CASSIA HAMILTON
Staff Writer
If the daily commute includes two hours of bumper-to-bumper traffic, or if you are missing a left leg or an opposable thumb, then you are exempt from the following discussion. But if not, then get ready to sit through the you-should-really-learn-how-to-drive-using-a-stick-shift lecture.
Maybe it seems like a lot of work. Maybe it sounds like more trouble than it’s worth. Maybe you simply have no idea what you’re missing.
The joys of a manual transmission (also called a standard transmission, five-speed or stick shift) are well worth the effort. It really isn’t that hard. Get over the embarrassment of stalling a few times, find a good teacher, and you’ll be a pro in no time.
Driving a stick adds so much to the actual act of driving. It allows control over when to downshift and blow by a slow car in your way. You can also decide when to shift to get the best possible performance out of the engine, or rev it up and beat another car from a stoplight. Really, it’s quite exhilarating.
With an automatic, you could practically sleep on the route and still get there. Add in cruise control, and it’s a nap on the go. Now, a boring, unexciting ride to school might sound appealing to some. But isn’t it more of a relief to know you have maximum control over the 3,000 pounds of metal surrounding you?
Some people say that driving a stick takes too much concentration, that adding the clutch pedal somehow makes the task of driving 10 times harder. But it’s just like anything else: Once you know how to do it, it becomes second nature. You had to learn how to drive an automatic, right? And it seemed hard then too, right? But now, you can change from park to drive without hesitation. Believe me, once you learn it, a stick comes just as naturally.
There are a few other reasons to learn to drive a manual transmission. First things first: boys.
Call it shallow or superficial, but don’t say you aren’t intrigued. Guys, at least those who take serious interest in cars, usually think girls who drive stick shifts are hotter than girls who don’t. Don’t ask why, and don’t read too much into the metaphor, but just realize that it’s true. In a thoroughly unscientific poll involving every guy I came into contact with this weekend, 100 percent said they would prefer a girl who drives stick over a girl who doesn’t. Pretty decent odds, I would say. Driving a stick can be an easy, no-cost way to make you instantly more attractive.
On the more practical side, cars with a manual transmission are cheaper to buy and repair. An automatic transmission can cost more than $1,000 on many new cars, and it often will get slightly lower gas mileage than a stick. With gas costing more than $3 a gallon, a few miles-per-gallon difference adds up quickly.
Also, it’s probable that someday you will find yourself in a position where knowing how to drive a stick will be helpful — running a roommate to the hospital in her manual-transmission vehicle after a hiking accident, for instance. Or perhaps relieving a friend of driving duty over a 40-hour road trip in a stick-shift car.
So, even if the idea of having more control over the car, raising your hotness factor, saving money and saving lives doesn’t appeal, there is one more thing about driving a stick that we can all appreciate: its exclusivity. People who can drive a stick feel a little closer to you when they learn you are one of them. There is a little kinship with the Ferraris that fly by on PCH, because you know that if they would only let you, you could drive their cars, too. And you can proudly relate stories about dropping it into second and leaving that creepy jerk that was car-flirting in the dust on Highway 101. As a stick-shift driver, you can be proud to join the ranks of all of the great drivers before you.
After all, driving without a stick just isn’t really driving.
09-29-2005
