20-Somethings Fueling a Stick-Shift Renaissance

[L84Cabo]

Fun Facts About Mr. Cabo...

• I will be 57 in a couple of weeks. Dear God how in the hell did that happen? Side note...like vehicles, it's not the age...it's the MILEAGE. I got lots of miles.
• I currently drive a 2011 Tacoma...with 107K miles on it.
• I have NEVER owned a vehicle other than a Toyota Truck.
• This is the FIRST automatic vehicle that I have ever owned. Every other vehicle has been a stick. I went with the auto this time (2011) because the consensus was that the auto tranny in the 2011 generation of Toyota Trucks was...for the first time...better than the manual. And I also had a 40 mile roundtrip commute in heavy traffic where throwing gears in the stop and go is kinda a PITA
• I will likely go back to a stick on the next Truck...assuming I go with another Tacoma and they offer it.

 

[made in china]

Fun Facts About Mr. Cabo...

• I will be 57 in a couple of weeks. Dear God how in the hell did that happen? Side note...like vehicles, it's not the age...it's the MILEAGE. I got lots of miles.
• I currently drive a 2011 Tacoma...with 107K miles on it.
• I have NEVER owned a vehicle other than a Toyota Truck.
• This is the FIRST automatic vehicle that I have ever owned. Every other vehicle has been a stick. I went with the auto this time (2011) because the consensus was that the auto tranny in the 2011 generation of Toyota Trucks was...for the first time...better than the manual. And I also had a 40 mile roundtrip commute in heavy traffic where throwing gears in the stop and go is kinda a PITA
• I will likely go back to a stick on the next Truck...assuming I go with another Tacoma and they offer it.

Current gen of Tacoma is absolutely better with the manual.

The Gen you have, if it's the 4.0 V6, was the best Tacoma ever made. The 5AT that came with was a good match.

The latest Tacoma has a Camry 3.5 torqueless wonder and a spazztastic automatic.

 

[L84Cabo]

Current gen of Tacoma is absolutely better with the manual.

The Gen you have, if it's the 4.0 V6, was the best Tacoma ever made. The 5AT that came with was a good match.

The latest Tacoma has a Camry 3.5 torqueless wonder and a spazztastic automatic.

Yea, my understanding is Toyota was struggling to hit gas mileage numbers so they went with that 3.5 Atkinson Cycle engine. I haven't heard too many people that have been happy with it so I'm in no rush for a new one.

 

[kmk1012]

You know what they used to say.. women love men who know how to shift their sticks.

Please refer to post #14!!!

 

[CamoDeafie]

Please refer to post #14!!!

Umm butler of monkeys? Or am I missing some posts?

 

[coop44]

If you have enough horsepower and a wide enough power band all you need is a four speed! Give me back my 440 'cuda!
If we went back to stick, auto thefts would drop significantly, few of the punks know how to drive one.

 

[oremike]

I do have a soft spot for American Cars and Trucks with V-8's and standard transmissions. My first car was a ' 68 Dart with a 340 and 4 speed. My most recent was a '96 full sized Bronco with a 302 and 5 speed. Between those bookends were dodges, fords, chevys and internationals. Mostly pickups but some cars mixed it as well. I even had a couple jap imports and a volkswagan but those aren't built for a full grown man the size of me. My last job was a Dump Truck driver and that Western Star had a 15 speed manual. Now days though I drive a late model Dodge 2500 with an auto-magic transmission.

 

[monkeybutler]

Umm butler of monkeys? Or am I missing some posts?

Maybe he's flirting .With you.

 

[kmk1012]

Sometimes my aim is too high, went over peoples heads. I'll lower my level of thinking required next time . Was meant to be similar to a middle school joke.

 

[Ura-Ki]

I learned in a Willy's CJ2A with Warn Over Drive, and a 59 Needle Nose Peterbilt with a 5 and 4 speed twin stick! We also had an Autocar flat bed with big Hall-Scott and 6 speed that was the hardest thing to drive ever made by the hands of man! An automatic was LUXURY to this kid, something we heard about but rarely saw, I was well I to my 20's looking for a Family Car before I ever drove an Automatic, and that was weird, what do you do with your feet, not enough peddles!

 

[Nosferatu]

What I miss more than a MT is a foot-activated highbeam switch.

 

[Alexx1401]

I learned in a Willy's CJ2A with Warn Over Drive, and a 59 Needle Nose Peterbilt with a 5 and 4 speed twin stick! We also had an Autocar flat bed with big Hall-Scott and 6 speed that was the hardest thing to drive ever made by the hands of man! An automatic was LUXURY to this kid, something we heard about but rarely saw, I was well I to my 20's looking for a Family Car before I ever drove an Automatic, and that was weird, what do you do with your feet, not enough peddles!

I have been driving my little manual so long now that when I use the Wife's Jeep I always find myself wanting to reach for the clutch with my left foot for a while when I start out.

 

[Alexx1401]

What I miss more than a MT is a foot-activated highbeam switch.

While back I saw where someone had posted a pic of one of those asking people "what it this"? Most of course had no clue what it was

 

[Nosferatu]

While back I saw where someone had posted a pic of one of those asking people "what it this"? Most of course had no clue what it was

Doesn't surprise me. I don't think they've been in vehicles since the mid '70's.

 

[Alexx1401]

Doesn't surprise me. I don't think they've been in vehicles since the mid '70's.

I can't even remember when the last car I had still had one. Has been one hell of a long time. If I ever was to hop in one that still had that I would be trying to figure out why the turn signal arm did not control the lights for a while

 

[Hueco]

-Might force my son to focus on the driving, as it demands involvement.

Focus on the driving? Perhaps. You'll know he's made it, though, when he can take a turn with his knee while downshifting and eating a burrito, without spilling anything on his shirt.

Truly a valuable skill. Happy trails!

 

[ilikegunspdx]

Focus on the driving? Perhaps. You'll know he's made it, though, when he can take a turn with his knee while downshifting and eating a burrito, without spilling anything on his shirt.

Truly a valuable skill. Happy trails!

After that he will be ready for the ultimate challenge, eating Won Ton soup while driving a stick shift.

 

[Flopsweat]

I have been driving my little manual so long now that when I use the Wife's Jeep I always find myself wanting to reach for the clutch with my left foot for a while when I start out.

When I was a kid, my dad had a Jeep with a 3 speed manual. I had a 4 speed. I had the Jeep downtown one day, and I missed that the traffic light I was at had turned green. The car behind me gave a polite, short beep to wake me up. In my haste, I jammed the shifter into reverse (where first would be in my car) and took off. I caught my mistake right away and stood on the brakes. I didn't hear a crunch, but I did get to see a very frightened driver behind me white-knuckling the steering wheel. I shifted into first and took off. I can just imagine that poor guy telling his friends how he just wanted to alert the guy to the light changing, but some crazy redneck kid tried to scare the bejesus out of him.

 

[ilikegunspdx]

Even an f1 type gearbox won't help if you drive like this Scratch 2 Ferraris

 

[Flopsweat]

Even an f1 type gearbox won't help if you drive like this Scratch 2 Ferraris

On a closed track, after a few laps, it may be to your advantage to follow the racing line of a faster, more experienced driver, assuming you have similarly performing cars. As demonstrated, there may not be a viable street equivalent of this practice.