Originally Posted By: Oil Changer
Saying that a MT is not suitable for towing is ridiculous. You either have never done it or didn't do it right. The old Cummins Ram and Power Stroke Super Duty with the MT were awesome tow rigs. I had both and I miss them. I won't even bring up the big rigs with their transmissions...
Originally Posted By: BHopkins
Originally Posted By: fdcg27
Originally Posted By: hattaresguy
I hold CVT at about the same level as FWD. I'll never buy a vehicle with one.
Problem being that unless you'll settle for a pickup or are willing to spend some pretty long dollars, FWD is hard to avoid and CVTs may soon be as well.
You are spot on here. Sports cars, which have traditionally had a MT, are now going to dual clutch automatics, which are heavily computer controlled. Even BMW, who 20 years ago was known as being the holdout in stick shifts, with almost 70% of BMW's being built with a MT, now sells very few cars with a traditional MT.
Really, fewer pickups are being offered with a MT. Most people that buy a truck want it to be capable of towing. And the MT just isn't suited for towing.
Give it another 5 years, and I doubt you will be able to find a MT. It will all be CVT, dual clutch AT, or whatever is going in hybrids.
You're right. I haven't done a lot of towing myself. But, I do know that when I used to sell Chevy trucks, among all the items that were spec'd out when we ordered a truck with a towing package, an AT was included. If a guy wanted a MT in a truck that was going to be used for towing, we had to delete the towing package, and individually add back in the HD cooling, HD batteries, HD brakes, etc. And really, that rarely happened. Most everyone that I met that had any experience towing big horse and travel trailers all wanted the AT.
That's back then. Try to order a new Ford Super Duty or GMC 2500. No MT available. A MT is available in a Ram, but only with the diesel - not with the gas engines.
Regarding heavy trucks, you may find it interesting that most heavy trucks sold today have either fully automatic transmissions or automated manual transmissions, with shift assist. Not many manual transmissions in the new trucks any longer.