I love my automatic transmission and cruise control, but I do think that I may have been a better driver when I drove stick. By necessity, I had to pay closer attention to the road than I have to today.
It helps you become more innately aware of your speed. Gear (which you know either by remembering which one you last shifted to or by touching your shifter) and rpm (which you know by ear and responsiveness) are enough (once you become familiar enough with the vehicle) to have a good idea of how fast you’re going without even glancing at the speedometer.
Also engine braking gives more control over speed and I’m used to doing it, so can add the action to emergency situations without having to think about it so much.
Though the comparison is different when the paddle shifters are involved. I still prefer stick shift over that semi-auto style, but see that as more of a personal preference than technically superior. If anything, semi-auto is probably the superior one.
Though I’d also add the caveat of the technical differences between all three not being significant overall in practical terms. The biggest difference is probably just that driving MT takes additional skill that not everyone has or is comfortable learning/using. Which is nice as an anti theft feature but can be annoying if you want to trade off driving but the other drivers can’t drive your vehicle.
I love my automatic transmission and cruise control, but I do think that I may have been a better driver when I drove stick. By necessity, I had to pay closer attention to the road than I have to today.
Just by realizing that you probably pay more attention than 90% of those goblins on the road.
It helps you become more innately aware of your speed. Gear (which you know either by remembering which one you last shifted to or by touching your shifter) and rpm (which you know by ear and responsiveness) are enough (once you become familiar enough with the vehicle) to have a good idea of how fast you’re going without even glancing at the speedometer.
Also engine braking gives more control over speed and I’m used to doing it, so can add the action to emergency situations without having to think about it so much.
Though the comparison is different when the paddle shifters are involved. I still prefer stick shift over that semi-auto style, but see that as more of a personal preference than technically superior. If anything, semi-auto is probably the superior one.
Though I’d also add the caveat of the technical differences between all three not being significant overall in practical terms. The biggest difference is probably just that driving MT takes additional skill that not everyone has or is comfortable learning/using. Which is nice as an anti theft feature but can be annoying if you want to trade off driving but the other drivers can’t drive your vehicle.