Save the Manuals!

Beeblebrox237

Beeblebrox237

Two heads, no brains...
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Betelgeuse
Beeblebrox_237
Eddie Alterman
Like me, you may have noticed an alarming paucity of vehicles offering fully manual transmissions. Even sports-car stalwart Ferrari, of gated-shifter fame, isn’t providing a three-pedal option on the new 458 Italia. Equally distressing, I read in the Washington Post that our nation’s hard-texting youth have pronounced driving seriously lame, with only about 30 percent of 16-year-olds having acquired driving licenses as of 2008. I can’t help but think these things are related.

If folks learned to operate the entire car, not just the steering wheel and occasionally the brakes, I’d bet they’d like driving better. If they knew the sense of control imparted by that third pedal, I’d bet they would strive for its mastery. If they knew the excitement that accompanied a perfectly timed heel-toe downshift, I can guarantee they’d be hooked.

You know what we need? We need a crusade. We need to save the manuals! Not only are manual transmissions often more fuel-efficient than their two-pedal counterparts, you also can’t text while operating one. So let’s lobby carmakers to produce more of these things because they’re safer and more frugal, and let’s not tell them that they’re way more fun. Let’s train our offspring in the ancient ways of the stick shift. Let all of us knights of the clutch pedal drive our manual-equipped cars to Washington and pop ’em in front of Barry O’s house.

Won’t you join the cause?
Click to expand...

Won't you join me in support of manual transmissions?
 
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Manual is where its at. The manual gearbox won't die out if I have anything to do with it.
 
I love driving manual.
Not because I nearly crashed my first (and last) automatic test drive, I just like being able to change gears when I want to.
 
This has been tried & tested before. However, as technology moves forward, older technology will eventually die out; the traditional manual gearbox will eventually follow as manufacturers continue to find more performance & economy in the current generation of gearboxes.

Along with this, some manufacturers have given the public the chance to show if the demand for a traditional manual is still there to justify the costs; the public gave nothing, so the automakers cut them out completely.
 
I guess I wasn't 'the public' then.

There will probably be some cars for me to drive the next years, starting with the one I own currently :). If it all dies out I'm hoping for pedal shifters.
You won't see me driving auto anytime soon.
 
poolhaas
I guess I wasn't 'the public' then.
Click to expand...
Chances are you weren't the general audience anyway.

The biggest manufacturer that extended its manual option for another year was Ferrari because of all the folks who complained about them integrating their new 7-speed dual clutch transmission into all the new cars & that they still wanted the option of 6-speed manuals. Ferrari gave these folks a chance to order one & the end result of people who ordered them was way below the number of people who complained. Ferrari realized most of these folks weren't their target demographic anyway, so they followed through with their own intentions.

Lamborghini followed a similar path when they realized the demand for the manuals didn't justify the added costs of re-engineering the rear end of the cars, so they dropped manuals as well.

Porsche seems to be the only manufacturer interested in keeping the manual option alive, but with the rumors of optional PDK transmissions coming to the next generation GT-line (the PDK is already proven to be a much better performing transmission), they may be caving in as well.
 
someone I've never heard of
Even sports-car stalwart Ferrari, of gated-shifter fame, isn’t providing a three-pedal option on the new 458 Italia.
Click to expand...
That'll be the 7 speed, 458 Italia? I know Porsche are offering a 7 speed manual in the new 911, but I don't see how a 7 speed will work well.

A normal box has 1-2 to the left, 3-4 in the centre and 5-6 (if a 6 is there) to the right. The lever rests at the 3-4 position.

Where does the 7 speed manual lever rest? In between 3-4 or 5-6, or no mans land between 4-5? I can see plenty of folk getting 7th when they want 5th and vice versa.
 
McLaren
Porsche seems to be the only manufacturer interested in keeping the manual option alive, but with the rumors of optional PDK transmissions coming to the next generation GT-line (the PDK is already proven to be a much better performing transmission), they may be caving in as well.
Click to expand...

Worth noting that with Porsche, the 7-speed PDK and 7-speed manual are very similar, even internally - so it's presumably less of a cost problem for Porsche to offer both than it is for other manufacturers.
 
I agree with the OP. And this is coming from a 16 year old with a license who has no idea how to drive a manual shift. I want to learn but no one is willing or able to teach me because they all have automatic cars. :grumpy: Does no one find the fun in using these beautiful gifts from god we call cars for fun? Or is this whole damn boring world obsessed with practicality? :grumpy:
 
homeforsummer
Worth noting that with Porsche, the 7-speed PDK and 7-speed manual are very similar, even internally - so it's presumably less of a cost problem for Porsche to offer both than it is for other manufacturers.
Click to expand...
So it seems Porsche has taken what they've learned from the PDK & built into a manual. If that's the case, very interesting, then. 👍

I was merely referring to when the PDK had come out in comparison to the 6-speed that was offered.
daan
That'll be the 7 speed, 458 Italia? I know Porsche are offering a 7 speed manual in the new 911, but I don't see how a 7 speed will work well.

A normal box has 1-2 to the left, 3-4 in the centre and 5-6 (if a 6 is there) to the right. The lever rests at the 3-4 position.

Where does the 7 speed manual lever rest? In between 3-4 or 5-6, or no mans land between 4-5? I can see plenty of folk getting 7th when they want 5th and vice versa.
Click to expand...
From the press photos, Porsche has kept it that way, but with Reverse to the left & 7th to the right. I completely agree though on folks going into 7th instead of 5th, though.
7-speed-manual-gearbox.jpg
 
nothing beats the feel of a stick shift,there is a directness and control,that just make you enjoy and savor performance driving
 
I would love to join the crusade. It will take a lot for the manual car's popularity to die off in Europe.
 
Never had a driving licence but I can assure you all of my motorcycles were manual.

China is still a big MT consumer as the majority of public vehicles like taxis and company cars use them and they are the majority of road users.
 
McLaren
From the press photos, Porsche has kept it that way, but with Reverse to the left & 7th to the right. I completely agree though on folks going into 7th instead of 5th, though.
Click to expand...

It depends how accurate the gate is to whether people mis-select. It's harder to change gear through the great chasms in my old Beetle 4-speed than it is through the tiny notches in my 6-speed Fiat.

I suspect 7th is far enough to the right of the gate in the Porsche that you'd have to be pretty ham-fisted to change from 4th to 7th accidentally.
 
My Proton is Automatic. It's not my choice, but in case of anything my mum just don't know how to drive a manual car so we have to have an Automatic car. I've never driven a manual car before but I have a driving test next month which I HAVE to drive a manual car.

I think it's pretty clear nowadays that Manual transmission is dying. Reason is obviously for performance and economy. Because of that, it just took away all what we all know is 'fun' in driving. My prediction, it won't die at least for another 5-6 years but the future is pretty tough for it. Add me in, by the way...
 
In - Ten years later I'm daily driving the manual I learned to drive on when i got my permit. It's sex with cars; nothing more intimate.

I've taught one person to drive stick on it, and I'll teach my wife when the new engine is broken in.
 
Even though I don't have a permit yet, count me in. I bought my fanatec carrera for a maybe vain attempt to teach myself manual.
 
McLaren
Along with this, some manufacturers have given the public the chance to show if the demand for a traditional manual is still there to justify the costs; the public gave nothing, so the automakers cut them out completely.
Click to expand...

Ding ding ding.
However, in some cases, the manual gearbox was a $1000+ option.
I think manuals will be around for a while but they will become optional extras while autos become the standard.
 

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