How well can you drive a manual transmission vehicle, be it car, SUV or pickup truck?
Is it easy for you—no problem at all? Is it so bad that heaven help the passenger riding shotgun as he or she lurches forward and backward with every shift? Or is driving a manual transmission vehicle something you never learned to do or forget how to do years ago?
These days, manual transmissions are becoming rarer, especially in the U.S., where most new vehicles are automatic. That means fewer people are learning how to drive a stick, and those who once drove manuals regularly may be out of practice. Still, for those who learned young—or drove nothing but a stick for years—it can feel like riding a bike: a skill you never forget.
Some RVers and off-roaders still swear by manual transmissions for better control, especially when towing or tackling steep grades. And others simply enjoy the driving experience—they say it makes them feel more connected to the road. But if you’ve only ever driven automatics, the idea of stalling out at a stoplight might sound like a nightmare.
That’s our question today. Remember, it can take a few moments for the poll to load, so stand by.
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RVT1217
With my love for useless information, I would be curious to see a breakdown of the respondents’ ages and sex. I wonder if the older respondents skew heavily to being able to drive a standard. Does anybody even sell a standard-size pickup with a standard tranny anymore?
Ram 2500 2018 last year for any full size pickup with a manual. If you’re downsizing the only one is the Tacoma. Good luck towing a 28′ fifth wheel.
I expect that the results are seriously skewed by the probability that most of the respondents sitting around on Sunday morning reading this newsletter are old fogies like me! Lol!
Old-er..But not a fogie here…Never gonna grow up!
I still drive one today.
Me too – 1970 VW convertible
Perfect example of a bad survey question. Most people who can’t do something won’t admit to it. The results show over 97% as capable of driving a manual car when we all know that it is far less. Those who can will brag about like me.
They could use a lesson in surveys. Even acknowledging the goal is to generate comments, many of these should be vastly better.
Hi, Rick. If our surveys aren’t up to your standards, why have more than 1300 of our readers participated, and 42 comments have been posted so far on this one? You just try coming up with more than 5000 “perfectly worded” surveys that meet everyone’s standards.🤔 Have a good day. 😀 –Diane at RVtravel.com
Your surveys are fun. Keep up the good work. Don’t worry about the negative naybobs of negativity (to coin a phrase…not sure I’ve spelled that phrase correctly…oops…some crook already coined that phrase…🤪)
Cheers!
Thanks, Bill. When I saw your name, as usual it made me think that we have a “Bill Coady” and an “Anne Oelke” commenting. Yeah, my brain does weird things sometimes, like makes me think of the Wild West when I see your names.😉 Have a good night. 😀 –Diane
you go Diane !! I am tired of the belly aching about the content in the newsletter. Yeez, these people should try their hand at putting together something like this daily publication
Thanks for your support and your kind words, Scott! Have a great day! 😀 –Diane
When KIA cars were being stolen ours was broken into three times. Never stolen. Guess they couldn’t drive a manual stick shift transmission! Built in security system.
The manual transmission is the millennial anti-theft device!
I’ve often jokingly said that I could leave my 2005 Toyota ECHO unlocked, with the key in the ignition, and it probably wouldn’t be stolen because of its age and because the would-be thief couldn’t drive a stick shift. I agree with some of the other comments that it’s probably an age (read, senior citizen) issue.
I learned to drive a stick shift when I was 14 in the 60’s. I worked at a used car lot, cleaning and moving the cars around, and taking them to the dealership a mile away. Yes, no drivers license, but back then the local cops ignored it.
My first real job was as a field service tech. The vans were ‘three on the tree’.
I also have been riding motorcycles since I was 16.
Still manual, just using different body parts to use the clutch and shifter.
Manual transmission the ultimate antitheft device. Driver Ed car was Chevy Nova with Manual transmission.
Us ‘old’ folks (80+) probably all learned to drive on a ‘standard.’ Shifting kept your attention on the traffic and the road, whether driving motorcycle, car, or truck.
But is was tough if you stopped going up a hill. Slowly engage the clutch and move you foot from the brake to the gas without stalling the engine.
There was no such thing as ‘Hill assist’.
I doubt anyone really wants to be honest here AND/OR I know I really wanted to answer in the affirmative. 🙂
In the sixties few teenagers drove automatic transmissions in my area, manuals were in the majority probably because they were cheaper. If you had a job that required driving a truck the vehicle was a manual and as time went on you would see employment ads noting ability to drive manual shift vehicles.
