And that is why we need AI assist in cars. With that said, where I'm from (Europe) most people drive "stick". That is, until recently. Now most new drivers are learning on auto or AI assisted vehicles. Is it better or worse? It'll definitively lead to fewer accidents. But driving stick is kinda cool tho, imho xD And I'm sure it also give you a better intuition about how a gear box actually works.
Technically very true, stick driving will give you a better feeling of what your engine actually can deliver. However this knowledge does very little to improve road safety, so my bet is still on AI support. Not sure of the English terminology but "basic" stuff like lane protection or tiredness detection helped me a few times - and finally taught me a lesson.
> However this knowledge does very little to improve road safety
I think this would depend on the environment. If you live in a dry, relatively flat area and you mostly drive there, you're probably right, marginal difference in road safety.
But if you live in a country that has long winters or lots of mountains, having control over the engine is a integral part of staying safe on the roads.
I live rural, wicked winters. I never buy a stick car because you need two arms and two feet to drive it. So if you get hurt, you are pretty stuck for a while until your arm or leg get better.
Where I'm from most cars are also stick, but I got my license years ago but since then I've only driven twice: once with stick and once automatic, and I have to say, automatic is so much easier to learn that I don't know why we're all still getting licenses or buying manual cars. It must be stubbornness and the slight price difference because in reality automatic is just much more practical.
I think manual gearboxes are more durable. Especially when most autos today are the CVT type which break quite often I heard. Mind you the newer manual gearboxes are usually 8 or 10 speed which is going to be less reliable because all the cogs are smaller thus weaker, and you have to change gear twice as much.
One of my vehicles even has the tranny cooler and the radiator in one unit and is prone to cracking, leading to running radiator fluid through your gearbox, destroying it. The first thing I did was install an external cooler, as the market was big enough for an aftermarket kit for such a part.
Honestly, for me, it's for driving pleasure, and for having the choice. If I’m kicked off the bus at some remote location, and all I get is an old Volvo Amazon veteran car, then I’d like to be able to drive it around. And where I’m from, you can only do that (legally) if you have the right license, which is the license for manual “stick” drive.
Other than that, it’s far less about logic, and more about the feeling of control and mastery that it gives you. True, this feeling is largely more inefficient and more prone to failure than an automatic system, but that feeling, man; that feeling is just so great!
I also live in a wintery country, with many winding roads, hills and mountains with diverse weather and road conditions. The argument was made that it’s better to drive “stick” under these conditions. However, I’m not sure the argument that manual is better for diverse conditions will hold for long, given the current advent of better AI.
I’ve already seen AI drive in very hilly and adverse terrain in the Hollywood Hills, rife with bushes hanging over junctions and pedestrians popping in and out of parked cars, and so on. Naturally, not much ice up there, but that’s a pretty difficult landscape for an AI to master, and the AI already masters it pretty well!
I own multiple cars and only one of them is an automatic, and I dread it to be honest. As in I quite often get thoughts about getting another manual instead of it, and arguably this automatic (BMW) I have is the nicest car I own, but transmission really makes it no justice.
To be fair, it is a bit older, so perhaps modern transmissions are significantly better, but any rentals I've driven were even worse, though they were lower class cars.
