Save the Manuals!
- Thread starter Beeblebrox237
- 1,025 comments
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- 6,041
- Puget Sound
- Crash852
- 5,196
- Kuala Lumpur
- CHVRCHES_GTP
Exactly my worries in Kuala Lumpur too and exactly why my dad bought a Tiptronic transmission car eventhough the manual isn't a 100% pure manual. Traffic jam and traffic lights just aren't helping here...
I have decided that if I'm buying a brand new car in the near future, a Tiptronic or equivalent transmission will be my choice. Still, I will fight for the manual to stay alive for years to come.
I have decided that if I'm buying a brand new car in the near future, a Tiptronic or equivalent transmission will be my choice. Still, I will fight for the manual to stay alive for years to come.
- 3,915
- California
- gdwest1
Id love to join. Have a manual Geo Tracker and Toyota Camry. Will post pics ASAP
Roo
Premium
- 7,453
- Hampshire, UK
- GTP_Roo
I drove an automatic Mercedes (an '89 260E) for 6 months a few years back. I don't know if it was just that car, but sitting in traffic on a busy, stop start motorway and having to keep a foot on the brake and/or shifting into Park all the time was just as much of a pain - both literally and metaphorically - as using the clutch in a manual is. I haven't had an auto since because I've not experienced any situation where a manual was worse than an auto.
Or you just need to work on your left leg a bit more
- 17,865
- 509
My knees are crap. The case in point was after spending 5 hours driving down Highway 1 from Santa Clara to LA, and then dealing with the traffic on the 101 between hitting the city an Anaheim. Where it took about 3 hours to move 30 or so miles. With the M3, I couldn't ever fully get off the clutch even and I my left leg more or less wanted to die by the end of it all.
New automatics are pretty impressive, and a DSG gear box kind of removes the issues they had with sluggish shifts and power loss via the torque converter. The old redeeming factor of the a manual use to be efficiency, but that is no longer the case. Still nice for clutch kicks and other hooning about antics, but real world performance is eclipsed by dual clutch systems these days.
New automatics are pretty impressive, and a DSG gear box kind of removes the issues they had with sluggish shifts and power loss via the torque converter. The old redeeming factor of the a manual use to be efficiency, but that is no longer the case. Still nice for clutch kicks and other hooning about antics, but real world performance is eclipsed by dual clutch systems these days.
- 4,822
- Concord, CA
- kylehnat
I'll gladly be a part of this crusade! You can also "Like" Save the Manuals on Facebook.
Stop-and-go traffic aside, manuals are more fun. I'll also invite any street-thug car thief into my garage and laugh hysterically as he tries to steal one of my cars. "It won't start unless you push the left brake pedal in!"
Stop-and-go traffic aside, manuals are more fun. I'll also invite any street-thug car thief into my garage and laugh hysterically as he tries to steal one of my cars. "It won't start unless you push the left brake pedal in!"
- 7,711
- Indiana-USA
- OwensRacing
Boy I would consider joining But I ain't letting anyone learn to drive manual on my new Shep trans with ultimate ratios. Not to mention the twin disc clutch. He see if you can destroy 4 grand worth and about 6 hrs labor in 15 mins. LOL
Actually did teach a person to drive manual and they bought said car I thought them to drive. Pretty interesting beings the kid wasn't bright to begin with now add in he had no experience with a clutch or manual trans.
Manual for fun/fast road cars. Road racing cars. Most racing. My preferred trans for "spirited driving"
Auto for dates, daily drives, drag races, and grudge races.
Grudge Racing aka money gambling on races. When you do this kinda of racing a missed gear could cost you 500-5000+ dollars. That's a no brainier. Put an automagic in her.
As well, If you even been making your moves slow on a date only to have to start over from gear changes or stopping. You know what I mean. Automatics become viable this day in my life. Granted I was 16 and ball of hormones. LMAO
In conclusion:
Every sports or sporty car made needs a manual trans option. Government law or something be fine.
Seems most manufactures still see the true gear head, raw driving desire many consumers desire. Some not so much.
Controlling the outta control is very empowering.
Actually did teach a person to drive manual and they bought said car I thought them to drive. Pretty interesting beings the kid wasn't bright to begin with now add in he had no experience with a clutch or manual trans.
Manual for fun/fast road cars. Road racing cars. Most racing. My preferred trans for "spirited driving"
Auto for dates, daily drives, drag races, and grudge races.
Grudge Racing aka money gambling on races. When you do this kinda of racing a missed gear could cost you 500-5000+ dollars. That's a no brainier. Put an automagic in her.
