History Main / DrivingStick

* ''WesternAnimation/WreckItRalph'': The racing karts in ''Sugar Rush'' are stick-shift. As a result, Vanellope has a bit of trouble at first when doing practice runs with Ralph on a custom track in Diet Cola Mountain. The cars seen in ''Slaighter Race in [[WesternAnimation/RalphBreaksTheInternet the sequel]] are also stick-shift; with Shank pulling off a heel-toe maneuver during the ChaseScene between her and Vanellope.

* Inverted in ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'': when [[TheDitz Caboose]] is asked if he can drive, he replies that he can only drive stick, not automatic. Washington starts to ask how that even makes sense, before deciding to just roll with it because they're in a hurry.[[note]]Some drivers who "grew up" on the stick are extremely irritated by the automatic shifting patterns and the fact that they cannot control it. It could even make driving an automatic by all intents impossible for them. To say nothing of [[DamnYouMuscleMemory accidental left-foot braking]].[[/note]]

* Unlike the [[Film/TheFastAndTheFurious film series]] it's based on, ''WesternAnimation/FastAndFuriousSpyRacers'' tones down the use of standard transmission vehicles; with only Leyla's car being shown overtly as a stick. Some minor vehicles like the buggies in the ''Sahara'' season are also standard shifters, and a minor plot point in the third episode of that season is that the resident TeenGenius Frostee has to be taught ''how to drive'' using one of the buggies by Cisco during a chase with a gang. Also unlike the films, the shifting is, for the most part anyways, portrayed with more realism[[labelnote:*]]likely due to the show's animation being outsourced to India, as stick shift cars are prevalent over there[[/labelnote]].
* Season 1's "The Lucky Cat Caper'' in ''WesternAnimation/CarmenSandiego'' has Tigress steal a guy's sports car to escape Carmen. Not only is it shown to be a stick, but she also manages to successfully pull off a complex heel-and-toe drift wearing her usual heeled boots.

* ''WesternAnimation/WreckItRalph'': The racing karts in ''Sugar Rush'' are stick-shift. As a result, Vanellope has a bit of trouble at first when doing practice runs with Ralph on a custom track in Diet Cola Mountain.

** In Season 6, the manual transmission challenge was to balance a car on a teeter-totter. While some did well, even some contestants who ''already owned cars with sticks'' had issues. Even worse, ''every single car'' they had brought out for this challenge got its transmission damaged by a contestant, meaning that the final contestant wasn't even able to have a turn!

* ''Series/{{Fame}}'': The Episode "Street Kid" has Ms Sherwood giving Mister Shorofsky driving lessons, but she only knows how to drive an automatic and the classic car he bought turns out to have a four speed manual transmission meaning that all her lessons were useless because neither of can drive it at all.

** Similar problems are experienced by Lisa in the first season of [=IRT=] Deadliest Roads. The first-second shift is a dogleg.

* Inverted in ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'': when [[TheDitz Caboose]] is asked if he can drive, he replies that he can only drive stick, not automatic. Washington starts to ask how that even makes sense, before deciding to just roll with it because they're in a hurry.[[note]]Some drivers who "grew up" on the stick are extremely irritated by the automatic shifting patterns and the fact that they cannot control it. It could even made driving on automatic by all intents impossible for them. To say nothing of [[DamnYouMuscleMemory accidental left-foot braking]].[[/note]]

** In one episode, Mordecai and Rigby barrow Pops' car. Pops asks if Mordecai knows how to drive stick, which he does. Mordecai does ask what the ''second stick shift'' is for.[[note]]Some cars actually ''do'' have two "stick shifts", the second one usually being a much simpler forward or back pattern and controlling either 4WD versus 2WD or "overdrive" vs. "normal". They're usually labelled pretty clearly, though.[[/note]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'', Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy's invisible boatmobile is a standard. While jumping into the car, Barnacle Boy accidentally sits on the gear shift.

