Going to England in October

[Ronson]

From 2021: U.K. Motorists Shift Gears to Automatic Vehicles noting that for the first time more new cars sold that year had an automatic transmission than a manual one.

Another article from 2022 says that "70 per cent of the 31.7 million cars on UK’s roads" have manual transmission.

Reader's Digest says that most of Europe drive manual transmissions with the primary reason being fuel efficiency.

This was weird (from the first link):

the Home James School of Motoring in Barton on Sea is also seeing a huge increase in students wanting automatic lessons. Owner Rob James has 22 full-time, independent instructors who work for him on a franchise basis, but only one uses an automatic. Accordingly, that person, a woman, regularly has 25 students on her waiting list. "We're adding two more automatic instructors later this summer," James explains. "That should alleviate things a bit."

Lessons to drive an automatic when one already drives manual?

[Ronson]

A car salesman once said to me that automatics were worth more than manuals. I said, "not when I'm the buyer." Automatics are fine around the cities and on highways, but they're less attractive on roads that aren't well maintained - too easy to get bogged, and a lot more difficult to extract when they are bogged. Also the side issue of - it is relatively easy to start a manual when it has a flat battery.

I drive a CVT now, and anything less seems barbaric. I sometimes have passengers that think my transmission is about to explode.

[Sparko]

This was weird (from the first link):

the Home James School of Motoring in Barton on Sea is also seeing a huge increase in students wanting automatic lessons. Owner Rob James has 22 full-time, independent instructors who work for him on a franchise basis, but only one uses an automatic. Accordingly, that person, a woman, regularly has 25 students on her waiting list. "We're adding two more automatic instructors later this summer," James explains. "That should alleviate things a bit."

Lessons to drive an automatic when one already drives manual?

Apparently in the UK they have two different driver's licenses. You can take your test in a manual and that let's you legally drive manual or automatic cars. Or you can take your test in an automatic which only allows you to drive automatics and not manual transmission cars.

I would think that would mean more people would want to test in manuals.

One good thing about manual transmission cars. The AI's won't be able to drive them and take over the world.

[Sparko]

Also I would think that while a manual transmission is more efficient in the transfer of power from the engine to the drive train, by a small percentage, due to the mechanical gear linkage, overall the manual will end up having a slightly less gas mileage than an auto due to losses during shifting constantly in an urban environment. Every time you hold down the clutch, you engine is wasting power for example. Not to mention driver error - shifting too early or too late,etc.

I have seen studies going both ways and some saying the difference is negligible. Most recent studies show that automatics are just as fuel efficient as manuals.

Do Manuals Get Better Mileage?
In the past, yes; nowadays, no. With older vehicles, even by just a few years, a stick shift will get better gas mileage because the engine doesn’t have to work as hard as an automatic to shift gears. According to Consumer Reports, as recently as 2015, this difference can be anywhere from two to five more mpg.

However, since then, automatic transmissions gained multiple gears with lower ratios that reduce the stress on the engine and transmission, vastly increasing fuel economy. The CVT has been considerably refined in past couple years as well, making for another non-manual alternative with excellent fuel economy thanks to not having fixed gear ratios.
https://www.toyotaarlington.com/blog...er-gas-mileage

In the past, it was nearly a given that vehicles with manual transmissions had better fuel economy than the same cars with automatic. But as automatic transmissions gain more gears and become more advanced, they are getting comparable, if not higher, fuel mileage.

According to the guys from Car Talk, the major reason why manuals used to get better mileage is “because there's no ‘slop’ in them. You put the car in the gear, take your foot off the clutch, and the car is ‘locked’ in that gear until you remove it. Automatics use a viscous, fluid coupling, which allows the transmission to ‘slip’ when you're stopped at a light, to prevent the engine from stalling. But that same fluid coupling that allows the transmission to slip at low speeds was harming mileage at higher speeds.”

Automatics now have a lock-up torque converter, which allows the transmission to lock into gear at higher speeds and unlock when you slow down, much like a manual transmission.
https://www.cenex.com/about/cenex-in...-transmissions

[One Bad Pig]

I brought one for my hair dryer. I have to poof it up or my bald spot shows.

Bill the Cat
One piece of advice: If you are going to rent a car, be ready to shift your gears on the left (as well as driving on that side of the road). I could not work the left-side manual transmission and had to get an automatic rental, and that was hard to get in Wales. They only kept two at the lot I rented it at - and those were only on hand for Americans, as they told me.

I injured my right hand once and had to drive to the ER while shifting across my body with my left hand. That was a bit awkward.

[rogue06]

I injured my right hand once and had to drive to the ER while shifting across my body with my left hand. That was a bit awkward.

Knew someone with a broken arm in a cast who had to shift like that.

I noticed that his next two cars had automatic transmission.

[One Bad Pig]

Knew someone with a broken arm in a cast who had to shift like that.

I noticed that his next two cars had automatic transmission.

I'm probably going to be forced into an automatic sooner or later. They don't sell many cars with manual transmissions any more. I'm driving a '17 Mazda6 now.

[Sparko]

I'm probably going to be forced into an automatic sooner or later. They don't sell many cars with manual transmissions any more. I'm driving a '17 Mazda6 now.

My only manual was a 1980-something Dodge Charger (yes, the ugly hatchback model). I had to get it after the last car had gone kaput and I didn't have much money. The salesman actually taught me how to drive it on the lot before I bought it

Last time I drove a stick was over in Germany when I was visiting my sister a few years ago. My brother and brother-in-law were both too blotto to drive so I drove my BIL's car home for them.

[Bill the Cat]

My very first car was a Mercury Lynx with a 4 speed manual transmission. Since then, I've driven delivery vans with 3 speed column shifters, work vans with steering wheel paddle shifters, and of course my FIL's 1967 and 1969 Chevy Camaro SS Pace Cars with the Muncie shifters....

[Sparko]

My very first car was a Mercury Lynx with a 4 speed manual transmission. Since then, I've driven delivery vans with 3 speed column shifters, work vans with steering wheel paddle shifters, and of course my FIL's 1967 and 1969 Chevy Camaro SS Pace Cars with the Muncie shifters....

I used to drive a big flatbed truck with 12 speed transmission. Just between two buildings though, not on the road. Never really had to get past the first set of gears (6 speed split)