I’ve been to many parts of the world and it’s funny that some countries prefer Automatic and in some Manual cars. But one thing is certain you can never run away from the saying ” Real Men Drive Manuals” or ” A Real Man Drives A Stick Shift”.

Most certainly have we heard stories of people describing their dramatic driving experience, cursing down a highway and suddenly there is an urge to over take the slow moving van in front. What happens next? well  the real man would press the clutch peddle and engage a lower gear, while releasing the clutch peddle he steps on the accelerator, floors it. The engine starts to whine as the revs reaches the top range of the meter almost red lining and then engages the gear once again as the wooshes by the slow moving van in speed and adrenaline. Nothing comes closer to the thrill of being completely in control with the car. It is a skill, and yet it is a passion. And yes it is alot sexier to drive a real stick shift. Therefore real men drive manuals and not automatics.

Thanks to Askmen, they have compiled 10 good reasons why REAL men drive manual cars.

10. A manual transmission is the ultimate in control

There’s a reason we have to suffer the unfunny jokes about how men don’t like to relinquish the TV remote: men do enjoy being in control. It goes without saying that most men would rather be the boss than the subordinate. A car with a manual transmission lets the driver be the boss of the car; throttle response will always be immediate, intuitive and easily controlled.

Despite what engineers may say, modern cars aren’t that smart. Cars that shift themselves will often hold the wrong gear, or shift up at the worst possible time, resulting in a car that treats the gas pedal as a suggestion box — which it then promptly ignores. The automatic car is going to tell you what to do, and ultimately make you its bitch.

9. You can use automotive jargon and not sound like a total tool

Having an ability to drive stick can make one sound like an authority on all things automotive when talking with the fairer sex, even if you don’t know what you’re talking about. If, while on a date, you should come across a vehicle moving at a pace that would make a glacier impatient, say with an annoyed confidence that the driver is “granny-shifting and not double-clutching like he should.” There is a good chance you’ll sound cool. Manly, even.

Of course, you would be reciting one of the more embarrassing Fast and Furious quotes that really has no meaning. If your date fully understands what you just tried to say and calls you out on it, you found one of the few women in the world who knows and cares about cars. If you can convince her not to leave you for using such a cheesy line, marry her — now.

8. You can’t spell “manual” without “man”

Men and manual transmissions seem to go hand in hand, and not just because you can’t say “manual” without first saying “man.” There’s a rich history of men accomplishing heroic things in cars with standard transmissions, leading to colourful phrases that still sound cool and testosterone-charged.

Automatic transmissions just aren’t considered cool; they are designed and built for your grandmother and have unappealing nicknames like “slushbox.” Newer dual-clutch automatic transmissions don’t fare much better, and are now often called “flappy paddle gearboxes.” Nothing flappy will ever be manly.

7. Manual transmissions prove you can do more than one thing at a time

Some people have a hard time walking and sipping chai lattes at the same time. No one respects these people. We as a society respect those who can do more than one thing at a time — especially if they can do those things well. Men who excel at performing multiple, complex motor movements at one time, such as professional athletes, often enjoy an almost godlike status.

Shifting a car manually is really quite complex. The process of changing gears involves releasing the gas with the right foot, depressing the clutch with the left foot, using your right hand to select a different gear, then simultaneously releasing the clutch as you press down on the gas — hoping to engage the clutch and throttle at a very specific “sweet spot” that varies from car to car. The challenge only increases when trying to do things like start from a standstill on a hill. Being good at driving a manual car may not lead to a life showered in money and women, but we can bet that every professional racecar driver knows how to drive manual.

6. You can’t drift in an auto

Some look at the sport of drifting as a nothing more than kids doing donuts in souped-up cars. We — along with the drivers – respectfully disagree. Drifting is the most extreme form of car control, and driving sideways at 90 mph on a professional level requires a massive set of balls — and a car with a manual transmission.

