How come women have to look at the gear stick?

[jaydee]

Watched Glen Ridges car show on the weekend, Carpoint.com or something and they had some blonde bird flogging a Lambo around a race track.

Every time she changed gears she had to take her eyes off the road look for the shifter, put her hand on it and then watch it go into gear before looking up again, why do women do this?

You see it all the time in car parks, they back out then stop, look down at the gear selector, move from R through N to D and then go (slowly).
Can't they just click it 2 positions and know its in D just like the 5,765,294 times before that they've done it. Maybe they're just checking in case some tricky mechanic moved the D. "Where is that little sucker, I know its along here somewhere?"

Anyway getting back to the Lambo, I bet the guys who lent her the car and watched the show were schitting bricks, as she had her eyes of the road for about 2 seconds at about 140-160kays, the corner would come up pretty fast, oops I gotta brake now, oops too late, giggle giggle.

: : :eclipsee_ :eclipsee_ :eclipsee_

See even this little guy can change gears without looking.

[rodderz]

Could of been the lambo gearbox, some of the shift gates are very close together, depending on the model

[DoreSlamR]

I remember giving a mate of mine a few driving lessons in my xf in high school, poor bugger nearly plowed it into a tree because he spent most the time staring at the gear stick! suffice to say he got his auto P's lol

[Christiaan]

that lambo was amazing. amazing.

[Mongoose]

lol, ive noticed that as well, my aunt cannot change gears without looking at the gearstick, no wonder shes always involved in crashes...

[Jayden]

I doubt she has driven enough lambos to have a feel for what gear shes putting it in, but yeah I know what you mean.

I drive an auto, but i still look at it, usually a long "im going to rip you out soon" glare cause it gets stuck all the time thx to the steering lock or something like that. lol.

[lukez]

I have found that the smoothest drivers in manuals are quite often young girls. Everytime I get into a manual with a bloke behind the wheel I usually end up with a headache but when a female is driving a manual i usually have to look at the gearstick myself to see that it is not an auto.

[duaned]

Originally Posted by jaydee

Watched Glen Ridges car show on the weekend, Carpoint.com or something and they had some blonde bird flogging a Lambo around a race track.

Every time she changed gears she had to take her eyes off the road look for the shifter, put her hand on it and then watch it go into gear before looking up again, why do women do this?

You see it all the time in car parks, they back out then stop, look down at the gear selector, move from R through N to D and then go (slowly).
Can't they just click it 2 positions and know its in D just like the 5,765,294 times before that they've done it. Maybe they're just checking in case some tricky mechanic moved the D. "Where is that little sucker, I know its along here somewhere?"

Anyway getting back to the Lambo, I bet the guys who lent her the car and watched the show were schitting bricks, as she had her eyes of the road for about 2 seconds at about 140-160kays, the corner would come up pretty fast, oops I gotta brake now, oops too late, giggle giggle.

: : :eclipsee_ :eclipsee_ :eclipsee_

See even this little guy can change gears without looking.

Well the reason is pretty darn obvious really, she doesn't want to break her nails! LOL

[Nashy86]

Originally Posted by lukez

I have found that the smoothest drivers in manuals are quite often young girls. Everytime I get into a manual with a bloke behind the wheel I usually end up with a headache but when a female is driving a manual i usually have to look at the gearstick myself to see that it is not an auto.

I reckon thats a lot to do with the car. The clutch in my mrs's corolla is so soft and easy that it actually takes effort to do rough shift, its very forgiving because 90% of the pedal travel is utillised to activate the clutch with very little dead travel.
My EB on the other hand, standing on the clutch likes standing on a brick sitting on your front lawn, bloody solid and doesn't want to sink, and it has a much smaller section of pedal travel where its actually engaging the clutch, the rest is really dead travel, so if you dont know exactly where that little bit of travel is that engages the clutch, or you mis-judge it, then it can be a rough ride.

99.9% of the young girls i know (and i'm only 20 so i know a few in my age group) drive corollas or similar cars, not big ol' falcons

[Powdered Toast Man]

I look at my auto shifter when putting it in gear. I must be a girl. (Due to the wonder of the internet I could be but I'm actually not so this joke doesn't really work lol)

I havent driven a manual in ages but I do remember it takes a little time to get used to it so that you don't look each time. Dunno if I would be doing it while doing high speed though, I'd be too worried about whats coming up in front of me to look around too much.

[4.9 EF Futura]

Originally Posted by jaydee

Watched Glen Ridges car show on the weekend, Carpoint.com or something and they had some blonde bird flogging a Lambo around a race track.

Every time she changed gears she had to take her eyes off the road look for the shifter, put her hand on it and then watch it go into gear before looking up again, why do women do this?

You see it all the time in car parks, they back out then stop, look down at the gear selector, move from R through N to D and then go (slowly).
Can't they just click it 2 positions and know its in D just like the 5,765,294 times before that they've done it. Maybe they're just checking in case some tricky mechanic moved the D. "Where is that little sucker, I know its along here somewhere?"

