Why would anyone drive a clutch?

Question

They're confusing, hard to control, take too much effort (more than talking on a cell phone) and pointless... why not just drive an automatic?

Answer 1

people drive stick shift when they race just because they can control the speed and gear changin e.g up shiftin down shiftin and double clutching others drive stick because its cheaper on petrol because u can crontol the cars RPM e.g high speed low rpm u save alot of $$ on petrol

Answer 2

Confusing?  Obviously you are a young driver.

Too much effort?  Again, lack of experience.

Pointless?  You have more control with a manual gearbox

Face it, a manual gearbox demonstrates control, and also can help you get out of precarious situations, i.e. stuck.  Also, manual gearboxes get better gas mileage.  Finally, they are very fun to drive, nothing beats a double clutch downshift into a chicane, and being able to nail the accelerator once out of it.  One caveat, they can get pretty brutal in gridlock though.

Answer 3

They're faster and you have more control. Thats why all racing uses manual cars with no exceptions.

Answer 4

well seems like everyone stole my answers.  But yea you seem to be speaking as though driving a manual vehicle was difficult for you, or your speaking like a person whols never drove one..or both.  Theres nothing "pointless" as you put it, about driving manual.  Its smart actually.  You save gave and you have more control of the car.  Sure the convience of having a automatic get into the gears for you is cute fun..and if not..lazy.. but take control of a manual trransmission and vroom..  No longer having to wait for your automatic to get into the gear.. with manual you can shift into the gear quicker.   Trust me on this.. this is 3 yrs of a manual driver talking here.

Answer 5

they really aren't hard to drive, it just takes brains and skill! I started driving at 17 and never drove an automatic until i was about 23. Manual cars can be far more economical than automatics and more responsive.

Answer 6

I'll give you some reasons :

- You can't push-start an automatic car with a dead battery, but you CAN with a stick shift, if your battery is dead, or almost.

- automatics in snow crab sideways, with a stick, you can control the motion of the car better.

- there's more "punch" to the manual shifting than automatics, the automatics are for some "dumb" drivers who want to munch McFries and fiddle with the radio constantly, and can't be bothered learning to drive a "real" car.  

- If you never learn to drive a stick, you'll never have the opportunity to drive a Ferrari or any other exotic car if the chance ever came up by chance, because you "didn't know how to"...<sob!> Who'd trust YOU with a car that fine, if you didn't know how to drive the stick? HA! HA! Loser...

- Last answer - they're FUN ( ok, except in traffic, then they really BITE...but the fun outweighs the bite, usually ).

- The Gremlin Guy - yeah, I own automatics, too. So what? I can drive a school bus, a motorcycle ( has a clutch and "stick", don't want to drive one of those either, eh? ).

Answer 7

With a manual transmission you have more control of your car. The car weighs less and you get better gas mileage.

It's also a lot more fun than having the car do it for you.

To take it to a logical ending, why not leave the driving to someone else? Take the subway or a bus? Mabe walk?

Answer 8

First, you gotta call it what it is: a manual transmission. You don't drive a clutch.  

If they are confusing, you had a bad teacher.

They aren't pointless- they shift gears just like an automatic.

They save gas.

They're cheaper than automatics, and they rarely break. Automatics go out all the time, and it will kill your wallet when you have to have one replaced.

"Controlling" a manual transmission is so easy that you can do it without thinking, once you get the hang of it. It should take less than a week to get it.  If you're that impatient, how did you learn to drive?

Answer 9

Why would anyone drive an automatic, and give up control of shifting to a mindless computer, not to mention the expense of repairing the things that can go wrong.  With a stick you might have an occasional clutch...

Answer 10

They are so much more fun to drive!!! They are kind of difficult to learn, but if you can drive manual, you can drive anything.  Once you know what you are doing, they don't take any effort at all. They are better on gas and they are cheaper to buy.  I would buy a stick shift before an automatic anyday. I enjoy driving my parents car, which is automatic, but I still prefer manual. Seriously, so much more fun to drive.