I still don’t understand the appeal of automatic transmissions in cars
Being able to drink a soda while accelerating to freeway speeds is nice. Not having to shift a thousand times to move 50 feet in stop and go traffic is also nice. Manual transmissions are fun when you’re driving for fun. For everything else I think automatic is way more convenient.
Eh, I didn’t have too much trouble with stop and go traffic, I just left it in first with my foot on the clutch. The worst part is parking on hills, I learned to drive a stick in the Seattle area, and I had to parallel park on a ton of hills. Inevitably, some jerk would park really close behind me and I’d nearly hyperventilate pulling out w/o rolling back into them.
But honestly, stop and go sucks regardless of the transmission, so I just try to avoid it. I go to work early and cut out a bit early to miss rush hour, which works most of the time unless there’s an accident or something. That’s not feasible for everyone, but I have that flexibility, so it’s nice, and I only need to go in 2x/week as well (I’m pretty spoiled).
I wish I could bike to work, but it would take nearly 2 hours each way due to the distance. Maybe I’ll throw on a Bafang and see if I can get that down to an hour :).
Oh man, learning to drive in Seattle sounds really scary, especially a stick. You can’t even see what’s in front of you at the top of some of those hills. You probably developed masterful clutch control from those parking experiences though.
Edit: for the biking to work thing, can you take the bus or light rail part of the way? That’s what I used to do, when I was still going into the office. I’d take the bus to a stop that was a couple miles from work, and then bike the rest of the way. The only sucky part about it was if there were already too many cyclists on the bus, since that meant there was nowhere to stow my bike and I couldn’t get on. Then I’d have to wait for the next bus or just ride the work. One time I chased the bus until one of the cyclists got off, then I sprinted on my bike as hard as I could to get to the next stop before the bus. That was pretty fun.
That’s amazing. You must have had a wonderful instructor. I learned to drive in L.A., which was also a harrowing experience. I’ll say this, most Seattle area drivers drive me crazy having come from Southern California. They’re so fucking slow, and there’s always some slow poke in the passing lane keeping pace with the slow poke next to him, holding up traffic for thousands of people. The other day some dude in front of me was going 25 mph and merging into the freeway with a 55 mph speed limit. You sound like you’re probably an exception though, and a good driver. The stick shift thing alone sets you apart.
Yeah, my dad was pretty great (he’s been driving a Miata for as long as I remember). I also lived on a hill, and the second and third cars I had were manuals (first car died within a year of getting my license).
Honestly, Seattle drivers when I lived there were some of my favorite. Yeah, they drive closer to the speed limit, but they’re generally really nice. If I put my signal to merge, they make space. If I come up behind them in the passing lane, they move over. I’m now in Utah, and the opposite is true. If I signal, they close the gap to prevent me from merging. If I come up behind them, they slow down. If I move around to pass them, they speed up. If I honk because they’re sleeping at a light, there’s a non-zero chance they’ll get out of their car and confront me. I’ve gotten used to it by now though.
That said, I’m not a big fan of California drivers, but they do get one thing right: they keep the speed up in rush hour. They absolutely cannot handle a little rain on the road (I remember something like 5 accidents when there was a bit of rain when I visited), and I’m guessing icy roads are much worse (we blame a lot of winter accidents here on Cali transplants, not sure how true that is). Cali drivers are super impatient, and they’re liberal with their use of the horn. But at least they can keep the speed up in traffic, I’ll give them that.
That’s true about the merging. People are generally pretty friendly about letting you over up here. They also respect pedestrians, which I appreciate. But it’s hard to deal with how damned slow everyone is! Haha.
I’ve tried that, and then they made sure that I couldn’t pass at all. They seem to view themselves as little self-appointed traffic police. I’ve seen that sentiment reflected here on Lemmy too. A few months ago I moved to a more rural area outside the city and the drivers are equally as slow, but not friendly, which is a far worse combination.
Being able to drink a soda while accelerating to freeway speeds is nice. Not having to shift a thousand times to move 50 feet in stop and go traffic is also nice. Manual transmissions are fun when you’re driving for fun. For everything else I think automatic is way more convenient.
