Car Technology Is Getting Sweeter ...

March 19, 2009 at 20:03 PM #

I think that myrate device should have a different criteria or definition for "sudden starts" for a stick shift car. Just imagine starting on a 17% slope, let's say on a curve as well. And you do have some cars behind. How can you avoid rolling backwards, killing the engine and the "sudden start"? And to have traction and not push the engine hard, would be better to switch to the second gear?
I do think that for manual transmission, the definition of sudden start needs to change, from 7mph to 9, maybe 10. Otherwise, a stick shift driver would have countless sudden starts, and maybe 1 or 2 sudden stops. But hey, that's just me, anyone else driving stick shift?

cora

April 8, 2009 at 00:55 AM #

@ comment posted March 26, 2009:

You may be onto something. We've looked at driving patterns in different types of cars, and those with manual transmissions may behave differently. If they do, it is too early for us to say whether we should interpret data from cars with manual transmissions in a different way, or whether stick shifts appeal to a different type of driver. I'm sure you are super safe. But a stick is more fun, and that might encourage more aggressive behavior. What do you think?  

Also, please note that what we've been calling "sudden stops" is what really affects your discount, not "sudden starts," even though we display data for both measures on MyRate Web pages. We're also going to move away from calling them "starts" or "stops," because they are just measurements of change in speed over a period of time. If you decelerate from 50 mph to 40 mph in 1 second, that would count as a deceleration. Your speed does not need to drop to 0.

- Steve McKay

WebX

April 17, 2009 at 17:20 PM #

Hi. Thank you for your replay. A stick is indeed fun, and probably super fun if you drive a porshe! I do not think driving a stick shift encourage aggressive behavior.
The reasons I drive stick stick shift:
1. I am from Europe, 99% of the cars are stick shift I believe
2. they consume less gas than the automatic ones
3. gives you more control over your car in certain situations [I drove a stick hyundai accent in winter time in yosemite, with no problems whatsoever when 12 big 4X4 suv's were on the ditch]
4. stick shift cars are less [way less] likely to be stolen - since it's going to be a pain in the neck to sell it; this of course does not apply for high end cars
5. oh, did I mention that they're about 1000 dollars cheaper compared to the automatic counterpart?

Other pros for driving a stick shift:
- the driver is less likely to use a cell phone, paint the nails or do their make-up
- keeps one alert
So no, in my opinion, I don't think the transmission type makes a driver more aggressive, or more likely to wear or not a seat belt.
I am now toy-ing with my car every time I start from 0, and poor thing makes horrible noises and shakes; I believe there are no differences with sudden stops or sudden accelerations [when you are in a higher gear] between the 2 transmission types, but when starting from 0, sometimes - in my opinion, it's just not safe not to accelerate a bit to be able to stay in a stable gear. But again, that's just me

cora

May 31, 2009 at 11:28 AM #

I was just thinking about car technology is getting sweeter and you’ve really helped out. Thanks!

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June 24, 2009 at 20:31 PM #

Hi,

Nice article.....can anyone tell me about the car technology in japan?

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July 14, 2009 at 23:07 PM #

Hi,

Nice article.....I was searching for these kind of blog , its really nice information....

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August 12, 2009 at 12:35 PM #

I wish my car could do many things like changing colors, auto drive feature, identifies my mood and selects music accordingly...  that would be awesome dont you think?

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