Why you should learn to drive manual

It's useful to learn as you'll most likely end up with a manual as your first car due to it being cheaper.

However with a long distance to work and travelling alot I'll be tempted in getting a DSG next.

Reply 2

Bubblylibra

10

I passed in manual but definitely won’t be driving one in a LOOOOONG time.

Reply 3

OP

Original post by xDron3

It's useful to learn as you'll most likely end up with a manual as your first car due to it being cheaper.

However with a long distance to work and travelling alot I'll be tempted in getting a DSG next.

Yeah, the monetary benefit will be most noticeable when you're young / first get your license. I wouldn't be against getting an auto, but I made sure to at least get a manual license just to have more options.

Reply 4

Vinny C

20

Original post by notdyls

https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/life/motoring/learn/manual-transmissions-may-be-in-decline-but-that-doesnt-mean-you-shouldnt-learn

It may seem like learning to drive a manual is useless with all the technological advancements that are about to be made, but here are some reasons why you should still learn it. Do you agree? Would you still get an automatic license anyway?

Yes you do. Manual is fun and takes about 6 months to become zippy at it. Fun then starts if you actually start to think about what your feet are doing rather than just letting them get on with it. There's a name for this... conscious interference or something like that.

(edited 5 years ago)

Reply 5

chieula2301

17

if you get a manual license, you know and can drive both manual and automatic legally.

if you get an automatic license, then good but you can’t drive manual cars.

Reply 6

Good bloke

That article omits one important reason to have a manual licence: without one you will find it very difficult to hire a van (for removals into/out of flats and houses, especially in the early years, and for collecting secondhand furniture etc) or to drive a minibus (which can be very useful at university and in taking groups of friends on jaunts and holidays).

Reply 7

On a slippery surface, a manual gives you much better control than an automatic. This is particularly true when the auto is prone to do strange things, like shifting exactly when you cross an extremely slippery patch - thereby breaking the drive wheels loose, & sliding you into the nearest ditch. This happened to a friend of mine! You can also 'push start' a vehicle with a manual box - if the battery is down, or the starter is broken. Today, nearly all automatics cannot be 'push started'. This is because the 'front pump' - which applies the 'bands' in the transmission is directly connected to the engine. If the engine isn't turning - you cannot engage a band to connect the engine to the wheels. On several occasions, i had to resort to 'push starting'. One of them was when my MGB (remember them)? wouldn't start because the battery was down. I was in a flat parking lot at 3 am! miles from anywhere. I pushed the car half the length of the lot, turned it around, and got it headed down the aisle. Pushing as fast as i could, i managed to jump in and get behind the wheel. I stuffed in the clutch, put it in gear, and turning on the ignition, i engaged the clutch. WIth it's last bit of energy, i managed to start the engine. Couldn't have done that with an automatic! Cheers.

Reply 8

StriderHort

21

Original post by Good bloke

That article omits one important reason to have a manual licence: without one you will find it very difficult to hire a van (for removals into/out of flats and houses, especially in the early years, and for collecting secondhand furniture etc) or to drive a minibus (which can be very useful at university and in taking groups of friends on jaunts and holidays).

Same for employment, if you're asked to drive a fleet vehicle it'll almost certainly be manual.

Reply 9

Good bloke

Original post by StriderHort

Same for employment, if you're asked to drive a fleet vehicle it'll almost certainly be manual.

Quite right. It ain't a good idea to put yourself out of the running for a company car or van.

Reply 10

OP

Original post by Good bloke

That article omits one important reason to have a manual licence: without one you will find it very difficult to hire a van (for removals into/out of flats and houses, especially in the early years, and for collecting secondhand furniture etc) or to drive a minibus (which can be very useful at university and in taking groups of friends on jaunts and holidays).

I mentioned renting a car, but hadn’t considered renting vans for moving haha. I guess it’s one of those where you don’t realise it’s a problem until it becomes one.

Reply 11

Original post by notdyls

I mentioned renting a car, but hadn’t considered renting vans for moving haha. I guess it’s one of those where you don’t realise it’s a problem until it becomes one.