* On ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'', Lars' friends are being eaten by a magical moss, [[ItMakesSenseInContext and the only way to stop it is to get it up a hill so the sun will shine on it]]. Unfortunately, their car has a stick shift, and Lars doesn't know how to use it, so Steven handles the stick (poorly) while Lars drives.
* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/WhatsNewScoobyDoo'' where the gang goes to Italy, Fred has to drive a stick shift and confidently claims he'll have no trouble despite the others' misgivings because he "saw it in the movies". His subsequent jerky driving proves otherwise, forcing them to switch driving duties over to Daphne offscreen. This becomes a franchise-wide RunningGag of sorts later on, with Fred similarly being incapable of driving stick in ''WesternAnimation/BeCoolScoobyDoo'' and ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooAndTheCurseOfThe13thGhost''.

* Several characters from the ''Film/TheFastAndTheFurious'' series like to give entire lectures about shifting technique. Also, the movies make a point of using ''[[MundaneMadeAwesome badass shifting]]''. At least one of the lectures is either [[CriticalResearchFailure horribly wrong]] or possibly [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation an effort to sabotage another character's driving techniques.]]

** Taken UpToEleven by American car thieves who had to abandon manual cars because there was no lever on the steering column where they expected it, and in what little time they had to get away, they didn't remember where else to look.

** The topic would become a bit of a RunningGag not long after, with similar jokes in the ''Film/WarOfTheColossalBeast'', ''Film/ItConqueredTheWorld'', ''Film/FireMaidensFromOuterSpace''[[note]]with a spaceship, no less[[/note]] and ''[[Series/GeminiMan Riding With Death]]'' episodes, among other examples.

* An InUniverse version in ''Film/TheSpyWhoLovedMe''. KGB agent Anya Amasova is hilariously inept behind the wheel of a manual transmission truck, which makes escape from Jaws difficult. Apparently, this was down to Creator/BarbaraBach herself being unable to operate the gears properly. The quips made by Creator/RogerMoore are all unscripted.

* In ''Film/TheSpyWhoDumpedMe'' two American young women in Europe try to carjack a Jaguar, but have to abandon it after it turns out neither can drive stick.[[/folder]]

* In the ''Series/{{NCIS}}'' episode "Kill Ari (2)", Ducky's former assistant Gerald, held hostage by Ari until Ducky swaps places with him, dashes for Ducky's Morgan, and attempts to drive away. Gears grind, and the car lurches forward several times. Ultimately Ari takes pity on Ducky and they swap cars, allowing Gerald to drive off in his own automatic.

* The gearing systems of large trucks are very different from those of cars. Where cars rarely have more than 5 speeds, trucks have 8, 10, 12 or even more. The stick often has a range switch or, on very old trucks, a second gear shift. It is possible to float gears on a truck, but only with a lot of practice. Finally most large trucks have a clutch brake that engages when the clutch is released and the gearbox is in neutral in order to slow down the spinning of the gears. All this adds up to a situation where it is actually more difficult to learn how to drive a semi-truck manual if you have experience with a car's manual since you must unlearn what you have learned.

* One thing to really watch out for is [[FanNickname "The Money Shift".]] If you take your manual car racing, this can happen with poor shifting technique, by attempting to shift from third-gear to fourth, only to hit second-gear instead sending the [[ExplosiveOverclocking engine well past the redline.]] This usually results in a severe engine failure, due to damage such as pistons crashing into the valves, and/or engine bearings being grossly over-loaded. It's called the "money shift" due to how expensive this mistake can be. This can also cause the driven wheels to lock. Anti-lock brake systems do not help in this case - it's not the brakes, but the engine which is braking the car. A car can easily spin out of control that way. A motorcycle will react even more unpleasantly. Back-handed shifting from third to fourth can greatly reduce the risk of this costly error.\\

For the most part this is a [[{{Eagleland}} US-only]] trope, as automatic transmissions are very widespread in the US and Canada, but aren't as popular elsewhere.[[note]]Manual transmissions tend to be more fuel-efficient, cars are generally smaller where a manual transmission is better suited to extract power from less powerful engines, and gasoline is ''way'' more expensive in other countries than in North America. Even with automatics becoming more fuel-efficient, they're still more expensive to buy and maintain. In Latin America, even though automatic transmissions are more widespread than in the rest of the world, manual transmission is still considered the "good" transmission, and it is socially unacceptable to not be able to drive a manual transmission car.[[/note]] Another reason for it being uncommon in European shows is that most countries require a different class of license to drive a manual - if you take your test on an automatic, that's all you'll be legally driving. This system is also used in Japan, even though automatics are even more dominant there than in North America. In many other countries around the globe, the law even states that driver's education ''must'' be given on a manual transmission car. It should be also noted that people accustomed to a manual transmission can [[DamnYouMuscleMemory still have a hard time getting used to a car with a different gear layout]], especially with the reverse that may or may not require pushing the lever down or rising a retainer ring up before shifting.

