Sad Automotive Confession, Day 3

"Chairman Kaga" (mike-mckinnon)
05/15/2014 at 12:12 • Filed to: None

I now prefer (daily-)driving a car with an automatic gearbox.

Austin, Texas, according to the most recent analysis, is the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! for traffic. My daily commute is 11.8 miles one way. The morning involves dropping off the girls at daycare, which is on the route. Evening is just a straight shot home. Combined, I'll spend more than two hours in the car. My CRV doesn't do average MPH computations, but my wife's Highlander does. She goes to work at 6:30 and comes home at 5-ish, avoiding the worst of the traffic. She averages 22 MPH. I imagine I'm closer to 15.

I don't want to shift into first 5,000 times per trip. I just. Don't. In fact, I barely care what I drive in this slog, as long as it has air conditioning and the ability to play music. I'm convinced the experience of driving a 1988 Hyundai Pony and a 2014 Nissan GTR in the traffic would be more or less the same. I think I would become resentful and frustrated if I had a "good" daily driver. I'd prefer nicer seats, better fuel economy, and maybe a few more creature comforts to dull the edge of my drive, which is why I think a new Accord Hybrid might fit the bill nicely. Although, I'm sure I'm stuck hatefucking the CRV for at least 4 or 5 more years.

Maybe this is why I'm also admitting my affinity for awful American sedans of the 80s and 90s. Rolling sofas. I see the appeal in that.

DISCUSSION (37)

feather-throttle-not-hair > Chairman Kaga
05/15/2014 at 12:16

The daily part is important. but I dunno kaga, you're skirting perilously close to the dark side here...

Mr. Ontop, No Strokes, No Smokes...Goes Fast. > Chairman Kaga
05/15/2014 at 12:18

I guess it's time for you to go shopping for a minivan...I hear they throw in free fanny packs with them now.. From the sound of it you'll be needing that.

#coulntletitpass

#myothercarisautomatic

camaroboy68ss > Chairman Kaga
05/15/2014 at 12:19

Kinja'd!!!

I have the same console lol, that looks like the nova version though since it looks cut off. Mines not a horseshoe shifter though.

duurtlang > Chairman Kaga
05/15/2014 at 12:20

Given your commute I can totally understand. There's no fun in a commute like yours no matter what you drive.

Jalop card not revoked.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Chairman Kaga
05/15/2014 at 12:21

Jetpack.

MonkeePuzzle > Chairman Kaga
05/15/2014 at 12:22

solution, get a manual you never have to change gear in

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > Chairman Kaga
05/15/2014 at 12:23

Card. Now.

You'll only get half back.

BondoSpecial > Chairman Kaga
05/15/2014 at 12:27

I used to buy a lot of manual trans weekend hobby cars because I thought that you had to have a manual to be an enthusiast, but I don't really buy manual cars much anymore. I daily drive a 330 hp car with a 7 speed automatic and love it. I have an E39 M5 I bought a few months ago, that I sometimes drive to work on Fridays if it's sunny, and think to myself, damn, I would not want to drive a manual to commute anymore. Maybe I got old.

ColoradoTaco > Chairman Kaga
05/15/2014 at 12:27

My commute is about same distance each way and only takes 15-20minutes. I would kill myself if I had to spend that kind of time sitting traffic. probably nothing I hate more. Worst traffic I deal with is ski traffic on I-70, auto is nice there too.

KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs > Chairman Kaga
05/15/2014 at 12:30

I will admit that it was quite nice to not have to worry about shifting as I wafted along in my diesel Mercedes.

Sometimes I actually miss it. I bought the Mini after that, but there is a certain appeal in having a big, comfortable sofa for commute duty.

I'ma gonna plot to get a Jaaaaaag XJL, as I could be considered a masochist at times.

llamaguy > Chairman Kaga
05/15/2014 at 12:31

Don't blame your transmission for your horrible, horrible, horrible commute. I wouldn't want to drive a car in Austin commutes every day.

ly2v8-Brian > feather-throttle-not-hair
05/15/2014 at 12:32

Kinja'd!!!

