Manual or auto?

[gamblor916]

What so you don't put it in neutral and coast down? :P

[Bartrim]

It always amazes me that so many people are unaware of how to properly drive an auto. It seems that most are unaware that there are more gears than just drive, reverse, and park. Here's a tip - drop it down a gear when going down a hill instead of riding the breaks. Don't worry, your car can take it and your breaks will thank you for it

QFT. Reminds me of when I went to the state launch/drive day for the Mazda6 in Bowral. Basically we had a convoy of cars that we would take turns driving for a bit then swap over. I was in the third lot of people to drive and as we had our final exchange before we went down Kangaroo Valley Mountain I ended up in the last car of the convoy which was an automatic Mazda Tribute with one of the big bosses as my passenger. As we start to head down the mountain I drop it back into one of the lower gears. This big boss guy goes from being all prim and proper to saying "Well thank f*** someone can drive a car properly. The last two clowns that drove this down the mountain had the brake discs glowing when we reached the bottom." Yay for me impressing a head honcho

[canofwhoopass_87]

I drive auto, but wish I could drive manual as well. Some of the redneck construction workers I was working with a year ago took me for a few lessons in between lulls but I forgot it all.

My gf is always hassling me to learn manual (she's a manual driver). Her reasons

1. "What if there's a medical emergency and you need to drive someone to the hospital and the only car available is a manual?"

2. "In the event of a zombie apocalypse (and we're being chased by the living dead), you need to be able to drive any car to avoid being eaten"

Dunno about reason number 2, but she's quite right when it comes to being prepared for a medical emergency.

[GoktimusPrime]

Haha, well, regardless of circumstances, manual drivers can also drive auto, but people who can only drive auto can't drive manual. So learning on manual makes you a more versatile driver in that regard.

It always amazes me that so many people are unaware of how to properly drive an auto. It seems that most are unaware that there are more gears than just drive, reverse, and park. Here's a tip - drop it down a gear when going down a hill instead of riding the breaks. Don't worry, your car can take it and your breaks will thank you for it

I learnt on an auto with two driving school teachers, and neither of them ever taught me that. In fact, there's a lot of things that even professional driving instructors don't teach you when you learn on an automatic. They only coach you to pass the P plate test, and not how to actually drive.

Most of what I learnt about driving as a learner I learnt from just general practice driving between lessons (i.e. whenever the family was going out anywhere, I'd offer to drive). Then I refined my driving skills later on when I learnt to drive a manual. It was remarkable... when I'd only ever driven an automatic I didn't realise how incomplete my knowledge of driving was until I learnt manual. After that it was like someone opened my eyes on driving!