* ''VideoGame/Sly2BandOfThieves''. Bentley has ... difficulties driving the team van, a manual transmission.
** Though the player finds out a level later Murray has never let him drive before. When one considers they'd ''never'' been separated before [[spoiler:Sly and Murray being arrested]], one wonders if he could drive at all before that.

* The ''VideoGame/WanganMidnight Maximum Tune'' arcade games have manual transmission controls (with a six speed shifter and slotted gate), but no clutch (though fully automatic is an option).
* In a [[DuelingGames similar vein]], the ''Manga/InitialD Arcade Stage'' arcade games have options for both automatic and manual transmissions, although the ''Initial D'' cabinets before ''Zero'' use an up-down slap shifter instead of a full stick. In both cases, players may find themselves [[DamnYouMuscleMemory reaching with the wrong hand]] as the import-only and export arcade cabinets will often have the shifter on different sides compared to an actual (local market) car.
* The latest ''VideoGame/BattleGear'' arcade games have options for fully manual transmission with clutch as well.

* In ''VideoGame/DaytonaUSA'', the shifter is often used to manipulate ''powersliding'', and provides better control than the "tap the brake" method. However, ''Daytona USA 2'' discourages this; unless you're using the [[GuestFighter Hornet]], shifting to slide will just cause you to spin out.

* ''Videogame/EuroTruckSimulator'' ups the ante by featuring {{Big Badass Rig}}s with ''twelve'' speed gearboxes mated to engines that barely rev to 2500 RPM and can't get past 25kph until they're in 6th gear. Driving with the manual transmission option on an H-pattern shifter necessitates either a ''second'' shifter for gears 7-12, or a button to flip the single shifter between 1-6 and 7-12, or fitting into your truck a 6-gear aftermarket transmission along with a superpowered engine that can compensate the massive gear ratio drops. The [[GameMod multiplayer mod]] allows experienced drivers to laugh (or curse) at greenhorns who are struggling to find the right gear for going up a hill while carrying a load. Driving stick allows truckers to find the [[HardModePerks perfect gear for slopes, shift in anticipation of road conditions, and engine brake]].
** The sequel/spinoff ''Videogame/AmericanTruckSimulator'' features ''eighteen'' speed gearboxes on the American-style rigs, and even drove development of a replica Eaton Fuller 18-speed shifter grip that can be attached to most H-gate shifter controls, with a gear range control switch in front and a splitter control switch on the side. Those two switches are what shift a 6-gated shifter into an 18-speed one. Just keep in mind that reverse is top-left on Eaton Fuller transmissions, should you be used to having it on bottom-right.

* The early Creator/{{Activision}} video game ''Dragster'' for the UsefulNotes/Atari2600 had this as its main game mechanic: getting the best times in the drag race requires knowing when to pop the clutch and shift gears.
* As part of the torments inflicted on Samuel in ''VideoGame/ManualSamuel'', Death switches out his automatic transmission for a stick shift. He gives Samuel a quick run-through on how (and when) to change gears, but trying to keep up with working a manual transmission while ''also'' maintaining all the other tasks you need to track is an absolute chore.

* In ''Film/PrettyWoman'', at the beginning of the film Richard Gere's character leaves a party in a Lotus sports car, and clearly has trouble with the shifter (making a lot of the sickening grinding noises). When he meets Julia Robert's character, after observing him she takes the wheel and has no trouble driving.

* ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'': J.D. accidentally destroys a parked car with a monster truck -- he puts this down to the fact that "It's been a while since I drove shift!"
* ''Series/LastOfTheSummerWine'':
** Inverted in one episode where the already reluctant driver Clegg is terrified at the prospect of driving an ''automatic''.
** Also played straight in a running joke about Edie's bad driving. Half the time she blames "this stupid stick thing", and the other half "it's because [[BunglingInventor your father]] keeps moving the pedals around!"

