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Very Active Member
Bye, bye stick-shift
Hi folks,
I see on the news this evening that Audi will soon no longer offer a stick-shift in their cars for North America.
It also said, that overall, stick-shifts are only in 2 - 2 1/2 % of all cars sold in the USA.
So, how many of you learned to drive on a stick-shift?
Me, for one.
Jerry Baumchen
'I'll never forget what's her name.'
'Things are more like they are now than they ever have been before.' Dwight Eisenhower
2008 GS SE-5
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Me too. I liked stick shifts so much that in 2003 when Cadillac came out with the CTS with a manual transmission I drove 12 hours to purchase one. All of my Spyders have been manuals as I just prefer it.
2017 F3T-SM6 Squared Away Mirror Wedgies & Alignment
2014 RTS-SM6 123,600 miles Sold 11/2017
2014 RTL-SE6 8,600 miles
2011 RTS-SM5 5,000 miles
2013 RTS-SM5 burned up with 13,200 miles in 13 weeks
2010 RTS-SM5 59,148 miles
2010 RT- 622
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Very Active Member
Hi Ann,
Re: I just prefer it.
I was that way about 25-30 yrs ago. I thought that I would never own an auto-box. Now, I am just the opposite; I prefer auto-boxes for everything. That's why I bought an SE-5.
Jerry Baumchen
'I'll never forget what's her name.'
'Things are more like they are now than they ever have been before.' Dwight Eisenhower
2008 GS SE-5
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Very Active Member
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Very Active Member
Drivers Training required that we learn both automatic and standard transmission when I was taking it (back in the very early 60s)
Had to pass training in order to get insurance on my parents' policy. I believe I paid an extra $200 per year for driving the family sedans. Saw an internet video of thieves trying to steal a car who couldn't complete their task because it was a standard transmission and nobody knew how to drive it..... Love it.
2005 Windveil Blue Premium Mustang Convertible
2008 Honda GL1800/California Sidecar Trike, SOLD
2014 Platinum Silver Satin Spyder RTL, SOLD
Semper Fi
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Originally Posted by canamjhb
Drivers Training required that we learn both automatic and standard transmission when I was taking it (back in the very early 60s)
Had to pass training in order to get insurance on my parents' policy. I believe I paid an extra $200 per year for driving the family sedans. Saw an internet video of thieves trying to steal a car who couldn't complete their task because it was a standard transmission and nobody knew how to drive it..... Love it.
First time (of many) that I took the CTS in for service they sent a porter out to take my car back to the garage he got in it, shut the door and just sat there. Finally he got out and said he didn't know how to drive a stick. He was a very embarrassed young man.
2017 F3T-SM6 Squared Away Mirror Wedgies & Alignment
2014 RTS-SM6 123,600 miles Sold 11/2017
2014 RTL-SE6 8,600 miles
2011 RTS-SM5 5,000 miles
2013 RTS-SM5 burned up with 13,200 miles in 13 weeks
2010 RTS-SM5 59,148 miles
2010 RT- 622
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Very Active Member
Standard tranny always...
Learned on them and always had stick. My daughter learned to drive with me and also has always had a stick...
Gene and Ilana De Laney
Mt. Helix, California
2012 RS sm5
2012 RS sm5 , 998cc V-Twin 106hp DIY brake and park brake Classic Black
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Very Active Member
Looks like we will need to keep our 2000 A4 manual alot longer. What fun would it be to own a performance car that you can not row through the gears
2021 Sea To Sky, 2020 RTL
Isn't it weird that in AMERICA our flag and our culture offend so many people......
but our benefits don't?
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Very Active Member
With the current trend of modern day paddle shifters, you get the best of both worlds, plus the engine management system keeps you honest.
Not meaning the kind of less refined setup on the Spyder SE series , but the more refined stuff in high end cars. Understandable why old school stick shift is fading away, technology has simply gone beyond it.
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All of our family cars were stick shift -- I learned on a 1965 Volvo that my father bought for $300 with about 200,000 miles on it. Sold it for $200 a few years later with over 300,000 miles on it, a fair number put on by me over the protests of the transmission. It was an old school four on the floor where you had to kind of edge over to the left to avoid conking your knee to get it into reverse, and shifting into 3rd or 4th required a real reach over to the right. (Had a date who thought I was getting a little fresh when all I was trying to do was accelerate... oh, never mind...)
Regards,
Bret
2017 RT-S Orbital Blue
BajaRon Anti-Sway Bar
SpyderPops LED Bumpskid, Spyclops II LED, Full View Turn Signals & Belt Guard
Sena 20S Bluetooth Headsets
Brake Free Helmet Light
FOBO Bike for Trike
Rugged Geek RG1000 Safety Plus Jump Starter/Air Compressor
Lamonster RAM mount/Techmount TechGripper
Drink2Go Cup Holders
UltraGard Half Cover
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Very Active Member
Duce and a half
Originally Posted by JerryB
Hi folks,
I see on the news this evening that Audi will soon no longer offer a stick-shift in their cars for North America.
It also said, that overall, stick-shifts are only in 2 - 2 1/2 % of all cars sold in the USA.
So, how many of you learned to drive on a stick-shift?
Me, for one.
Jerry Baumchen
I learned to drive stick on a duce and a half. Had a steering wheel which at the time, looked to be as big as Texas. In hindsight that was a good vehicle to learn to drive stick because it was nearly impossible to hurt it.
Greg Kamer
"It's better to be not riding and wishing you were than be riding and wishing you weren't."
