I figured that there was an auto thread out there with all the auto drives. So, I figured why not call out all Stick shifters out there. I mean we are having the most fun with our MINIs right?

I for one have been driving stick shifts for about 6 years now and it is very hard for me to even switch for a 5 minute drive.

So lets start up the thread!

 

I'm usually pretty good about knowing the difference between manual and automatic when I jump from my MINI to my '86 Monte Carlo SS.

I taught myself how to drive manual in three hours on my mom's old '88 Escort station wagon. One of the easiest vehicles to learn on.

 

Add me to the list.

 

Manual only please, automatics annoy me. They're always in the wrong gear except for that brief moment during straightline acceleration after you've hit the gas. I've never driven a steptronic that responded to my inputs any faster than moving the traditional auto shifter from 1 to 2 to drive. And don't get me started about the squishy feeling of a torque converter. I guess you could say I'm not a fan of auto trannies :P

 

We're getting to the point in life (because of some spine injuries and my wifes' arthritis in her hands) where an automatic would be nice.......but the 6 speed is just too much fun . Count us in!

 

Now that's what I like to hear! I'm not going to condemn anyone who drives an automatic, but much respect to those who don't let discomfort ruin their fun

 

For me, the MINI was going to be manual or we weren't getting one. My wife, who drives it at least half the time, didn't know how to drive stick when we ordered it, so I told her she'd have to learn :D. Now, she loves driving the MINI.

 

Manual for me!

Almost right away after getting my learner's permit, my father taught me how using our late 60s era VW van. Great memories of driving that and our Bug during my teenage years.

And I'm blessed to have a wife whose father taught her to drive a stick shift and who had several manual transmissions throughout her life. Like me, she prefers a manual tranny (even if she is currently cursed with the automatic Grand Voyager at this point in our lives!).

 

 

I taught myself to drive a manual in an '89 escort gt, my very first car. Learned to drive it leaving the dealers lot, man what an experience, for me and everyone else on the road that day.

Automatics are easy, manuals are fun.

 

I learned to drive stick off an 04 Sentra Spec V. Now I consider myself a stick shift snob.

 

I don't own my Mini yet, but it's a visual inspection away from being in my garage... An 03 S with 6 speed. Haven't owned a standard shift since college - my 99 Mustang was the last one I owned. I missed it.

Learned to drive stick at 16 on a test drive of a Miata my dad eventually bought and still owns today... That's another fun little car. Would have bought one if I didn't need a back seat!

 

My girlfriend can't drive a stick so she can't drive my 2009 JCW. It is great. I'm not about to teach her using my car. I can see her burning out the clutch in about five miles. She is the type of driver that slams on her brakes two feet from a stop sign. She has a 1997 Ford F-150 with 180,000 miles on it and drives it like it was a turbo Porsche. My 98 Corvette was auto & she used to love driving it but she had a habit of scaring the heck out of me most of the time.

She is on her second transmission on the F-150 and I can't count the number of brake pads.

I do gotta say she has never had an accident.

 

Count me in! 2 MINIs, 2 manuals.

 

Mine is manual =) it is my first manual car. I basically learned how to drive it when I left the dealer. I had driven manual one other time a couple years prior in a parking lot with my friend. I stalled once on the way home, but since then I've learned how to drive it well.

 

Count me in. Mine is manual, wife's is an auto , I don't drive it plus it has pink checkered stripes. Other car is a 05 Goat with a 6 sp. Learned on a 69 Roadrunner many, many moons ago. Can't really drive an auto, I can never figure out how to get em in gear.

Pat

 

Got a loaner Cabrio not too long ago and must say I was disappointed in the paddle shift and all. I will stick with my manual like McQueen..

 

Manuals are cool!

 

+1 in the manual shifter club.

Do other (regular) manual drivers try to find the clutch with their left feet or find their hands automatically coming off the steering wheel down to the shifter while speeding/slowing in an automatic?

 

I often press the edge of the break ready to heel toe a downshift and rarely(but sometimes) I'll blip the throttle without thinking

 

Yes. Yes I do.

 

Sign me up! I am a stick shift snob as well. (Even though my other car is an automatic, that's only because it wasn't available in a stick!)

 

Count me in !!!
My wife can drive a stick but she prefer auto so she has an auto 2010 MCS. I think manual trans way to go MINI

 

Learned to drive a stick on my uncle's farm driving a tractor and his ratty old pickup. I was 13 and really wanted to drive but had to wait until I got old enough and I refined my skills on the 1951 Studebaker my mother got from my grandmother.

'Still love a stick. And the Getrag in my JCW is so sweet.

 

2008 MCS (EU SPEC) Manual all the way!!! Been shifting gears for my grandfather from the age of 5 and knew stick by the age of 13