Manuals Among the Teens.

CaliforniaZX · Post by **CaliforniaZX** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 4:58 pm

This is not actually a newspaper article but from my observation.

I have seen in many of these threads that say standard transmissions are going to be obsolete in the future or there ratings are super low. But being a High School student, I could not disagree more. In my school parking lot right now, About 40% of the cars are Standards, and most people that have a slushbox, wished they had a manual. Most of my friends are actually jealous of me because my parents let me have a Manual. The main reason they got stuck with a slush was because their parents think it's "unsafe." My generation of teenagers have been greatly influenced into the world of Import tuning and various motor sports like drifting and drag racing. This is why they understand and apreciate the manual transmission. The kids that own a manual, drive around with their car with utmost pride and accomplishment, and the other kids that have a slushbox can only wish.

Therefore, we can only hope and wish my generation can boost up the manual production demand for the future years. It is a great possibility that the kids that have manuals now, continue to drive manuals in their latter years. And those slush box kids that wished they had a manual, could maybe purchase a car with one when the are more independent from parental rules. Car makers are making a good move by producing low budget Teen cars like Scion's new line that come with standard transmission. They are thinking like the tobacco industry by aiming towards the younger generations. Also the RSX type S comes exclusivly in manual, so it puts in the stick in an authoritative spot. Another good example is the base model RX-8 comes in slushy and if you want that 6 speed transmission, you would have to cough up the extra dough.

For me, I fell in love with the Stick, ever since I was in middle school. After watching films like fast and the furious (yeah, I know, Its corny) and Initial D, I was so facinated. I am glad that my dad knew and understood manuals... That was why he let me get my Z. So lets hope and pray that The Stick will Stick around the automotive industry for many more years, and also stick in our hearts forever.

Sypher · Post by **Sypher** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 5:49 pm

I completely agree with you. Being in the same generation as you, I have always loved the stick. And like your frineds, most of my friends (who knows how to drive

) wish they know how to drive/own a stick as well. Nowadays, I've seen more teens driving stick than I have for a while. This is mostly caused by, as much as I hate to admit it, the "fast and teh furious" fad. So like Z said, I hope that our generation, gen Y, will keep the stick alive.

Ironichumour · Post by **Ironichumour** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 8:43 pm

I agree and yet don't agree with you guys. I am the only person out of my immediate friends that drives a standard, and while several of my friends that drive say to me "oh...you're so lucky because you know how to, blah blah" I know that they will probably never actually make the effort to learn. Yes driving stick is gaining popularity because of certain movies and stuff, but I think that rather than being something that teens will actually work towards, most people I know want to stick to the "simplicity" of an automatic in their daily lives. I don't know....I mean I live out in the boonstocks (lol) so maybe it's different in a small town environment, but even the farm kids who know how to drive stick from their farming equipment and stuff are choosing to drive automatics.
AND, I am getting really annoyed with the attitude towards driving that many of my fellow girls are adopting. While guys more often seem to take driving seriously (even if it's only to "show off"), lots of girls are all like, "ooh, I can look all cute while I'm putting on my makeup at the same time as trying to drive! yay!!". One of my friends actually SAID this!!!! I got pretty mad at her for that....it's people like that who help create the idea that all girls suck at driving....but the point of all this was that it also seems to be mostly guys that are driving standards nowadays too.
It's frustrating. *sigh* Sorry, this ended up belonging in the "rant" section!

CaliforniaZX · Post by **CaliforniaZX** » Sun Jan 29, 2006 2:13 am

Yes, I do agree with Ironichumour on how gender plays a role.

DISCLAIMER:
I am not a sexist. I am just presenting the facts about the majority of females that are in my surrounding. Please do not flame me.

Most of my friends that are girls never would own a standard because to them, it is just extraneous work. Also if you drive a stick, using a cell phone for long converstions would be out of the picture. I can make a pretty safe bet that most of the posters on this forum are males. But then again, my friends do not hate the standard... They just dont want to drive one.

And for all you guys with girlfriends... Do they ever complain about the crappy ride in your car EVEN if you drive extra smooth. I just hate that...

Sypher · Post by **Sypher** » Sun Jan 29, 2006 11:48 am

CaliforniaZX wrote:
And for all you guys with girlfriends... Do they ever complain about the crappy ride in your car EVEN if you drive extra smooth. I just hate that...

