Manual Transmissions

[BROBS]

but yeah it's easy to get these small cars to uncontrollable levels pretty quickly.

 

[alaskanpiper]

Agreed. More times than not, I have one piece of plastic for purchase, one to allow me to drive, and two to let me legally carry. Nothing else.

Shit, I wish I could do this. But no. Must have credit card, company card, cash card, drivers license, pilot's license, pilot medical, health insurance card, costco card, hunting license, AAA card, mother's hunting license (for my proxy), safeway club card, and of course my great harvest bread company punch card!!! Fortunately, don't need one here to legally carry. 18 and not a felon is all it takes and you can be legally carrying in the time it takes to swipe your credit card.

My wallet is a goddamn mess. Probably caused my back pain like Costanza.

 

[BROBS]

if you deflate by a few mm it's the piece of hard candy breaking.

 

[Ctbill]

Whoa...
From manual transmissions to cash, bitcoin, gold, and the “gub’mint”!
Short and sweet:
* Love a manual transmission - but on back roads, little traffic, twists, turns, and weather. I learned on a “3 on the tree” forklift when I was 15...
* Love a current automatic for traffic and daily commute - mindless (just like commuting is...)
* I get my shifting fix mostly on my motorcycles. Sublime...
* “Cash is King” - still. Thankfully. You don’t need to broadcast EVERY purchase to the database. ?. 10-$100’s is similar weight and space to the next piece of plastic in your pocket or wallet. Just sayin’...?. Works even during power outages and when your Wi-Fi is down!
Great thread!

 

[ssjones]

LSD - limited slip differential in car speak. Critical for FWD's to avoid torque steer.

My neighbor has the mid 2010 BMW M5 with the V-10 and the proper and rare six speed. Absolute beast of a car. Our offices are nearby, 25 miles from home and I often to get to try and follow him in my 315 hp Lincoln.....only traffic allows me to keep him in sight. It sounds incredible. (BMW F1 cars at the time were using V-10's)

 

[saintpeter]

Then you have old farts like me who remember the 70's when car evolution gained hold.

 

[Epip Oc'Cabot]

Then you have old farts like me who remember the 70's when car evolution gained hold.

View attachment 21235

Great car! But, wow, I haven’t seen a Mopar style vinyl roof in so, so long. Whether you like or hate vinyl roofs.... Mopar did them best.

 

[olkofri]

The devolution of cars: how we've come from muscle cars to amorphous blobs.

 

[BROBS]

Most cars now look like a transformer’s phallus. ?

 

[tkcolo]

The first pickup I bought with an automatic was an 2009 GMC 2500 with the allison 6-speed. It changed my mind about automatics for what we pull (livestock, hay, all goosenecks). My new 2019 Chevy CC 3500 flatbed has a 6-speed allison with a brake, and it's awesome. I drove a 2020 3500 with the new 10-speed, and without a load it was always in the right gear. Besides, if you don't like the shift ratios, just tune it. They all have a manual push button mode, but with the brake, I haven't used it yet.

Contrast that with my 2002 Dodge 2500 with the 5.9L, no brake, and a standard. Going down the pass in that with a load of bulls, you better make sure your trailer brakes work, because it will wind up and run away. Give me automatics now for these pickups.

I sure miss them in cars though.

 

[ssjones]

My buddy's 717 hp Hellcat will absolutely demolish his '70 426 Hemi Challenger and his 800 hp '68 GTX. The Hellcat unleashed is like nothing I've witnessed in a car (and makes my other buddy's 600 hp Vette feel tame). We haven't backslid much....

 

[Richmond B. Funkenhouser]

Those old muscle cars were cool. All that work on those to finally get to 400 horsepower. These days mustang gt's have a 4 cylinder with that much horsepower stock from the factory. Technology is a bitch.

 

[anotherbob]

They also make your car less likely to be stolen too.

so does driving a weirdly colured car. People don't steal pink cars too often. Way too conspicuous and little resale value.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Way too conspicuous and little resale value.

Rarely is a stolen car ever sold as one piece. But, driving away quickly in a pink car is probably going to draw some attention that a criminal probably doesn't want, ha ha.

 

[Akousticplyr]

I also remember the days when an automatic cost extra. Now manual costs extra.
I’ve heard stories about car thieves giving up on manual cars because they didn’t have a clue how to drive them.

 

[carlomarx]

Three of my vehicles are standard transmissions. I'm afraid driving a stick shift is a lost skill just like many driving skills like handling a skid, parallel parking and driving in snow.
Both of my boys know how to drive a stick. I just realized that using the phrase "drive a stick" marks me as an old codger along with my Carter Hall and Grabow pipes!

 

[ssjones]

Here's my 100 hp 4-speed wonder, a winter long project. It had the stock, tired, low-compression late 70's era pistons and a single Weber carb. The winter project included a set of 60's era high-compression pistons 9:1, mild head work, valves, etc. and a proper set of twin SU carbs. I just finished tuning it this evening. Still an old man's sports car, but a bit more lively and more fun to drive.

 

[Ctbill]

Not many left that know how to tune carbs...good on ya!

...actually, I imagine not many actually know what a carb is!

EFI, and now electric motors rule the roost...?

 

[anotherbob]

Rarely is a stolen car ever sold as one piece. But, driving away quickly in a pink car is probably going to draw some attention that a criminal probably doesn't want, ha ha.

still worth less then one that is a popular color. Even sold piece by piece. Plus it's harder to sell a car that is very conspicuous to a chop shop.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Not many left that know how to tune carbs...good on ya!

Do they still put corroborators in cars? I thought it was all fuel injected now?