Alternate Route

Jul 18, 2008 - Third Pedal News

My 16 year old got her learner's permit two weeks ago, so I thought I'd report on her progress as we add another lover of manual transmissions to the traffic flow.

Here in Pennsylvania, new drivers have to log 50 hours behind the wheel over 6 months on their permit before they can take the test to get their driver's license. It's a great idea as long as the parents are conscientious about filling in the log. It really lets me set goals for each session behind the wheel and teach the kid what she needs to know.

As you can imagine, we've had our share of stalling the car, especially at those pesky traffic lights on upgrades. My daughter's "reboot" times had improved to where she could restart the engine in a flash and get on her way quickly on the second start attempt.

Yesterday we passed the milestone of zero stalls in about an hour of drving around town with many starts and stops, so I'm almost ready to declare her competent on the clutch and ready to move into more complicated moves like parallel parking once it's clear she's not really thinking about operating the clutch.

Overall she's doing very well and we only had one instance of trying to start up in third gear. To be fair, the throw of the gear shift on the Versa isn't all that big, so to a new driver third and first feel pretty close in position. Then again, there's nothing like the smell of a hot clutch to let you know you've made a mistake!

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Aug 30, 2007 - Cruising Attitude

I love to fly, in anything, to anywhere, anytime, day or night, good weather or bad, and I've never had a bad experience cruising through the clouds.

The picture was taken at about 30,000 feet somewhere over Ohio, dodging thunderstorms, on my way out to our recent meeting at the Edmunds offices. With all that time to think, my mind will travel the alternate route, and I started thinking about cruise control.

As fate would have it, after I returned from LA, my Altima was in a little bumper basher and this is the week that it's in the hospital getting patched up, forcing me to get a rental for the week. I chose a Versa specifically so I could compare the 4 speed automatic with my 6-speed.

The cars are virtually identical, and other than noting that I tend to drive in a higher gear than the automatic normally picks for me, the biggest beef I have is the way cruise control works when coupled with an automatic transmission versus the function in a manual shift vehicle.

With the manual, when I set the cruise, my speed remains constant, engine revs remain constant because it stays in whatever gear I'm in (usually 6th), and the only time things change is when I find myself on a fairly steep grade where you reach a point where the cruise kicks of and I resume manual control of the throttle. After 28 years of driving manuals in the same area, there are really only two places this happens regularly, and thus I'm prepared to take over and keep the "flight" as smooth as possible. On the highway it makes things very easy as my speed remains absolutely constant.

After three days with the automatic, I find myself not turning on cruise if I'm in any kind of traffic. Slight upgrades immediately cause a downshift, which causes the car to slow, and then surge to get back up to speed, and when that happens next to another vehicle it really makes me appear like I'm racing them and creates a lot of potential for angst and road rage. I used to think that people I was passing on an upgrade were trying to not let me pass on the highway, but now I'm pretty sure their cruise and automatic transmission were behaving as they've been programmed to behave.

I've observed this behavior on every automatic I've ever had the misfortune to rent, regardless of make or model. It's just the way it is. And just another reason I'll stick with my stick!

Cruisin' down the road
But I can't drive 55
Computer control

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Aug 21, 2007 - Stick-to-itivity

I'm not sure if I'm steady or just plain stubborn, but we haven't had a vehicle with anything but manual transmission vehicles in our household since 1979. That works out to nine vehicles with a combined total of just over 1.5 million miles traveled, and at the moment I have no intention of going back any time soon.

My wife feels that she's "more in control" of the vehicle, especially during the winter months in snowy or icy conditions, and I can't disagree with her on that. My 18 year old daughter tells everyone that she really hates automatics, and I'm convinced that she's a much better driver at this point than I was at the same age because she learned on a stick. In Pennsylvania, an under-18 permit holder has to log at least 50 hours behind the wheel over the course of 6 months before they can take their road test. During her 6 months Colleen logged over 2000 miles and impressed the heck out of me the day a traffic light suddenly changed on her and she made a full-blown emergency stop, downshifting during the stop, without stalling the engine. I was duly impressed. The fact that she didn't just have to step on the gas to go, and was forced to pay attention and actually drive the car saved us a lot of worry when she'd take the car out. It's harder to be distracted when the car isn't doing so much for you.

While some might complain that driving a manual is "work", I've never found it to be a chore. Driving in city situations, or stop and go traffic, I don't even think about it. Apparently I'm the "automatic" part of the transmission. There may be some doubt in some people's minds about the future of manual transmissions, but I'm thinking that there are always going to be options for those of us who enjoy and appreciate the manual driving experience.

Our 2007 Nissan Versa is our first 6-speed, and we love every third-pedal-pumping mile of it! Long live the manual!

Running through the gears
Keeping my left foot employed
Sure beats a slushbox

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