Lol... I get that from basically everyone that drives a slushy lol!

starshifter · Post by **starshifter** » Sun Jan 29, 2006 2:07 pm

I wish you're right about your generation. I've never been afraid of the automatic transmission per se as it will never be able to replace a true manual in a sport car. Yet, I'm wary of the threath of semi-automatics as are already found in about 50% of German sport cars. Also, the new 6-speed autos with paddles as found in the new Corvettes are already prompting hard core stickshift drivers in their 40es and 50es to replace their manual C5s (5th generation Corvette) with automatic C6s. I hope your generation will "just say no" to semi-automatics.

CaliforniaZX · Post by **CaliforniaZX** » Sun Jan 29, 2006 2:21 pm

We should come up with a campaign!

[corny]

"Friends dont let Friends drive Automatic"

"MaaT" Mothers against automatic transmissions

[/corny]

Sypher · Post by **Sypher** » Sun Jan 29, 2006 3:25 pm

Unfortunely, for many youngsters in our generation, they would love to drive a stick, however, their parents grew up in the era where automatics were replacing the way of life... So even though they want to drive a stick, many of tehm don't have the opportunity (yet). I speak of this out of experience with my and my friends' parents. Many parents out there would not get or even recommend getting a stick shift for their sons/daughters. They think it's more complicated and dangerous since they they that their kids are more gonna concentrate on shifting rather than driving. I just hope that these kids will look pass that and drive a stick well and safe

jcprov21 · Post by **jcprov21** » Sun Jan 29, 2006 3:40 pm

I have notice the same things, but i have girls at my school who drive stick also. Really. my mother told me that before i got my drivers license, thaqt i was to learn how to drive a stick, i wanted too mysefl so it was no problem. When i first started talking about driving she would tell me "you are going to learn how to drive stick"

Ironichumour · Post by **Ironichumour** » Sun Jan 29, 2006 6:36 pm

Ok that's it - I'm designing a logo for Maat and printing it and putting a poster in my locker!!!! Mwahaha

And CaliforniaZX I brought up the gender issue and I AM a girl! I've already done my ranting about girl/guy driving issues in the rant section a while back lol. I should've know not to let THAT one out of the bag!

As for the smoothness of the ride in a standard vs an automatic, I honestly find the standard smoother... I don't know about the higher quality, more expensive automatics, but the sounds and jerks an automatic makes make me feel uneasy...

Maybe it's cuz I drive a standard and like being in control?

I keep trying to convince friends who have an interest in learning stick to get out there and DO IT...I won't take them out myself because a) I do not have the experience or knowledge to teach them and b) I'd like to keep my car intact because I really, really can't afford any major problems with it (Starving student here!) but some of them have parents who have a standard lying around somewhere!

I know that when I first started driving I had never actually put much thought into the standard vs automatic issue...at home it's always been standard cars because of my dad's absolute refusal to own an automatic (and my mom just goes with it - although I think she prefers them after years of driving stick) and he made it clear that I will not be driving unless I'm driving a standard. lol So I took driver's ed in an automatic, got my licence, and have since set to work on mastering stick. Now I'm hooked!!! lol

Sypher · Post by **Sypher** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 1:03 am

Damn... you guys/gals with parents that support stick shift are luckey. When I first talked about getting a stick shift, all the elders (my parents, uncles, aunts, etc.) complained about it; saying it is unsafe, complicated, others in the family doesnt know how to drive it (which most still doesn't.. its only me, my brother, and two of my cousins who knows stick atm), and that if there was an emergency no one will be able to use it.... But i persisted on getting a stick anyways. I like that fact that not many people are able to drive my car lol.. Less hands to touch her

CaliforniaZX · Post by **CaliforniaZX** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 1:08 am

I like that fact that not many people are able to drive my car lol.. Less hands to touch her Laughing

Word!

rbhays · Post by **rbhays** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 2:19 am

I drive an automatic maxima and i hate every minute of it. A lot of my friends drive manuals and have started upgrading their cars. which makes me extremely jealous, since i refuse to upgrade my car until i convert it to a manual, if i ever do.

Sypher · Post by **Sypher** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 2:44 pm

rbhays wrote:I drive an automatic maxima and i hate every minute of it. A lot of my friends drive manuals and have started upgrading their cars. which makes me extremely jealous, since i refuse to upgrade my car until i convert it to a manual, if i ever do.

If it's actually your car (you own it, and not your parents, btw, by no means am I trying to be offensive), why don't you trade it in for a new or used manual?

JlNba ittai · Post by **JlNba ittai** » Tue Jan 31, 2006 1:38 am

Many of you state the things all parents say about driving stick.

It's unsafe and too hard to learn... etc.

However, my friend, who is a girl, was forced to learn stick from her parents. She even took the license test in stick. I think it was because if you drive a manual, you'll learn to concentrate on many things at once.

I wish that her father was my dad too... took me months to get my father to let my learn standard.