Driving a manual tranny helps your brain!

[Pilgrim]

Japanese researchers say the physical sequence of driving a manual transmission is particularly stimulating for the region of the brain that handles memory, attention, and decision-making. I own two cars with manual transmissions - a 2008 BMW E90 (328xi) Sportwagon and a 1983 280ZX Turbo.

Does Driving a Manual Transmission Keep Your Brain Healthy? Japanese Researchers Say Yes

Neuroscientists believe that rowing your own gears helps work out the brain's prefrontal cortex.

www.roadandtrack.com

 

[ponchonlefty]

Japanese researchers say the physical sequence of driving a manual transmission is particularly stimulating for the region of the brain that handles memory, attention, and decision-making. I own two cars with manual transmissions - a 2008 BMW E90 (328xi) Sportwagon and a 1983 280ZX Turbo.

Does Driving a Manual Transmission Keep Your Brain Healthy? Japanese Researchers Say Yes

Neuroscientists believe that rowing your own gears helps work out the brain's prefrontal cortex.

www.roadandtrack.com

it does help with timing skills. listening for when to shift and the dance of foot
and hand coordination. my first bike i clocked them gears like a racer.

my aunt had a small datsun she let me shift gears while she drove.
i was 8 i think. already had the shift pattern memorized long before
driving age.
every car should be manual and no power brake or steer.
lets see how that phone deal goes then.

traffic though an auto is nice.

 

[knuckledust3r]

Yep, I can see that. Got into a pretty gnarly crash one of the first times I drove a stick shift car; I didn't clock that the intersection I was at was *not* a 4-way stop, so I got so focused on letting the clutch out and finding that friction point and everything that I just pulled out into traffic. My brain was going "AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH" just like it does whenever I have a true ADHD moment.

I should note that I've never been actually trained on driving a stick. The class before mine was the last class that manual transmission was offered in drivers' ed. I was taught to drive a quad at my uncle's cabin and got pretty good at that before (poorly) attempting to transfer those skills to a car. Suffice to say, the experience of driving an ATV is substantially different than driving a Hyundai.

 

[ponchonlefty]

Yep, I can see that. Got into a pretty gnarly crash one of the first times I drove a stick shift car; I didn't clock that the intersection I was at was *not* a 4-way stop, so I got so focused on letting the clutch out and finding that friction point and everything that I just pulled out into traffic. My brain was going "AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH" just like it does whenever I have a true ADHD moment.

I should note that I've never been actually trained on driving a stick. The class before mine was the last class that manual transmission was offered in drivers' ed. I was taught to drive a quad at my uncle's cabin and got pretty good at that before (poorly) attempting to transfer those skills to a car. Suffice to say, the experience of driving an ATV is substantially different than driving a Hyundai.

a day in the country is all you need.

 

[Pilgrim]

For reasons I don't recall, my dad bought a 1940 Chevy sedan when I was 14 in 1964. I think he paid less than 50 bucks for it. The car had rust problems but the interior was OK and it had cool running boards and rear suicide doors. I and my buddies used to to drive it around the 4 acres we lived on. I suppose my dad showed me how to shift it - once - and the rest was up to me. I don't recall having difficulty with it, but that was 62 years ago.

The study makes some sense to me. To drive a manual transmission you need to pay attention to a tach or your ears, you need a certain set of motor skills, and you always need to be aware of what gear you're in, the speed traffic is moving, and the next gear change you will need to make based on engine speed and vehicle speed. You have to be a lot more involved with the task of driving than you do with an automatic.

The only time I prefer an automatic to a stick is when I'm in a stop-and-go traffic jam. Otherwise I vastly prefer the stick. Any time I'm driving through town, an automatic transmission is almost never in the gear I want, especially when I need to go around a corner. I don't think most people ever think about using the gears in their automatic transmission car.

I do love the fact that we have a couple of cars with shift paddles (a BMW 328 and a Jeep Grand Cherokee with the 5.7L V8). We just finished a 5-day trip to Mesa Verde and the SW corner of Colorado around Durango and Silverton, and on 6 and 7 percent descents I used the BMW's shift paddles constantly. I see many people wearing out their brakes on downhills while I just coast along in an appropriate gear, using engine braking to reduce the amount of braking required.

 

[mktrat]

For reasons I don't recall, my dad bought a 1940 Chevy sedan when I was 14 in 1964. I think he paid less than 50 bucks for it. The car had rust problems but the interior was OK and it had cool running boards and rear suicide doors. I and my buddies used to to drive it around the 4 acres we lived on. I suppose my dad showed me how to shift it - once - and the rest was up to me. I don't recall having difficulty with it, but that was 62 years ago.

The study makes some sense to me. To drive a manual transmission you need to pay attention to a tach or your ears, you need a certain set of motor skills, and you always need to be aware of what gear you're in, the speed traffic is moving, and the next gear change you will need to make based on engine speed and vehicle speed. You have to be a lot more involved with the task of driving than you do with an automatic.

The only time I prefer an automatic to a stick is when I'm in a stop-and-go traffic jam. Otherwise I vastly prefer the stick. Any time I'm driving through town, an automatic transmission is almost never in the gear I want, especially when I need to go around a corner. I don't think most people ever think about using the gears in their automatic transmission car.

I do love the fact that we have a couple of cars with shift paddles (a BMW 328 and a Jeep Grand Cherokee with the 5.7L V8). We just finished a 5-day trip to Mesa Verde and the SW corner of Colorado around Durango and Silverton, and on 6 and 7 percent descents I used the BMW's shift paddles constantly. I see many people wearing out their brakes on downhills while I just coast along in an appropriate gear, using engine braking to reduce the amount of braking required.

