Why do Europeans drive MANUAL cars? | American reaction

Thank you for watching me, a humble American, react to Why do Americans drive automatic transmission and Europeans don't.

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[boothy]

In the US having a manual car is one of the best anti-theft devices available.😄

[trevjen]

In the UK, if you pass your driving test in a manual car, you are also licensed to drive an automatic car. If you pass your driving test in an automatic car, you are only licensed to drive automatics.

[stevenkielly]

I was raised in Australia. Drove manual cars the whole time there. Moved to Canada in my twenties this is where I first drove an automatic. Had a daughter here and bought her her first car. I made sure to buy a manual. She cried for 3 weeks. I wasn't very popular in her eyes at this time. She is older now and had 5 cars since then and she has made sure they are manual. Her car now is a manual. She's like me thinking automatic driving is boring.

[lauradivittorio]

As Italian woman, I learned to drive, at my eigtheen, manual cars. First time I drived an automatic car I risked going under a truck because my left foot pressed the brake convinced it was the clutch to change gear. You drive without thinking too much when you're used to it and it took me a while to get used to the automatic, it's comfortable but I went back to the manual, there's more connection between the brain and the engine.

[ottocarson]

As European, if you say "I can drive a car", it's supposed you mean a manual car. Obviously

[alexanderblume]

If you've driven a manual car for a while, you don't even think about changing gears, you do it automatically ;-)

[ArabianShark]

Ryan's expression of disbelief around the 5:00 mark upon learning how highly cars are taxed in Western Europe was priceless! Yes, friend; cars are bloody expensive to buy here! Best wishes from Portugal!

[maltion]

As an european spanish kid i prefer manual since it gives you more control over the engine and it's more fun than automatic. The car i drive is a Peugeot 206 SW and it's more fun to drive than other cars that are automatic.

[arnesteinkamm]

One important point is missing: Driving manual is fun, real fun! You're connected to the engine and you decide which gear is appropriate not a machine.

[embivi]

Manual is more fun than automatic. And you actually learn what it means to control the car. Instead of just accelerating and braking. It’s an art 😊

[_FushiguroToji]

As a pizza delivery guy, checking if pizza is still hot, texting, talking, changing music and checking navigation, all of that at the same time in a manual car made me a clutch master

[myblackminds]

My employer bought new company cars. All my colleagues wanted automatic and I was the only one who said he prefers a manual. A lot of car companies don't use manual anymore but a few (german) do. So I got a manual and could use the money I saved on other goodies on my car.

[ticketyboo]

As a woman who drives a manual car I'm happy to know I'm manlier than Ryan😂😂😂

[MacXpert]

As an European I can say, It's really not that hard to drive a manual car. When you're used to it, it does indeed give you more control over how your engine uses its rpm range and allows for more fuel efficient driving. But obviously it's all about how you drive. I also feel you're more involved in the driving process when you drive a manual car, which might help with keeping your attention to the driving.

[chennaisurya]

In India If you going for driving school, they only teach you how to drive a stick shift car, If you can drive manual, You can drive anything. Basically you need to drive manual to get the license.

[ohmp]

I live in Finland. I have noticed that automatic transmission has come very much more common after about 2010. In 1990s automatic was very rare here. I drove 30 years with manual because I always bought used cars and automatic were practically unavailable. Now we have two passenger cars and a motorhome in family. The passenger cars are automatic but the motorhome has a manual gearbox.

[MisterJ]

In the Netherlands (don't know about other countries) when you have driving lessons in an automatic and you're getting a license driving an automatic, you're NOT allowed to drive a car with a shift stick. Did you get your license driving a shift stick, you're also allowed driving automatic.

[myrevenga]

In my town near Vienna, the rescue-team got sponsored an automatic ambulance-car. After a few weeks they returned it, because when they drove up a certain hill, the gears started swichting between 3 and 4 (or smth like that), and they could not get up the hill faster, which could be really bad in an emergency. With a manual car, you can accelerate longer uphill with a lower gear, than with an automatic car.

[kallekonttinen]

As a Finn I was trained to drive manual when I got my driving license. I didn't know how to drive automatic. My first (Opel Ascona 1986) and second (VW Passat 2001) cars were manual. Then I drove one holiday trip to Lapland my motherinlaws automatic Volvo and learned how to drive automatic. My next cars (VW Passat 2008 and Opel Insignia 2018) have been automatic. I still sometimes drove manual because my parents car is manual and rental cars in Finland are mainly manual.

[markusjohansson]

Stick shift = drives a car
Automatic = rides a car