[SportinStyle]

Well here's the deal. Ever since I got the L's I have been driving a automatic and now that I get to get my own car I decided to get a Coug. Anyway I want to get a Manual trans but being I have no knowledge of what it feels like and need some opinions/facts.

Do Manuals take long to get used to?

Is it worth it to go Manual over Auto for racing needs? (well I know yes... but does it matter A TON?)

and last but not least... What do you prefer to have? (not drive)

Thanks Guys and Gals!

 

[ZUM]

It really depends on the owner. I know for a fact that I kick my own ass everyday for not getting a stick. I hate my auto, but having one makes it a lot easier to drive in traffic. Its not hard to get used to driving a stick, everyone needs to know. Its beneficiary for everyone.

 

[tad]

it's second nature after a while
i never drove a stick until my second cougar
now i'd much rather have a stick
however.. if i lived in a big city, i'd hate it for traffic jams
luckily i don't
and as far as racing goes, it makes a huge difference

 

[nadthomas]

When I got my cougar I didn't know how to drive a stick(aka: MTX) so I had the sales guy drive it for me. That one had a lot more miles then the auto(aka: ATX) that I actually bought, but from what I can remeber the MTX felt faster and more sporty. Which after I found these board that has been confirmed over and over again. My ATX isn't bad but now that I looking to do some upgrades, its sometimes more expensive, or can't be done on the ATX. Also there isn't quite as many upgrades available for the ATX. But either way at 16 I would have loved to have either one.

But then again this was my car after a school bus ran a stop sign when I was 16, my next car wasn't much better, so when I finally got a cougar I was in heaven.

 

[XeX]

Originally posted by: SportinStyle
Well here's the deal. Ever since I got the L's I have been driving a automatic and now that I get to get my own car I decided to get a Coug. Anyway I want to get a Manual trans but being I have no knowledge of what it feels like and need some opinions/facts.

Do Manuals take long to get used to?

Is it worth it to go Manual over Auto for racing needs? (well I know yes... but does it matter A TON?)

and last but not least... What do you prefer to have? (not drive)

Thanks Guys and Gals!

I learned to drive in an auto but am glad i own a manual now, it takes a bit of time to get used to driving an mtx but its worth it. Read thru what some of the atx cougar people ahve to say, most of them are always complaining that they got the atx because of how much slower it is than the mtx.

 

[PeDL2DaMeDL]

Originally posted by: SportinStyle
Well here's the deal. Ever since I got the L's I have been driving a automatic and now that I get to get my own car I decided to get a Coug. Anyway I want to get a Manual trans but being I have no knowledge of what it feels like and need some opinions/facts.

Do Manuals take long to get used to?

Is it worth it to go Manual over Auto for racing needs? (well I know yes... but does it matter A TON?)

and last but not least... What do you prefer to have? (not drive)

Thanks Guys and Gals!

1) I became used to mtx in a week...if you have a "good teacher" if you will - simple

2) Racing needs? haha...funny. Unless you plan on spending thousands and thousands extra

3) I think a lot of ppl will agree manual is more fun

:thumbsup:

 

[Aries]

My cougar was the first manual car I've driven. the car salesman basically taught me how to drive a stick during the test drive. Took me a week to totally get use to driving stick without stalling at every other stoplight, two weeks to become decent at it, and a month to drive it without having think about the clutch or the shifter. It became automatic at that point... I remember getting my ass kicked by a stock civic (well.. it had altezzas and snake eyes) because I use to shift too slow.

Although still almost 2 years later, I'm still learning how to drive stick better... how to shift faster, how to heel-toe downshift, what gear I should downshift to when I want to pass someone at different speeds, etc.. It's an ongoing thing, although the other stuff is just accessories to driving. You don't really need to learn how to shift fast, or how to heel-toe in normal daily driving..

You'll definately enjoy the manual over the automatic. The only time you'll hate it is during stop and go traffic.

