DC Says: The beauty of a manual transmission

Yes. Manual. It is something most drivers today have no clue about, a manual transmission. Perhaps apart from the test that one has to go through to obtain a driver's license, most today drive and own an auto transmission.

But let's be fair, the auto version is so much more useful, especially in a jam-oriented country like Malaysia. More so with the festival induced traffic jams... horrors. A typical two-hour drive to Ipoh can take as long as six to eight hours. Good luck indeed.

The manual, however impractical in today's environment holds a special place in the hearts of hardcore motoring aficionados. Boil it all down and it is really about being and staying in full control. Why allow a mindless machine control over which gear you should be in? Really, I mean who gave it the right to do that? Just because it is easier, more efficient and faster? Come on...

Oh, don't buy into the "you can enjoy the drive more and worry about one less thing, it is more fuel efficient, and it is so much smoother" baloney. It robs you of your manliness because ladies... if your guy drives an auto... you have a girlfriend.

Pumping the clutch, shifting one up, or better still, one down... is the essence of driving. Forget about the semi-girly paddles that you merely have to pull, and lightly at that, to shift a gear... that is a cop-out. Be a man, and man-handle that joystick into the gear that YOU WANT.

You see, when I take a corner, I brake, pump the clutch, shift one down, hear the engine spike, and feel the car slow down, while delivering positive grip, and as I exit, it growls to a crescendo, just before I pump the clutch again for an up-shift.

Most will enter slow, brake to make it slower, and try their best to egg the car out as fast as the car will muster.

See the difference?

And look no further than a nice stretch of hills. The amount of joy you get in one drive is more than a cumulative joy, if you can call it that, of ten drives in an auto car.

Be a man. Drive a manual transmission car.