* Captain Kirk, in the ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' episode "A Piece of the Action", though it's doubtful he'd have done any better had it been automatic. (He's from the future and has probably never had to drive a car.)
* ''Series/TopGear'''s Star in a Reasonably Priced Car segment fits this trope, when Americans appear as the guest.
** Jeremy Clarkson to American comedian Rich Hall (he's done some comedy singing before) before they showed the video of Hall driving the lap: "You can drive a stick shift car?" Rich Hall: "I can now"
** Of course, being a British show, even Americans who can drive stick have problems because [[DamnYouMuscleMemory the lever's on the wrong side]].
** Lionel Ritchie, a notable exception who was doing well until [[spoiler:the driver side front wheel came away from the car at full speed]]. It happened on the first corner, so there wasn't much shifting going on yet. On his full run he drove nicely, but shifted messily, leading Jeremy to say, "apart from the gear changing, this is extremely good."
** British example, Christopher Eccleston was only going to go round the track in an automatic, as he only passed his test a few weeks previous, in an automatic. The automatic car that they crew tracked down was one of ''only two'' of that specific model in the entirety of the UK.
** After the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcqosgLUz9I "Masters of the Universe"]] race:
--->'''[[Series/DoctorWho Colin Baker (Sixth Doctor)]]:''' For an automatic, it was very noisy, I have to say that.\\
'''Jeremy Clarkson:''' Er... It wasn't an automatic.\\
'''Colin Baker:''' Oh, wasn't it? ''That's'' why it was so noisy.
** When Creator/DavidTennant did the track, he actually broke third gear due to some overeager shifting.
--->'''Tennant:''' Third gear, come on! ''[grunts]''\\
'''Clarkson:''' '''NO! FOURTH THROUGH THERE!!'''
** David Soul (the American actor who played [[Series/StarskyAndHutch Hutch]]) broke ''two'' gearboxes because "the stick shift confused him" as Clarkson put it in [=S3E4=].
** "...change gear, [[CrossesTheLineTwice murder a prostitute]], clutch, change gear..."
** Subverted by the Aston Martin [=DB7 GT=], which went from a standstill to over a hundred ''in one gear'' (fourth).
** Subverted again (and harder) by the Corvette Z06, which went from a standstill to 175 mph all in fifth gear.
** When Jeff Goldblum was the star in a reasonably priced car he kept complaining during portions of his lap that he wished he'd had ''more car'', these being the parts most guests take in fourth gear while Jeff (on advice from the Stig) drove the whole lap in third because he doesn't know how to drive stick.
** Amusingly, [[UsefulNotes/FormulaOne Rubens Barricello]], of all people, had at one point trouble shifting during his run on the Reasonably Priced Car (during the interview, he admitted that his personal car was one with Paddle Shifters and subsequently got used to it). Still, [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome that didn't stop him from beating the Stig's time]].
** Jeremy himself fell victim to this, when he discovered that the lorry he purchased for the Burma Special lacked a synchromesh.
** James didn't get away from this either. In a challenge where the guys all bought German saloon cars, he bought a Mercedes with a "dog-leg" gearbox. Imagine a layout like a normal gearbox, but going from left to right, instead of the upper-left-hand corner being first gear, it's reverse. [[HilarityEnsues Guess what happens.]]
* On ''Series/SexAndTheCity'' Carrie rents a car with a stick shift even though she never learned how to drive anything but automatic. She explains to Miranda and Samantha that "''This car went with my outfit.''"