I answered “Very Well” but that was based on life over 20 years ago. I used to drive a stick all the time. In the past 20 years, they have become extremely rare. I believe a survey of new car sales indicated that they were in the single digits. I bought my 1st car, a 1963 Ford Fairlane with 3 on the tree and taught myself how to drive it, on the way home.
For Years, I was teaching friends how to drive a stick.
I grew up driving a straight shift. I’m so good, I can still roll up a manual window crank and open a vent window!
Sure miss those vent windows!
And turn on the high beams with a button on the floor! Yes, I’m OLD.
Today you can go to turn on the high beams and get windshield wipers. lol
When I was 16 and the ink still wet on my DL, I worked at a car wash. The mechanic drove a finicky pick up – ‘3 on the tree’. He bet me a Coke I couldn’t move his truck from one side of the building to the other. I enjoyed my Coke. He didn’t know that I 1st learned manual shifting on my motorcycle. It really wasn’t all that hard to reverse the hand & foot controls. Even had to learn how to synchronize the gears using just the accelerator when the clutch died on my ’76 Saab. Drove from Detroit to Minneapolis.
I still drive 1910-1930’s cars and of course all of them are manual transmissions that you have to double clutch because they are non-synchronized transmissions.
I learned how to drive in a stick shift and taught my kids how to drive a stick, I wouldn’t let them get a drivers license without knowing how to drive a stick. Lot’s of time spent starting off on a hill.
Learned to drive a standard at 11. A quick fix to the traffic problems is to make all cars ‘standards’.
I have owned several vehicles with Manual transmissions. However, with hip and knee issues, it becomes “painful” if I drive one a lot. I loved the comment that manual transmissions are “Theft Deterrents” for many auto thieves I heard repeated many times.
When I was a kid, my dad broke his leg and was in a cast up over his thigh. At the time we had a 58 Chevy 1/2 ton with 3 on the tree. My dad still drove it using his crutch to work the clutch.
I grew up on a farm and learned how to drive a tractor with stick shift. So driving an automobile with a stick shift was no problem at all. But when automatic transmission came out for cars, I loved it and still do like my automatic transmissions. And would never go back to a stick shift.
Learned how to drive a stick in an old Farmall tractor then graduated to old pickups and cars with sticks. back then automatics were for wussies , mostly rich kids. But no more hydraulic clutches thank you…old school or nothing.
Still have 2 standard shift vehicles. I made my children and grandchildren learn to drive a standard before letting them drive an automatic
I can get by (my Dad made sure I knew how to drive one when he was teaching me how to drive!), but my husband can drive one really well!
Learned how to drive in a 1961 Ford with a Manual Overdrive Transmission, First Automatic was a 1964 Ford Galaxie 500 XL Convertible. First New Car I ordered was a Manual and it was not until 1985 that I bought a new car with an Automatic. Now days if you want a manual, you have to buy the cheapest model as the nice models no longer offer a Manual Transmission in the higher line vehicles. Sucks.
1963 High School drivers ed: Stick and Auto
56 Chevy, put a 4 speed in it
61 Corvette 4 speed
64 FalconSprint 4 speed
TransAm 4 speed
Got old and lazy … sticks are no fun in Metro traffic
As a 14-year-old, I learned to drive my father’s manual-transmission pickup. I’ve had manual transmissions myself, including my current Toyota ECHO. No problem.
I still drive a standard transmission which is in my Honda S2000. Standard transmissions are great in sports cars, but very few have them anymore. Nothing beats winding thru the gears. I also ride my HD Softtail Deluxe motorcycle which is a standard transmission. When I 1st got married I taught my wife to drive a standard and she loved it. But unfortunately it’s difficult to get a vehicle with a standard trany.
Until last year my vehicles were manual (except my f350 tow vehicle). But my wife had knee replacement and then I had back surgery and it became harder to push in the clutch, so I have had to replace my other vehicles
Learned to drive on a 54 VW Bug/MG TF 1500. The MG was a non synchronization first. My father demanded that every stop had the appropriate downshift including first gear. No grinding allowed. Drove truck early 60’s. Most of them were twin sticks. When you blew a shift everybody knew because you had to start from stopped all over again. Our youngest just lost her VW Jetta stick when she got run into.
Our first bus conversion, GM 4108, had a Spicer 4 speed (no synchronization) and a three plate wet clutch. Trick was like driving trucks no clutch unless starting from stop, once transmission warmed, just float the gears. No noise. No jerking. That could wake your partner in the bunk.
