Manual Transmissions Were Just 1.4% of 2023 US Sales

Still have my accumulator, haven't felt the need to get rid of it, I really have few complaints, other than the fact that Toyota put a plastic clutch pedal in our trucks, it's been squeak free since the second TSB, but I'm just not a fan of the design of how it interfaces with the clutch master. I'm ready to replace it, have a box full of FJ Cruiser steel clutch pedal and proper clevis and such. Once the weather warms up a bit more I'll get around to it.

 

2023 MT OR here. The truck shifts smoothly and consistently. The clutch bite point is where I expect it to be. Have driven the San Francisco hills and have had to start off on a steep slope often. Never had a problem making a smooth start with no perceivable roll-back or clutch slip. My accumulator remains on.

 

In case anyone is looking!

 

The auto users have a very powerful tool in thier belt.

You can lock that auto down and spank it hard in S mode. I know because that's the only way I made my g3 auto tolerable to drive.

But it's still not a stick. In mountain regions that shifting up and down a pass is intolerable. My wifes 4runner does a tad better with only 5 gears. The taco between 6000 and 12,000 feet sucks ass as an auto not in s mode. With a stick I go between 3 and occasionally 2 to climb, 3 and occasionally 4 to decend. Versus 6 to 3 to 5 to 4 back to 6 woops down too 2 back to 4



Ultimately I owned an automatic for about 1 year out of 47 of my life.

 

Ten days ago I pulled a trailer which was near the load capacity of my Tacoma through some pretty hilly country on a 500+ mile trip, yeah, I had to work the clutch a fair amount, but that is a small price to pay compared to putting up with all of the gear hunting an automatic would have subjected me to.

 

A few years back I strained my left Achilles Tendon, it was excruciating to push the clutch in. The only time I used my left foot on the clutch was to pull out in 1st Gear then I switched to my right foot for the clutch to shift between gears, not exactly the smoothest way to get along but it worked.

 

The only problem I have with towing with the manual is when reversing the trailer. Toyota decided to gear the reverse gear super high that you'll need to slip the clutch relatively a lot.

At least there's the 2LO mod, so you don't have to ride your clutch being in low range, and you don't bind your differential when backing up the trailer turning at a dry surface, unlike when using 4LO.

 

There are legitimate reasons for owning an automatic but none applied this time around and I’m enjoying the activity of shifting as part of the process of going somewhere. It’s relaxing

 

On the weekend , I used the wife’s “new” (2500 km) 4Runner to pull the boat from storage and bring it home.
The auto was very nice……but I do that 4X a year, so still happy 99.5% of the time with my manual.

If I were towing more, I would definitely opt for the automatic, but it would have to be a LOT more.

 

I seem to be good at breaking my legs, three times now over the years. The first time was in 1974, it was my left leg, and given my mom only had a car with an automatic transmission, I was good to go.

My second break was a baddie to my right leg; spiral fracture of the fibula requiring hardware to screw me back together and a badly dislocated (read partially torn off) foot. I was in a cast for four months, so during that time my wife got my 2002 530i Sport 5MT and I got our 1998 Grand Caravan; I'd sling my casted right leg over into the passenger footwell and drive left footed; I got pretty good at that.

My third break was in 2019; I was leading a horse out of the barn on a 15°F day after having kept them indoors for three days due to sub-zero temperatures; the horse, an excitable Arab was so happy he started throwing his head, tripped on some jagged ice, and while he was catching his balance he knocked me over on another section of jagged ice (the ice was formed from slush with lots of hoof prints which froze hard) and broke my left fibula. The owner of the farm saw me fall and decided to abort the plan on getting the horses out and told me to bring the Arab back in; I got up, ouch, walked over to the horse, who was standing at the fence wondering why all of his buddies had been turned around and were heading back to the barn, hooked up a lead rope to his halter, and slowly, painfully, walked him back to the barn. The owner noticed a gash on my left hand which was streaming with blood (I hadn't noticed it) and said, "Are you okay?" I said, "Yeah, I think so, but I think I sprained my left ankle, or possibly broke the leg." He was shocked, took the lead from me and said, "Go get checked out."

I took my barn boots off, and put some shoes on, and drove my 2006 Acura Sport 6MT to the local Urgent Care location; unfortunately Mr. Murphy came along, my trip was just as schools were letting out and I got caught behind several school busses dropping kids off, and managed to hit every traffic light for the 10-mile journey; to say my clutch work with my broken leg wasn't the best is something of an understatement.

 

I wish my Taco was a manual, but sadly none were available on the used market when I bought mine.

Far as I’m concerned, no one should be allowed to get a drivers license with any automatic vehicle. Manual only. I know it is not practical in our automatic (go cart) world, but it would sure thin out the herd nicely on the roads.

Driving an automatic requires no particular skill. Step on the gas and go.

A manual forces you to think about the act of driving. Gives you a feel for the road and your engine, as you discover what each gear does, how the engine reacts, and keeps both hands and your brain more involved in driving. Especially in city driving.

If we all drove a manual, there would be less texting and all that bullshit we see on the roads. Christ, around here half the drivers are busy texting full time. F’g dopes those ones. Driving behind them and watching their head swivel to the side non stop while they struggle to keep in their own lane. I just don’t get it.

What is even more bizarre is when cops announce they will be doing a distracted driver blitz. In mere hours they ticket hundreds of driver who are texting as they drive past the cops who are in full view standing on the side of the road. Then a half block further all the cars pulled over getting tickets. You sure have to be distracted to not notice the first or second set of cops in a 30mph zone.

Some years ago I was in a cafe with my wife. Next table over a guy about 30 years old had his young son with him and was explaining to the elderly woman at the next table how texting and driving is no big deal.

In his own words - “I can safely text and also use my other hand to drink coffee or eat a sandwich and use my knees to steer. I’m just way better at multi tasking than most other people.” He was not joking or being sarcastic. Way to go, good lesson for the kid.

My wife learned to drive on a stick. What a freaking nightmare trying to teach her, but it worked out.

For off roading I definitely preferred a stick. My first 3 4x4s were all manual and all used heavily off road. The Tacoma my first automatic 4x4. Bought it used, and a stick hard to find on the used market.

BTW I am retired, but my last job was 20 years in high tech. Managing a very large software call center, and troubleshooting the most complex computer and network related issues on PCs and mobile devices.

Had some serious accidents and disability while working as a carpenter and a high seas commercial fisherman that forced me to go back to school for 2 years at a technical college.

So yeah, I’ve got a plethora of computers and mobile devices in my home network, but they are just tools. Not enamored by technology. Quite the opposite after working with technology for so long.

Kind of sick of the devices now. I would be perfectly fine if the Internet and mobile devices just died and went away forever. No big deal for me.

Oh yeah, get off my lawn you kids or my network enabled electric fence will deep fry your nuts.

Just kidding, its not network enabled…

 

…It’s on auto