From a BMW blog...What's really killing the manual transmission?

[Kalispel]

Originally Posted by nookandcrannycar

Yep. The brakes on my '07.....not very worn at all in 300,125 miles. Trini got, IIRC, got 448,000 miles out of his originals (lots of freeway driving...but one can see from his videos that he drives his Yaris pretty hard), and I think yaris9876 just replaced his originals (or plans to do so soon) at 500,000 miles.

I'm a people watcher, and I notice every morning that most drivers speed up to every red light and then hit the brakes at the last moment every time. When the light turns green, they gun it and take off like they are being chased by the police - all the way to the next red light.

When I see that the light is red down the road, I let my foot off the gas accordingly, and the light usually turns green before I ever get to it. It saves wear and tear on both my brakes and my clutch, and just seems like a smart/safe way to drive. People behind me, however, seem to get mad or impatient, even though the light is clearly red ahead, and often pass me in the other lane and speed up to the red light just to stop and wait.

A lot of people also seem to get annoyed/angry that I casually drive the speed limit (or no more than +5 mph), even though I stay in the right-most "slow" lane while on multi-lane roads. I'm never in a hurry, and always give myself proper time to get to my destinations. Sorry that you are running late and don't allocate your time properly. Most human primates really crack me up.