USAF, 20 years, retired
Sheriff's Office, 23 years, retired
2018 Can Am Spyder RT-Limited
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Active Member
My Mom required me to learn to drive with our family car (a stick) prior to getting my licence in the 80s. I've had sticks off and on, however for the past 15 years, I've only had automatics. My Mom traded in her car and got an automatic and now is happy she did so.
I think there's value in learning to drive in a stick of some kind.
2017 F3-L Intense red "Wings"
Spyderpops Spyclops Light
Tric LED Headlights and Fog lights
Madstad Windshield
Phoenix - Wrap My Spyder
Lamonster Highway Pegs
BajaRon Sway Bar
Rich's Custom Seats
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GLC
I had to learn to drive stick - family car was a stick. At least the one I was allowed to use. LOL
Years later, my little family drove to Maryland in a stick shift. It was a Mazda GLC. I was the only one who could drive it. Baby got him pneumonia, couldn't go home until he felt better. Gave Daddy a quick instruction in stick, sent him home to get back for work. He and car survived. Baby and I flew back 2 weeks later.
Good old days.
~Sandee~
~Sandee~
2016 RT-L (Purchased used in February 2018)
RT Dash Mount (from JT's Spyder Store)
Kuryakin Trident Highway Pegs
Hopnel Pouch
Magic Mirrors
Spyderpops Foam Handgrips
Iron Butt #35273
Girls on Spyders #2779
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Very Active Member
My first car a 1974 Nova was stick shift. The latest car I bought last year, a Subaru WRX, is stick shift.
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My family had two stick-shifts when I learned to drive cars. I had a manual motorcycle two years before that. My wife and kids all learned on sticks as well and that didn't change until I finally bought a car that didn't come with a stick. I have to admit I like sticks more than autos but it is much easier to commute in an auto so you are not constantly rowing the shifter in rush hour traffic. Now I have four cars and only the wifey's is stick (a little econobox) which she had to order special to get the stick.
My dozens of motorcycles have all been manual except the Spyder which is gone now. Never did like the paddle shifters or the auto downshift. Neither did she.
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Very Active Member
Young people (Some Old) Don't want them because its harder to text if you have to shift? My Cell Phone is Never on in the car.
2015 F3 sm6, Custom Dynamics fender lights.
Sea Doo GTI-SE 90 Jet Ski!!
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Active Member
Originally Posted by ByeSpyder
My dozens of motorcycles have all been manual except the Spyder which is gone now. Never did like the paddle shifters or the auto downshift. Neither did she.
Been using the paddle shifter recently in my Subaru in bad/icy weather to downshift. I wonder if folks that have never driven a stick understand how they work.
2017 F3-L Intense red "Wings"
Spyderpops Spyclops Light
Tric LED Headlights and Fog lights
Madstad Windshield
Phoenix - Wrap My Spyder
Lamonster Highway Pegs
BajaRon Sway Bar
Rich's Custom Seats
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Originally Posted by Kiry
Been using the paddle shifter recently in my Subaru in bad/icy weather to downshift. I wonder if folks that have never driven a stick understand how they work.
Doubtful.
2017 F3T-SM6 Squared Away Mirror Wedgies & Alignment
2014 RTS-SM6 123,600 miles Sold 11/2017
2014 RTL-SE6 8,600 miles
2011 RTS-SM5 5,000 miles
2013 RTS-SM5 burned up with 13,200 miles in 13 weeks
2010 RTS-SM5 59,148 miles
2010 RT- 622
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64 1/2 Mustang Fastback
Had to sell my 1963 Chevrolet Super Sport 2 door hardtop because my then new wife couldn’t learn to drive the factory 4 speed even tho’ she taught piano playing with both hands and both feet 😄 Still married to her 54 years later. ❤️👍. Wish she liked riding my Spyder more. HAve had PHUN with 3 of them. Waiting on the 2019s to get her😝
Replaced my Lamonster Certified RT Limited #1874 With a 2018 RTL.
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Active Member
A lot of the semi trucks manufacturers are ditching the stick shift as standard equipment now, instead going to “automated manual” gearboxes(basically it’s a manual equipped with valves, solenoids, actuators and a computer control box that do the clutching & shifting).
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Ozzie Ozzie Ozzie
Originally Posted by spydermyke990
A lot of the semi trucks manufacturers are ditching the stick shift as standard equipment now, instead going to “automated manual” gearboxes(basically it’s a manual equipped with valves, solenoids, actuators and a computer control box that do the clutching & shifting).
Apart from their size & the 'actual' clutch they use, that's just what the SE5 & SE6 Spyders do!! Same gearbox as the manuals, just automated shifting & clutching & rev matching etc. All the benefits of a manual box, none of the issues.....
2013 RT Ltd Pearl White
Ryde More, Worry Less!
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Wasn't allowed to drive the car (probabably a good thing, looking back), a refurbished plymoth police interceptor with a push button automatic until i mastered the old man's work truck. A P/U with the infamous 3-on-the-tree. Disappointigly, by the time i mastered the truck, they got rid of that car and i still never got to drive it.
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Originally Posted by Peter Aawen
Apart from their size & the 'actual' clutch they use, that's just what the SE5 & SE6 Spyders do!! Same gearbox as the manuals, just automated shifting & clutching & rev matching etc. All the benefits of a manual box, none of the issues.....
I guess I am just old fashioned but I much prefer to be in total control of my vehicle, bike or car. What surprised me is I bought the SE for the wife but she didn't like the auto shift either.
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I learned to drive on both, but mostly manual transmissions. I worked on my Uncle's farm driving tractors and pickups with 3 speed on the column. My first manual was a 1974 4 speed Lincoln Mercury Capri, loved that little car. Dale
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