I have all automatics currently, but i do use the auto-stick features consistently. I also completely agree with appropriate gear selection for grade. Went through Pennsylvania and was able to utilize my brakes very little. A little extra attention and life was good.

 

[knuckledust3r]

Another anecdote:
When I was a valet, we had to sign an affidavit saying that we absolutely, 100% could drive any stick shift they put us in...otherwise, we were liable to be written up if we were even seen in a stick shift car. I learned this when our driveway was backed up and I was moving a manual Honda Civic or something.

We had a guy who drove a manual Jeep in every day, had his CDL, and had been a truck driver in the Marines. He was attempting to drive a beat-up Subaru with a fried clutch up the ramp and stalled it out a few times in front of a supervisor. He had his manual privileges revoked on the spot. The supervisor struggled even harder with the car, and by the time he had gotten it back to the customer, he said that we couldn't park his car until he gets the transmission fixed.

 

[4strings]

I have all automatics currently, but i do use the auto-stick features consistently. I also completely agree with appropriate gear selection for grade. Went through Pennsylvania and was able to utilize my brakes very little. A little extra attention and life was good.

I still have one of each. The short shifter in the manual car is sublime. The other car has the flappy paddles, which is fine, but not as satisfying as the stick shift. They're definitely getting harder to find these days.

 

[ponchonlefty]

Another anecdote:
When I was a valet, we had to sign an affidavit saying that we absolutely, 100% could drive any stick shift they put us in...otherwise, we were liable to be written up if we were even seen in a stick shift car. I learned this when our driveway was backed up and I was moving a manual Honda Civic or something.

We had a guy who drove a manual Jeep in every day, had his CDL, and had been a truck driver in the Marines. He was attempting to drive a beat-up Subaru with a fried clutch up the ramp and stalled it out a few times in front of a supervisor. He had his manual privileges revoked on the spot. The supervisor struggled even harder with the car, and by the time he had gotten it back to the customer, he said that we couldn't park his car until he gets the transmission fixed.

my problem is i can press all three pedals with one foot.
the older cars have a little more room.

 

[Andyman]

my problem is i can press all three pedals with one foot.
the older cars have a little more room.

You need one of those mini coopers, & drive with your head out the sun roof.

 

[ponchonlefty]

You need one of those mini coopers, & drive with your head out the sun roof.

i know right.

 

[Pilgrim]

I sold cars for a couple of years while working on my master's degree. During that time, a gent traded for a pickup and I rode with him out in the country to his property to get his trade-in and drive it back to the dealership.

That trade was an early 1970s Chevy 1 ton dually long box pickup which had been modified with a semi's Hitachi diesel engine and a Brownie two speed range transmission. It shifted like a semi - no clutch except from a dead stop; otherwise, match revs and shift without clutch. And the power range was that of a semi - very narrow rev range. He told me the shift pattern and rev range, and that was about it. Turned out he showed prize horses and cattle, and the pickup was set up for his hired man (an ex-semi driver) to pull a 6 or 8 place trailer to horse shows. Evidently that one guy was the only one who could drive it well and get power out of it.

I hopped in it, he checked on me quickly, and I got it going OK - with one additional surprise: the power steering was out! I can tell you it was one HELL of an arm-buster to wind the wheel all the way around a central island in his driveway, then manage the highway and corners all the way to the dealership. I still remember that more than 40 years later. That thing was a grizly bear to drive.

 

[ponchonlefty]

I sold cars for a couple of years while working on my master's degree. During that time, a gent traded for a pickup and I rode with him out in the country to his property to get his trade-in and drive it back to the dealership.

That trade was an early 1970s Chevy 1 ton dually long box pickup which had been modified with a Hitachi diesel engine and a Brownie two speed range transmission. It shifted like a semi - no clutch except from a dead stop; otherwise, match revs and shift without clutch. And the power range was that of a semi - very narrow rev range. He told me the shift pattern and rev range, and that was about it. Turned out he shows prize horses and cattle, and the pickup was set up for his hired man (an ex-semi driver) to pull a 6 or 8 place trailer to horse shows. Evidently that one guy was the only one who could drive it well and get power out of it.

I hopped in it, he checked on my quickly, and I got it going OK - with one additional surprise: the power steering was out! I can tell you it was one HELL of an arm-buster to wind the wheel all the way around a central island in his driveway, then manage the highway and corners all the way to the dealership. I still remember that more than 40 years later. That thing was a grizly bear to drive.

heck of a truck sounds like.

 

[Pilgrim]

heck of a truck sounds like.

It was a big beast, and it took two men and a boy to turn the damn steering wheel with no PS. I'll bet the guy who traded it laughed about my job of getting it back to the dealership.

 

[ponchonlefty]

It was a big beast, and it took two men and a boy to turn the damn steering wheel with no PS. I'll bet the guy who traded it laughed about my job of getting it back to the dealership.

my uncle had a dodge like that. the king pins were either frozen
or galled from no grease i guess. it took me and my cousin to
turn the wheel. old straight axle 60s truck. built tough though.

 

[armyadarkness]

I just got this baby...


And of course, I already had this one...

 

[ponchonlefty]

I just got this baby...
View attachment 25609

And of course, I already had this one...
View attachment 25610

cool vette. what yr did you get?

 

[Pilgrim]

I just got this baby...
View attachment 25609

And of course, I already had this one...
View attachment 25610

You evidently place a high priority on having a fire extinguisher handy!

 

[4strings]

cool vette. what yr did you get?

Looks like a C5?

 

[ponchonlefty]

Looks like a C5?

yeah hes got pics on the gto site. nice car.