Indeed, even my little Nissan manual transmission has 6 gears.

Didn't even realise until a few months after I bought it. I thought it was a little loud at 70mph.

I had one with 6 gears (about 35yrs ago)... then I got one with an engine.
Gears didn't seem quite as important at that time.

Reminds me of that woman who drove down the M4 in second gear the whole way.

My truck has six!

Regards, JEff

As I suspected.

Regards, JEff

[Car v truck]

This IS America!

Even before all the electronics, I suspect the EPA was giving too high of mpg for stick shift and assumed that most people use them relatively correctly. With my 6 forward gears on my BMW, I sometimes find myself leaving it in a high gear when going up a hill and then traffic slows and then I try to take off and there is no power. Also if I shift down after realizing the mistake, the car momentarily slows. The same sometimes occurs on freeways that congest.

I hate it when I do that since I got this powerful BMW and some low powered car is behind me is wondering when I'm going to take off.

Also sometimes I find myself leaving it in 5th gear on the freeway for miles before I realize that I should be in the 6th gear. That may be partially due to my poor hearing and I don't realize that the engine is making more noise than it should until I look at the tac. Maybe old people shouldn't driver stick shifts.

Yup!

To be sure, your truck has a manual transmission? And you use all of those gears, consistently choosing the correct one for the speed and conditions of the moment, moment to moment?

I expect you do, and I expect that you've got at least some company, but it'sl clear that the manual transmission has lost its edge under normal driving conditions.

Regards, JEff

Refreshing - an honest driver!

Regards, JEff

As far as fuel efficiency goes?

With computer controlled automatic transmission - no question, there is little or no advantage for manual anymore. I suspect most people will choose it because they are used to it, or because they feel it's more enjoyable though, than for MPG.

Call me old fashioned, but isn't that what driving is? When sitting in the front left seat, I don't eat, read, or text. I use my phone sparingly, and occasionally sip on a drink, because I am busy driving
"Lost it's edge"! The last time I looked, Ford no longer offers an F250 with a manual transmission. .... Even when I bought it, it was extraordinarily rare. Needless to say the local dealer didn't have one, and so the dealer searched inventory in VA and six neighboring states, and still drew a blank! Mine was custom ordered and shipped direct from Kansas light truck plant.

FWIW I have three vehicles, none are automatic!

Back in the early 1990's, the corvette was standard with automatic and you had to pay extra for a stick shift. When I bought my BMW, there wasn't a single stick shift on the lot and mine had to be special ordered.

Who cares about efficiency. I drive a manual because they are more fun! I want to control the car, I don't want the car to control me! Only 5 gears in my mazda though, which feels a little weird after being used to 6 gears back in the UK.

My wallet does. Sorry about the correction, my brain won't let me not do it. I hope you understand ...

I went through this argument with myself eight years ago when I started driving here in an automatic. A manual gearbox is great fun on winding country back-roads with a 60 mph speed limit, lots of challenging corners, no stop lights and few traffic cops.

We don't have those where I live. The roads that do carry a 55+ limit are either big dual carriageways, interstates or otherwise relatively straight semi-rural roads where in a manual gearbox all I'd be doing was getting into 5th and leaving it there until I got to a red light or my exit. Any other driving I do is on in-town (slow) roads or a lot of stop/start driving. It just doesn't seem worth going after a manual gearbox anymore since I'd not get the chance to really enjoy it.