{"id":1536,"date":"2008-12-08T19:42:48","date_gmt":"2008-12-08T23:42:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/?p=1536"},"modified":"2008-12-04T20:05:40","modified_gmt":"2008-12-05T00:05:40","slug":"why-the-stick-shift","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/2008\/12\/08\/why-the-stick-shift\/","title":{"rendered":"Why the Stick Shift?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Quite a few people who have read my <a href=\"http:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/2005\/01\/30\/manual-vs-automatic\/\">Manual vs. Automatic article<\/a> have wondered why anyone in their right mind would still use, drive, or even <em>want<\/em> a manual (stick shift) transmission in this day and age. They just don&#8217;t understand &#8211; after all, modern automatics are so much <em>better<\/em> (they say)&#8230; so much more <em>reliable<\/em> and <em>easier<\/em> and <em>simpler<\/em> and <em>safer<\/em>&#8230; you get the idea.<\/p>\n<p>Instead of answering this question, I&#8217;m going to be coy and answer it with another question (actually several questions). So if you&#8217;re one of those people who wonders &#8220;why would anyone want to drive a stick shift?&#8221;, consider these questions as well, and maybe the answer will become clear to you:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Why do people still play aniquated games, when modern games are so much better looking, faster, more compelling, etc.?<\/li>\n<li>Why do people still go hunting with bows &amp; arrows, when modern firearms make it so much <em>easier<\/em>?<\/li>\n<li>Why do people still fly prop-driven aircraft, when a modern jet engine is so much <em>faster<\/em>?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If you think about the answers to these questions, and still can&#8217;t imagine why anyone would want to drive stick shift (or why the stick shift is going to continue to be with us and relevant in the auto industry), then, well, I&#8217;m sorry &#8211; I can&#8217;t help you. But hopefully my questions have enlightened you to the reason why the stick shift hasn&#8217;t gone away, and why it&#8217;s <strong>not going to go away<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Simply put, the stick shift is no different than anything else &#8211; there will always be some people who prefer it. And there are many compelling reasons why people prefer it. Some people feel nostalgic for the &#8220;old&#8221; way of driving. Others prefer the challenge. Others like the control it gives them and the &#8220;feel&#8221; of it.<\/p>\n<p>After all, as with most things, there is no &#8220;one size fits all&#8221; when it comes to car transmissions. To some people, driving is just a way to get from point A to point B. For other people, the trip itself is what matters &#8211; and for many of those people, controlling the gear changes is just another part of the driving experience that they can enjoy.<\/p>\n<p>Happy shifting!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Quite a few people who have read my Manual vs. Automatic article have wondered why anyone in their right mind would still use, drive, or even want a manual (stick shift) transmission in this day and age. They just don&#8217;t understand &#8211; after all, modern automatics are so much better (they say)&#8230; so much more&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/2008\/12\/08\/why-the-stick-shift\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Why the Stick Shift?<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"webmentions_disabled_pings":false,"webmentions_disabled":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"activitypub_content_warning":"","activitypub_content_visibility":"","activitypub_max_image_attachments":3,"activitypub_interaction_policy_quote":"anyone","activitypub_status":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[9],"tags":[102,100],"class_list":["post-1536","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cars-and-trucks","tag-cars","tag-opinion","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pimUj-oM","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":362,"url":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/2005\/01\/30\/manual-vs-automatic\/","url_meta":{"origin":1536,"position":0},"title":"Manual vs. Automatic","author":"Keith Survell","date":"January 30, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"A while back I read a couple of editorials over at The Truth About Cars regarding the \"Death of the Stick Shift.\" This got me quite worked up, so here's my response.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Cars and Trucks&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Cars and Trucks","link":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/category\/cars-and-trucks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1299,"url":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/2008\/08\/19\/wheres-the-stick-shift-gone\/","url_meta":{"origin":1536,"position":1},"title":"Where&#8217;s the Stick Shift Gone?","author":"Keith Survell","date":"August 19, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"It's time to revisit a popular topic around here - the old \"manual vs. automatic\" argument. If you follow - well, actually, let's just be honest here and say \"obsess\" - over cars, you might have noticed a trend in regards to what transmissions are available on new cars these\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Cars and Trucks&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Cars and Trucks","link":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/category\/cars-and-trucks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":880,"url":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/2007\/05\/06\/i-miss-my-stick-shift\/","url_meta":{"origin":1536,"position":2},"title":"I Miss my Stick Shift","author":"Keith Survell","date":"May 6, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"I miss my stick shift, I really do. And this is why.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Cars and Trucks&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Cars and Trucks","link":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/category\/cars-and-trucks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3192,"url":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/2010\/10\/26\/behind-the-wheel-2010-dodge-charger\/","url_meta":{"origin":1536,"position":3},"title":"Behind the Wheel: 2010 Dodge Charger","author":"Keith Survell","date":"October 26, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Keith finally gets his wish and spends some time behind the wheel of a 2010 Dodge Charger!","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Cars and Trucks&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Cars and Trucks","link":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/category\/cars-and-trucks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3064,"url":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/2010\/04\/23\/behind-the-wheel-2010-volkswagen-beetle\/","url_meta":{"origin":1536,"position":4},"title":"Behind the Wheel: 2010 Volkswagen Beetle","author":"Keith Survell","date":"April 23, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"The venerable old Keithmobile-D was in the shop recently for some long-overdue repairs, which means I needed to rent a car for a few days. This time, the rental agency set me up with a brand-spankin' new black 2010 Volkswagen New Beetle - and of course, as I do with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Cars and Trucks&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Cars and Trucks","link":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/category\/cars-and-trucks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4561,"url":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/2014\/10\/17\/behind-wheel-2003-mitsubishi-outlander\/","url_meta":{"origin":1536,"position":5},"title":"Behind the Wheel: 2003 Mitsubishi Outlander","author":"Keith Survell","date":"October 17, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"To keep this \"Behind the Wheel\" series going I thought I'd mix things up a bit and give some thoughts on cars I've actually owned, as opposed to ones I've just driven for short periods of time. We'll begin this little mini-series with my current car, a 2003 Mitsubishi Outlander\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Cars and Trucks&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Cars and Trucks","link":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/category\/cars-and-trucks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"the amazing keithmobile-D","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm4.staticflickr.com\/3189\/2605679901_cb249f2e8e_m.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1536","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1536"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1536\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1536"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1536"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1536"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}