We could use this space to briefly explain the clutch kick technique of initiating a drift, but then a bunch of kids will get angry at us for not also mentioning things like “feint” or “power-over.” One doesn’t need to understand the techniques used to initiate a drift to understand why a manual transmission is beneficial in a drift car. Listen to any car mid-drift and you can hear the engine bouncing off the rev-limiter. This noise often means that the car’s engine is in the sweet spot of its powerband, allowing the car to maintain its drift as it powers through the course. Try and do this in an automatic and watch the sideways shenanigans die as the transmission shifts up early and kills the power.

5. You can’t pull fancy moves in an automatic

The heel-toe maneouvere is considered by many to be an elite driving technique that is crucial in the testosterone-filled world of motor racing. The heel-toe maneouvere allows one to downshift, rev-match and brake all at the same time.

This technique will have the driver operate the clutch normally with the left foot. The ball of the right foot will be on the brake, slowing the car down, while at the same time the heel of the right foot will “blip” the throttle during the gear change, matching the engine speed to the wheel speed. Not only does this technique help keep the engine in the desired powerband, it reduces drivetrain jolt, greatly reducing wear and tear on the transmission.

So important is this technique that many new sport-tuned cars will automatically blip the throttle on every downshift. Right now this automatic blipping is seen mostly on regular or dual-clutch-equipped automatic transmissions.

4. You get better fuel economy with a manual

We know that eco-warriordom at its core is the antitheses of manliness, but perhaps not all things eco-friendly are for wusses. Manual transmissions have historically been more energy efficient than traditional automatic transmissions, and a quick look at EPA numbers will show that a manual version of a car can get 1 to 2 more miles per gallon than its identical automatic-equipped sibling.
“Green” is trendy right now, and that means that all the ladies (especially the attractive ones) are doing what they can to project a “green” image. Play your cards right and the ladies will be all over you when you tell them that your manual Jeep gets several mpg more on the motorway than the automatic version.

3. You’ll never look like a chump if you can drive manual

Call it a typical weekend for us: Our friend gets sh*t-faced, goes home with a girl with only a great personality and leaves us to drive his car home. En route to said friend’s car, we are inevitably stopped by some nice young ladies in need of a ride somewhere.

If this sort of situation happens to us all the time, we’ve gotta assume that it’s a common occurrence for many other men as well. Imagine how emasculated you’d feel if you got to your friend’s car, ladies in tow, and had to explain to them that you couldn’t help them out because you just now realised your friend’s car is manual, and you never learned how to drive one. Real men have never experienced such embarrassment, and luckily enough, neither have we. If you’re lazy enough to have taken your driving test in an automatic car in the first place, you would have to retake your test in a manual car if you ever wanted to be licensed to drive one.

2. Manual transmission cars are faster

Having full control over a car has its advantages. Take a car out for a spirited drive and you’ll find that, when the engine is in a certain rpm range, it just feels alive. This is the “sweet spot” of the engine’s powerband, and it typically signifies the point in the powerband when the power curve starts to get a bit more aggressive.

With a manual transmission car, you can find exactly where this sweet spot is and keep the car there. For example, let’s say the sweet spot for your car’s engine starts at 5,000 rpm and ends at 8,000 rpm. Most manual transmissions will let you stay in this sweet spot, meaning that if you shift up at 8,000 rpm, the engine speed won’t fall below 5,000 rpm. You stay in the sweet spot of the powerband.

Connect this same motor to an automatic transmission and you’d never see this sweet spot; the car will shift up before you ever get there. Should you somehow get the engine to actually reach that magic point in the rev band, the auto box would quickly shift up and kill the power. This helps boost EPA numbers, but results in a car that can put your grandma to sleep. Real men don’t drive cars that can double as sedatives.

1. Women like a guy who is good with his hands

We have been fortunate to have a job that pays us to talk to beautiful women. Playmates, WAGS, TV starlets, fashion models; you name ‘em, we’ve talked with ‘em. Yes, they all give the standard statement that they like guys with good senses of humour, but they also all say that they like a man who is good with his hands. It takes a certain amount of finesse to drive a manual well, and women know that. If you can show a lady that you are skilled enough to shift a car without giving her whiplash, she’ll be sure to want to see what other skills you have.

Credit: Askmen