Just find a friend or an uncle or someone who drives stick, and ask them to take you out to an abandoned parking lot or something. The one thing you'll want to learn is how to get started in 1st. Push the clutch in all the way, throw it into first gear, and get use to moving the car with the clutch. Don't worry about shifting until you get this part down. If the car feels like it's about to die, push the clutch in all the way, and try again.

 

[B3NN3TT]

I taught my wife (then-girlfriend) how to drive a stick in my '80 Chevette. The first time I ever drove a car, after I got my permit, was my dad's 1980 Citation X-11. So it's really second nature to me. My wife loves it, and every car we've ever owned has been a manual trans.

Personally, I'l offer this.

Manual trans. are safer in icy weather, since a simple press of the clutch gets traction MUCH EASIER AND FASTER than throwing an automatic trans. into neutral.

Much less chance of failure or problems in the manual trans.

You can push-start a manual car if your battery dies.

 

[Brandon]

Get a manual. I have one of each right now, and the MTX is way more fun to drive then my ATX. If you live in the city I would go for an ATX though since it kind of sucks to drive in the city or in traffic. I taught myself to drive a MTX in about 15 minutes and was completely comfortable with it in a couple days.

 

[SportinStyle]

Well I live in the Suburbs of Cincinnati.. there are never long lines at stops or lights but it is semi crowded. So would a manual be cool here?

 

[B3NN3TT]

Cincinnati has a lot of hills...

Most people want to shoot themselves in the face after trying to learn to start off on an incline with a manual.

It's the hardest thing to learn - but once you have that down, you can do anything.

 

[ZEXCougar]

Especially when you are on a hill at a stoplight and there is a car behind you... You are like "Should I get out and tell him to back up about 20 feet just in case I start to roll?" :rofl:

 

[billet350]

Originally posted by: ZEXCougar
Especially when you are on a hill at a stoplight and there is a car behind you... You are like "Should I get out and tell him to back up about 20 feet just in case I start to roll?" :rofl:

lol,,, when i first drove a mtx i was scared because of sh** like that. I have an atx, its not bad, but it cost more from a perforamce tranny then fixing up a mtx... i have drove a few mtx cougars, the fastest mtx cougar i can recall driving is GMK, at fest.. he ran back then a 155 fwhp, and 150 something in torque. so it wasnt bad at all.. but the fastest mtx cars i have driven are a NSX, SL500, boxster s and....my atx cougar... not. My friend owns a car dealership so i drive alot of his cars. Go Mtx, its so much more fun,, i try to drive my atx like a mtx.. pretty bad

 

[mercurycougar]

I got my cougar, ATX then I drove my dad's Mini Cooper S. STICK IS THE AWESOMENESS! If you want a big feeling of power, mtx is the way to go. Just wish I had one!

 

[Keliente]

I think you'll regret it if you go automatic. The only reason I could really see wanting an automatic is if you don't really care about driving fast and having more control, if you constantly drive in heavy traffic, or if you're really old :goofy:

Learning is not hard at all. I learned on a 300hp/tq camaro ss with a spec 2 clutch (aka incredibly easy to stall out) and I made a few mistakes at first, but once you learn it's something you only get better at. If I didn't know how to drive stick I'd be screwed at work, and once you a learn 5-on-the-floor (if you will) you can also learn how to drive a column-shifted manual.

 

[SportinStyle]

Ive been driving my buds car lately, a 90-something Geo Metro. It is "THE SUCK". I have been doing pretty good except for the fact I stalled at a stop sign on a hill and started rolling into traffic. I was so horrified that I was gonna f-up my friends car I didn't pull the E brake. Lucky I was that my friend was there to do it hehe. Yea.. I hate driving cars that arn't mine.

After about 2-3 hours total of driving the MTX Geo I am pretty sure I want one. This one is fun and it's a crap car. I can just imagine a MTX cougar.

 

[BigDaddyTiberius]

Manuals are definately more fun to drive. I can only imagine how much faster my old muscle cars would have been with a stick. It's probably for the best though. I'd have probably just shredded my tires faster with one.
If you're just learning to drive I'd say an automatic would be better from the standpoint of one less thing to have to think about. But in the long run you'll kick yourself if you don't get a stick.