Anyway getting back to the Lambo, I bet the guys who lent her the car and watched the show were schitting bricks, as she had her eyes of the road for about 2 seconds at about 140-160kays, the corner would come up pretty fast, oops I gotta brake now, oops too late, giggle giggle.

: : :eclipsee_ :eclipsee_ :eclipsee_

See even this little guy can change gears without looking.

We'll throw you in someone elses million dollar supercar and im sure you'll be a natural?

That aint no crappy "slap me around T5 style" Falcon gearbox in that thing. Might actually require some conscious thought to change properly... and is probably VERY easy to get it wrong (and probably feels and sounds very nasty when this happens).

Lambos arent particularly well known for being "easy" cars to drive!!

[Polyal]

Yeap IIRC they have a "fixed" gate (metal bracket so there is no room for movement). So you have to be very precise, and add to that the closeness of the gear positions it would be tough for someone not used to it.

[XCSEDAN]

i'v noticed she does that a lot...
not just with the lambo but even with other simple cars....
my mum needs to look at the shifter when she's changing gears, and she always short shifts umm wtf... my older sister is GETTING better but still far from good.

i find women usually shift better because they ride the clutch on upshifts, which absolutly fries the clutch in the long run...

[apolloxbgt]

This all seems pretty genralised.My missus would fall into the younger girl group,and she'd out drive 3 quarters of the keyboard jockeys on here (me included).

Saying girls have to look at gears to change is like saying young blokes are hoons.The good would outnumber the bad,but the bad ones give all the others a bad rep.

[fordxrtfan]

Originally Posted by apolloxbgt

Saying girls have to look at gears to change is like saying young blokes are hoons.The good would outnumber the bad,but the bad ones give all the others a bad rep.

Have to agree with you apolloxbgt!

[Falcon_Phill]

Would you want to put a Lamborghini in the wrong gear?

[Steffo]

I wouldn't say the car is at fault at all. Anyone who's driven a manual shouldn't have a problem doing it. When I drove a Ferrari F355, 6-spd manual w/gated shifter... it wasn't hard to find gears at all. In fact, its IMO, easier and better then in a normal car. Short, snappy, good feeling shifts with the shifter placed right where you'd want it. I'd imagine a Lamborghini to be much the same, unless they strive to make their cars extremley difficult to drive.

No, I place 100% fault with the driver in that scenario.

[GXL078]

My mum's last car was a column shift manual XD. I can't remember if she looked at the shifter or not but it would have been right in front of her.

[robjh80]

Her names Samantha Stevens and she can stare at my "shifter" any time she likes.....

[XCSEDAN]

Originally Posted by robjh80

Her names Samantha Stevens and she can stare at my "shifter" any time she likes.....

she is damn hot!
i forgive her.. lol

[Dezza]

As others have said, it may be because of the shift gate, but if you have to look at the gearstick in an average cheaper car, you really need to improve your driving. When I first got my L-plates, I usually looked down at the gearstick when I changed gears, but one of the first things Dad taught me behind the wheel was not to do that, and just go by feel. That's now what I do.

[ratman]

Originally Posted by Falcon_Phill

Would you want to put a Lamborghini in the wrong gear?

No, but I do remember a certain well known female automotive reporter test driving the Jag XJ220 a few years a go, not a pretty site when it was downchanged from 5th to 1st at high speed - 52,000 pounds worth of gearbox carnage, so I guess it can happen to the semi-professionals.

[Chilla]

how would samantha and all her blonde mates go driving a model T. No gear lever in sight. All done with pedals and the handbrake lever?

[Addz08]

Most of them don,t look backwards when reversing too...

[HSVETAR]

Originally Posted by ratman

No, but I do remember a certain well known female automotive reporter test driving the Jag XJ220 a few years a go, not a pretty site when it was downchanged from 5th to 1st at high speed - 52,000 pounds worth of gearbox carnage, so I guess it can happen to the semi-professionals.

Oooo... Ouch..... Not be cheap....

[Racecraft]

pen is envy?

[brad graham]

the main drama here, that you all are overlooking is what the hell is glen ridge doin on a car show whats next john howard doin porn

[Falc'man]

Originally Posted by brad graham

the main drama here, that you all are overlooking is what the hell is glen ridge doin on a car show whats next john howard doin porn

He's a car enthusiast and he's been doing that show for ages.

I've gotta say, when I read that thread title, I was thinking you were talking bout something else... gotta get myself out of the gutter.

[Hillzy888]

I've seen Glen Ridge in his XY GT driving at the Classic Adelaide... man that thing goes! As for Samantha, she's hot but I'd rather watch a pro test drive a Lambo. She can test drive a Kia around the Coles carpark lol

[robjh80]

Here's an interesting video from the show of Samantha taking a look inside Ford Performance Vehicles.

http://thecarshow.carpoint.com.au/Po.../videos/66.htm