Manual vs automatic

Post Reply New Topic

I spoke to my occupational therapist tonight who tested me (you have that option if you have a disability). She "strongly advises against" getting a manual licence. Because whilst she says I might learn the gears and clutch there are other factorsx that come into play with my Asperger's. She has a lot of clients with AS whom she tests and whilst she says I am the highest functioning she still wouldnt advise against it.

Her reasons were.

* I have trouble multi tasking

*Due to my AS if I am in something unfamilar or something goes wrong for example I am running late or am lost my chances of having an accident/fender bender are far higher (this has already happened once with a fender bender). Adding gears to that would make the chance of having a serious accident much much higher.

*My co-ordination whilst signifficantly improved is not 100% and adding a clutch would be stressful.

*I dont do well under stress and having to re sit a test in manual would be extremely stressful for me.

i drive stick

Catster2, tell your therapist bah ! !!

Driving a manual takes practice, and concentration, but ohhh the rewards ! !!

I love driving manual transmission.
Much more control over the car. I like that.
Also, I am in Florida. It is very flat here. If I lived in San Francisco, with all the hills, I don't know how on earth I could drive a stick-shift.

My current car is automatic, which is good and bad. When the car shifts gears for me, I am free to think about other things. But when I am thinking about other things, obviously some part of me is not paying attention to the road...

In the UK automatics are rare,manuals are standard. If I tried an automatic I'd feel like there
was something missing !

I have tried several times to learn to drive a car with a manual transmission. I don't know what it is, but I just can't get it. It's the same with gears on a bike. You can explain it to me all day, and it makes sense when you say it, but when I'm doing it, I just can't tell when to shift, and whether to shift up or down. I had several experiences of making whoever was teaching me so exaspirated that it just wasn't worth it. Actually, my now-husband tried to teach me years ago, and he's very calm and patient, but I still got fed up.

I've been driving an automatic for over twenty years now, and still don't feel like I have the hang of it. I always feel like I really need to be concentrating to not mess up, because it doesn't come naturally. So, having to do all that shifting would just add another element that I don't need. So that's something I gave up on long ago.

Actually, if I meant steering column, I would have said. I did mean the stalks. Either side there are 2 on a standard car. One for lights, and the other for wash and wipe. On selected automatics there is a third which is attached to the column which operates the transmission. If you are unsure as to what I mean, please ask. I'm studying languages including English. The things you learn when it comes to your own is fascinating.

Here it is the opposite most cars are auto (about 90%) and most people drive them. There are a lot of people who only know how to drive auto. I do wanna try manual but not in terms of having to sit a test again. My occupational therapist told me she has about 4 aspies as clients a year and I am the highest functioning she has had she tells all her aspies me included to go for auto.

Like many aspies I found driving very difficult to master.One thing that helped me was to
find out as much as possible about how the mechanics of the car work,e.g. when you press
the clutch pedal it disengages the gear wheels from the engine,then you engage them again by finding the 'biting point' etc. I found it reassuring to know exactly what effects my actions were having rather than just following a sequence of arm and leg movements . Even driving an automatic I imagine it would help me to think along the same lines.

Ah, thank you for the clarification. I had no idea what those were called. It may not be part of American English either, as I've never heard anyone use that term. But it does seem to be appropriate.

It is odd that we have different terms for many car parts here (hood vs. bonnet), or spell them differently (tires vs. tyres).


Indeed!

Actually, the clutch does not disengage the gears. It disengages the clutch. A pair of synchronisers connected to a synchroniser hub slide into position according to the gearstick. This means, ALL GEARS ARE ENGAGED PERMANENTLY Therefore, a synchroniser hub can only engage gears or a pair of gears.

The biting point is only when the clutch is released enough to have an affect on the movement of the car.

Following advice that someone suggests you stick auto is wrong. I can only do one thing at a time, but driving is easy for me. The best advice I can give would be to "Go for some lessons in a manual for a few hours" No-one gets the hang of a manual first time. I got it by my second car. Using clutch to change gear is easy. But on my second car was far easier. It's much better NOT to have a rev counter as you will be tempted to watch it. On average a small car can get

1st 25MP/h
2nd 45MP/h
3rd 70MP/h
4th 95MP/h
5th 120MP/h approx usually higher ratio for motorway or freeway use to save fuel money.
It is possible to slow down using the engine deceleration of engine via the gearbox/transmission and get into 2st smoothly.

If you have a rev counter, I would recommend changing at 3,000rpms.

Learning a manual can take anything from 6 hours to 40 hours (learner) I used only 10 hours to be sure the manoeuvres I would be asked to could be done without failing. I couldn't work out why my emergency stopping was "wrong" I never locked up the front wheels. I did the same every time. I thought that was the idea of stopping in an emergency and not in comfort.

My dad refused to teach me how to drive a stick shift (manual). I think he was afraid I'd have a meltdown behind the wheel and give up. Or that I wouldn't be able to focus properly (which is true--I daydream a LOT when I'm driving). My sister, who is NT, shed some tears when he taught her how to drive, so they both knew I wouldn't be able to handle it.

Autos have worked just fine for me so far.

I found that the biggest difference between the two is how much satisfaction you can get out of abusing either one. I loved to just try and destroy the automatics but I really loved the individual contol on the sticks, like spinning the tires into nothingness in low gear.
If it's a spotts car you need a stick shift. If it's a brage then an automatic will do. Eventually you'll get two cars. One to drive and have fun with and one to 'exist' with.

And further to this, my car failed its MOT spectacularly yesterday with two pages of failures! I think the previous MOT (just before I bought it) was forged - there are certain things which doesn't quite 'add up' you might say.

It will cost me £500 to get it repaired But I'm still going to pay for it. I just hope nothing else goes wrong because after this and the insurance in Februrary I'll have no money left.

I had a lesson with my aunt on manual yesterday in my grandma's car the one she has offered me she got it fixed. My aunt said it went really well I think already knowing how to drive (in an auto) definitely helps. I know how to start it off in first and to change to second whilst driving havent gone further than that though.

Last edited by Catster2 on 11 Jan 2009, 4:06 am, edited 1 time in total.

i learned to drive an auto at 40 (6years ago.) still cannot drive a manual. late bloomer.