately 3.9% of the cars sold in the US had manual transmissions.


I am curious. When you see someone barreling along, cell phone in hand or not, exactly how do you tell whether they are driving an MT or an AT?

[minn19]

Originally Posted by captainaudio

When you see someone driving by exactly how do you tell whether they are driving an MT or an AT?

I actually do notice sometimes and am kind of surprised to see it.

Wait, I'm watching them shift and I'm distracted. MTs do cause distracted driving.

[GrussGott]

Originally Posted by captainaudio

According to Edmunds as of 2013 approximately 3.9% of the cars sold in the US had manual transmissions.


I am curious. When you see someone barreling along, cell phone in hand or not, exactly how do you tell whether they are driving an MT or an AT?

Normally I'll chuck a water bottle at them ... if they can't downshift very fast, MT.

[captainaudio]

Originally Posted by minn19

I actually do notice sometimes and am kind of surprised to see it.

Wait, I'm watching them shift and I'm distracted. MTs do cause distracted driving.

I will have to admit that I can not remember noticing what kind of transmission the car that someone driving by me had. Of course if I see a classic British Roadster or a Cobra Replica I will assume that it has an MT.

[captainaudio]

Originally Posted by GrussGott

Normally I'll chuck a water bottle at them ... if they can't downshift very fast, MT.