Millennial Auto Theft Deterrent ...

What you need is a Miata. The damn thing makes it fun to drive to the grocery store.

I know about the new autos in performance cars, but downshifting through a tight curve and then kicking it is a religious experience.

 

Always wanted a 914 as a kid, and ended up with a CRX for that same feeling: wanna-be sports car just so I could get the sensation without breaking my checking account or large bones in my body.

Have tested a Corvette and Ford Shelby Mustang GT. They are incredible cars but damn, you've got to have the confidence to have just the right amount of acceleration when you shift or they feel like they're going to snap around. OK when you're by yourself on the highway but not so great when you on I-85 in Atlanta rush hour traffic.

Gwen's VW Beetle had a carburetor issue. If you parked a certain way, the float would drain the reservoir and the car wouldn't start. But if you could get enough gravity, you could kick the clutch and the motor would eventually fire -- just like push starting a midget or sprint car. Not a big deal in Florida, but in California we'd always try to park it on a hillside or find someone who could push us up to a certain speed.

 

I had a Honda with paddle shifters. It was automatic, but it gave me the option of manually shifting without a clutch or without physically shifting gears with the stick.

I drove a manual for years, and the pain in the ass that is replacing the clutch every 70K miles or so broke me from that. Automatic all the way now.

 

That's the good thing about the Miata. It feels fast when you're driving moderately, and it can get fast if you want it to. Not big block Detroit iron off the line fast, but it's a momentum car. It takes turns like a slot car, and will eat up a lot of fast cars if you're in the twisties.

Or if you've got Shelby Mustang money, you can talk to Flyin' Miata. They have a well balanced Miata with a LSx motor and upgraded running gear. Essentially, it's the original Shelby Cobra formula, light car, good handling, add V8 muscle. The bonus is that it looks like a girly-man Miata until you put your foot in it, and then that local in his Mustang GT gets his ass handed to him. Ultimate Q-ship. They also make aftermarket turbo kits that will heat up a stock Miata very nicely.

https://www.flyinmiata.com/V8/index.php

 

How the hell did you drive, that you had to replace a clutch every 70K miles?!?

 

My mom has a BMW Z4. The first time I drove it, I put it in manual mode and thrashed it around some curves, and it was kinda fun. On the way home, I switched it back to automatic and realized that I was pretty arrogant for thinking I knew when to shift better than this car does. Ultimate Driving Machine, indeed.

I do miss my Mazda3 and its stick shift, though. I’ll have another manual-transmission car before I die.

 

I was going to ask people about the mixed manual/automatic transmissions. I am driving a car with the option to change gears manually without a clutch, but the car prevents the driver from making mistakes with speed/rpms.

Do people who like to drive manual like this type of transmission?

 

They have become very common in performance cars. Porsches, BMWs and the like often have them. I can't speak to how many people who have them manually paddle shift as opposed to simply putting it in drive.

The technology has gotten very good - the trans disengages the clutch, rev matches the engine, and then releases the clutch, all in a split second. Generally on the high end cars it is a couple of tenths of a second faster in 0-60 using the automatic. I simply find something viscerally pleasing about the level of control and concentration required to use a manual shifter on a challenging road. Yes, a manual is a pain in the ass on a stop and go interstate commute, and it can be a pain at a stop sign at the top of a hill when some jackass pulls right up on your bumper at the stop. Personally, I find it well worth the trade off.

 

Miata Nirvana. It's exhausting to drive, but boy is it fun - if you're the driver. If you are a passenger, you likely white knuckle anything you can hold on to. There are places on the Dragon where 35 mph is *fast*.

This is up on the NC/Tenn. border near Fontana Dam. The motorcycle guys love it too.

 

Fontana Dam was a film location for the remake of The Fugitive.

 

That's a gorgeous area. Just driving in on the Cherohala Skyway (at speed) is a blast. Beautiful country.