Eh, I didn’t have too much trouble with stop and go traffic, I just left it in first with my foot on the clutch. The worst part is parking on hills, I learned to drive a stick in the Seattle area, and I had to parallel park on a ton of hills. Inevitably, some jerk would park really close behind me and I’d nearly hyperventilate pulling out w/o rolling back into them.
But honestly, stop and go sucks regardless of the transmission, so I just try to avoid it. I go to work early and cut out a bit early to miss rush hour, which works most of the time unless there’s an accident or something. That’s not feasible for everyone, but I have that flexibility, so it’s nice, and I only need to go in 2x/week as well (I’m pretty spoiled).
I wish I could bike to work, but it would take nearly 2 hours each way due to the distance. Maybe I’ll throw on a Bafang and see if I can get that down to an hour :).
I relied on my handbrake a lot when I was driving a manual in hilly cities.
I did at first, but eventually got tired of it and learned to rev the engine just right to not slide backward. I definitely use it for parking though.
Oh man, learning to drive in Seattle sounds really scary, especially a stick. You can’t even see what’s in front of you at the top of some of those hills. You probably developed masterful clutch control from those parking experiences though.
Edit: for the biking to work thing, can you take the bus or light rail part of the way? That’s what I used to do, when I was still going into the office. I’d take the bus to a stop that was a couple miles from work, and then bike the rest of the way. The only sucky part about it was if there were already too many cyclists on the bus, since that meant there was nowhere to stow my bike and I couldn’t get on. Then I’d have to wait for the next bus or just ride the work. One time I chased the bus until one of the cyclists got off, then I sprinted on my bike as hard as I could to get to the next stop before the bus. That was pretty fun.
Yup, waiting at a stoplight on a hill in the pouring rain was not fun… Never had an accident though.
That’s amazing. You must have had a wonderful instructor. I learned to drive in L.A., which was also a harrowing experience. I’ll say this, most Seattle area drivers drive me crazy having come from Southern California. They’re so fucking slow, and there’s always some slow poke in the passing lane keeping pace with the slow poke next to him, holding up traffic for thousands of people. The other day some dude in front of me was going 25 mph and merging into the freeway with a 55 mph speed limit. You sound like you’re probably an exception though, and a good driver. The stick shift thing alone sets you apart.
Yeah, my dad was pretty great (he’s been driving a Miata for as long as I remember). I also lived on a hill, and the second and third cars I had were manuals (first car died within a year of getting my license).
Honestly, Seattle drivers when I lived there were some of my favorite. Yeah, they drive closer to the speed limit, but they’re generally really nice. If I put my signal to merge, they make space. If I come up behind them in the passing lane, they move over. I’m now in Utah, and the opposite is true. If I signal, they close the gap to prevent me from merging. If I come up behind them, they slow down. If I move around to pass them, they speed up. If I honk because they’re sleeping at a light, there’s a non-zero chance they’ll get out of their car and confront me. I’ve gotten used to it by now though.
That said, I’m not a big fan of California drivers, but they do get one thing right: they keep the speed up in rush hour. They absolutely cannot handle a little rain on the road (I remember something like 5 accidents when there was a bit of rain when I visited), and I’m guessing icy roads are much worse (we blame a lot of winter accidents here on Cali transplants, not sure how true that is). Cali drivers are super impatient, and they’re liberal with their use of the horn. But at least they can keep the speed up in traffic, I’ll give them that.
That’s true about the merging. People are generally pretty friendly about letting you over up here. They also respect pedestrians, which I appreciate. But it’s hard to deal with how damned slow everyone is! Haha.
Eh, if you flash your lights, they’ll usually move over. But honestly, I prefer friendly over getting to my destination 10% faster.
I’ve tried that, and then they made sure that I couldn’t pass at all. They seem to view themselves as little self-appointed traffic police. I’ve seen that sentiment reflected here on Lemmy too. A few months ago I moved to a more rural area outside the city and the drivers are equally as slow, but not friendly, which is a far worse combination.