Do You Drive Stick?

[Ookla she/her]

Just a question for y'all, to see who drives what around here! Do you drive stick/manual transmission? I do, and I love it! I'm excited to see what you all think!

(@TwinSouls FYI I had to edit the poll, so your vote may have become inaccurate.)

Edited April 21, 2024 by Ookla
I missed some poll options the first time around.

[Treamayne]

No vote, as the relevant entry is not an option. I can drive a manual transmission, but do not currently own one. (I neither love it nor hate it) Funny story:

Spoiler

When I first got to Okinawa in 2001, I had to take a driving test (they are left-hand drive) on a stick, and it had been four years since I last drove manual transmission at that point. I got in the wrong right side of the car to drive on the wrong left side of the road. . . only to find that it was not only a manual transmission, it was a five-speed on-the-tree (for those unaware, most manual transmissions are "on-the-floor" meaning the gear shift is in the center of the vehicle and attached at the base board - however a few manual transmissions were "on-the-tree" meaning they were attached to the Steering Wheel (like a turn signal)). 

Needless to say, being out of practice and jumping stright into left-hand gear shift on-the-tree was an. . . experience. And not a pretty one.  

 

Edited April 21, 2024 by Treamayne

[Ookla she/her]

5 hours ago, Treamayne said:

No vote, as the relevant entry is not an option. I can drive a manual transmission, but do not currently own one. (I neither love it nor hate it) Funny story:

  Reveal hidden contents

When I first got to Okinawa in 2001, I had to take a driving test (they are left-hand drive) on a stick, and it had been four years since I last drove manual transmission at that point. I got in the wrong right side of the car to drive on the wrong left side of the road. . . only to find that it was not only a manual transmission, it was a five-speed on-the-tree (for those unaware, most manual transmissions are "on-the-floor" meaning the gear shift is in the center of the vehicle and attached at the base board - however a few manual transmissions were "on-the-tree" meaning they were attached to the Steering Wheel (like a turn signal)). 

Needless to say, being out of practice and jumping stright into left-hand gear shift on-the-tree was an. . . experience. And not a pretty one.  

 

Hehe. The poll should have an option for you now. Also, approximately how many times do you think you stalled during your adventure?

[Treamayne]

35 minutes ago, Ookla said:

Hehe. The poll should have an option for you now. Also, approximately how many times do you think you stalled during your adventure?

When learning, or in that story? When learning, probably every five minutes for the first hour or two.

In that story, I convinced the instructor to work with me for fifteen minutes while I learned how the gears worked on the tree (toward the dash and up was 1st gear, down for second, etc.: so that furthest toward the driver and down was reverse). Once I could reliably hit first, second, and reverse in the parking lot; it was not too bad. Maybe 3-4 stalls (and a whole lot of grinding gears and "jolts" from hitting a gear at the wrong speed/rpm). 

[Ookla she/her]

4 hours ago, Treamayne said:

When learning, or in that story? When learning, probably every five minutes for the first hour or two.

In that story, I convinced the instructor to work with me for fifteen minutes while I learned how the gears worked on the tree (toward the dash and up was 1st gear, down for second, etc.: so that furthest toward the driver and down was reverse). Once I could reliably hit first, second, and reverse in the parking lot; it was not too bad. Maybe 3-4 stalls (and a whole lot of grinding gears and "jolts" from hitting a gear at the wrong speed/rpm). 

In the story.  And yeah, that doesn't sound terrible, especially considering that I still jolt and stall a lot when I'm in a hurry, and I've been doing this almost every day for a year and a half.