Three Pedals or Two Pedals?

Three Pedals or Two Pedals?


  • Total voters
    139
Someone rep MadCat for me, my rep reserves have dried up.
 
It depends on the car, and where I will be doing most of the driving track/motorway 3 pedals but for running errands and driving in the city it would have to be a dsg.
 
I prefer manuals but I don't really have a choice these days anymore, ever since I lost my leg, I have found it very very difficult.
Pistol grip shifter with the clutch actuated by the trigger. Easy as pie on a cable-clutch car - you can buy them off the shelf .Hydraulic clutch is a bit harder - I suspect such a beast would involve grafting on a motorcycle clutch handle.
 
I've dailied both manuals and automatics, and have drvein them back to back on th same roads and same commutes. No difference in fun on the commute and no difference in control. I am as much in control of my E38 740iL as I am in my Mustang or Mini. The only reason to put a manual in an E38 is to be unique, not becasue it makes the car any better (I've driven a couple with manual conversions. It's a big luxury car...rowing your own is pointless and against character)

I prefer the feel of a good manual on occasion, but I also like the ease of cruising in the E38 with it's wonderful sport automatic. Every car I've bought new has had a manual trans on purpose (but every car I've bought new has had an engine smaller than 2.5 liters, and I will never have a car with a small engine and a standard automatic). Bigger engines with a lot of torque can get by with a traditional automatic OR a stick. But the sticks in them (like in my Mustang) are generally not as easy to use or as smooth/precise/responsive as those in smaller cars like my Mini.

Oh, and having more to control doesn't make you more IN control. ;)
 
I learned on a manual, my first and second cars were manuals, every car I've ever chosen to spend my money on is a manual. I drive in traffic every day with a manual and have for 23 of the last 24 years. It doesn't bother me.

I don't mind automatics, but every automatic I've driven has been laggy, imprecise, and boring. I realize there are good automatics out there, but the automatics I've experience with are largely garbage. Some of the manuals were also garbage, but at least they were still entertaining to drive (to me). My minivan is automatic, the Civic is manual and I drive both regularly, with FAR more mileage on the manual and I can safely say that I have yet to meet an automatic I prefer to its manual counterpart (when such options are available).

I have decided that regardless of the merits and flaws of each, I have enjoyed almost every minute of driving my manuals (including my SL1 and SW2 which had nothing else at all to recommend them) and I forget nearly every minute of driving my automatics (well, except that they've had uniformly comfy rides). Maybe someday I'll get hold of an auto that doesn't double as a soporific, but in the meantime, I'll drive my mundane little manual and enjoy every minute of it.

As always, YMMV.
 
You ever drive those fast indoor karts that have no transmissions? Fun and no shifting at all.

There's nobody who can't drive a manual. It's such a mind-numbingly easy task that there are only people who choose not to (or choose not to bother learning). This is why it baffles me how hard manual-elitists pat themselves on the back: it's like congratulating yourself for figuring out how to tie your shoes. :lol:
 
There's nobody who can't drive a manual. It's such a mind-numbingly easy task that there are only people who choose not to (or choose not to bother learning). This is why it baffles me how hard manual-elitists pat themselves on the back: it's like congratulating yourself for figuring out how to tie your shoes. :lol:
Because we bothered. Everyone else is wearing velcro (at least in America. If there are manual-elitists in the rest of the world, they're idiots)
 
Because we bothered. Everyone else is wearing velcro (at least in America. If there are manual-elitists in the rest of the world, they're idiots)

Just to give some perspective to our European friends, as far as I know I am one of only three people in my high school of over 800 students that is able to drive manual.
 
Just to give some perspective to our European friends, as far as I know I am one of only three people in my high school of over 800 students that is able to drive manual.

Yeah, it really is that bad.

Even in enthusiast cars here, it is hard to see manuals.

I may opt for DSG for the speed, but I very much dislike fluidic torque converters, so I try to steer clear of automatics.
 
While driving with three pedals is fun and way more engaging then an automatic can ever be...

