Would Like the Manual Transmission to Make a Comeback?

[SeaJay]

Originally Posted by benjy
they never left for me, thats ALL i buy. that said manufacturers love slush boxes as they can + do totally control your driving, CVT's are the worse IMO!!!! typical lazy + overweight americans want everything done for them!!!


So if you don't row gears that means you are lazy? What about other features in most cars today, like electric windows (too lazy to crank a window), electric tail gates (too lazy to open and shut), backup cameras (too lazy to turn around), etc....

 

[Snagglefoot]

What will keep the manual transmission from coming back are Smart Phones , Smart screens, and autonomous features, even the base version, that keeps you in your lane and brakes automatically. Going the way of the dinosaur. It all started with cruise control and the cell phone.

 

[CT8]

There isn't anything like the 13 speed Roadranger. Driving with one is a beautiful ballet. They are on the way out as well. FADEC for semis.

 

[skyactiv]

Manuals are dieing off and wont be offered in cars like the Accord, Civic, Jetta... within a few years I bet.

What gets me is that I've owned many motorcycles over the years. Shifting a bike sucks compared to a car, but most people want cars with automatics and bikes with a sucky
transmission you gotta peg up and down constantly as your going faster or slowing down.

 

[supton]

Originally Posted by Snagglefoot
What will keep the manual transmission from coming back are Smart Phones , Smart screens, and autonomous features, even the base version, that keeps you in your lane and brakes automatically. Going the way of the dinosaur. It all started with cruise control and the cell phone.

You sure? I thought automatics were invented long ago, and started dominating sales in the 70's. Like over half of car sales being automatic, trucks and work vehicles being different, that sort of domination.

I hate to admit to it but I'm slowly coming around to preferring an auto. In stop and go I can just let off the brake and creep. No dancing with the clutch. That and it'd be a bit odd to pay extra for a manual. I don't think that is happening yet, but someday it might.

Personally I enjoyed driving a manual, and still think I can outguess my dumb automatics. But it is what it is. I don't mind the loss of automatic chokes--having to pump at least once to start. Let alone levers to advance spark or mixture.

 

[zorobabel]

What do kids want these days: manual transmissions or phones?

 

[supton]

Originally Posted by zorobabel
What do kids want these days: manual transmissions or phones?


I'm kinda happy in a way, if you think about all the money that some of us have wasted on cars over the years... phones seem cheaper!

it is kinda weird though, I think my generation must have been the last one to grow up chomping at the bit to get out and make our own way through the world. [Last one to want to do so in large numbers--no offense to any millenials or younger who buck the trend.] I couldn't wait to drive, own a car, get out on my own. I've tried bribing my kids into driving my car, no luck yet. "Daddy we're not old enough!"

I think I was 13 when I first used a chainsaw, although driving did have to wait until I was 15. Looking back I probably wasn't the safest with a chainsaw--and many kids aren't safe in cars either. As efforts ratchet up to raise driving age, I suspect it's all working together. Kids don't want to drive, and thus no one will notice when teens are no longer allowed to drive. I have to wonder if it means anything. I'm thinking it doesn't. Everyone reads too much into trends. I bet if we pulled someone from the 1880's into today they'd have a whole different view on kids not wanting to drive anymore--to them kids wanting to drive in the first place would be alien!

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

Sure. It would make texting/driving almost impossible.

 

[ArrestMeRedZ]

My wife demands a manual. I tell her it's because she can't always drive around in the wrong gear in an automatic.

Looking for a mid sized sedan a year ago, we had to choose between an Accord or a Mazda 6 since they are the only ones left with a manual. When we bought there were good deals on Camry, but it was a non-player for her as it's auto only.

Ended up with a Mazda 6 shipped in from Cali.

 

[Pelican]

I was weaned on a manual, but I'll never go back for several reasons:
1) Today's congested roads turn a manual into a nightmare.
2) All the electronics work better with the automatic
3) Today's automatics give you better performance & economy
4) Higher resale value.

Now if I were in the real boonies then perhaps a manual could be a better choice, but I'm not sure on that.

 

[edwardh1]

no manuals

 

[BrocLuno]

Leave the rock crushers and 5-speeds to the vintage muscle cars and the vintage sporty sets. In traffic, nothing beats an auto

 

[circuitsmith]

Four of the previous 6 cars I've owned were manuals.
I used to be staunchly pro manual, largely because the two previous automatics I owned ('76 Nova & '85 Accord) were stolen.
I make an occasional drive from Wash. DC to Fredericksburg VA, about 50 miles.
In recent years I've had trouble with my left leg, stuck in stop-and-go traffic for a couple hours on I-95.
I'm not getting any younger, so I broke down and gave up the stickshift.

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

Originally Posted by double vanos
Two identical cars on the lot I'm looking to buy, one with manual,the other a slushbox. I'll take the manual every time.



With a name like Double Vanos why am I not surprised..

 

[Kawiguy454]

IMO the manuals will not die in fact the other way around. Fluid coupled automatics are inherently inefficient if compared to manuals with similar gearing. The TCM will control the clutch actuator and also will shift the gears with actuators. An 8 speed manual with auto clutch would have low enough lower gears to eliminate the need for torque multiplication that a torque convertor offers. I have a Yamaha 1000 SxS and it is 5 speed sequential shifting and automatic clutch and It works very well.

 

[xxch4osxx]

No manual transmission in a daily driver for me. If I bought a Hellcat or Demon, absolutely I would get it with a manual if it was possible. Its nice to get in my automatic Ram to go home everyday after shifting an 18 speed all day.

 

[Andrew1972]

Depends on vehicle for me.

If were picking up something fun and very engaging to drive I'd try the manual version and likely pick. A driving appliance I like to put into drive and forget.

 

[bullwinkle]

It depends-if you're hauling weight/heavy trailer, it's nice to be able to select a lower gear and actually get some engine braking out of a manual. Now in your average grocery getter, hauling the kids to soccer practice, an auto is OK, as long as it isn't infinitely upshifting into a higher gear in a stupid effort for higher MPGs (I'm looking at you, Ford)!

 

[Imp4]

"Bring on the manuals!!!"
Says 1% of the car buying public......

 

[tcp71]

Rented two cars in Europe recently. Italy and England. Both were standard transmissions. the opinions in this thread are very north america biased. It was fun to drive a standard again, even on the 'wrong' side, in England.