Police: Carjackers foiled by manual transmission - U.S. news- msnbc.comPolice in eastern Pennsylvania said two men tried to rob and carjack a pizza delivery driver but were defeated by the vehicle's standard transmission.
I drove a standard in Denver traffic for years, no big deal. Reasons to have standard instead of automatic: Clutch costs a LOT less to replace than rebuilding the trans and last almost as long.
It takes 20-30 minutes to drive 3 miles because of heavy traffic in the Philippines, and 85% drives a manual.
I'm also a fan of manual transmissions cars as well. It's unfortunate I think that so many of them are going away....especially in the non compact or sports car classes. I personally drive a 4 door family sedan (VW Passat) and it's a manual.
In the UK most cars sold are manual gearboxes. I have never driven a car with automatic transmission.
Up until relatively recently the only automatics on the road were very large limos and top end stuff like Bentley and Rolls Royce.
Over the last ten years both the German and Japanese manufacturers have made automatics more popular but they still sell relatively few.
No one that I know, or am aware of, has an automatic. That includes top BMWs and Mercs.
Not sure why this difference should exist?
I much prefer a manual transmission over an automatic. I might feel differently if all of my driving was urban. Since most of my driving is riding two (or three) wheels, I don't find a manual tranny is bad at all in city traffic. Most of the new scooters are automatic and automatic is being offered now on some motorcycles. Unless, I become handicapped, I will not buy one with automatic.
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