Agreed to a point. As mentioned, you can coast much farther in neutral than you can in gear so you have to consider that. I have some hills that I can't maintain speed in gear but can in neutral so I save gas over slowing down in gear and then having to accelerate back up to speed or just driving normally. You have to figure out when each method is best.

It’s called a “bump start”, lots of race cars are still started that way.
With the ignition on put transmission in gear, first or second works best, push in the clutch and get the vehicle rolling. Once rolling along release the clutch and give the throttle a tap, it’ll usually fire right up.
You're just using the rolling wheels and transmission to spin the motor over to start it instead of the starter.

When I had my '66 Bug (with the 6V electrical system) in high school, I became a master of the bump start. I would always try to park on a hill or at least a long flat section. At home, I had to park at the top of the driveway. Then in the morning, I would push it to get it rolling, jump in and throw it in gear to try to start it and then slam on the brakes so I wouldn't crash into the garage door. It was a bad morning if I didn't get it the first time because I would have to push the car back up the driveway to try again. I was frequently late to first period.

You are right, only the Challenger is offered with the Tremec 6 speed, odd. Many of the Charger owners would like to have a 3 pedal option.

I am surprised they don't offer it in the Dart, but guess they don't.

That being said, this auto in my Challenger is a pretty nice piece, guess it is made by a Daimler plant here in the states.

I guess if the car has been running the day before or something like that, there could be enough residual fuel to restart it via popping the clutch. I've had a few that hadn't been started in a couple of months, so maybe that had something to do with it.

My daily driver = automatic.

My Hot Rod = 5 -Speed. Yea you can't out shift an automatic but damn its fun trying.

Paddle Shifted Automatic.

Best of both worlds.

We just finished off a car (Likely, our last full build we'll ever do) that was a paddle shifted 6 Speed Auto. 392 C.I with a single Turbonetics GT-K Turbocharger making about 700HP at the wheels.

I won't lie, I wish the '67 had a manual in it, but the wife wouldn't let me get it without an auto in case she wanted to drive it.

If you have the horsepower and the wherewithal, nothing beats a manual for pure exhilaration. That said, that doesn't make most of the old saws about the 'benefits' of a manual any more accurate.

That said, throwing a shift-kit in a 700r4 makes a torquey little beast in its own right. Sure, it downshifts into the wrong point in the power band if you're in 4th, but if can break the back end loose at 30 mph using nothing more than my foot when it drops down to first, so there's that...

It's still not quite as satisfying as feeling that mechanical 'thunk' as you hammer through your shift points, but the flappy paddle is a nice middle-ground for most applications. And most of them will keep you from being too stupid and/or dropping from 5th to 2nd by overshooting the gate.

If I lived in bumble**** nowhere I'd have a stick. They are fun.

They are not fun, however, when you're in heavy suburban Chicago traffic 95%of the time.

This last May I bought a 2012 Jeep Wrangler Sport Unlimited. I had scoped out what I wanted on the internet, walked on the lot told the sales guy what I was looking for, and said it had to be manual or I was leaving. Poor guy got the instant look of defeat on his face. Luckily he had ONE manual on the lot.

My reason for stick shift is this is my toy, and I go 4 wheeling in it, so I wanted a stick shift. I prefer them anyways, but I have to admit, in Los Angeles traffic, auto wins.

Disagree, my CTS-V is a PSA but its no where near as fun as the 6pd. Quite a bit quicker but less enjoyable.

Welcome to the Jeeping world. :thumb:

Why thank you sir, if I do say so myself, it is awesome. :rockon:

I can understand the love of a manual if you really are an "enthusiast," as the OP refers to. However, from a purely practical standpoint, there's almost no reason to drive a manual these days except to save a bit of cash on the car and repairs.

Sorry to disagree, but those aren't necessarily true anymore either.

The 6 speed option on the Challenger was $1100 more IIRC, not sure if it still is.
Also, I dread the day my Ram needs a new clutch disc, and it WILL happen. Many automatics go very deep without any repairs.

I have owned way too many vehicles in my life and most of them were manual transmission, but then I got older and lazier, and it's easier to eat while driving with an Automatic.

Yeah, it's true that even those aren't guarantees anymore.

I don't know, my automatic sonata with shifter bars is certainly fun.. And will toast most stock manual cars without blinking that are not above 80k..

Auto

Too much other shit to mess with while driving

translation: I'm gay

Manual, although it's getting harder to find them.

Manuals are fun until you have to drive in heavy traffic.

Depends on what I'm driving.... Older muscle car/sports car - Manual. Family Van, truck, all cross country driving.... automatic

I tell you this, after my daughter turned 16 and my step daughter came up on her 16th birthday it occured to me that making your kid drive a stick will serve many purposes.

One of them is keeping them off the damn phone when they are driving since it takes 2 hands.

I lost the battle though, both girls have automatics.

Especially on hills. Manuals are a nightmare in ski traffic around here.

Unless your car has Hill Holder like mine. :)

Actually, even without it, using the e-brake makes hills a non-factor.

Yep.

I was good about holding the clutch/gas steady on hills. It's not good for the clutch, though.

Manual. But most of South Dakota is flat.

It's not the flat that makes South Dakota good for a manual - it's the mostly empty.

True dat. My daughter and I have same engines in our BMW's. My stick gets 30 mph. Hers 21.

I remember when they came out with 4-speed automatics(AOD)in the 80s.

My car has a 6-speed automatic. Not sure why. Fuel economy, most likely.

Very little shift shock. Plus, at 80mph the engine is only running at 2500 RPMs.

6 speed manual in my Subaru. Only time I don't like it is in heavy traffic. Even then it doesn't bother me so much... I just feel like I am wearing the hell out of the clutch.

If I bought a car that was just for fun, it would be a manual. Unfortunately, due to my line of work I require vehicles that are utilitarian in nature and driven primarily in heavy city traffic, so they're automatics.

Used to have a 2005 GTO, manual.

Sold it because I have a little boy now.

I miss having the torque to downshift into 3rd and pass almost anybody at will.

Some day, I will buy a Challenger and it will of course be a stick shift.

Stock or modded? Every place I can find a 1/4 mile for a CTS-V shows the manual to be quicker. Been researching them a lot, as I'm in the market for one.

Most every manual iteration of any car I look at is faster than its automatic counterpart.

As a teen and twentysomething, manual. AS a old fart, automatic.

Yea, riding the clutch like that is a good way to burn one up in a hurry.

Heh its not stock. The auto is FAR quicker than the manual. Here is a quick list. Its a little dated but you get the point.

http://home.comcast.net/~gnxs/Images...t_mod_list.jpg

Not so much anymore. Take a peek at the new Mustang 5.0 the auto is consistently 3-4 tenths quicker. The new autos are wicked efficient.

If you’re into drag racing manuals can be hard to launch, especially when you’re making big power.
Motorcycle Drag Racing buddy bought a Pontiac GTO when they came out with the 6.0L LS2 in ’06, which is basically a Corvette chassis with a Pontiac body. When he went to buy they had two cars one with a 6 speed manual transmission the other an automatic. He said he wanted the manual but when he went to test drive it he gassed it hard and said it just spun tires like crazy and wouldn’t go anywhere. So he bought the automatic saying that when he turned the traction control on and gassed it hard the tires howled in complaint but it shot the car down the road very smartly.

I would love to have a CTS-V wagon that would run 9s, it would be so awesome and ridiculous at the same time.

Love the wagons.