My wife drove the Boxster for the first time

[Frodo]

Originally Posted by Ciao

Manual; I told him if he learns manual everything else is a piece of cake

True. Still, I take my hat off to him. All these years later, I recall being nervous enough taking my driver's test that I'm glad I didn't have to worry about smooth clutching, misshifts, etc, in addition to 'just driving.' (I did my test in a '65 Buick Skylark, an automatic.)

That said, my kids used my '96 manual transmission Camry when they took their test. (Admittedly a pretty forgiving/easy-to-master clutch, but still...) And neither has owned an automatic yet

[Porsche9]

Nice to see new drivers learning to drive a manual. In our household and our just married daughter’s household there are a total of six cars and only one is a automatic. My daughter learned on the Boxster.

[Ciao]

Originally Posted by Porsche9

Nice to see new drivers learning to drive a manual. In our household and our just married daughter’s household there are a total of six cars and only one is a automatic. My daughter learned on the Boxster.

"Save the Manual!" Only 20% of all cars in the US are manual. Like handwriting, it is a dying skill.

[Frodo]

Originally Posted by Ciao

"Save the Manual!" Only 20% of all cars in the US are manual. Like handwriting, it is a dying skill.

Wow...unfortunately that number seems surprisingly high to me.

When I got that manual Camry, it was the only non-automatic on the lot. And that was 22 years ago. I would think these days that one-sidedness would be even more pronounced, but maybe not.

One of my kids told me that he's heard young drivers refer to automatic transmissions that have shifters in the center console (like that old Skylark) as "stick shifts."

[A8ked]

I read an article a couple years ago that said one of the biggest deterrents to auto theft now days is a manual transmission. Apparently many people are never learning to drive a manual.
If the article is correct, it may stop kids looking for joy rides. But I expect a professional auto thief would not have that issue.

[husker boxster]

Originally Posted by A8ked

I read an article a couple years ago that said one of the biggest deterrents to auto theft now days is a manual transmission. Apparently many people are never learning to drive a manual.
If the article is correct, it may stop kids looking for joy rides. But I expect a professional auto thief would not have that issue.

A couple of wks ago I was driving my LE in street traffic. There was a car 1 lane to the left and 1 car ahead that had a couple of young boys in it. I had been watching them for several blks as I didn't want to drive in their blind spot and have them pull a quick lane change into me. We get to a red light and the passenger hangs way out the window and says, "nice car, is it a manual?" I said yes. Initially thought that was a strange question to ask, but then wondered if they would have jacked me if I'd said it was an automatic?

[YellowS2000]

Originally Posted by A8ked

I read an article a couple years ago that said one of the biggest deterrents to auto theft now days is a manual transmission. Apparently many people are never learning to drive a manual.
If the article is correct, it may stop kids looking for joy rides. But I expect a professional auto thief would not have that issue.

Was watching jay Leno's Porsche 911 PDK episode the other day and he was saying that they are selling loads more in the UK where im from even tho predominately we prefer manuals.

I love my manual but after driving my mates 5.0ltr Supercharged XFR Jag there was something nice about just flooring it and hanging on to the steering wheel for dear life.

That jag is an 8 speed single clutch auto but even still I dont think a human could change faster. Image what the Porsche PDK dual clutch will be like!

[clickman]

After I bought my 986 12 years ago I had my wife drive it a couple of times. She was oblivious to the joys of driving and, after I committed the unforgivable sin of asking her to please not take so long on the clutch while backing up she has since steadfastly refused to drive it. She still enjoys top down drives in the passenger seat, so it’s all still good but it would be nice for her to share some of my passion for the driving experience.