As well, If you even been making your moves slow on a date only to have to start over from gear changes or stopping. You know what I mean. Automatics become viable this day in my life. Granted I was 16 and ball of hormones. LMAO
In conclusion:
Every sports or sporty car made needs a manual trans option. Government law or something be fine.
Seems most manufactures still see the true gear head, raw driving desire many consumers desire. Some not so much.
Controlling the outta control is very empowering.
Eric.
Premium
- 8,515
- GTP_Eric
- Ebiggs
You have a built Shep trans and don't think it can put up the abuse of a noob taking off a few times? Be careful not to launch it, then.
- 9,884
- Carthage, TN
- race_emhard
See that? That is a Ferrari F430 with a REAL six-speed gearbox, a thing of beauty isn't it?
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- 7,711
- Indiana-USA
- OwensRacing
Eric.
Synchros and clutch chatter. You obviously never driven a twin disc from Quarter Master.
A built trans is designed to take more load. It doesn't fix stupid.
So please. Just stop trying to be a punk.
Edit: Sorry all. I posted my thought process and seems certain people are jealous or trying to be jerks.
Don't hate. I've worked my ass off to build my car. I am older 36. In my 20's. Never would an extensive and expensive build like this happen. So yea get bent if you don't like my posts. Ignore it. Block me. Anything but starting an off topic argument.
Bothing like nobodies telling me how to launch AWD. Funny I was top ten fastest stock turb VIII on EvoM. I was on reg street tires and was my third pass EVER in AWD manual. But yea. Keep preaching while I keep doing.
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- 12,389
- Betelgeuse
- Beeblebrox_237
See that? That is a Ferrari F430 with a REAL six-speed gearbox, a thing of beauty isn't it?
Smallhorses
Staff Emeritus
- 7,260
Manual transmission depends on the market.
There's plenty of vehicles offered as "Auto-only" in the US that're offered as manuals elsewhere, e.g. Chrysler / Dodge minivans and cars which don't have a manual option in US are sold in UK & Europe with manual boxes.
This is probably because most drivers in US learn to drive in an auto and only a few learn to drive stick.
Only a small percentage of licenced auto drivers then go on to learn to drive stick and there's no requirement (though it's highly advisable) to have any additional training before unleashing themselves on the road.
As I've said somewhere here before though, it's different in UK (and possibly rest of Europe) whereby most people learn to drive in manual cars, as if you don't you're issued a special "Automatic Only" licence and you have to retake your driving test in a manual if you wish to switch. If you get your licence in a manual, you're qualified to drive an auto anyway as there's much less to do.
Automatics, except for those that come only as standard e.g. high-end BMW, Mercedes, Rolls-Royce, etc, are generally the preserve of the old or the mechanically inept and given the extra cost of an auto, plus the poorer fuel economy, especially in most European countries where gas prices are approaching the $8/gallon range (if not more) there's a reason they're not as popular.
I've bought 5 cars in my lifetime, and "owned" another 4.
Of the 5 I've bought, all 5 are/were manuals, and I still own 3 of them, (see my profile page, Miscellaneousness album for pictures of the 2012 Fiat 500 Sport (5-spd) which is itgirlxx's commuter car, 1995 Mazda Miata (5-spd) and 1981 Porsche 911SC Targa (5-spd.))
The other 4 I've "owned" have been company cars, and unfortunately I don't get a choice of having a manual version, partly because anyone in our company has to be able to drive the vehicle and we can't guarantee they'll be able to drive stick, and partly because the limited selection of vehicles we're offered don't come with manual option anyway. (The 2012 Ford Taurus SEL you can see in that album is my current one, and while it does have 6-spd manumatic transmission with paddle-shifters, it's still not a very entertaining drive compared to a proper manual car.)
I'd currently never willingly part with my own money to buy an automatic car, however, as I progress in years this may change as I lose coordination and reactions due to the inevitable aging process, and perhaps, just for safety's sake, when I'm 80-odd, I'll eventually succumb.
There's plenty of vehicles offered as "Auto-only" in the US that're offered as manuals elsewhere, e.g. Chrysler / Dodge minivans and cars which don't have a manual option in US are sold in UK & Europe with manual boxes.
This is probably because most drivers in US learn to drive in an auto and only a few learn to drive stick.
Only a small percentage of licenced auto drivers then go on to learn to drive stick and there's no requirement (though it's highly advisable) to have any additional training before unleashing themselves on the road.
As I've said somewhere here before though, it's different in UK (and possibly rest of Europe) whereby most people learn to drive in manual cars, as if you don't you're issued a special "Automatic Only" licence and you have to retake your driving test in a manual if you wish to switch. If you get your licence in a manual, you're qualified to drive an auto anyway as there's much less to do.
