plan to own a impreza 2.5rs wagon, never drove a manual before, but 'd like
to.

Friends who owned a manual car warned me that in daily commutes, your leg
will be extremely painful if got jammed in traffic... that hesitated me to
buy a manual car, is that true???

also, is pre-owned WRX a good option? the price is only around $21,000(CDN)
where new WRX is about 35000.

grape wrote:

Hi,

All I can say about that is I drive a manual in SoCal traffic every day,
and never notice it, but after nearly 40 years, I'm sure I've learned to
ignore a lot. Since different cars have different clutches, and each
person's got a different tolerance level for comfort/pain, only you can
tell for sure. Personally, I find an auto's got more drawbacks than
drawing cards overall, but you'll find opinions cross the entire
spectrum there. I'll stick with my manuals as long as possible...

As for a used WRX, if it IS a manual, I'd expect the clutch (and
possibly the gearbox) to have some wear. It's not the kind of car most
people are likely to drive sedately. I'd suggest you have it checked
carefully before buying if that's your choice.

Good luck,

Rick

In article <cpKdnXzOeLdiJnrfRVn-gQ (AT) mycybernet (DOT) net>, grape <j@s> wrote:
(snip)
No, it isn't. I've driven various manual cars in traffic jams, stuck
in stop-and-go traffic up and down hills, and it's not been a problem
once you're used to it. My first manual was back in 1991 and, still,
both of our present cars are manual - my wife and I both prefer them.

If you're new to manual, I would recommend just a couple of lessons,
at least so you can confidently pull away up a hill without stalling
or rolling back or revving way too loudly or whatever. A lot of people
/think/ they can drive stick-shift but make it pretty obvious that
they can't.

I would guess so, if that's not many years old.

-- Mark

"grape" <j@s> writes:
In my younger years you couldn't get me away from a manual. They're
fun, tend to be a little peppier off the line nad all that.

Then I moved to Chicago.

As Click and Clack say, "Never by a used car from a male under the age
of 30."

Best Regards,
--
Todd H.
2001 Legacy Outback Wagon, 2.5L H-4 AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION
Chicago, Illinois USA

I've driven manual cars for almost thirty years. I would certainly
prefer an automatic in stop-and-go traffic. I can't imagine anyone
preferring otherwise. "Clutch in - shift into first - clutch out - creep
a bit - clutch in - shift to neutral - clutch out" gets old real quick.
Someone with weak legs would find it positively painful.

For every other situation, though, I prefer a manual. In the case of
many models from Subaru, the question is more serious since
only the manual transmissions are true all-wheel-drive. If you can
afford a WRX, STi, Legacy GT or high-end Outback then you
can get true AWD with an automatic transmission, otherwise it's
only part-time, being FWD most of the time. This is the case
for regular Legacys and Imprezas as well as all Foresters.

If you can't get hold of a manual car to practice on enough to get
used to driving it then I think you should stick with an automatic.

If you'll be driving in snow (why else would you want a Subaru :-)
it would be useful to try both the automatic and manual RS's in
snow to see the difference between the two forms of four wheel
drive. Either version of the WRX should be great, but as Rick
Courtright wrote I'd also be wary of buying a used WRX.

Used Subarus are also a bit risky due to the problems they had
with clutches, head gaskets and piston slap. New models are
supposted to be better (I'm counting on it).

A used Legacy GT automatic in great shape might be a
nice choice.

On Wed, 27 Jul 2005 10:52:37 -0700, Rick Courtright
<rcourtright (AT) iname (DOT) com> wrote:

Actually, most people drive manual transmission cars incompetently, so
you should assume that the clutch in this one, especially since it's a
sporty car, won't last a lot longer. Save the $700 for a new clutch,
starting now. My other half had to replace her clutch at 79k miles
because the previous owner didn't treat it well, and neither did she,
but she's doing much better with the new clutch after that expensive
lesson. The clutch in my 98 Audi is still going perfectly at 89k
miles, and I expect never to replace it for as long as I own the car,
which will be probably another 10 years.

KLS wrote:

Hi,

There IS a huge difference between treating a clutch properly and not,
isn't there?

I got my Subie used w/ 209k miles. I can't say the prior owner had been
especially good to the car, but the clutch felt "acceptable" so I
figured out of curiosity, I'd just drive it until it gave up. Throwout
bearing was what gave up... frozen. That was at 310k miles. When I
removed the old one and took the parts to the dealer to match and
replace, my parts guy looked at everything and pronounced it "the
original" clutch! So... treat yours right and who knows how far it can
go?

Rick

err.... so it's risky to own a Sub in general? I've heard a blowing
headgasket is expensive.

I am driving a Camry right now, and treated it as a manual one. put in
Neutral, then rev in certain RPM, gear in D, you can actually *feel* the
wet-clutch in auto gearbox ingaging and slipping (not good to an
auto,though), and my front tyres smoking a bit,So.... does that count ? :P

Just can't help myself without shifting anything, hehe, every
auto-trannyI've droven will be shifted hell a lot, despite the fact auto
shifting has a noticeable delay.

one of my friends got jerk during a jam... or maybe he got wimpy legs?