My first seven years of driving was only on automatics, in the suburbs with a
touch of city driving here and there.

My first real boyfriend patiently taught me how to drive a manual (great test
for "boyfriend suitability" BTW), and when I bought my first car, I would only
go with a manual transmission. Why? Because it was fun, got better fuel
mileage, saved a meaningful sum of money (approx. $500 to $1000) on the initial
purchase (which was a bigger factor right out of college), and I liked feeling I
had more control over the car's correct operation.

But I haven't lived in a big city like DC in some time. I do know it is annoying
driving my manual transmission 1991 Civic when I am driving **off-highway** in a
big city's rush hour. It's not a big deal during non-rush hour or on the highway
during rush hour.

So despite your lack of experience with a manual, I think your intuition is
correct.

IIRC from my little driving in/around DC, commuting would justify a manual
transmission. Living smack dab in the middle of a large city would not,
comfort-wise.

"Rabid G" <a_rabid_g@nopam.hotmail.com> wrote
> Hi, I just found this newsgroup and I was hoping someone here could help me
> on an age old question.
> Stickshift or Automatic?
>
> I'm going to buy a Honda Civic 04 soon and I would very much appreciate any
> insight into this. One thing that keeps me from better being able to decide
> my self is the plain fact that I don't know how to drive stickshift (yet).
> So I wouldn't know if it would annoy me by having to constantly shift gears
> from block to block. Some other factors are that I live in Washington DC
> where there is virtually no open road, I'm a 20 year old college student,
> and in about a week I'm going to be moving out on my own (To Silver Spring,
> Still commuting to DC and back.). Also, for those who don't know, DC can
> have pretty bad traffic during certain parts of the day (Rush Hour).
>
> I don't know if I'm actually going to want to do engine modifications. And
> if I ever do make egine mods it'll probably happen about 2 years down the
> road (So I guess by then I could sell the automatic anyway?). I guess my
> main question is, is the immediate fun really worth the trouble?
>
> Thanks in advance for your patience and help.
> -RG