My 1975 F100 was actually considered a Step Side, but the newer ones are considered a Flare side, Step Side is now a GM name so of course Ford won't use it.
Although running on the Track would definitely cut the mileage back, the way the newer vehicles run running hard for a 1/4 mile at a time although would bring the average MPG down, the trip from the Freeway to the track would most certainly hurt the mileage worse.
BTW Jaimie, the F100 would have beat you also, it was running low 11"s in the 1/4 mile

 

I thought "Step Side" was always a Chevy thing. And the full bed, smooth sided models were known as the Fleet Side.
I had a friend that had a '66 Step Side. I"m pretty sure it said Step Side (Or perhaps Stepside. I don"t truly remember) on boths sides of the hood with the C10 badging.
*What have I started here?*

 

I rented an automatic once. Same exact car as mine and everything down to year model and color and everything... just an auto instead of my 5 speed.

I'm glad I originally chose to buy one with a 5 speed.

 

a talk about ford and chevy truicks on a mazda forum. OKAY "oh ya well my b3300 will kill you in a race" lol. my buddy tried that against a ford f-150 and got his *** handed too him lol. okay so basically what i need to do is buy a mazdaspeed3 then i shall win. and use half the gas doing it

 

+1 rich. there is no mazda3 that does not come in a standard. in fact its an option to get a 4spd automatic which runs well in canada about 1100. whoever told you that you can only get that car in an autotragic only is a retard because im assuming they told you that there was none so that they could get the car off the lot. i own a 5 spd standard in my mazda3 and i had a rental mazda3 that was an automatic. there is no comparison, the automatic does not do anything that the standard ever could whoever told you this needs to get his head examined.

 

There's nothing like a manual transmission. Take from someone who drives an AUTOMATIC every day. No matter how far DSG's have come and will eventually go, they can't rival the feeling of a 5/6-speed.

We aren't trying to "prove" anything by driving sticks...aside from the fact that we are legitimate enthusiasts. And if you want to talk about boy racer mentality, here's a "boy racer" example for you: the first manual I ever drove was a 6 speed EVO IX MR, with a lightweight RACE clutch. Now if I put time and effort into learning that, shouldn't I be able to say I really love cars and driving?

I personally can't understand anyone who says they love automatics all of the time. They just simply don't like driving. In the city, yeah...I appreciate my auto. But I would be willing to live in/plan to move to a place to where "city" driving is minimized in order to enjoy driving.

Don't be indignant about modifications either. A car is like anything else you can own, in the respect that your personal touches are not only nicely accentuating, but make it your own.

You just don't understand.

 

one more thing id like to add. is that granted it sucks driving a standard if your driving back and forth in traffic but for those days where your on a back country road or on the open road not worrying its purely amazing. automatic is basically for a person who either drives in traffic constantly and thats it, or for people who dont give a crap about driving.
Either you"ve never driven a standard or you"d appreciate it. i drive a standard every day for the last year and a half and never regretted it. you think that standard is just for competition driving, no its what REAL DRIVING is all about. and paddle shifting is stupid. its not a standard. unless you have that gearbox in your car and a clutch its not a standard. i drive in the real world and i would never trade my standard in for an automatic if my life depended on it. drive a standard. youll understand what we mean.

 

Since my Go Fast Vehicle has an Automatic in it, and the 1 with the manual was bought to get better mileage the OP's logic is completely askew.
The Mazda5 above the S trim doesn"t have a Manual, the Mazda 6 with the V6 doesn"t have a Manual, neither the CX7 or CX9 have a manual option, but the little Ole Mazda 3 the Automatic is still an option in all trim levels except for the MazdaSpeed 3 (6 Speed Manual only).

 

thats a granted ken but what this guy is saying that you only should have a standard for racing and automatic for real life driving. do you know that more people drive standard's then automatic, they are cheaper, they are better on gas and they are soo much fun to drive.

 

I have been resisting commenting on this thread because automatic bigots seem either to "not get it", or are "afraid to try", or are "insecure about the choice they made and are trying to convince themselves they made the best decision by trying to convince others that the automatic is the best (for any number of reasons)". Well, whatever...

Prior to 1977 I drove nothing but automatic equipped cars. Why? Because all of the cars I could afford happened to have automatic transmissions. In June of 1977 I bought my first car with a stick (a 1970 Dodge Challenger). From the parking spot in front of the house that I bought it from, I popped it in neutral, rolled it down the hill to a Pep Boys parking lot, and practiced with the clutch for a half of an hour or so. I never looked back.

From 1977 to 2005 I drove exclusively manual transmission equipped cars, and lest you think I lived in BFE and never saw any traffic, think otherwise. During those years I lived in San Diego, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Detroit, San Jose, Chicago, New York, and Boston, all of which are well known for their heavy traffic.

In 2005 I was forced once again due to economic conditions to start driving our old "spare" car, which happened to have an automatic transmission. The next three and a half years were mind numbingly boring from a driving perspective, and I found myself counting the days until I could justify another car with a stick.

In November of 2008 I was effectively forced to either buy a new car or invest an easy $2,000 to refresh the old one (not to mention lots of my time under it or in the engine bay), and so a fresh new Mazda3 i Touring 5-Speed found its way into my garage. Geez, in spite of some significant weather related, rush-hour related, and accident related traffic encountered in the 5,000 miles I've driven in the last two months, I have not missed the automatic transmission for even a minute. On the contrary, I thank my lucky stars that I finally have full control over my drivetrain (something that even a DSG cannot offer).