* In the ''Series/{{NCIS}}'' episode "Kill Ari (2)", Ducky's former assistant Gerald, held hostage by Ari until Ducky swaps places with him, dashes for Ducky's Morgan, and attempts to drive away. Gears grind, and the car lurches forward several times. Ultimately Ari takes pity on Ducky and they swap cars, allowing Gerald to drive off in his own automatic.
-->'''Ducky:''' Use the clutch. Good God man! USE the CLUTCH! ''[almost crying]'' You're stripping the gears!\\
'''Ari:''' This is too painful, Doctor.
* ''Series/IceRoadTruckers'':
** Season three has two of the Canadian drivers from previous seasons come to Alaska to drive on the Dalton Ice Road. One of them has driven trucks most his life but the truck he is driving has an unfamiliar transmission setup and in the beginning he keeps shifting to the wrong gear. Considering they are driving over steep hills and along winding mountain roads covered in ice, shifting to the wrong gear could cause the truck to lose traction and go off the road. If that happens in the wrong spot, it can be deadly.
** Similar problems are experienced by Lisa in the first season of [=IRT=] Deadliest Roads. The first-second shift is a dogleg.
* ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'':
** Used in ''Film/PodPeople''. A car is driving slowly and jerkily. Crow's comment is a disgruntled "You don't know how to drive a stick, do you?"
** The topic would become a bit of a RunningGag not long after, with similar jokes in the ''Film/WarOfTheColossalBeast'', ''Film/ItConqueredTheWorld'', ''Film/FireMaidensFromOuterSpace''[[note]]with a spaceship, no less[[/note]] and ''[[Series/GeminiMan Riding With Death]]'' episodes, among other examples.
* Used on ''Series/{{Voyagers}}'', with Jeffrey knowing more about how to use a clutch than Bogg.

* A recurring problem in ''Series/TimeTrax'' is that the main character is totally incapable of driving a stick shift. This is due to his being from 200 years in the future, when all cars are automatics.
* In the ''Series/{{Psych}}'' episode "No Country for Two Old Men", Juliette's father is so scared of the stick shift on what ''would'' have been his and Henry Spencer's getaway car that the two have to trade places. And, as Henry points out, this is ''after'' having successfully flown a plane ''and'' executed a perfect landing despite having no flying experience.
* In the Season 6 finale of ''Series/{{Mad Men}}'', Pete loses the coveted Chevrolet account (and accordingly the chance to run SCP's Detroit office) because he can't drive stick, and wipes out a Chevy showroom.
* ''Series/BrooklynNineNine'':
** When Amy and Jake have a bet going where the prize is Jake's car (a classic Mustang), Amy claims that if she'd won, she would've used the car to learn to drive stick.
--->'''Amy:''' It would've been like ''[makes screechy sounds]''\\
''[Jake groans]''
** In a later episode, Gina and Holt "borrow" a truck to rescue the others... except Gina can't drive stick and Holt has an injured leg. Cue Holt driving from the passenger seat while Gina pushes the pedals.
* ''Series/{{ER}}''. The dying Mark Greene teaches his daughter Rachel to drive. She complains the entire time, but he insists that it's better to learn how to drive a stick shift first. As the scene ends, she gets the hang of it.

* In ''Series/TheWalkingDead'' Daryl is shown grinding gears trying to drive a manual transmission light truck. Daryl is a 40-year-old backwoods Georgia biker who can build his own motorcycle, so you'd think he could drive stick.

* ''Series/{{Fame}}'': The Episode "Street Kid" has Ms Sherwood giving Mister Shorofsky driving lessons, but she only knows how to drive an automatic and the classic car he bought turns out to have a four speed manual transmission meaning that all her lessons were useless because neither of can drive it at all.
* A ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' sketch parodied heist films with a scenario of a heist team boosting an expensive Lamborghini. The wheelman was stymied by the car's manual transmission.

* A ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' sketch parodied heist films with a scenario of a heist team boosting an expensive Ferrari. The wheelman was stymied by the car's manual transmission.

* ''Series/{{Fame}}'': The Episode "Street Kid" has Ms Sherman giving Mister Shorofsky driving lessons, but she only knows how to drive an automatic and the classic car he bought turns out to have a four speed manual transmission meaning that all her lessons were useless because neither of can drive it at all.

* ''Series/{{Fame}}'': The Episode "Street Kid" has Ms Sherwood giving Mister Shorofsky driving lessons, but she only knows how to drive an automatic and the classic car he bought turns out to have a four speed manual transmission meaning that all her lessons were useless because neither of can drive it at all.

* The spaceship in ''Series/DansUneGalaxiePrèsDeChezVous'' has a manual transmission. Only the pilot and the android can pilot it well, the captain and the radar operator can do the basics, the other crewmembers almost crashed the ship when no one else was around and the scientist can only drive an automatic lawnmower.

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/WhatsNewScoobyDoo'' where the gang goes to Italy, Fred has to drive a stick shift and confidently claims he'll have no trouble despite the others' misgivings. His subsequent jerky driving proves otherwise.