Automatics, except for those that come only as standard e.g. high-end BMW, Mercedes, Rolls-Royce, etc, are generally the preserve of the old or the mechanically inept and given the extra cost of an auto, plus the poorer fuel economy, especially in most European countries where gas prices are approaching the $8/gallon range (if not more) there's a reason they're not as popular.
I've bought 5 cars in my lifetime, and "owned" another 4.
Of the 5 I've bought, all 5 are/were manuals, and I still own 3 of them, (see my profile page, Miscellaneousness album for pictures of the 2012 Fiat 500 Sport (5-spd) which is itgirlxx's commuter car, 1995 Mazda Miata (5-spd) and 1981 Porsche 911SC Targa (5-spd.))
The other 4 I've "owned" have been company cars, and unfortunately I don't get a choice of having a manual version, partly because anyone in our company has to be able to drive the vehicle and we can't guarantee they'll be able to drive stick, and partly because the limited selection of vehicles we're offered don't come with manual option anyway. (The 2012 Ford Taurus SEL you can see in that album is my current one, and while it does have 6-spd manumatic transmission with paddle-shifters, it's still not a very entertaining drive compared to a proper manual car.)
I'd currently never willingly part with my own money to buy an automatic car, however, as I progress in years this may change as I lose coordination and reactions due to the inevitable aging process, and perhaps, just for safety's sake, when I'm 80-odd, I'll eventually succumb.
- 7,551
- London
- MattyTheDog
I'm in. Save the manual. 
- 1,315
- GTP_GTMail
- Chilldomination
Okay let me come clean, my new S4 is the only second car I've bought with a automatic. My first truck was the first one. All the others have been manuals. I have to admit though, why it may be the fastest, it definitely is the most boring to drive. Go manuals.
- 12,389
- Betelgeuse
- Beeblebrox_237
- 9,884
- Carthage, TN
- race_emhard
You can add me.
McLaren
Premium
- 45,689
- Texas
You're telling me it was just as much a pain moving 1 foot up & down on the brake pedal as it was working a clutch & not letting the car stall?I drove an automatic Mercedes (an '89 260E) for 6 months a few years back. I don't know if it was just that car, but sitting in traffic on a busy, stop start motorway and having to keep a foot on the brake and/or shifting into Park all the time was just as much of a pain - both literally and metaphorically - as using the clutch in a manual is. I haven't had an auto since because I've not experienced any situation where a manual was worse than an auto.
Or you just need to work on your left leg a bit more
Excuse me while I get a good chuckle over here.
It was also a $10,000+ option.
See that? That is a Ferrari F430 with a REAL six-speed gearbox, a thing of beauty isn't it?
While I do love driving stick, in this day and age, it just doesn't seem practical anymore. My S600 is Automatic, but includes a 5-speed tiptronic/manumatic (TouchShift). For a daily driver, I really couldn't ask for more. It's automatic when I drive to work, and manual when I take it to the track. I actually commended Ferrari for releasing the 458 strictly in semi-auto, it shows the company doesn't just want their vehicles to be fast, but to also be practical for everyday use. Be thankful it at least comes with paddle shifters, and isn't fully auto 
.
In GT5 though (and again in racing in general), I use my Fanatec Carrera 911 wheel; clutch pedal and 6 gear H-box. It just feels natural
In conclusion, sure, I'm all for saving the manuals (ergo against fully automatic), but there really shouldn't be anything wrong with semi-auto.
.In GT5 though (and again in racing in general), I use my Fanatec Carrera 911 wheel; clutch pedal and 6 gear H-box. It just feels natural
In conclusion, sure, I'm all for saving the manuals (ergo against fully automatic), but there really shouldn't be anything wrong with semi-auto.
Eric.
Premium
- 8,515
- GTP_Eric
- Ebiggs
Eric.
Premium
- 8,515
- GTP_Eric
- Ebiggs
It would be interesting to go onto a car lot (particularly of a domestic dealer) and count how many new cars have a manual. At a GM dealer I think I've seen a Cruze with a manual, and there's a good chance a Corvette and maybe CTS-V will be manual equipped. Probably 95% of them will be auto. And most of those won't even have a manual option (all the crossovers, almost anything with a V6).
- 17,865
- 509
When you write your walls of text, please, please, try to use the correct words and some clearer formatting. I kept getting confused as to what you were talking about between the weird word choice, wrong words, and random punctuation and line breaks.
- 8,480
- P_Balance
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