I prefer two because of the stop-and-go traffic over here :p
 
I prefer two because of the stop-and-go traffic over here :p
To reiterate statements I and others have made in the past. Shit traffic and frequent stops are not any sort of excuse for driving an autotragic unless you're one of those fools who sit 6 inches from the car in front's bumper, matching their speed precisely at all times. Most of the time in heavy traffic, you can get away driving with only the clutch - that's one less pedal than in an automatic. On top of that, the tiny bit of extra concentration required to keep from stalling is a positive thing - it's one more layer of mental activity between you and spacing out and hitting the idiot in front, thus making everybody else's traffic even worse.
 
My current car's automatic is detestable by all degrees, yet I put up with it for the most part but there is some swearing at times when it decides to clock down and rev at 4k rpm for no apparent reason.

I would love to learn manual, but I have no idea who to go to or where to go to for that, plus I don't have a manual car anyway. Which way on the poll should I vote then?
 
The best way to learn a manual is to buy one. :p It doesn't take much to learn.
 
I would love to learn manual, but I have no idea who to go to or where to go to for that, plus I don't have a manual car anyway. Which way on the poll should I vote then?

Put the clutch in when you're stopped, slip the clutch until you're moving again, and put the clutch in when you're moving the gear stick around. And if you have a fancy pants new car, you need the clutch in to start it. If you don't like that feature there are some wires you can pull out and you won't have to do that any more.

You are now fully certified to operate a manual transmission car. Congratulation.
 
I want my next car to have three pedals.

I have a tendency to make automatics go derp. The CVT in the Lulzcer hasn't yet, but the Failtima and the Grand Am (conventional automatics) definitely developed a stupid awkward thud between almost every gear shift. HatehatehatehateHATE.

At least I have a good idea what I'm breaking and how I'm breaking it when I play with a manual car. :lol:

I do like the idea of the DSG, though. I need to play with a real one (i.e. not just a CVT or traditional autobox with paddles tacked on) sometime to see if the epic Evo X MR want actually makes sense. Speaking of which...I do need a nicer Lulzcer.

I like the CVT's paddles in my car (they're awesome for tricking it into revving higher to pass someone), although equiraptor brought up the one thing that perplexes me about them on the Miata thread: why is there a jerk between "shifts" in the imaginary gear ratios? Dammit, that's stupid. Adding a rough jerk negates part of the point (smoothness) of having paddles (and/or a CVT) over a manual. I have to wonder if someone's found a way to program the derp!jerk out yet.
 
Out of the ten cars I've owned four have been automatic, including my current one.

My fifth was an automatic but with a small 1.4L engine and that really sucked. Always hunting for a gear and never stable so I was nervous later when I bought another automatic in a Cherokee but the difference with having the 4.0L engine was clear and it was much better. From the Cherokee, then, I've had three autos in a row.

For city driving the auto is great and easy but the paddle is always there to drop a gear exactly when I need it for changing lane or merging onto the highway. Modern auto/semi-auto boxes are a great combination of touring and sport.

When now driving my parent's diesel Renault Megane Sport........ wow, the number if times I need to change gear just to get up to any speed at all begins to be a lot of work. I don't miss it even half as much as I still do my Rex :(
 
although equiraptor brought up the one thing that perplexes me about them on the Miata thread: why is there a jerk between "shifts" in the imaginary gear ratios? Dammit, that's stupid. Adding a rough jerk negates part of the point (smoothness) of having paddles (and/or a CVT) over a manual.
Focus groups thought it felt strange. This is also why most CVTs don't do the logical thing and keep the engine at a steady-state RPM (at the ideal economy point, or at the peak power point) at all times, and only control speed with the transmission - focus groups think it feels and sounds "broken".
 
As I mainly drive small to medium-sized 4 cyl cars, 3 pedals FTW!
Conventional Automatics in small, slow cars are enough to suck the will to live out of you. Therefore, according to my brain, that is why old people love automatic beige Camrys, they're on limited time anyways and no longer care. :mrgreen:

That said, if I got the chance I'd like to give a DSG box a try to see what it fees like, probably pretty fun from what I've heard.
 
Focus groups thought it felt strange. This is also why most CVTs don't do the logical thing and keep the engine at a steady-state RPM (at the ideal economy point, or at the peak power point) at all times, and only control speed with the transmission - focus groups think it feels and sounds "broken".

Focus groups must not have much experience with DSG transmissions then. The Porsche PDK for instance has a barely perceptible drop in torque. There is no jerk and other than the sound changing very quickly, there is little to indicate a full on racing shift just happened.

I have to admit CVT is a total mystery to me.
 
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