Practiced driving and took my driver's test in a stick-shift RX-7. Drove it a couple time in city traffic, it's not that any harder compared to an auto. It really just depends what car you have. If you had something like a Honda Civic, or a Ford Focus, or any car like it, their manual transmissions are ALOT easier compared to something like the RX-7's, lighter/softer clutch, more forgiving, and easy to drive, once you get the hang of driving a manual. Someone asked me why I practiced and took my driver's test in something like an RX-7 which had a rather heavy clutch and the fact that it was my cousin's and the fact that it was "slightly" modified at the time didn't help much, but I passed. Nowadays I drive an automatic car, but the chances I drive someone else's car that is a manual, it's like second nature to me. Practice makes perfect, right?
I own a bmw 3-Series with the automatic gearbox. it has a sequential mode and paddle shifters, but no clutch.
Out of my parent's three vehicles, only one is manual, and it's a 1997 Ford Mustang GT. Even though they are perfectly fine manual drivers (they practically grew up on manual vehicles), it's our least used vehicle.
??? Why an 88-91? id go 92-95 for a number of reasons I'd be glad to tell you about if you drop me a pm.
I don't even think I've been in a car with a manual transmission and it's been decades since either of my parents drove manual.
As for me, it is whatever transmission happens to be in the vehicle I am looking for. I couldn't care less whether some kid mocks me if I drive an auto. I can drive standard, but I am pretty rusty.
Manual because it gives you greater control through the bends and you pick where to shift and at what RPMs to shift at
No torque + heavy clutch, I'm surprised you didn't stall at every light ;p Also what generation was the rx7? I always thought the EFs were the best. What's better about the EG?
I wouldn't say better but the tradeoffs end up in its favor in my opinion. it shares a very similar platform to the dc2 Integra so all the parts for that car fit an eg like brakes and suspension. the eg is obd1 natively, so no step down harness or wiring nightmares to run a tunable ecu. b series mounts are stock items and very easy to get cheap for an eg because the b16a was native to the chassis. in general, the aftermarket is MUCH more robust for the EG platform and the only cost is a slightly heavier chassis. still, you can have an eg hatch that weighs less than a metric ton and still has ac. EDIT: of course this is all from a "which one is the best for turning into a sports car" Point of view. you could have a 88 ef hatch with a d15 engine in it and average almost 50 mpg if you can drive. as a dead stock utilitarian daily driver, I don't think the eg is objectively better.
I drive stick because it allows me to go the fastest through the turns and straights because I can shift at precisely the right point which allows me to beat all automatic Mustang peasants with ease in my 30 year old Volvo. Anyone who even touches an automatic car is a filthy peasant.
My parents have both an automatic, but I did my test in a manual, and still drives manual with my friends car and I must say that you feel the car better in a manual. Driving in stop and go is just a matter of experience. It is stupid that the Americans don't learn to drive manual. How would you go down a mountain pass? Holding your brake and come down smoking or do you still know how to shift in a auto? Do you Americans downshifting to brake downhill?
