CARS

[zippyt]

Kitsune said I guess a lot of the vehicles used for hauling wouldn't have a stick on purpose,
As I understand it, hauling something with a manual is a total bitch. When you shift gears with a stick, all power goes away momentairly and that doesn't happen with an auto. If you're hauling something very heavy, stalling the engine becomes a problem when you move out of first.

Oh how wrong you are , most 18 wheelers are 13-18 speeds . Yes it sucks to have to shift thru all those gears , but ,,,
1) after you start out you don't have to use the clutch ( the gears are that close to gather ) . A big rig has that many gears because a diesel engine is a slow revelaoutin ( your tach is in 100's in sted of 1000's ) high torque( most on the road now days are in the 400-500 hp range) engine , a gas engine is a high rev LOW torgue . so the sweet spot ( power band ) on a diesel is like 5-10 rpm some were in the range , as long as you keep it in that range all is good , not lugging the engine or over reving it eather .
2) you can skip gears , on our big ass volvo we use at the shop ( 400+ hp 14 wheeler 10 speed 60,000+lbs 40+ft long ) i start out in 2nd run that untill it winds ALL the way out then go to 5th then 7th then 9th and if traffic premits 10th . Now a cool thing is that as strong as the engine is going up range when you are stopping you can down shift all the way to about 2 mph .

oh and to realy blow your mind there is also a thing called a "Jake Brake " when you are stoping you can flip this little lever and the engine reverses compression , this saves on the brakes , is usefull on hills , and scares the shit out of unsuspecting folks with their windows rolled down!!!!
Ever hear an 18 wheeler pulling to a stop makeing that "GGGGRRRRRRRRRRR" sound , that is a jake brake .