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Comment Re:They're obsolete. (Score 1) 238

Also, a vehicle with a manual transmission can be push started.

Only if your ECU supports it. Manual transmission can be useful in snow though.

You'd think they would be useful in snow, but my 2025 BRZ's traction control will reduce power to the point that the car stalls out instead of letting the damn wheels spin in 2nd gear so I can make it up a snowy hill. (Thank God the car has track mode which disables all the nanny devices, but still, most cars don't have that mode).

Comment Re:They're obsolete. (Score 1) 238

I've always said that if I lived in a desolate area, or my job was at the opposite end of a racetrack, I'd love a manual. In my real-world daily drive, it would be useless.

I recently got a new vehicle with a manual shift mode on the automatic transmission. I tried it out thinking I might like to engine brake, or maybe I could get a more responsive shift when passing someone. Not worth it at all, having to juggle another set of responsibilities when trying to drive in a dynamic environment. People talk about being "connected to the car" but it just makes you distracted from the road.

Compared to manual mode, much more preferable to flip the car into "Sport mode", which keeps you in a lower gear and can be flipped on/off at will.

I say this with the utmost respect. If you think that having to care about what gear you are in is too much for an already 'dynamic environment', for everyone's safety, especially your own, PLEASE stop driving.

You are at the edge of being overwhelmed as it is with your automatic vehicle by your own admission, any extra things you need to focus on, like the state of your engine's load, the gear you are in, and forecasting if you might need to downshift or upshift is a distraction, and not a feeling of being in control?

Either you haven't driven a manual car, or you haven't seen a good driver operate a manual transmission. There is no distraction from the road. The driver is literally in FULL control of the car without taking their eyes off the road. An automatic cannot tell you're about to take a right turn, it won't downshift and hold the gear throughout the turn, it will absolutely decide that engine load is low and upshift for fuel efficiency destabilizing the balance of the car for example. The solution, they added traction and stability control to compensate. You are not in full control of your vehicle if you're driving an automatic. Don't take my word for it, you have all the proof in your own experiences. Does your car stop accelerating the instant you let go of the gas pedal or does it keep accelearting for a moment, even though you've let up on the accelerator completely? That doesn't happen with a manual transmission.

But genuinely, if you feel having to take in any extra information while driving is a distraction, please reconsider continuing to get behind the wheel.

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