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So LPF, What do you drive?

Just bought my first car!
I got myself a used 2009 Pontiac G6. Only has 62,000 Km on it, less than my mothers 2012 Kia.

Its shiny :)

6DGRiDfl.jpg



Specifications: (for those that care)
2.4 L 4 cyl
165 HP
Front wheel drive
Automatic transmission (might be a 4 or 6 speed, they made both and I haven't taken the time to figure it out)


(Car shopping sucks though. Found so many cars that seemed like good deals, but then they had stupid manual transmissions. I'm at a loss for why they still make manual...)
 





Blarg King said:
stupid manual transmissions. I'm at a loss for why they still make manual...)
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Lets not start a flame war here but I'll just share my opinion.

Manual transmission is not stupid. Its much more fun to drive a stick shift. You can be in much more control of the car rather than a computer doing it for you. There is much more you can do. A real driver should be able a stick, IMO.
 
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All the reasons you've listed seem well outside the boundaries of necessity. How often does one need to drift a car? None really. Nor does one regularly race a car (especially the average car). I will agree it might be useful for an actual racing vehicle. Also with fuel economy, I doubt theres even 5 mpg difference in any car made since 2005.

I don't see it as "more control" as much as I see it as an inconvenience and another annoying thing I have to monitor while driving. Personally when I want to make the car move I don't want to do some balancing act between the clutch and the throttle just to get it going. I rather enjoy just pressing 1 pedal and having it go.

I will admit though, I'm not the biggest fan of cars, and I just care about getting from A to B on as little fuel as possible, so I'm probably not the person to ask.
 
I prefer manual, but own an automatic right now. I admit there are times it's nice to not have to shift, other times my stupid transmission will run the engine at a higher rmp than is currently needed, I have to gas it a little to get it to realize, "oh yeah, I'm going fast enough to upshift now" standard with cruise control are nice, my old one didn't have it, making interstate travel uncomfortable

I can say I would not want to drive a standard on some of san fran's roads. there's like 4 way stops with 45 degree angles and s***
 
I like being in control. My wife's car shifts way too soon and my truck will hold high rpm when it should drop down because I'm already at speed. Autos kind of have to guess where as with a standard I control it. I like to dive my vehicles not have them drive me. Though with towing an auto is so much easier. Henrythe auto Iin my truck.
 
I also prefer stick shift. But it's all about personal preference. Some people like it this way, others like it that way. No need to argue about it. What works for me won't necessarily work for you ;)

@ryansoh
The rear fog lamp build page is here:
1200 lumen Rear Foglight
 
Blarg King said:
All the reasons you've listed seem well outside the boundaries of necessity. How often does one need to drift a car? None really. Nor does one regularly race a car (especially the average car). I will agree it might be useful for an actual racing vehicle. Also with fuel economy, I doubt theres even 5 mpg difference in any car made since 2005.

I don't see it as "more control" as much as I see it as an inconvenience and another annoying thing I have to monitor while driving. Personally when I want to make the car move I don't want to do some balancing act between the clutch and the throttle just to get it going. I rather enjoy just pressing 1 pedal and having it go.

I will admit though, I'm not the biggest fan of cars, and I just care about getting from A to B on as little fuel as possible, so I'm probably not the person to ask.
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You are correct, if you view a car as an appliance - having more control over it is not relevant to you, as you could not tell the difference, or want to...

...for you, it does want you want it to...and, the idea of it doing more is not relevant, as, your world doesn't include thoughts that you wanted/needed more.

Its like laser pointers. Some use a Staples off the shelf laser pointer, and, its fine, and paying for a custom pointer seems silly, as they are not aware of why that might be better....its not in their world to even consider it.


So, you don't get why an automatic is something anyone would want - and others don't get why you'd need a higher performance laser pointer, etc.

:D
 
Oh I've driven a manual before. My dad had a manual shift car, and I tried to learn it, but even after 3 months of trying it would still take me 15 attempts to even get it moving. Just not my idea of enjoyable. I don't really drive for the experience, and I would probably take a bus rather than own a car, but unfortunately there isn't a bus between the town I live in and the city where I go to college.

I like my econo box. I would choose a Prius over a corvette any day.

(Can't rent a car, you need to be 25 here for insurance purposes)
 
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Blarg King said:
but even after 3 months of trying it would still take me 15 attempts to even get it moving.
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Christ. Was the clutch buggered or are you unfortunate enough to just not have the dexterity in your limbs to control it? I drove a car not too long ago that had a very snappy clutch, there was no middle ground it was either on or off, not that easy to get going. We replaced the clutch and when we took the old one off it was actually slightly bent. It's a wonder it didn't ruin the flywheel. Sadly I crashed that car not long after...

For me it took a few months of driving to be able to competently and comfortably control a manual beyond basic start stop situations. It didn't help that I learned to drive in a diesel and then went to petrol - you go from having all the torque to virtually zero torque, so I stalled a lot. I have mastered the manual now and although I wouldn't say no to an automatic, it can still be very enjoyable driving a manual for me. On the flip side, I like the noise autos make when you hammer it, and the fact that when you want to pull away you just stamp on the pedal. It's honestly pretty 50/50 for me.

An automatic shouldn't waste that much more fuel than a manual as the computer is doing all the work, also the way a lot of people drive manual cars is not the best for efficiency.
 
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I drove stick for so long that it doesn't really even make a difference anymore. I really miss my 1990 Civic. It was the best car I ever owned. Too bad it was rotting away.

1990%20Civc.jpg
 
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