My first car, bought used in 1963 when I turned 18, was a 1953 Chevy Bel-Air stick shift. After high school I bought a 1967 Corvair with a 4-on-the-floor.
I’d love to see the looks on the faces of the youngsters today if they came upon a Main Box and a Brownie. Or a 13 speed Road-ranger, or even a 10 speed.
I still drive my 4-speed manual transmission 1973 Pinto Station Wagon almost every day.
Still have 4 with manual transmission 68 Fiat, 2015 Fiat, 21KIA, 96 GEO tracker
I forgot to say my 82 year old wife can drive them all
I tried to teach my wife to drive my ’68 Jeep CJ with a V6. She kept stalling it. I put it in low range and she still stalled it, which was almost impossible. You could let the clutch out and it would move on it’s own without touching the gas.
She told me she had no reason to drive it.
Learned to drive a stick in Jr.Hi driver ed. Something one never forgets. Might get rusty but not forget. Then it was automatics until I bought a new 62 VW bug in Anchorage Ak with a non-sycro transmission. There was a hill on Spenard Road with a traffic lite at Northern Lites Blvd at the top – try no syc and hit the lite when traffic expects you to move – but you have to come to a stop first. Not enuf power to go in 2nd! (add ice!). I bought a 61 Corvair Monza with 4 speed stick Loved that. Into the 70’s I drove a semi with 18 gears on the floor – even got a diesel running backwards in downtown Little Falls, Mn 4:00 pm traffic! Ooops. Automatics have improved so much these days!
After learning how to shift manual transmission on an old VW bus — the ones infamous for “seek and ye shall find somewhere over there” —, and then gaining lots more experience driving a Mini and big box trucks (these in very hilly areas) modern manual transmissions are easy.
I learned to drive in my dad’s 1964 VW Bug (4 on the floor). And I owned my grandfather’s 1946 Willys CJ2A (3 on the tree) for almost 20-years. I will be 75 in a few weeks.
The day I had my first on the road driving in driver’s ed class, my dad took me and the rest of the family out in our Toyota Corolla 5-speed and made sure I could drive it. We all had whiplash, and the transmission suffered greatly, but after an hour or so on the road, I had it down pat. He also made sure I could back-up using mirrors only (which served me well later on in my career as an EMT-paramedic), parallel park, handle emergency situations like skids and hydroplaning, and most of all, enjoy driving – which I do very much to this day, except hauling the 5th wheel. Love driving the truck though!
Thank you for the question, RV Travel! While I drive a manual transmission very well, including double clutching if necessary, DW is even better. Her daily driver is a Mustang GT convertible with a 5-speed manual transmission. My daily driver has an automatic transmission. Have a great week and safe travels!
Darn right. I was really good driving our 1966 289 ford mustang. Loved the acceleration and feeling the power as I went through the gears. Man oh man, don’t I wish I still had that car.In fact, I wish I had all the cars I ever owned except a Mercury Monarch
I have been driving for 65 years. Every car and truck I bought new, and most of my used vehicles, was a stick shift until 2005. That year we bought a new car with paddle shifters, the first automatic I ever really liked. We now have a car and motorhome with paddle shifters and shift manually most of the time. Here in Colorado, those paddle shifters can be literal lifesavers when crossing 11,000′ passes on two-lane, snowpacked highways.
I learned to drive an automatic but then worked in a service station back when three guys came running out to pump your gas, check your oil, radiator, and battery, and clean your windows, and we did oil changes and fixed tires between gas customers. I had to learn to drive a manual for that job, then worked for my father and had to drive a truck with a stick shift without synchromesh. I nearly broke my hand before someone told me about double clutching.
I said that I could get by because I haven’t driven a vehicle with a manual transmission since 1980?
Started riding motorcycles at 11 years old, so driving my parent’s manual transmission VWs at 15 was a very easy transition. My current vehicle is a 2019 Tacoma 4w/d TRD with a 6 speed manual. I love that truck and definitely prefer to drive a manual over an automatic transmission vehicle to this day.
Three on the tree is hard to steal.
I learned how to drive 🚗 a manual transmission when I turned 10.
I have had 5 VWs and two Sprits/Midgets all standard transmissions. I decided to get a little sportscar again and bought an automatic Miata. It took me months to keep my foot from looking for the clutch every time I decided to take off.
I used to be able to drive one very well but haven’t driven one in years. Probably would pick it back up easily.
The bigger question is who would want to?