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A year+ driving an automatic car over.
 

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Sparky
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 19068
Location: PDX

7/1/17 12:52 PM

A year+ driving an automatic car over.

My kid got my DelSol on 2016 [may late 15]. I was driving the 2013 Equinox until last month, sold it. So auto, then no car for a few weeks. ;)

Got another Honda 5 speed, Pretty much bought it for the Motor to put in the DelSol later, but my daily for now. Saris rack on 1st thing, 1st club ride since last year yesterday.

But, Ahhh... I hate driving automatics! I just don't feel like it is driving...

It is a juiced 90s Prelude with lots of JDM kid/race parts. Got it for less than the motor is worth. A 20 year old's dream juiced street ride. It is fun and fast, which is never bad in my book. 2.2 Litre DHOC V-Tech VR motor. In Honda/JDM speak, desirable go fast mill.

I got it home and my two neighbors came over to make fun of me. I had a thumb drive in the radio playing Carmen L'amour est un oiseau rebelle.

The older neighbor says to the 27 year old, I bet you never heard that kind of music coming out of a car like this. It hit me as pretty funny. He has two son's with similar cars...

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Brian Nystrom
Joined: 26 Jan 2004
Posts: 5096
Location: Nashua, NH

7/4/17 6:59 AM

Welcome back...

...to the realm of REAL drivers. ;-)

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dan emery
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 6884
Location: Maine

7/4/17 7:20 AM

Well sure

I owned only sticks until my current A4, and hated balky, cumbersome automatics. I still hate that type of auto, but the 8 speed in my A4 shifts faster, smoother and more accurately than I can. I feel no need to push a stick around (or even shift the auto manually). I believe they don't even make Ferraris with manuals. But if you find it fun, go for it!

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Jesus Saves
Joined: 16 Jun 2005
Posts: 1150
Location: South of Heaven

7/5/17 6:20 AM

I think steadily increased traffic congestion has killed off manuals. That and technilogical/mechanical improvements that Dan alluded to. Good for you that you can enjoy driving a stick where you live.

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PLee
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 3712
Location: Brooklyn, NY

7/5/17 7:08 AM

I guess I enjoy challenges. I really enjoyed driving a manual in San Francisco many moons ago. I remember facing uphill at a stoplight - I had to slowly let the car roll backwards until I was resting on the bumper of the car behind me before I could engage the clutch and move forward.

It was long enough ago that manuals were not uncommon and the driver behind me understood what I was doing and wasn't annoyed by it.

Then there was the fun I had a couple of years ago driving an underpowered stick on the narrow, hilly roads of Scotland, right hand drive, left hand stick, on the wrong side of the road . . . My wife had the worst of it as I got precariously close on the passenger side to various vehicles, parked and moving, rock bands and precipitous drops.

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Brian Nystrom
Joined: 26 Jan 2004
Posts: 5096
Location: Nashua, NH

7/5/17 7:08 AM

Considering that I will never own a Ferrari...

...an A4 or any other high-end car, it's irrelevant to me what kind of automatics they have. For the types of vehicles I'm actually likely to own, a 5 or 6 speed manual is the best option for me and my personal driving needs. I also doubt that anyone drives their Ferrari in snow and ice, which is a major consideration for me.

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dan emery
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 6884
Location: Maine

7/5/17 7:20 AM

OK

Well, considering that I'll never be a "real driver" I guess an automatic is OK for me...:)

BTW I've driven in snow and ice my whole life (learned to drive in Buffalo) and you don't need a manual to do that safely.

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dfcas
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 2815
Location: hillbilly heaven

7/5/17 9:44 AM

After years of manuals I bought a 2014 Honda CRV auto. Traffic congestion and stoplights, along with the fact that there are few choices in automatics drove my decision.

I lasted a year with it and just hated it. I traded it for a manual, after concluding that I'd rather drive a dump truck with a manual than that CRV.

