Originally Posted By: coasty
My dad had an Opel cadet, 4 cylinder with a 4 speed tranny, back in the 1960's when I was learning, and being in the mountains, you had to learn clutching on hills right off, and holding on hills without the brake was handy. It took a bit of practice to move from left foot on the clutch, right on the brake, to right on the gas, while letting out the clutch just to the point of engagement, so you don't roll back.


That's another difference between European and American cars. What's with the American-style parking brake? All the cars I've driven here have a great big lever between the gearstick and the driver's seat which, when pulled upwards, applies the brakes in a very definite way. Hill starts are straightforward because you're controlling your brakes with your left hand (in a right-hand-drive car), the clutch with your left foot, and the throttle with the right foot. Elaborate dance moves unnecessary! But it seems American-style cars use some crazy handle that you pull out of the dashboard that doesn't have much effect on whatever the wheels are deciding to do...

Daftest parking brake was in the Mercedes Vito. Right-hand-drive. The parking brake was applied with a pedal left of the clutch, and released with a handle on the dashboard right of the steering wheel. So you can't apply the parking brake while pressing the clutch. So you must put the car into neutral before you can put the parking brake on. This is very dangerous when stopping in traffic because if the car behind hits you while the car's in neutral and with only the footbrake on, the driver will recoil backwards and release the footbrake and your car then cannons into the car in front. Which is your liability.

Then again, the pneumatic parking brakes on the buses I drove for three years, which could take several seconds to release if they weren't correctly maintained (and they never were), made traffic lights with a short green period quite frustrating to pass...

Originally Posted By: NH2112
Maybe in the old days of non-locking converters and no overdrive, but a modern electronically-controlled automatic with a similar overdrive ratio will get fuel mileage so close to that of a manual that for all intents & purposes they're equal. Moreover, driving style will have a much bigger effect on mileage with a manual than with an automatic. If you drive by the shift light you'll get the best mileage (obviously, don't shift into 5th at 30mph while climbing a grade even if the light comes on then.)


Another cultural difference - no car I've driven has had a gear-change light!


Dozer