Who still drives a stick in 2025?

[ultrarunner]

Mom and dad had a 72 or so Chevy truck, 3 on the tree.

When I think about how my mom and my aunt would drive that truck down to Washington DC to visit my other aunt and uncle, with me and my cousin riding riding in the back of that truck LOL. Mom bought a small sofa to put it in the bed so me and my cousin would be more comfortable.

Took that truck for my first drivers license test. Failed miserably in the cone section. Use to call that truck the "U Boat" because steering was always fun. Next day took the drivers test with a automatic Ford Escort, passed no problem...

Took grandmas 72 Skylark for my test… mom always had a stick so my thinking is keep it simple.

 

[ultrarunner]

I drove the Cobra yesterday, Tremec 5 spd. Will take the VW 6spd to the range today. Porsche 6spd needs driving...if you ain't shifting gears are really driving?

Think it would be lots of fun tooling around in Cobra Roadster… the days of summer

 

[WinterDeere]

Maybe I'll shop for a good used stick shift truck, but I'm not looking forward to the process. Not much available in this rural area right now.

You're going to have to go back to the 1990's to find one from Ford or Chevy, or early 2000's for Dodge and Toyota. I think I already said it about 20 pages back in this thread, but I switched to Dodge in 2005 because they were the only American brand still offering manual trans in a full-size 4x4 pickup with a v8 and extended cab.

 

[jyoutz]

You're going to have to go back to the 1990's to find one from Ford or Chevy, or early 2000's for Dodge and Toyota. I think I already said it about 20 pages back in this thread, but I switched to Dodge in 2005 because they were the only American brand still offering manual trans in a full-size 4x4 pickup with a v8 and extended cab.

Fuel economy ratings killed manual transmissions in trucks. The current 8 and 10 speed automatics get way better mileage than a 5 speed manual.

 

[WinterDeere]

Fuel economy ratings killed manual transmissions in trucks. The current 8 and 10 speed automatics get way better mileage than a 5 speed manual.

That's half true. Look at the heat generated by an automatic transmission, which is to any physicist, "loss". Autos are not more efficient than manuals, but perhaps in many "in town" environments they may yield better net efficiency than most human operators of a manual transmission.

Really, what I think killed manual trans is a combination of the following:

1. Price pressure. It costs auto manufacturers more to engineer, test, and manufacture both variants. When competing with another brand that only does one, those who offer both will always have much higher costs.
2. Emissions testing costs of the manual is much higher than auto, or so I'm told.
3. Crash safety testing would require them to test both variants, or so I'm told.
4. New car buyers have always favored auto, whether due to age or other variables. We've seen this play out for decades, as it seems used car buyers (younger?) have always had a greater thirst for manuals, causing availability issues in used market.

 

[duffer]

Just bought a Mazda Miata with a 6 speed manual...love it.
Tons of fun to drive.
Wish my F150 had a manual transmission.

 

[Hay Dude]

Large, Allison automatic trucks are fun to drive. They shift really well and downshift when slowing down. They will flat-out scoot, too. My Allison equipped will leave a manual trans version of my truck in the dust, grasping for another gear.

Manual might get me when fully loaded on a steep hill, if you are a really good shifter.

With the improvements made to today’s Allison automatics, manual transmissions feel like antiques anymore.

 

[WinterDeere]

With the improvements made to today’s Allison automatics, manual transmissions feel like antiques anymore.

Of course you're right. But antiques are usually more fun.

My Charger has the ZF 8HP90 transmission, and it is a thing of beauty, actually out-performing the manual in every possible racing scenario... even rally. But manually rowing gears is still more fun, for anyone doing a little "spirited" driving on our country roads.

 

[jyoutz]

That's half true. Look at the heat generated by an automatic transmission, which is to any physicist, "loss". Autos are not more efficient than manuals, but perhaps in many "in town" environments they may yield better net efficiency than most human operators of a manual transmission.

Really, what I think killed manual trans is a combination of the following:

1. Price pressure. It costs auto manufacturers more to engineer, test, and manufacture both variants. When competing with another brand that only does one, those who offer both will always have much higher costs.
2. Emissions testing costs of the manual is much higher than auto, or so I'm told.
3. Crash safety testing would require them to test both variants, or so I'm told.
4. New car buyers have always favored auto, whether due to age or other variables. We've seen this play out for decades, as it seems used car buyers (younger?) have always had a greater thirst for manuals, causing availability issues in used market.

Not arguing about your points, but a 8 or ten speed transmission will allow lower RPMs at highway speeds than a typical 5 speed transmission. Sure a 8 or 10 speed manual would do the same, but few people would want one. So when you compare, the automatic will yield better MPGs.

 

[KennyG]

During acceleration there is some loss due to the hydraulic flow in an auto. But all the current automatic transmissions lock up in the higher gears.