[wdb]

My wife and I are both of the manual transmission generation, i.e. if you were going to learn to drive you HAD TO learn to drive a manual. From there we took different paths.

These days she can get behind the wheel of our new-to-us E93 6-speed MT and drive it as though she had just pushed a clutch pedal yesterday, which she had not -- probably more like 1,000 yesterdays, and even then due to rare sessions behind the wheel of one of my various toys. She knows how, innately, due to her training. But she doesn't care. It's just something she does to make the thing go so she can get to where she's going.

I on the other hand am just beginning to understand and appreciate just how much I've missed daily driving a manual. I've taken on the E93 as my 3-season daily this year. It's been about 10 years since I daily drove a manual, and about 25 years since I daily drove a manual in an engaging, sporting, driver-focused vehicle.

It's been a bit of a revelation.

Okay, so I learned to drive a clutch. Then I drove a bunch of cars -- and trucks -- that not only had clutches but also DEMANDED that one understand and appreciate how manual transmissions worked, how gears meshed and changed and did their duty. Second gear synchros were perennial failing points, and a fair number of gearboxes had no synchro in first. Double clutching wasn't just cute, it was almost a necessity.

Mind you, I was a gearhead from a very very early age. I steered a 1950 Studebaker while sitting in my dad's lap. I reveled in learning the nuances of easing a TR3 into first on a slow roll. I shifted my 850 Mini with my foot. I shifted my friend's Mini with my foot while he drove! I drove medium duty trucks 50 miles with failed clutch mechanisms; the clutch was essentially permanently engaged, and my job was to get them back to the shop for repair. During the 70's gas crises I hypermiled our Saab 95 wagon with its 4-on-the-tree and its clever little freewheel. So let's just say that, by current standards, I'm not normal.

But life happened, and family happened, and commuting became a major component of daily survival, and a few slushboxes snuck in there. They were a pleasant relief, I won't lie. I still have a very soft spot for our GS350; get in, make it go, get out when you get there, essentially unaffected by the intervening miles. Nice. Pretty darned nice in fact. Then there is the Taco and towing trailers, and let's face it towing with a manual is really just a d**k measuring contest. So I appreciate automatics. I own them and likely always will.

Back to the present, daily driving the E93. Even though it's a manual it's a far, far cry from those TR3 days. Want a gear? Just push the lever into the appropriate location. Even so I find myself becoming much more engaged in the act of operating a motor vehicle. I have to pay attention to the grade of the road when I stop. I have to think ahead when executing a pass (it's a 328, so not exactly a cannon under the right foot). Plus I still double clutch. Pretty much every shift, even upshifts if the gearbox oil is still cold. Call me sensitive.

And I find myself remembering what it was like back then. When driving was a thing in and of itself, and mastery of the machine with which one got places was essential to getting there. Last weekend we traveled 50 miles in each direction on unknown, twisty, windy roads, to get to and from a destination. I found myself becoming one with the machine again. I know that's a cliche, and I do it regularly in my meaner machines; but this was just a day drive, a relaxed and relaxing cruise to get somewhere and back. During the drive I found myself deeply engaged in the simple act of driving. It was because I had to shift the gears. It was a pleasure.

"Save the manual" rings true in my ears, dare I say in my soul. But I sure do see how it might not resonate at all with a lot of folks younger than me, with different experiences than mine. And I plan to spend some quality time with a proper DCT. So there it is.