Fed Up with Driving a Manual Transmission?

[Hogwash]

Why the fear of a CVT? They've been out for ages. The Prius has used one for over 20 years. The Corolla hatchback had a glitch early on a few of them. But I don't see some wide spread outbreak of issues.

Someone show me the numbers on CVT failure vs non CVT failure.

I think Nissan ruined many people's perception of CVTs a few years ago.

 

[2strokeNorthstar]

39 and daily drive a manual. I prefer it 90% of the time. I hate big cities / traffic more than a particular transmission. I try to avoid it. Autos often frustrate me with their constant mindless shifting and lugging.

 

[ecotourist]

Why the fear of a CVT? They've been out for ages. The Prius has used one for over 20 years.

The Prius doesn't have a CVT. It uses a planetary gear set which is quite different.

 

[wasted-time]

Maybe the OP would find an automatic with a shift-it-yourself mode, like FCA's AutoStick, to be a good compromise

 

[Hogwash]

The Prius doesn't have a CVT. It uses a planetary gear set which is quite different.

It's still considered a CVT. And semantics aside.....Toyota has several vehicles with CVTs, as do many auto makers.

I think there's a lot of Scotty Kilmers around here

 

[skyactiv]

My wife grew up in Brooklyn/NYC and her first car was a Toyota with a stick
She has never owned a vehicle with an automatic

 

[ecotourist]

It's still considered a CVT. And semantics...Toyota has several vehicles with CVTs, as do many auto makers.

Toyota does have a number of vehicles that use CVTs. But a planetary gear set is completely different. Planetary gearsets involve gears rotating within rotating rings (which gives me a headache even thinking about how it must work) and does not use a belt running between 2 variable diameter pulleys like in a CVT.

Toyota developed and perfected the Prius powertrain in isolation. They were years ahead of any other manufacturer.

I've never heard of problems with the Prius planetary gear set so I don't understand why Toyota uses CVTs in other models. Maybe it's expensive to make.

 

[Chris142]

Yep, they are NOT fun in stop and go traffic, especially when going up a hill.

Apparantly you have never driven in Los Angelas traffic in a semi with a manual. Or even better an old 2 stick semi with no PS.

A car is a breeze.

 

[BHopkins]

I learned to drive with three on the tree in my father's truck. And four on the floor in my brother's Datsun 510. My first jobs were farm jobs. I got plenty of experience driving manual transmissions in old farm trucks. While I still have good memories of the fun that a manual can be, I also remember the experiences of driving in stop and go traffic with a manual.

For a long time there was good reason to buy a manual over an automatic. Automatic transmissions had a poor reliability track record, particularly in Japanese cars. It was all but guaranteed that an automatic transmission in a '70's and early '80's Japanese car would have to be repaired or replaced at about 60k miles.

But today, automatic transmissions are almost as reliable as a manual. And they have advanced so much, making them fun to drive alos. My personal opinion is that manual transmissions have become outdated. I have very little desire to go back to a manual.

 

[BHopkins]

Apparantly you have never driven in Los Angelas traffic in a semi with a manual. Or even better an old 2 stick semi with no PS.

A car is a breeze.

I can only imagine how fun that would have been.

Is a manual even offered any longer in semi trucks?

 

[Chris142]

I can only imagine how fun that would have been.

Is a manual even offered any longer in semi trucks?

Yes. 18 speeds seem to be the norm now.

 

[BHopkins]

Yes. 18 speeds seem to be the norm now.

the 18 speed that you say is now the norm - manual or automatic?

 

[02SE]

the 18 speed that you say is now the norm - manual or automatic?

Obviously he's referring to a manual.

 

[02SE]

We still have two four-wheeled vehicles with manual transmissions. A sposrtscoupe and a sportscar. They aren't daily drivers.

The Motorcycles are all manual transmissions.

I don't miss driving the class 8 trucks I owned.

 

[2EHA]

the 18 speed that you say is now the norm - manual or automatic?

18 speeds are manual. a lot of newer trucks are air shifted automatics. it’s easier to train people to drive a big truck with an auto.

manuals have completely disappeared from hot shot. i used to drive clapped out 6speed ram and ford duallys all over america and it was not fun. even if rowing gears becomes second nature it slowly drives you crazy

 

[csandste]

Had almost all manual transmissions, but the last one was a new '02 Elantra. It seems that automatics get better mpg's now. Sort of miss it, but automatics are certainly better than they were twenty years ago. Remember when five speed meant manual?

 

[01rangerxl]

Depends on the vehicle, but for my light truck daily drivers I really prefer an auto.

My first truck had a manual, then I just had autos for a while, then I got the manual itch again around 2014. I bought a 94 4x4 reg cab 4.0 Ranger with a manual. It was a fun truck every now and then, and fast, but it was terrible in heavy traffic and the transmission had some issues due to prior owner abuse. The M5OD tends to be put on a pedestal in the Ranger community, but I've really had much better service and reliability from the autos, from A4LD to 5R55E, they are all better than the M5OD in my experience.

In a sports car or performance car, manuals are great. They are overrated in trucks.

 

[Hogwash]

The Corolla hatchback is available in a 6 speed manual and the Corolla sedan has a manual in the SE/XSE trims.

 

[Chris142]

the 18 speed that you say is now the norm - manual or automatic?

Manual

 

[mightymousetech]

Why the fear of a CVT? They've been out for ages. The Prius has used one for over 20 years. The Corolla hatchback had a glitch early on a few of them. But I don't see some wide spread outbreak of issues.

Someone show me the numbers on CVT failure vs non CVT failure.

I think Nissan ruined many people's perception of CVTs a few years ago.

Because CVTs suck any enjoyment of driving out of a car. Might as well take the bus. I am 50 and all my cars are manual, luckily my wife only drives manual as well. I will continue to drive manuals until we go electric, which probably won’t be long now.