this isn't supposed to be the hard part about driving

[cellio]

Every time I drive Dani's car (a rare occurrence) I am reminded that driving an automatic transmission requires specific skills that I apparently haven't learned. I assume there's a trick to accelerating -- that you can regulate the gas flow (via the gas pedal) to kick the gears in when you want them to -- but I'm afraid I will be forever reaching for the clutch pedal and shifter while driving. :-) This has happened with multiple cars, so it's probably me and not the car.

(We're going to his company's winter party after work, I'd rather he drive home in the dark with the predicted sleet, and he's not cleared for my manual transmission. So since he takes the bus to work anyway, I just took his car today.)

Comments

There's a trick

[laid.livejournal.com]

You just have to forget how responsive a car can be with a manual. There's a reason they're called slushboxes.

Re: There's a trick

[cellio]

I knew they were less responsive; I just hadn't realized the scale. :-) Though Dani's car is a little more responsive when he drives it, so there's definitely driver variation there. He's always driven automatics, so I guess he's got the knack of it. I've always driven manuals except in the occasional odd case like this. (I learned on both an automatic and a manual, but given a choice between a small, maneuverable Pinto that was also a manual and the automatic land yacht, I chose the former for most of my instruction.)