I am an electrical engineer, and (among other things) do the design of satellite earth terminals. These days, terminals are usually located off in the woods, where they are not visible from public roads or venues. This is because they are harder to find and bomb in these locations. In order to do an 'install' - that is install the equipment that is needed to operate the earth terminal, i often have to drive fairly large 'box trucks' up gravel or dirt paths through the woods. These paths are unmarked, and usually very few vehicles have traveled up them - other than those of the construction contractors [the building fabrication, and power line installation are usually done by professionals in those areas]. The box trucks i drive often have 4 wheel drive, because to get up some of the grades, this is needed. They also have 'lift gates' to raise/lower heavy crates up to the floor level inside the truck. I often work alone, so these are necessary, because some of the crates are over 700 to 800 pounds.

An interesting counterpoint, is that usually the truck rental companies insist that you NOT take their trucks off of paved roads. [I cannot imagine WHAT they think you are doing with 4 wheel drive on paved roads, but that is what they tell you at rental time.] Of course, you agree that you would never consider such a thing!!! You then make sure you are out of sight of the rental counter, before you plunge into the underbrush. The second time that i did one of these installs, i carelessly returned the truck with a few pine tree branches caught in the superstructure of the truck. When they were checking the truck for 'damage' they found them. They were all upset, but i explained that one of the parking lots i used was for passenger cars, and must have had some overhanging branches. I was more careful on subsequent rentals. The point of all this, is that experience with 4 wheel drive and lift gates may also be valuable. Here in the states, i can drive a vehicle weighing up to 50,000 lbs on a passenger car license, but i cannot do it 'for hire' - that is - as a commercial truck driver. I can pick up my own freight, and deliver it to myself, but not to a commercial customer. Cheers.

Reply 12

PTMalewski

20

Original post by notdyls

https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/life/motoring/learn/manual-transmissions-may-be-in-decline-but-that-doesnt-mean-you-shouldnt-learn

It may seem like learning to drive a manual is useless with all the technological advancements that are about to be made, but here are some reasons why you should still learn it. Do you agree? Would you still get an automatic license anyway?

I generally agree, although I have some extra remarks, both for and against manuals.

Against:
-many drivers don't know how to select gears and so engine revs to get maximum acceleration of their car, which slows them down on slip roads and makes overtaking dangerous. With modern automatic all you have to do is just to floor the throttle.
- many drivers are not good at engine braking and downshifting, which wastes fuel and is dangerous at mountains. Even big ventilled brakes can overheat if a driver doesn't do engine-braking.
-many drivers are so lazy they won't learn moving their hand from steering wheel to stick shift and back, so they keep one hand on stick shift all the time. This is dangerous for they have 2 times poorer grip and strenghton the steering wheel so they can't react properly in emergency, and it's also damaging for gearboxes to put extra weight on the stick shift, for it is transfered to the cogs inside the box that don't work in the proper position

For:
- shifting up is entirely up to the driver, so in powerful car like eg. Ford Mustang, it is safer to have manual, because it won't shift unexpectedly, increasing the skid of rear axle even more and throwing you into a wall or onto the opposite lane in less than a second.
- in case of brakes failure (very unlikely unless you don't maintain your car properly), a very skilled and cold-blooded driver can kick-down to perform extensive engine braking, even such that puts him into risk of blowing the engine or locking the powered wheels. In rear wheel drive car a driver can also do a 'shift-lock' to force the car into oversteer when it's not possible otherwise, and use this to avoid collision. These techniques are not possible with modern automatic gearboxes, for they simply won't listen if you tell them to kick down on extreme. But those are pretty extreme techniques only a few could use, and it's extremely unlikely for them to be necessary in normal driving.

Reply 13

OP

Original post by Rabbit2

I am an electrical engineer, and (among other things) do the design of satellite earth terminals. These days, terminals are usually located off in the woods, where they are not visible from public roads or venues. This is because they are harder to find and bomb in these locations. In order to do an 'install' - that is install the equipment that is needed to operate the earth terminal, i often have to drive fairly large 'box trucks' up gravel or dirt paths through the woods. These paths are unmarked, and usually very few vehicles have traveled up them - other than those of the construction contractors [the building fabrication, and power line installation are usually done by professionals in those areas]. The box trucks i drive often have 4 wheel drive, because to get up some of the grades, this is needed. They also have 'lift gates' to raise/lower heavy crates up to the floor level inside the truck. I often work alone, so these are necessary, because some of the crates are over 700 to 800 pounds.

