Quote from JJ72 :

How full of yourself you have to be to think people who drive automatic are lesser drivers?

Driving is a combination of skill, awareness, experience and attitude, being able to drive a manual is just a part in the skill department, to be honest I am much more afraid of drivers with bad attitude then bad skill.

if someone is cutting lanes without signaling, weaving in traffics, or anything that actually affects you, I can understand why you would be annoyed. But whether other person is driving a manual or auto has no impact on you, so why?

We are motorheads alright, most of us here are, but you better look out the window and realise cars were invented to be a convinience, it was designed to be operated easily, by people of various abilities, not everyone drive for challenges and fun, some just need to drive in order to get around.

It's a very elitist and self-righteous thought from the OP, imo.

Have you even bothered to read anything I've written in its entirety? I dont recall saying that anyone who drives an automatic is a bad or lesser driver.

Also, if I understand what you're saying, you'd rather be driving next to someone with a good attitude who is a terrible driver who cant hold a lane?

And, I guess in the politically correct world, I should have a disclaimer: These are my opinions, if you dont agree, congrats, you cant think for yourself. I thought that was logic, but I guess I was wrong.

But thats just it, the part that angers me, its not that hard to learn.

And for the record, I have no problem saying that I'm no were near being any were near being close to being around being the best driver in the world.

I do have to agree with that though, the worst driver I've ever bin in the same car with was driving stick.

Quote from Feffe85 :

i dunno what automatics you have been driving (electric, steam or rubberband powered) but i have NEVER seen an automatic that is CHEAPER to drive then a manual?.. pls enlighten me..

Like some others have said, the argument is that clutches wear out fast, but unless you're a complete hack, you should be able to make it quite far on a clutch, and some wear along the lines, you're going to have to get work done on an automatic transition, plus manuals are cheaper to start off with by the cost of at least one clutch replacement.

Quote from SilverArrows77 :

In fact i highly recommend new drivers sit only an AUTO license first so that they may familarise themselves with road/traffic conditions and all that involves, without the distraction of having to focus on clutch control and removing hands from wheel to change gears. Then in time when they feel confident in their "awareness" on todays busy roads they could go back and re-sit with a manual license if they choose.

I probably couldnt agree less with you. If you can learn to be aware with a car where you're also shifting and clutching, wouldnt you be just as aware if not more so with an automatic? Also, what age are most learning drivers? Can we agree to people in their later teens? Also, this demographic is probably one of the most active when if comes to phone use, right? Unless I'm doing something quite wrong, it is very hard to text or talk without a hands free device. Dont you think keeping people off their phones while driving is good? At least state side, only a few states have a law against driving while talking or texting, and even then, many choose to ignore these laws.

Quote from Blackout :

I think you feel you are being assaulted because you drive an automatic. Don't worry, you can still be a sensible driver on the road or a cock like the next guy, people on the internets hardly know anything.

Oh, I'm not assaulting him, I just disagree with his opinion. I guess I wouldnt mind driving an automatic if I lived in the middle of a city with no long, steep hills, and seldom, if ever left on anything other than highways. And it sounds like thats what he does, which is completely reasonable.

Quote from amp88 :

Your brain, ears, eyes and other senses can only cope with so much input. If you use a car with a manual transmission then some of that capacity is automatically taken up by deciding when to change gears. It may only be a small portion, but if it's enough to cause you to miss someone running out infront of you or to miss a red light and cause an accident then it's enough.

While I partially agree with what you're saying, I find it quite hard to be 100% focused on what I'm doing if I'm not shifting. With an autobox, you can just push on the throt. and be on your marry way, with a manual, you need to know whats in front of you, where you are, and anticipate various things quite more so that you know where your shift points are or what gear you're in.

Quote from amp88 :

You're actually angered because a lot of people can't drive a car with a manual transmission? Seriously? Don't you have more important things to worry about than what transmission is on other people's car?

It does anger me, probably not quite as literally as you think, but it does. For this exact reason, anytime I have someone in the car who I know cant drive manual, I at least offer to teach them, and I've done so now for a few friends.

Quote from amp88 :

If you spend a lot of your travelling in traffic (e.g. motorway jams to and from work) it's a lot easier to use an automatic than it is a manual. The decrease in the work you have to do far exceeds the added satisfaction of driving a manual when you're out of traffic. I have a car with an automatic gearbox.

I guess it greatly varies with personal opinion, I've been in some nasty stop and go traffic (crash blocking 50% of the lanes at rush hour in the state capitol as well as other normal city driving), and didnt mind shifting, rather it keeps me more focused on the task at hand, and it becomes quite hard to talk on a phone(I have a bit of ADD).

I guess the thing that actually angers me (rather than annoys me) is people never learning how to drive stick despite being given that option. Last week I was at a Car wash to raise money for something. Someone had a meeting to go to (it was at a church), so they just dropped their car and told us just to park it. It happened to be stick, and out of 20 people with driver's licenses (6 or 7 of whom were 35-50) I was literally the only one who know how to drive stick. Thats just sad.

Last edited by speed1, Fri 29 May 2009, 02:28.

Now, this is a bit of a rant.

