Help me understand the manual preference

I think the last time I had a dead battery in a car or truck was about 25 years ago. Sure wouldn't base a car buying decision on it.

Having said that, I have had manuals and autos and enjoyed both. Now that I do more commuting, the auto makes sense for me...if I still lived in the bush in Canada, it might have been the stick.

 

Yea. I've only done that twice in my life. I wouldn't buy an MT based on that either. I just bought one because I like them.

 

Do u shoot n drive often?

 

For what it's worth, I didn't prefer a manual, I ended up with a manual. One thing that chaps my ass is that the auto regular cab has bucket seats and mine has a bench.

I pretty much only like my manual because it makes me feel like I'm driving a truck. But you can bet if someone walked up with the exact same truck in auto and wanted to trade I'd hand the keys RIGHT over.

 

Because the rotor coils need to be excited by DC current to begin generating electricity. Before alternators, cars used to have generators that did not require this, they were self excited, but that is not true of modern car alternators.

 

Yeah I do it just for fun sometimes on backwoods roads with my pistol

 

Id be adraid of breaking something haha. I'm so bad at driving auto. I'll let off th gas right as it's shifting, forget to put in park and can't get the key out , etc

 

I don't see how that would be an improvement. I would have assumed they used permanent magnets that don't require excitation, or used self excitation.

 

I'm not sure why it's done this way either, never really thought about it though.

 

I have both, drive both, like both. As much as I like driving a standard transmission truck, an auto is as good, or better in the majority of situations. Being comfortable with one or the other is a whole different issue, but ultimately that is the most important aspect.

 

Its all good therapy.

 

It's not. For off road obstacles, the auto has three advantages:

1. torque converter mechanical advantage
2. impossible to kill the motor when creeping
3. two-foot braking (one on the gas, one on the brake) to control speed over a creep obstacle.

That said, I bought a manual cause it's mechanically simpler, was $1000 less expensive back when my 2011 reg cab was new, and it's "old school." I learned to drive stick decades ago and I like keeping my hand in even though it's an obsolete skill. Much like lighting a campfire without pouring a half gallon of gasoline on it first.

These come up every now and again, and the right answer is always: "Drive what you want! If you're not sure, then get the automatic."

 

Sounds like a good reason to get a manual. Your daughter can learn how to drive, borrow and trash your wife's vehicle while yours stays clean.

 

So apparently self exciting alternators exist, with a special voltage regulator. But this setup is less reliable. In terms of the improvement between old school car generators and modern alternators, the old generators were much larger and did not produce enough electricity at idle to keep the battery charged. Not a big deal in the 50s (what traffic?) but more and more cars on the road along with more electronics, thus Chrysler put the first alternator in a car in 1960 or so.

 

Hahah. I just googled it too. So I guess if one removes the battery, one could not push start a modern vehicle.

 

Hold up.

You've never heard of push starting a car? Its a very common thing actually.

 

Yea. We just had a discussion about it. Your alternator does need a small amount of current to excite the rotor, which it gets from the battery. So if your battery is 100% dead, it's a no go. I'm guessing it doesn't require much juice though.

 

Hold up.

You've never heard of reading the post that you quote? LOL

 

My manual has buckets. They're out there.

 

What would life be without google?