Considering dct for my girl friend

[Dezoris]

exactly, as a woman who learned on a stick (one of my Mom's best moves, bless her heart) it has been one of the most useful skills I've ever had. Not only do I get to have fun driving, but anyone can throw me the keys to anything and I can drive it, yes even in those rare times I have heels on.

In fact there's a story where at the same general time frame I was driving a 3-speed, 4-speed, and 5-speed vehicle and boy was it hard to remember which shift pattern to use.

It's strange to me to be involved with a vehicle that has such a diverse ownership base. I never really thought of owning a manual transmission car as being an esoteric or niche product. But that's exactly how it has become

I don't know if I am more sad or worried that people don't value the driving experience and automobile in America.
But as I have said as long as there is an option to choose between a manual trans and the automatic, it's not worth complaining about.

[Curmudgeon]

As I was reading through this thread, a perfect analogy occurred to me as I read the post above by Dezoris. As an elder military aviator, I could hear the echos of many conversations between pilots who were skilled at manual controls and those who weren't and the sometimes fatal indecisiveness of the later group when confronted with auto-pilot failures.

BTW, both my spouse and I are adept at manual trannys in our 70s. I applaud those above who still savor the experience of 'snicking the gears'.

[eppey]

Try this one our for size. My wife taught me how to drive a stick. Not a word of a lie. Grew up in a family of all autos; never had the chance to drive a MT. Her first car was a 79 Mustang GT and she wouldn't let me not learn. There is no reason that a women can't drive a stick as a generalization. If she tries it out and doesn't like it so be it but the choice of gear box shouldn't be based on ability. I would even take the price difference as a better excuse than ability.

NB: I have the DCT because of my urban commute, not because I wouldn't have preferred the MT.

[miata]

My wife has no desire to learn stick shift. End of my discussion.

[Renesis Rotary]

She's being a brat about me getting the Veloster in general...thinks its ugly....She's going to end up making the final decision real easy for me....lol

[jkt1954]

I drove manual for 34 years and loved it! My father rode with me many years ago and commented that he had never seen anyone change gears so often -- but I never wore out a clutch (my brother went through clutches something awful -- clutch rider, I guess). And then, my leg just didn't want to hold the clutch through a stop light anymore. I have stomped on the floor a few times since driving automatic on the non-existent clutch pedal! LOL And, many women I know drove standard shift, too! So it isn't really about gender, and it may not even be about age. It is simply preference -- and standard, automatic, dct -- they all work! I've used the paddle shifters and they are great fun -- not quite as good as a stick, but it's a great option!

[bxveloster]

I (the female half) wanted the manual, it is what I like as did my daughter. However the male half wants automatics and with a health issue that can make it painful to shift I am happy to have the tech DCT. What keeps him happy makes me happy so pretend with paddle shifter it is.

I can't help it but I saw the title of this thread "Considering dct for my girl friend " the old joke punchline "Nice trade" came into my head. Sorry!

All the best to you two ♥

[sml-2727]

Pittsburgh is full of nothing but hills and stop lights at the top of hills(I live here to), just get the DCT, you still got the RX8. I don't understand these people who drive economy cars and think there sport cars and need a stick shift.

BTW if your looking for a ring, I got one for yeah....i'm happily divorced