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Sparky
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 19068
Location: PDX

7/5/17 9:46 AM

I'll take the auto with the stabilty and traction controls and AWD if I gotta drive in the snow for the record.

Front wheel drive Hondas like these we have are crap in the snow. I would not even drive the Del Sol when it snowed, a luxury I have. The Quaalude I now started the post about is just as bad I am guessing.

That is why the guy I bought it from sidelined it and got a 4WD Pickup for the winter [which was minor here] and decided to to sell it off and keep driving the PU. It was an automatic 4WD 4 cyl pickup. How you go from a 2.2 DOHC Quaalude R Vtec-Si to that I dunno. ;) Maybe he grew up, something I have no intention of doing...

Fun Fact, I taught both my kids on stick in TN, 16 years old to get license. They are 26/31 and both have stick cars.

Having said that, Elaine drove the Del Sol 'one day' to work when I needed the Equinox to tow a 5x8 Uhaul. I was amazed it was possible to take that much life outta of a clutch plate in 40 miles. She had a 'New Beetle' as a Stick 98-2002. I kept her out of the Del Sol since...

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Brian Nystrom
Joined: 26 Jan 2004
Posts: 5096
Location: Nashua, NH

7/5/17 11:20 AM

Easy Dan...

...my "real drivers" comment was meant to be tongue-in-cheek. People select their vehicles based on their needs and far be it from me to question their choices.

Sparky, my manual tranny car has ABS and TCS; you don't have to live with an auto to get those if you really want them. Come to think of it, I don't know if you can even buy a new/late model car in the US without both of these.

Put snow tires on your Hondas and you'll probably be amazed at the difference. That said, they probably still won't be as good as Honda's more pedestrian sedans, due to their lower ground clearance.

When Linda got hurt a couple of years back and had to borrow a car with an auto, she let her friends who lent it to her use her manual tranny VW. Now both parents and both of their kids drive manuals. Funny, that.

However, Linda is now driving a Subaru with a CVT, which seems to be the least objectionable automatic option in affordable vehicles. I still occasionally find myself looking for the clutch when I drive it. ;-)

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dan emery
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 6884
Location: Maine

7/5/17 11:26 AM

I'm at ease

Which is why I put a smiley face on it.

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Sparky
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 19068
Location: PDX

7/5/17 12:19 PM

"my manual tranny car has ABS and TCS; you don't have to live with an auto to get those if you really want them"

I confess not factoring in a modern manual shift. Not really driven a stick newer than the new beetle, 1998.

But I like the 'vintage' stick cars I guess. Even older, just not pre syncromesh...

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Brian Nystrom
Joined: 26 Jan 2004
Posts: 5096
Location: Nashua, NH

7/5/17 1:30 PM

Oops!

I guess I'm going blind, Dan.

Sparky, about the only thing that I miss about any of my older manual cars was that the clutch in my '79 Saab was easy to change in a couple of hours, with minimal tools and the car resting on its wheels. It's a good thing, as the clutches only lasted around 30K miles. Granted, I drove considerably more enthusiastically back then (read: "like a 20-something maniac").

My experience is that in newer cars, both the transmissions and the clutches last a lot longer with very little maintenance. Some of the clutch life improvement is due to more sedate driving on my part and synthetic oils along with advancements in metalurgy are probably largely responsible for the transmission durability. In my last car, a lowly Hyundai Elantra GT, the clutch lasted 175K miles, despite getting burned when backing up a hill with a trailer at 75K. The transmission was still going strong at 230K when I took it off the road. BTW, I only changed the tranny oil once at 10K miles when I converted it to synthetic. That was all the maintenance it ever received or needed. That would have been unheard of 30 years ago, so I can't say that I'd want to go back to an older vehicle unless it was really something special.

