article blasts manual transmission: difficult and dangerous

potownrob · Post by **potownrob** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 12:43 am

TheGame wrote:
scionkid wrote:http://thetruthaboutcars.com/content/11 ... 602252329/

I don't necessarily agree with all their articles but some are pretty interesting.
Could you find the counter article?

Thankx!

http://thetruthaboutcars.com/content/11 ... 886735565/

kouryuu · Post by **kouryuu** » Mon Jun 20, 2005 12:44 am

ltkpn wrote:
Jpk3200 wrote:Anytime I get into someone's car, I check to see if it's an auto or manual. If it's an auto, I'm like "oh well, just another car..." If it's a manual I'm like "wow, this is awesome."
I have this habit of walking through parking lots and looking inside cars to see which ones have a stick. Here in MD, 90% of cars are auto. I actually got my car at $1500 below invoice because it sat at the dealership for six months before it found me. Nobody else was interested.

Very few American cars have stick. Some cars are supposedly available with stick but you never see one (new Camrys, ...).

In the USA, I'd be willing to bet that the average stick driver has less bodyfat and more IQ points than the average auto driver.

I just purchased my new car this Feb of 2005. It was 2004 Mazdaspeed Miata. Lovely car, but I live in Texas so thats 2 strikes against it: 1) its not a truck and 2) its a 6 speed. It was sitting there for about a year, I get the S-Plan prices from my job and also I got rebates since they were just happy to move the car. I ended up buying it for well under the invoice for a regular Miata. Hohohoho.

potownrob · Post by **potownrob** » Tue Jun 21, 2005 11:17 pm

With the coming of each new generation of the MX5, I can't stand the looks of the last generation and drool over the newest model. I've even thought of trading in the Maxima for the hot new MX5 <===not gonna happen if I can help it

scionkid · Post by **scionkid** » Thu Jun 23, 2005 4:04 pm

I gotta remember Texas when I saved up enough for a Miata.

Blackstone · Post by **Blackstone** » Fri Jun 24, 2005 12:18 am

After reading that I couldn't help but to look at some of the other articles on that site. Lately I've been a big fan of BMWs latest 6-Series. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the 6, it's BMWs premium coupe. So I thought I see what this guy had to say on the subject, here's the first paragraph...

"I swear I've haven't clipped a curb in decades. And yet there I was, cutting in front of a line of traffic in the great Rhode Island tradition, when I heard the muffled whump of the 645Ci’s rear tire cresting concrete. It’s not the kind of sound you want to hear when piloting a $70k “Ultimate Driving Machine”-- if only because it makes you seem a lot less than the ultimate driver. Not guilty. I blame mechanical foul play."

After that one I was at a loss for words. He then goes on to explain how it's got nothing more than great straight line performace. Now I'm really getting the feeling this guy shouldn't be reviewing cars at all. Time for further investigation - I read up on his reviews of cars I know for a fact have amazing performance in every category. Porsche 911. Ford GT. Ferrari Enzo. After the third one I realized what they all had in common. He couldn't control the car. Each one was too fast for him. Things started to make since now. I can understand the average Taurus driver not being able to handle a Ford GT, after all my first car (hand me down) was a Taurus. But if you are going to run a site about cars and review them all yourself, at least learn to drive. You don't see me using my experience behind the wheel of my 328i to review stunt planes.

As an afterthought of this rant, I think it'd be interesting to see a group effort of amaetur enthusiasts write some reviews for a site. Maybe some sort of open source reviews, like a wiki, but in the form of a review site. Combine that with forums where the authors actively participate and answer questions about their reviews, and I think you'd have something extemely useful. Just a thought. It's late and I don't want to rant anymore.

potownrob · Post by **potownrob** » Fri Jun 24, 2005 12:27 am

Talk about editor-at-large ignoramus

BTW, I found a blog that talks about Bobby Elton's review:
"I can assure you that Mr. Elton owns, operates and enjoys several standard shift cars. Go figure."
http://www.autoblog.com/entry/1234000023022064/

jcprov21 · Post by **jcprov21** » Tue Jul 05, 2005 8:15 pm

Interresting

7thgear · Post by **7thgear** » Thu Jul 07, 2005 5:40 pm

"Meanwhile, the consumer has spoken. The millions of US buyers who opt for today’s automatic transmissions do not do so because they are stupid, uncoordinated, unsafe or oblivious to the joys of driving. They do so because they know a good thing when they drive one."

LOL, sure.... man this guy....

I would never go back to an automatic. Ever since i got my tC, i got used to it so much that one day, my mom asked me to move her car (automatic), when i stepped in, i floored the clutch (oh wait! there is no clutch) and i was very disorientated for a second. i then use my left foot and hit the brake (thought it was the clutch) haha. i then one time drove it, and it felt really slow and sluggish like it was lacking power and i could not control my rpms.

but back to the article, that paragraph up there makes me laugh. "stupid and uncoordinated"... how's that? actually, i laugh and i'm mad at the same time. i just don't get it... how does an automatic give you the "joy of driving?" shift to D, step on gas pedal, steer, *yawn*, that's it......

potownrob · Post by **potownrob** » Thu Jul 07, 2005 7:37 pm

One thing that REALLY baffles me is that, according to his colleague Robert Farago, this guy "owns, operates and enjoys several standard shift cars."

cecile · Post by **cecile** » Sun Jul 10, 2005 11:42 pm

The person who wrote this sounds like RITA SKEETER!! EVIL, EVIL, EVIL!

cecile · Post by **cecile** » Sun Jul 10, 2005 11:59 pm

(they have this article in Google's cache, for anyone who wants to still read it - http://64.233.179.104/search?q=cache:1s ... 101237418/ )

Well, anyway, I detested it when it said "A properly sorted automatic is always in the correct gear, never makes a mistake,"

NEVER MAKES A MISTAKE? are you kidding me? All of those times I was accelerating in an auto, and encouraging it hopelessly with my voice, "C'mon, SHIFT, c'mon!! GO!! SHIFT YOU IDIOT!"

Cruel Night · Post by **Cruel Night** » Mon Jul 11, 2005 12:57 am

cecile wrote:The person who wrote this sounds like RITA SKEETER!! EVIL, EVIL, EVIL!

Harry Potter fan are we?

jcprov21 · Post by **jcprov21** » Thu Jul 14, 2005 11:34 pm

I hate to differ with bob elton, but with an auto you are not in more control of your car, the car is in control.

I am sorry he is to lazy to shift.

bee77 · Post by **bee77** » Sat Dec 03, 2005 10:01 am

[quote="VERYBadStickDriver"][/quote]

I agree with that, its solid advice that i would follow myself.

rbhays · Post by **rbhays** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 2:24 am

If the standard is so dangerous, then why are there less accidents in europe where manuals are prevelent.

Autos are more dangerous since drivers are prone to falling alseep out of bordem

StandardShift.com

article blasts manual transmission: difficult and dangerous

Tripedalists Unite

Solid