Is there anything wrong with loving stick-shifts?

The only thing better than a 5 spd is a 6 spd! My first car was a pickup, Datsun, 5spd manual. Now I got a 6spd Tremic w a 5.7-LS. rpm is 1,400 at 75mph-ish....

If I lived in CO like yourself I'd get a turbo anything w stick for a fun car. Thin air robs power.

Prius is a commuter car, manuals r fun cars. Too many people try to get a fun commuter car

 

As someone who has done at least 300K miles in stick shift cars, I can relate... Something about putting the car in neutral as you accelerate down a hill, as well as downshifting instead of using the brakes is really enjoyable too.

If I were you I'd keep an eye out for a Gen1 Honda Insight... Not only is it a hybrid car with manual transmission, but it's got an aluminum chassis and mostly plastic body parts and weighs 1800 pounds. It may be an underpowered 3 cylinder engine, but it's so light it's fast acceleration makes it hard to notice. Perfect vehicle for converting to all electric one day.

 

^ that ^

Nothing wrong with having a Sunday car. I would quite enjoy a classic aircooled VW for that purpose myself.

So many of the worst things I see on the roads are daily commuters "just trying to liven up" that daily commute.

 

The Prius has àn eCVT. The Motor/Generator 2 directly powers the wheels, a one speed transmission with no clutch. (Want reverse? Spin MG2 the other way)

A second Motor/Generator, MG1, starts the Internal Combustion Engine and generates high voltage electricity. By opposing the ICE, it allows the ICE to assist MG2 in propelling the car. (If MG1 is not opposing the ICE and MG2 is not pushing the wheels, the car is in N)

While every car I owned before the Prius was a manual, (and I still find myself shifting to D at stoplights) it is not obvious what the point of shifting gears in a Prius would be.

 

It's not a matter of economics. It's matter of reducing pollution. The very fact that YOU determine when to shift makes it almost impossible to predict how much pollution you create as you drive. Are you doing 75 MPH in 3rd gear or are you in 5th (overdrive)? **

An automatic, on the other hand, responds pretty much the same way whenever you are in the same situation.

** I once drove almost 100 miles across the Arizona desert in the wrong gear. My car had a dual range transmission that provided 8 forward speeds and 2 in reverse. I put it in low range to climb a mountain and forgot to switch back to high range . In high range 4th gear was essentially overdrive. In low 4th it ate gas but the little 70 HP motor was able to handle significant inclines that way.

 

Anyone familiar with the art of hypermiling will explain a dozen different ways that you can use you manual transmission to boost MPG. And with Prius Pulse & Glide is a great technique, but that's only one technique.

 

And if you live in an area where you can do all that, heck yea. Enjoy it. But when my 7 minutes at 70 MPH commute turned into a 50 to 66 minute slog and I realized I arrived home more relaxed if I borrowed my wife's slush-o-matic wagon, I was converted. I promptly wen out and bought a Porsche with a Tiptronic that you could down-shift and up-shift if you wanted or leave it in automatic. Even on the steering wheel shifting. No third pedal. It is possible to have both options at your choice.

 

Nope. These days, they even provide some degree of ant-theft protection, as a significant portion of thieves don't seem to be able to drive them anymore. And help discourage drivers from using mobile devices while moving.

Except for the college-era gap when my parents sent me off with a used automatic, until being about to buy something on my own, I've been driving manuals continuously since dad put me on a tractor while my age was still a single digit, more than a half century ago. Though the farm's mixed stable had some automatics too.

While I've been driving an eCVT for a dozen years, this household's other two vehicles are still manuals, even my 2014 Forester. In fact, my spouse has never lived in a household with a traditional automatic transmission. A sibling also gets only manuals for himself (not including his other household members), and just barely snagged one of the last in his preferred vehicle class as they were being phased out.

Manuals could have made MPG sense longer if the makers were willing to gear their American-market models for efficiency. As they were still doing elsewhere in the world. But no, they figured Americans still driving them, wanted them for performance, so geared them low, while gearing and programming automatics taller for MPG. Apparently it is much easier to program an automatic transmission to downshift on moderate inclines than it is to retrain drivers to manually downshift in the same conditions. Especially drivers long habituated to staying in top gear on the highway and never downshifting for anything but the very steepest hills. Drivers who then complain about 'dogs' lacking torque.

My old Accord was geared well for MPG, but my first Subaru was not, producing disappointing results until I stumbled upon Wayne Gerdes's site and learned the whys and a lot more hows. With those, and later an updated Subaru, I posted the highest user-reported MPG for my make / model / year / transmission on EPA's fueleconomy.gov website, and beat two-thirds of the automatics of the same vintage.

Nowadays I actually prefer Toyota's eCVT, but hope to keep a working manual for as long as practical.

 

love them on back roads, hate them when stuck in traffic

 

The solution is obvious: quit driving in places where you get stuck in traffic.

 

siberia?

 

Is that where your preferred low-traffic backroads are? Mine are much closer.

 

That's sort of the point. While you are chasing MPG you might be running the car in a way that increases the pollution. I recall my dad (in the 60s) turning off the engine as he coasted to stop signs, even though the engine was cold. Every restart included a cloud of smoke. But that was back in the day when manual chokes were common and no one noticed the smell of gas exhaust because it was commonplace.

 

Prius engine shut off is a favorite feature... So nice to peacefully sit at a red light without the engine running.

 

I agree. But it does it only after the engine and CAT are up to working temperature.

 

But, if you got a Gen3 or newer Prius and have an engine block heater and install a Project Lithium pack your car will sense enough available amps and warm enough temps that engine won't start up to get to working temperature on short trips.

 

But, does that minimize the pollution, or does it just fool the car into using the engine when the CAT's not warmed up?

 

In my neck of the woods the manual transmission is still the default for most people although it is rapidly declining.
I understand that a manual is nice on a back road or on track but for normal day to day driving I don't want to manually shift gears anymore.