Why the end of manual/shift stick needs to concern us !

The Mayor used to drive his five-speed S10 in San Francisco. Please explain this so-called "hill issue". Nobody that knows how to drive has an issue with hills, no matter what transmission is in the vehicle.

Sounds like the Fiesta is a car for pansies.

 

Guess my age is showing! Glad that stick shifts have improved. Thanks for the info.

 

If you had read the reply that I was replying to you would have seen that someone said they had issues with a standard on hills. And yes, there is an issue with hills. Stop on a steep hill at a light, have someone pull up right behind you, and then see what happens when you let off the brake and try to engage the clutch. The car rolls backwards. The Fiesta does not. It's good because it's a very easy to drive standard. Has a super nice clutch, very easy to depress, with a short throw style shifter. By far the most fun to drive.

I'm back asswards from everyone I know. Both my car and truck are standards, and my motorcycle is an automatic.

 

How about those aerosol cans that you can screw on and use to seal and inflate the tire?
Anybody know the pros and cons to keeping one in one's vehicle?

 

Ive never heard of them but just from what I know of tires they may ruin your tire...1st if it seals a leak wouldnt it also seal the valve stem too?...if there is something other than a gas going in and if there is a sealer involved( it appears there is) you could unbalance the wheel, affect the handling and cause more mechanical damage...

 

No stick shift=the further wussification of America.

 

You really irritate guys who repair or change tires when you use those. It makes a sticky mess inside the tire/on the inside of the rims. Also, you can't get a good tire leak repair if you use them. That said, as a dire emergency thing, they sure beat a donut spare.

 

Looks like the 1.0 ecoboost is doing better once broken in. Someone got 51.72mpg averaging 43mph. Motortrend got 47 and they are known for dogging it out.

http://www.fiestafaction.com/forums/threads/42281-Fuel-Mileage?p=202338#post202338

The Prius is also one of motortrends slowest 0-60 cars:

http://wot.motortrend.com/top-10-slowest-0-60-mph-vehicles-motor-trend-tested-in-2012-307101.html

Prius: 10.6 seconds

Fiesta 1.0 0-60- about 7.9 seconds.

Prius: 99hp

Fiesta: 123hp

BOTH GET 50MPG. ONE DOESN'T HAVE A 4000 DOLLAR BATTERY TO REPLACE IN 10-15 YEARS. GUESS WHICH ONE DOES?

[video=youtube;U0CukuVJqSM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0CukuVJqSM[/video]

 

Math in general and learning to drive a stick shift are completely different animals. Just because we have calculators, it doesn't mean our need to understand the concept of math has gone away. I fail to see how learning to drive a stick-shift benefits anyone when stick-shifts are no longer manufactured and don't need to be. Unlike mathematics, the existence of the stick-shift is not holding society together.

 

Wot's a column shift? I thought that was the sort of thing that happened when the Parthenon was hit by an earthquake!

I have driven and liked cars with manual transmissions (my uncle is a vintage car collector, and I have driven manual cars ranging from Ferraris to vintage Bentleys). However the car I drive (when I can afford the petrol) which is technically still my mum's, is 11 years old but has both auto and a clutchless fully manual option (a bit like the current DSG gearboxes,) and I think offers the best of both worlds. But I would swap it for something like this (with a 1950's 4-speed manual gearbox) in a flash.



To die for, or what? Not much room to carry junk though.

 

I am a bit of a gear head so I like to drive manual transmission cars, but I haven't owned one in years. the only cars they seem to make with manual gear boxes are stupid cars like Corvettes and cameros. I am not sixteen those cars aren't cool any more. As for kids not learning, I don't think it's necessary. I never had to turn a crank to start a car, mine always had automatic starting systems on them.

 

I pretty much agree. I can drive a stick, but currently just own automatics. To me the stick shift is about to go the way of the buggy whip--a relic of a bygone era.

 

column shift/three on the tree last time I owned one was in the 70's...I first learned to drive in a 57 chev column shift, dont miss it, it added nothing to my driving ability...

D type, a good one can set you back a half million....I nearly purchased an early 60's E type three times, mrs wyly shot down my dreams each time, the last time a non running version for 6k...

 

I've only ever owned and driven standard transmission vehicles since 1980; aside from a snow cat, there is no better way to control a car in the snow and at the same time save on your brakes. Too bad more people aren't willing to learn how to drive a standard; it'll be the end of an era when and if they ever totally go all automatic (lazy man's transmission).

 

how can anyone not agree, Formula 1 teams would all be using automatics if they hadn't been banned...as it is they drive semi-automatic transmissions and that doesn't degrade the drivers driving ability...

 

Ok, so that's in twenty years. And obviously you you nothing about automobiles. Manual transmissions have better gas miles, and way better gear ratios than automatics.

 

better mileage, nope....better gear ratios? 4 maybe 5 speed manuals vs CVT or 7 and 8 speed autos, nope again....

 

Wrong on all accounts, yep.

 

I'll put my 6-speed one ton dodge up against any automatic, while hauling a couple of tons. Not only will i be laughing at you when I leave you in the dust, I'll be buying less diesel in the process.

 

Yea, the old Nissan truck I have came with an auto as an option. The auto could haul 2000lbs, the standard, 3500. And the standard got better gas mileage.

 

For everyone saying how manuals are like riding horses and all that bull(*)(*)(*)(*), if automatics are so much more "advanced", why can't I push start one if the battery dies or if the starter fails? That's one advantage of a manual that automatics have never had; a manual is less likely to leave you screwed on the side of the road due to such a minor malfunction.

 

Well if the battery dies DEAD, and by dead I mean DEAD, you couldn't push start the car as it wouldn't run. The alternator needs power from the battery to energize itself to charge the battery and run the computer. The computer in the car needs power to run, so without it, it's dead. OLD cars could get started this way, but not modern automobiles. It's also not good for the clutch.

 

I drove a stick for 15 years. I never once push started one (jump started many times). Don't see that as a good enough reason to go back.

 

I respect personal preferences, but recognize that supply-and-demand is the rule of the free market. No moral stance, manhood totem, or ideology involved. It's not a metric of character.

If most folks like to be shiftless, economy of scale will result in lower prices due to the popular preference.

I happen to prefer my manual 35mm slr for film photography over automatic, archery to explosive projectile gadgets, Nordic skiing so that I don't need to ride those prissy lifts, sail over power craft, and I've been restoring manual clocks lately, and now regard battery-operated ones as lacking a soul.

Meanwhile, I assume that there are many who like to have one hand dedicated to their sissy 'light' beer or chatting on their mobiles whilst motoring about.

Follow your bliss - unless it's golfers who like to mince about the course wearing those jackass pants.

You have to draw the line somewhere, and those knit shirts with an asinine lizard over the heart are bad enough.


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Comparing diesels with gas now?... you obviosly dont know as much as you think you do...