Chairman Kaga > feather-throttle-not-hair
05/15/2014 at 12:34

My other car is an Alfa.

Chairman Kaga > Mr. Ontop, No Strokes, No Smokes...Goes Fast.
05/15/2014 at 12:36

My other car is an Alfa.

Kinja'd!!!

Chairman Kaga > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire
05/15/2014 at 12:37

My other car is an Alfa. You have to double clutch because the synchros are shot. You have to perfectly rev match on the downshift to second, or it'll grind horribly. I haven't missed one on months.

Now gimme back the other half of my card.

Kinja'd!!!

Mr. Ontop, No Strokes, No Smokes...Goes Fast. > Chairman Kaga
05/15/2014 at 12:38

I'm just having some fun......but it looks like fanny packs are on sale at amazon. You should jump on that! http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss…

Chairman Kaga > BondoSpecial
05/15/2014 at 12:38

Kinja'd!!!

Which is why I have the Alfa.

Grindintosecond > Chairman Kaga
05/15/2014 at 12:39

DD an auto. Weekend a fire breathing manual police bait.

Textured Soy Protein > Chairman Kaga
05/15/2014 at 12:39

About a year ago, I needed to get rid of my prematurely-rusting Mazdaspeed 6, and decided I was sick of having a manual transmission. While I take great pleasure in a perfect heel-toe downshift, I was tired of having to do all that shifting while just putzing around town, and especially while sitting in traffic.

So I got rid of the MS6 for a 135is DCT. Then I added an old Grand Cherokee. So I went from 1 car with a clutch pedal, to 2 cars without a clutch pedal. While I got the Jeep mostly just for winter driving, with the weather being nice I still sometimes pick it to take out. It's got real comfy easy chair seats to chill in, more room to spread out, and there kinda is something to that sitting up high for a better view in traffic.

I wouldn't rule out having something with a manual transmission in the future, but it probably wouldn't be a daily driver.

Chairman Kaga > Mr. Ontop, No Strokes, No Smokes...Goes Fast.
05/15/2014 at 12:39

No need. We got a matching set with my wife's new Highlander.

phenotyp > Chairman Kaga
05/15/2014 at 12:39

Fellow Austin Traffic Sufferer here.

I bought my first automatic in 20 years of driving, back in November. I needed a car that could handle a baby seat better than the MR2 could. You know what? I really, really like it. It gets shitty mileage. It has four doors. Many say it's abominable. It's the most goddamn comfortable seat I've ever sat in. It's ridiculously fast if I want it to be. And honestly, I'm much happier driving it every day than I am driving the MR2.

Chairman Kaga > phenotyp
05/15/2014 at 12:41

Huzzah!

Babies predicated my shift (wordplay!) as well. The CRV was foisted on me though. If I'd had my druthers I'd be in some sort of wagon, preferably Swedish.

I still have my Alfa for weekend funsies though.

RiceRocketeer Extraordinaire > Chairman Kaga
05/15/2014 at 12:41

It's not just you. I've been eyeing a VW GTI myself.

Related story: I had to drive across LA during rush hour (there and back) to get to a customer site. Traffic turned a 35 minutes trip into 2.5 hours each way. I was going to take the wife's Camry but then remembered she needed the car and can't drive stick, so I took the S2000. My ass still hurts.

And halfway there I got a call from the wife telling me that I'd taken both sets of car keys with me — she couldn't go anywhere anyway.

jvirgs drives a Subaru > Chairman Kaga
05/15/2014 at 12:42

Goes to work at 6:30 and comes home at 5ish and misses the worst of the traffic. Translating that to DC you'd have to leave for work at 4am and come home at noon to miss the worst of the traffic. Even then its not a guarantee.

Chairman Kaga > Grindintosecond
05/15/2014 at 12:42

It only breathes fire because of a rusty manifold gasket.

Kinja'd!!!