I'm narrowing in on a car and I'm pretty interested in the Subaru Impreza WRX hatchback. Unfortunately, they're almost all stick shifts and the car itself is rare enough, so I'm not hunting all over the country for an automatic. The problem is that I never learned how to drive stick, so I've never experienced it except when driving with others.

My parents both drove stick in hilly Iowa and are avowed against it, saying the hassle of hills, weather, and traffic make it more of an inconvenience than the benefits. I'm also not swayed by the appeal of 'more control'; you can engine brake and control gear shifts in an automatic without using an extra hand and foot, and CVT gets as good or better mileage than manual, not to mention that the WRX gets significantly less mileage than something like the Impreza, due to the power of the WRX.

Convince me to buy a manual (or not).

ur mum was working my stick shift last night. she was using extra hand but not foot.

ur mum was working my stick shift last night. she was using extra hand but not foot.

All 2 centimeters of it?

You don't seem to really want a manual... Like at all.

I don't see any benefits over CVT, but I like the WRXs power and styling, so I'm looking for excuses to get it over the automatic Impreza Sport, which is underpowered and has a cheaper interior but is more economical and gets much better mileage.

Quote from: OysteinAarseth on January 22, 2015, 01:23:33 PM

ur mum was working my stick shift last night. she was using extra hand but not foot.

All 2 centimeters of it?

guess why she needed the extra hand.

It takes a little bit to learn but once you get the hang of it, it's like second nature.

Not as hard as people make it seem.

I don't get the benefits of using manual, someone told me you can go faster in a car with manual transmission, but for the average person, that doesn't really seem like it matters considering how fast cars can go.

I don't get the benefits of using manual, someone told me you can go faster in a car with manual transmission, but for the average person, that doesn't really seem like it matters considering how fast cars can go.

with enough practice on a manual, it's more efficient on gas if you're quick on your gear shifts.