magnumpi

So funny, robbers couldn't even drive a stick shift, morons !!!

http://www.iheartradio.ca/newstalk-1...hift-1.2538575

Toronto Police are searching for four men in connection with two armed carjackings on Sunday.

One of the victims, a teacher, tells CTV News Toronto she had just picked up coffee on Victoria Park Avenue near Ellesmere Road when two men came up to her car window.

She says they threatened her with a gun and told her to, "get out of the car or we're going to kill you."

So she handed over the keys.

The woman says the men got into her car, then got back out and took off on foot. Police say they got into a white Nissan Versa that was waiting nearby.

The working theory from police is that the men couldn't drive a standard car.

Pizzawheel

Glad to have stick!

Partially discharged

I"d be interested to know what % of the population in Canada can actually drive a stick w/o stalling. It doesn't tend to be a big priority with many people and more and more cars are phasing out their stick models.

caretaker

It's probably a generational thing. Not many people know how to crank a car now, but when I was a kid there were still cars on the road with crank starts, more common were the floor pedal starters and dashboard push-button starters that came later. How many people still know how to advance or retard the spark on those crank start cars? My first automatic was a '56 Chev.
I had a friend who pulled up in front of the bar in wintertime, left the car running and ran downstairs to buy a dozen beer. He came out a minute later and his car was gone. He ran 30' to the corner and saw his car on the main street with the driver's door open, and still running. He ran up and his monster German Shepherd "Bear" who had been asleep on the back seat was sitting in the front panting, and there were a few shreds of bloody cloth laying around him.
I also knew a biker who put the linkage on his Harley together so the shift pattern was reversed. He used to joke that if anyone ever stole it they wouldn't get far.

Pizzawheel

My Katana had that reverse pattern (racing shift, 1 up 4 down), which I kept because I thought it was cool. After downshifting and taking the full bodyweight of that unexpected downshift through the crown jewels, I changed it pronto.

MillieF

Our son, who is 16, is presently wanting to drive us 'everywhere' ...the long way round! For the practice.

I cannot drive an automatic- well I probably can, but won't - so we have two stick shifts in the family plus one 2CV...he's doing well (he loves the 2CV, and dresses accordingly, with 'cool' shades, and is evidently longing to ditch the parents in September) I do however think that it's far better getting a newbie to learn how to drive a stick shift, even if he just has a future in car theft or indeed Formula 1 to look forward to.

I often drive a car full of teens and they study what I'm doing with the gears
Ike you wouldn't believe

scrubbedexpat091

I attempted at 16 to learn a stick but it didnt go well. I am left handed and found it incredibly hard to shift using my right hand.

Automatic is easy, just put into drive and go.

CanadianSpruce

I agree it's best to learn in a stick shift unless your like a friend of mine who is hopeless and would never pass her test in a manual.

Partially discharged

I'm jealous of the 2cv.

Is this you?

http://www.erichall.eu/images/1109/1109531.jpg

My 16 year old is in the same boat as yours but is sticking with learning on the automatic first then he wants me to teach him on my manual VW.
He has suggested we get a 3rd car and is suggesting this car despite the fact that he is more than 1.8 m tall

https://photos.google.com/photo/AF1Q..._pQahMhVFJhM9s

When I have given rides to friends of his some have never seen a manual and have no idea how it works. They tend to be the ones who haven't travelled too much.

Pulaski

I am "very" right handed but was absolutely determined to learn to drive a manual transmission in the UK, as there were few automatics in the UK at the time and I certainly didn't want a restricted "automatic only" licence.

I think I had more trouble "relearning" to shift a manual transmission with my right hand when I moved to the US than I did originally learning to shift with my left hand.

caretaker

The reverse is also true, I found it very strange to have the shifter on the left, and was actually surprised to find the pattern reversed as well.

dbd33

The pattern isn't usually reversed. Some vehicles have odd configurations with dog legs and column changes but your average box is the same left to right 1,2 3,4, 5,6 (if any) with reverse and overdrive operated by switches and levers and lifts and pushes and doing the hokey-cokey equally in all markets.

Pulaski

F1 gearboxes are semiautomatic (clutchless) and paddle-shift, and have been for 20-odd years.

caretaker

I didn't know that, the Bren is the only left-handed vehicle I've ever driven.

Pulaski

Agreed. I have three vehicles, a 5 speed with dog-leg reverse top left, so four lay-shafts, a 5 speed with reverse opposite 5th, so only three lay-shafts, and a six speed with "low drive" opposite reverse. All are the same left->right configuration as the three manual cars I owned the UK. I drove other cars occasionally but I have never seen a gear shift pattern reversed left v right.

I have always thought it more significant that the pedals are in the same order whether a car is LHD or RHD.