Gulp… manual car.

After exclusively driving a DSG auto for 3 years – I have a car hire abroad which is manual. Will I look like a circus clown as we drive off?

I bought a manual after 10 years of auto.  Got in and drove it perfectly straight away without even thinking about it so sure you will be fine.

The only problem will be when you try to change gear with your left hand you’ll wind down the driver’s window…. Well, bitd anyway

I’m always more confused getting back into an auto despite having driven them for the best part of 15 years. The muscle memory comes straight back in a manual.

If it’s left hand drive, that’s something else.

The first mile or two will be rough – especially cause if you’re hiring it an airport, airport traffic is invariably hellish. But after half an hour you’ll be surprised how the muscle memory comes back!

It’s been 7 years since I drove a manual. I don’t think I’d have an issue. Doing it in a left-hand drive car when there’s plenty extra to worry about already? No thanks, and why I have ponied up for an auto for my summer hols.

I spent four months not driving at all during my round the world trip and then two months and 6000 miles driving an auto LHD in the states and Canada. I had absolutely no trouble in the auto, when I got home and got in my manual car I had no issues starting, reversing out and driving off down the road… until I came to a T junction and forgot to dip the clutch. Only did it once though.

Its fine.

Till you wonder why its juddering like mad coming up to traffic lights and its in 5th…

I have the opposite . Got an auto and almost put us all through the windscreen when I tried to press the brake pedal thinking it was the clutch. Doh!

It’s a hire car – it’s supposed to be returned with FAR less clutch plate material than it set off with. Smoking it out of hire car collection is the correct way of starting any holiday.

I think the steering wheel in the wrong side is more of a handicap than the extra pedal. You should be fine.

scratching around in the door pocket for the gear lever and looking into the corner of the A-pillar for the mirror will probably be the biggest issues!

Made it alive and didn’t kangaroo it along the main strip.

House hold policy is that you drive the car at the back. Which meant lots of manual auto swapping when we got an automatic. Hard at first then suddenly easy

But driving out a foreign airport , driving on the wrong side of the road, changing gear with your right hand. I’d call that a cognitive challenge.

I’d research the route out of the airport. Make sure i have worked out what I’m doing about the insurance excess before getting on the plane. Maybe get insured for a day on a mates manual

I have a car hire abroad which is manual

Rookie mistake. Hire the cheapest auto you can get, you’ll usually be upgraded to some massive luxobarge.

I went back to manual from 4 years in a DSG auto and it came straight back to me but every time I drive it I can’t help but think about how pointless manual gearboxes are on most cars.

about how pointless manual gearboxes are on most cars.

On some cars though DSG gearboxes are not great, I bought my current car precisely because it was one of the last of that model made without a DSG. This was because on the emissions test cycles in use at the time DSG used less fuel and so helped reduce the corporate average although in the real world they actually use a little more. Oh, and DSG allows launch control to shave that so important half a second off the 0-60 time

“I can’t help but think about how pointless manual gearboxes are on most cars.”

Dunno about that, two identical work hacks, both 1.5 diesel, one 8 speed automatic, the other 6 speed manual.

The Auto is slower, will drop it down a gear if you just want to go slightly faster on the motorway, reversing uphill feels a bit jumpy.
Fuel economy is worse, servicing more frequent.

The Auto is way more relaxing, especially around central London, that alone pips manual.

Obviously some autos are better than others, I haven’t driven a DSG auto.

The phrase ‘like riding a bike’ covers this.

Rookie mistake. Hire the cheapest auto you can get, you’ll usually be upgraded to some massive luxobarge

I’m going to say most hire cars are now auto, I usually hire manual if cheaper (though drive auto day to day) and found recently hired i10, Polo and Octava were all autos.

My wife drove auto only for at least 10 years then we got a manual for kids to learn, she drove it fine after maybe 5 shakey minutes. Biggest problem for me is forgetting to declutch a manual at junctions but even that’s rare.

Did the same in Spain a few years back.

It was ok for me as I used to make sure I jumped in my wife’s manual car a couple of times a month to keep my left foot in.

You should be fine after a few minutes.

I love the engagement of driving a good manual on a flowing or quiet road. The rest of the time it can get in the bin.

Whenever I drive my wife’s manual I get a sore left knee.