Millennial Auto Theft Deterrent ...

Second the paddle-shifter endorsement; my Alfa Romeo has them and when I drop it into race mode and use the paddle shifters, it's like piloting a fighter jet.

 

Just dawned on me that the very first video I watched on something called YouTube was how to heel-and-toe. Epic.

 

I did the paddle shifting in my buddy’s 911 twin turbo and it was a blast but I still like clutch better (except for traffic). Probably just nostalgia.

 

Family car is a 2013 Forester XT. Automatic.

My car is a 1998 Mustang Cobra. Those only came with a clutch. I can take 45mph curves at 70, downshifting and powering through the apex.

Most cars will drive where you point them, even on tight curves. It’s the driver who gets timid, not the car.

 

I've worked in LA and the traffic for 30 years. I had a 1987 acura integra when I got out of school, and a few years ago, I got a used 2009 miata.
I caught a lot of crap from my friends for the miata. I loved the miata. Sadly, a woman made an illegal left turn in front of me on Pico Blvd, and bye-bye Miata. My guess is she didn't see it.

Its the weirdest thing. i detest traffic as much as the next guy. But the shifting in traffic never bothered me one iota ever.

 

No.

Had to rent a vehicle when a utility truck did more than $2,000 damage to my vehicle. Stuck with a Nissan Altima with the option described above.

Um, no. Garbage. Tolerated the slushbox and couldn't wait to get my vehicle back.

 

Stay off Pico. It's a hell hole.

 

Living in the big, bad city, I haven't had a car in 10 years. But always owned a stick-shift when I did have a car. Just enjoyed driving a manual. Got that from my pops.

 

Haven't had a manual in about seven years (since my son was born), but they are certainly more fun to drive. I'd rather have an automatic for commuting, but it's definitely a more visceral experience hammering it on a straight or accelerating though the apex with a manual. If I buy a third "fun" car in the next few years, it'll be a manual.

When you have kids, though, it helps to have that right hand free sometimes to pick up something they dropped, or hand them a wipe or snack or whatever.

 

I learned to drive on a stick and have had them off and on for years, but it has been a while now. One of the joys for me of renting a car in Europe is that you know the car is going to be a stick. Driving the streets of Rome or some small Tuscan town in anything but a stick would seem wrong.

 

Hell, when I was growing up you didn't get much more than that out of the CAR.

 

Back when a "Five year, 50,000 mile warranty" was the gold standard.