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stan
Joined: 14 Feb 2004
Posts: 467

7/11/17 3:17 PM

Auto on almost all performance cars

I'm constantly surprised when I see magazine comparisons in manuals vs automatics. Not only are autos quicker but improve performance on the track. I grew up thinking and seeing slushboxes as inferior. That still sticks on my mind even though it's no longer true

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Sparky
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 19068
Location: PDX

7/11/17 3:50 PM


quote:
Granted, I drove considerably more enthusiastically back then (read: "like a 20-something maniac").


Just a guess on my part, but I am thinking a lot of that may well have transpired among a lot of us here in decades past.

Now I try to eliminate every extra clutch engagement that is not 100% necessary. ;) Pulling though parking spaces, not inching up in congestion etc etc. Maybe at the end of the year, you may have added a year of life. ;)


Anyway, a week or so later... Really enjoying this sled. It could have a lot less power or a wider ratio gearbox I will say. If I run two gears out to redline there is mostly no place I will get to keep my license if I ride past a cop.

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Wheels
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 1160
Location: Needham, MA

7/11/17 7:24 PM

Agree, with Sparky

I went from a stick (BMW 530xi) to a 8-SPD autrotragic Audi A6. Had it for a 18 months and I am done with it. The only good things about it is it is roomy, pretty quick, and gets 31+ mpg Highway. It's going to the wife and I am heading back to old school and getting a old 3 pedal car for a daily. Good thing I still have another three pedal car to keep the skills and passion up.

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Sparky
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 19068
Location: PDX

7/11/17 7:44 PM

There are 4 old school 90s clutch vehicles now between me and our two chids. Although one is not long for this world, ze 94 Escort turd Wagon. And a real turd to drive, but has proven to be quite long lasting and decent on gas too. ;)

But these vtecs are too much fun. Even Elaine's CRV is a vtec, but somehow it, with the CVT auto trans are engineered for moving an not blasting. Although it will get out of it's own way a lot better than the Equinox did. A lot better, ;)

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KerryIrons
Joined: 12 Jan 2004
Posts: 3234
Location: Midland, MI

7/13/17 9:28 AM

Slipping


quote:
Now I try to eliminate every extra clutch engagement that is not 100% necessary. ;) Pulling though parking spaces, not inching up in congestion etc etc.


That's me! And that's how I taught my daughters when they learned to drive (our family cars were manual trans). I shudder when I'm behind somebody who is obviously slipping the clutch to hold position rather than just putting their foot on the brake!

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Sparky
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 19068
Location: PDX

7/13/17 9:37 AM

"I shudder when I'm behind somebody who is obviously slipping the clutch to hold position rather than just putting their foot on the brake!"

A bit easier with my fat feet. I can tap the throttle with my right with a tilt while still holding the brake. It amazes me it does not happen that I do the opposite with fat feet and little closely spaced Honda Pedals. Just once so far with the Quaalude first few days. 4E width shoes et al.

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Brian Nystrom
Joined: 26 Jan 2004
Posts: 5096
Location: Nashua, NH

7/13/17 9:53 AM

I miss being able to "heel and toe" downsift

My last three cars have had the pedals spaced all wrong for it. I probably wouldn't do it much anyway, but it would be nice to have the option.

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Sparky
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 19068
Location: PDX

7/13/17 9:58 AM

Ahh, one of my most fav things of driving an old school manual. Popping the throttle on downshifts to get the countershaft spinning to match the engine RPM for that lower gear. Give the syncros the day off...

The Quaalude has a lightened flywheel, so RPM matches up fast, dare I say instantaneously. Shortish Throw shifter, fun. My 1st Del Sol had the JDM shifter kit, ultra short throws. A bit faster fun/response. Although I have not managed to have both the JDM shifter kit and a lightened flywheel in the same sled.

BTW: JDM is the the performance Honda division. In case anyone is wondering what the references to JDM might be.

I am thinking about getting a Stock ECU and selling off the JDM ECU. Should up the MPG a bit, the thing is well fast enough for me without the added JDM stuff.

At least it has a stock air box still in it. Pretty H22A1 motor, if you like that kind of thing.

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