On: Fewer than 3% of cars sold in the U.S. have manual...

[0xAA55]

I recently went to the ends of the earth to get a 2016 manual VW sportwagen in the US -- but it was possible after going to dealerships looking at me like I was insane.

Shifting around in my BMW e36 5 speed will always be one of my greatest pleasures <3 -- nothing gets me up better for work than knowing I can speed around like an asshole on the way :)

People complain about traffic, but I feel the opposite. I mean, in an auto if you see a spot to cut into you are forced to floor it to force the car in a low enough gear -- it feels like the car is suffering vrrrAHHHHHHHHER

[ollie87 → 0xAA55]

I also find it funny that people prefer autos for stop-start traffic. But every single car I've ever owned can be moved using the clutch alone, zero throttle input, so moving in stop start traffic is easy.

[namaemuta → ollie87]

That's only because some manual cars have acceleration on their clutch but many others don't. I've driven some that don't have it and if you don't know how to do it, your engine will stop and you'll have to reignite it (with the annoyance of people honking at you).

It's also an annoyance when the traffic moves at different pace in a traffic jam because you have to stop, switch to first gear, move slowly, if the cars are moving fast enough switch to second gear, if they stop back again to first gear... If you are lucky enough and you are in a slope road, you can go without any gear selected and just use the brakes.

[mywittyname → ollie87]

I also find it more comfortable to hold a clutch than the brake pedal. The ergonomics of brake pedals on cars are awful, they sit really high and they are right in the middle of floor well. Clutch pedals are designed to use your entire leg in a natural motion.