Asklemmy

the great thing about manual transmission is it almost doesn't matter how big the motor is, or whether it's front/rear/AWD, as long as the platform is balanced you can have fun on it.. EVERY car nut appreciates a Golf with a stick, no matter how muscular a hot rod you drive..

51, I can drive a semi, but before I took some training for that I learned on a standard from my grandma.

Germany, 20s, yes (and up until recently exclusively drove manual transmission cars from like before 2010)

Yes. 39 y/o male. But 99% of the people I know, don't know how. So now it's easy to guess what country I live in.

38 Ireland, yes, it's the main transmission type here, the same as most of Europe.

Yes, 46, my first car that was "mine" (my mom's old car) was a manual. The first car I ever bought had a shitty automatic (I think the seller may have pulled one over on young me). Since then I only buy stick shifts for myself. (My wife's is an automatic.)

37, Switzerland, and I can drive a manual as much as I enjoy an automatic from time to time. The former is still the most common type of transmission even though the trend has been reversing over the years.

US, 37, been driving a manual since I was 16.

France, early thirties, I can. Automatics are still pretty new on the market, most people I know cannot operate one. It's easier of course, but kinda throws you off at first. My wife owns one and it's great for traffic and keeping a low fuel consumption, since the thing is made to shift gears exactly when necessary. The tradeoff is no sportsy driving, of course, but I can live with that for some time.

Zoomer from Mexico, I can and I prefer it. I daily drive a manual car.

US, 40s. Gave up my manual a few years ago to get a bigger car when I became a single dad. The ol Mazda 3 wasn't cutting it

I'm 42, and can drive manual, but I've had an automatic the last 5 years.

My son is now learning to drive, but he will most likely not need to drive a manual ever.

Yes, I'm from the UK so pretty much everyone here can even if they own an automatic. It's not seen as a big deal here, it's just normal.

I prefer manuals, I won't be buying an automatic until my leg falls off.

Scandinavian, mid-40's. The vast majority of cars in Europe have manual transmission, in my country you can't even get a driver's license if you can't handle it. I prefer manual, whenever I drive automatic I feel like there's something missing.

I only learned on a riding lawnmower but I can do it. I actually went looking for a car with a manual, figuring that it would be cheaper up front, cheaper to fix and cheaper to run. I couldn't really find one in any model of car I wanted, so I ended up having to go with a manumatic with paddle shifters, the worst of both worlds!

Big yes! Mid 20s and currently daily drive my miata

30, german, yes I can, no I do not. I drive a hybrid, so no manual transmission.

I drive an automatic but I learned with a manual and used it for years. I find manual impractical for daily use but I can use it if I need to.

32 years old, Italy

German, mid 20s, can and do

Yes. European. It's the norm.

Don't answer these. They're attempts at pinning ur account with a specific demographic and or phishing attempts.

In the UK it's pretty standard to learn in a manual. I currently have an automatic and honestly I don't want to go back. I like to think I'm a pretty good driver and gears were never an issue for me, but man is it nice to have one less thing to think about when driving.

Oh and I'm 39.

I drive whichever vehicle doesn't get my data harvested.

Netherlands, thirties, own a manual transmission car. In fact, I have only ever driven manuals.

UK, early 30s only ever driven manual, automatics are still more expensive here than manuals but are slowly becoming more common esp with the rise of electric cars. Although I doubt ill get one any time soon.

Yes, early 40s, midwest.

My mother wouldn't let me take my driver's test without leaning to drive manual. My first car ended up being a manual, which ensured that no one ever borrowed my car.

Yes (US, 35), and it’s something I can do autonomically in appropriate situations. I also enjoy being an integral part of my car’s operation.

And when you’re flogging it on a nice mountain road or a track, there’s nothing quite like nailing that heel-and-toe downshift as you’re clipping the apex.

My first 4 cars were standard. As is every motorcycle I have owned.

Learned on a farm truck when I was 13.

Late 30s, learned to drive in NL and now live in SE. Initially learned about transmissions by running around on four wheelers. I drive a manual car every day. There's a lot of fun and connection to driving manual, though I see the ease and efficiency of the automatic transmission as well as the general trend.

I’m 25 in the US and I can

USA, 40, and...it's complicated? Haha. I've never driven a manual car, but I have ridden a motorcycle which generally has a manual transmission.

And because this is as good a place as any--I suspect once self-driving vehicles are common, the number of people who can drive even an automatic will plummet.

Why? Because kids will be born, then grow up with parents driving them places for their entire life experience, and then will go into their teens using driving services (like some futuristic Lyft company) with automated driverless cars that drive for them. And if that works fine to get you everywhere you need to go...why bother to learn how to drive a car? Do you really NEED it?

I think there'll be a generational divide, with older generations boggling that the damn kids on their lawns are "so lazy" they never even learned to drive, and I think there'll be an urban/rural divide where rural kids might not have access to AI cars that can drive for them so are forced to learn in order to be able to get anywhere, while city kids can have a car summoned to them by their phone at a drop of a hat to get wherever they want to go.

But I think the younger generations, once one is born where self-driving vehicles are ubiquitous and being able to summon such a vehicle to you using your phone is commonplace (I think it'll be a generation or two after the Zoomers...we're on the horizon but not there yet), will not see why THEY have to drive when they can instead be driven. Driving is a waste of your time that you could use to be doing work, schoolwork, or something fun like a game. I know I would ditch it if I could go exactly where I need to go anytime I wanted while reading a book or something.

Edit: Self-driving cars would also be a HUGE boon to the elderly, giving them some sort of independence even once their reaction times dull. "No, grandpa, I can't let you drive yourself, but the car will totally take you wherever you need to go. Just put in your destination." There'll be a lot of bitching at first from some of the older people, then they'd figure out how easy it is to go places without worrying about their eyesight or something, and give in.

I suspect my generation might be the first in this position, of giving up keys and instead just ordering a car to take me somewhere without me being a danger of running someone over because my reaction times have degraded. I think it's reasonable to suspect in 40 years, when I'll be 80, cars will drive themselves.

Yes, California, late 30s. I drove a manual transmission when I was a teenager. I was proud of how practiced I got with it. I don't drive manual anymore, but my dad recently switched back after some decades driving automatic. He found out he's out of practice lol

Early 30s, US. Yes I can drive a manual. They have their moments when they are better than autos.

I'm SE Asian, early 30s, and I was taught to drive using a manual transmission van with a column shift. 3rd gear would just randomly disappear too.

I miss driving manuals, but my knees thank me every day whenever there's traffic.

25 years old, I live in Alberta, Canada. I learned on automatic and then my first car was a manual. I have only owned cars with manual transmissions since. So much more fun to drive imo

I drive a manual transmission to work every day. [20, US]

When I was 15 my grandfather took me out into the woods to teach me to drive stick in a 30,000 lb dump truck. I had never driven anything bigger than a golf cart before. My space to work with was a clearing maybe three times the size of the truck. I did not learn to drive stick that day.

I'm from Mexico I'm 22 years old and I have been driving since 14 or so (rural Mexico). My family has not own a manual since I started driving and I gues we will not buy one soon lol

Sweden, late 40's. Manual since I had my driving license (18). Driven automatic maybe 2-3 times in my life