Why the hell would anybody own a car with an automatic tranny that is available as a manual unless they have some type of physical limitation? This is something that just seems baffling to me. Why is it that in just about every country in the world other than the US, most people drive manuals? I honestly can think of no situation where an auto tranny performs better than a manual, and I sure as hell could never imagine driving a car like our CR-V as an slush box (Its quite slow and underpowered with the 5 speed it has now, it needs on help). Every single autobox I've ever driven feels very slow and like I have to put my foot to the floor to get the car to even move (While I've not driven that many cars, the autoboxes I'm talking range from Tauruses, V8 SUV's, A VW TDI, and a few Civics). I'm not honestly thinking quite right at this very moment, but I just want to gauge the opinions of others on this.

Just face it, the Scirocco will never come. When I first realized this, I was sad, then I remembered all of LFS's other cars.

Oh, god. We're all going to die.

Thanks for finding that. There are always adverse reactions from a few people with all vaccines. See, something that people (I'm honestly not saying anyone in particular, just making a blanket statement) seem to ignorant to get through their heads is that tens of thousands die in the US alone per year from influenza.

Last edited by speed1, Thu 30 Apr 2009, 22:53.

Too bad that guy got arrested for beating up a hooker.

But really nice vid.

Hmm, I have the sudden urge to go wallow in mud. Maybe I have the flu.

But seriously, anyone who is overly worried (as in worried more about this than any other flu) needs to just sit a sealed room. Just remember what happened with the Swine flu "outbreak" in the 70's. Way more people died from the vaccine than the actual flu. There are a hell of a lot of things more likely to kill you.

Just found a funny CL ad, and I was wondering if anyone had any funny buy sell ads they'd like to post.

http://lawrence.craigslist.org/bik/1122414416.html

What the heck was that? I think a bunch of people at the shallow end of the gene pool got together and said "I know, lets destroy some clutches."

Looks to be from the same "race"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v ... INUWI&feature=related

Reply with a picture of a police car.

Quote from Hotpot :

My G25 has started skipping gears particularly on upshift. It seems that I only have to lightly touch the stick shift and it'll jump up two gears. It's out of warranty but a Logitech guy is looking into getting hold of a replacement stickshift for me. He says that they can lose calibration.
A guy called goonie directed me to the forums here and said that there were fixes available for this prob. Can anyone help? Cheers.

I'd assume you're talking about the sequential mode. I had the exact same problem. Not sure you'll have the same results, but I fixed it by unplugging and replugging the wire that connects the shifter pod with the pedals. It seems that it was just loose. Its now fine for me.

Quote from Blackout :

Actually that is just a cunning way to park so that nobody can hit your car and scratch the paint with their door!

Yup. You only get spat on and scratched with keys.

Another thing that pisses me off is when I'm walking and come to an intersection where people are on the crosswalk. Depending on the car, I'll just climb up onto the hood and walk across. Did it to a Ford Expedition the other day. It was really high up.

LOL. I just split soup.

This color represents speed

This color represents braking

Quote from wheel4hummer :

Well, maybe you're going under the speed limit and that's why their tailgating you, but your speedometer may not really be that accurate. I think it's safer just to maybe slow down, and if you press your brakes, only enough to light up the brake lights.

Quote from speed1 :

When did I say I go under the speed limit constantly? I do my best to stick in the flow of traffic. Besides, its when people get on you tail and wont pass despite the fact they can with no issue. Also, what did I say that involved judging a car's speed exactly?

Quote from speed1 :

Maybe I should make this clear for a third time (counting what Jakg said). You tap the pedal just enough to to light up the brake lights. Plus, at least locally, most of the tailgating is in areas where the car can go around anyways. For example, a bit ago today I was doing around 50 in a 45 zone in the right lane (correct for the US) with more than ample room to pass on the the left (like is correct), but the idiot in his Ford was right on my bumper, so I tapped the brake with my left foot to engage the lights and he went around.

So yeah.

Quote from Luke.S :

Now these are stupid drivers. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npTRXr4Sgxg

I love the guy in the beginning who just floors it and hits every possible thing.

When did I say I go under the speed limit constantly? I do my best to stick in the flow of traffic. Besides, its when people get on you tail and wont pass despite the fact they can with no issue. Also, what did I say that involved judging a car's speed exactly?

Really, that is the whole point. To get the person to pay attention and off their phone. Thats dangerous? Why is this so recommended? In fact, blipping the brakes along with slowing up a bit is probably the best technique that I've used to get people to go around. Its not something you'd do in heavy traffic or if they cant go around.

Quote from speed1 :

Brake testing is fine for people who are right on your bumper as long as you dont slow down.

Quote from ajp71 :

Sorry? I don't believe for a second that anybody, especially the old bill, could ever attempt to justify deliberately and totally needlessly slowing down to deal with a car that is too close so is going to be even less likely to slow down in time.

Maybe I should make this clear for a third time (counting what Jakg said). You tap the pedal just enough to to light up the brake lights. Plus, at least locally, most of the tailgating is in areas where the car can go around anyways. For example, a bit ago today I was doing around 50 in a 45 zone in the right lane (correct for the US) with more than ample room to pass on the the left (like is correct), but the idiot in his Ford was right on my bumper, so I tapped the brake with my left foot to engage the lights and he went around.