An interesting counterpoint, is that usually the truck rental companies insist that you NOT take their trucks off of paved roads. [I cannot imagine WHAT they think you are doing with 4 wheel drive on paved roads, but that is what they tell you at rental time.] Of course, you agree that you would never consider such a thing!!! You then make sure you are out of sight of the rental counter, before you plunge into the underbrush. The second time that i did one of these installs, i carelessly returned the truck with a few pine tree branches caught in the superstructure of the truck. When they were checking the truck for 'damage' they found them. They were all upset, but i explained that one of the parking lots i used was for passenger cars, and must have had some overhanging branches. I was more careful on subsequent rentals. The point of all this, is that experience with 4 wheel drive and lift gates may also be valuable. Here in the states, i can drive a vehicle weighing up to 50,000 lbs on a passenger car license, but i cannot do it 'for hire' - that is - as a commercial truck driver. I can pick up my own freight, and deliver it to myself, but not to a commercial customer. Cheers.

It’s understandable why they wouldn’t want you to take a rental off-road, some of the things people manage to do to them on road is bad enough. I guess it does go against the point of having 4WD on a rental, but it might also be an insurance issue.

Reply 14

Original post by notdyls

It’s understandable why they wouldn’t want you to take a rental off-road, some of the things people manage to do to them on road is bad enough. I guess it does go against the point of having 4WD on a rental, but it might also be an insurance issue.

Now, i make it a point to take the rental to a car wash/truck wash, clean off the undercarrage with a pressure washer [no incriminating mud on the undercarriage or wheels], and check the upper parts for snagged tree branches and bird nests. You cannot be too careful!! Cheers.

Reply 15

ErasistratusV

Don't take rental cars off road. In fact, don't take any car off road if you can help it.

Yes you should learn to drive a manual as it trains you in case you need to use one in an emergency and is useful if you ever go on to drive other kinds of vehicle.

Manual vehicles are simpler and give you more overall control of a car on the roads as you can choose gears to suit the road or situation.

Reply 16

OP

Entertainment Forum Helper

Original post by modifiedgenes

Don't take rental cars off road. In fact, don't take any car off road if you can help it.

Yes you should learn to drive a manual as it trains you in case you need to use one in an emergency and is useful if you ever go on to drive other kinds of vehicle.

Manual vehicles are simpler and give you more overall control of a car on the roads as you can choose gears to suit the road or situation.

that's pretty much what i was trying to get at with the article. there is the belief that nobody's going to be driving manual in the future though so some people don't bother with a manual license.

Reply 17

Emma:-)

Original post by xDron3

It's useful to learn as you'll most likely end up with a manual as your first car due to it being cheaper.

However with a long distance to work and travelling alot I'll be tempted in getting a DSG next.

I agree.
Learning in a manual opens more options.

Reply 18

Another disadvantage of automatics, is that nearly all of them run the transmission's 'front pump' off of the engine. This means that there is NO oil pressure in the transmission to apply the clutches if the engine is not running. As a result, you cannot 'push start' the vehicle - either by hand (as later described here) or with another vehicle. If the battery is down, or the starter motor has packed it in, you cannot get it going by coasting it down a grade & putting it into gear. In my student years, when money was tight, i often tried to get the 'last mile' out of batteries and such. Combine that with carelessly leaving the sidelights on whilst driving in the rain, and you can run up a LOT of garage bills for jump starts. Yeh, i carry a set of jumper cables, and have given a LOT more starts than i've received, but you can't always find a willing jump at 3 in the morning during a sleet storm. I have [3 times] 'push started' my MGB in a parking lot BY HAND. This consists of pushing the car to one end of a 'dead level' lot, setting the choke appropriately, pushing the car (either forward or back) by hand as fast as you can, then jumping in, stuffing in the clutch, turning on the ignition, putting it in gear, and easing out the clutch. Whilst doing this (of course), you make sure that the car does not run you over, nor does it hit anything else. Happy starting!!

Reply 19

ErasistratusV