Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Fewer than 3% of cars sold in the U.S. have manual transmissions

latimes.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 893 posts

Re: Fewer than 3% of cars sold in the U.S. have manual transmissions

#21

Post by johnwards »

russdill wrote: post #5

I love driving a manual, but with the rise of CVT, what's the point?

Oh I hate CVT. I've got a Land Rover Discovery 3 with a non-CVT auto and it's as smooth as anything changing gear, you just don't notice.

Looking at getting an auto for our second smaller car, and CVT is like someone has an elastic band on the gears. Would drive me up the wall. The Citroen box at least comes with paddles which helps.

The VW/Audi dual clutch box is the best, you get the economy of CVT and it's so much smoother. Shame they are so much more expensive second hand than CVT autos :(

Re: Fewer than 3% of cars sold in the U.S. have manual transmissions

#22

Post by johnwards »

bcook wrote: post #11
sliken wrote: post #8

I was looking for a nice AWD hatchback. Subaru cancelled the WRX and STI version. Focus RS sadly goes with a manual only. Seems kind of silly to work so hard on performance/acceleration and then waste time on shifting.

Do any performance-focused vehicles use CVT? Answer: No.

No, they use dual clutches.

Re: Fewer than 3% of cars sold in the U.S. have manual transmissions

#23

Post by bgia »

astrodust wrote: post #19
RikNieu wrote: post #17

Where I live manual is the norm, but those I know that did switch to auto all to prefer it. It apparently makes the drudgery of sitting in traffic more bearable. However, as one friend noted, once that fancy automatic gearbox goes legs up(and your car also happens to be out of warranty), the virtues of a manual comes calling again.

I honestly don't see the problem of using a standard transmission in traffic. Once you've learned how to drive with it the whole thing becomes instinct and you don't even consciously notice.

I do. I've been driving stick shift for most my life and moving to automatic made a huge difference.

Re: Fewer than 3% of cars sold in the U.S. have manual transmissions

#25

Post by esturk »

Another issue with manual transmission that others have not mentioned is the annoyance as a passenger. I can understand the joy for the driver but as a passenger, I always find it quite annoying in older cars. In fact, I would probably cancel my Lyft/Uber ride if I knew the coming car is a manual.

Re: Fewer than 3% of cars sold in the U.S. have manual transmissions

#26

Post by astrodust »

sliken wrote: post #8

I was looking for a nice AWD hatchback. Subaru cancelled the WRX and STI version. Focus RS sadly goes with a manual only. Seems kind of silly to work so hard on performance/acceleration and then waste time on shifting.

A shifter isn't just for acceleration. It's also for picking which gear you want to be in when anticipating something you're trying to do.

When racing you'll know exactly what gear to be in for what section of each corner. You'll have a plan going into the corner, coming out of the corner, and it'll be complicated enough that there's no way an automatic can keep up.

Unless you're going for quarter mile times, you'll eventually have to down-shift and performance there will be key.

Re: Fewer than 3% of cars sold in the U.S. have manual transmissions

#27

Post by angerbot »

TomMarius wrote: post #12
sliken wrote: post #8

I was looking for a nice AWD hatchback. Subaru cancelled the WRX and STI version. Focus RS sadly goes with a manual only. Seems kind of silly to work so hard on performance/acceleration and then waste time on shifting.

You can get better 0 to 60 time with manual.

Certainly not. A modern DCT or even a regular torque converter (such as the ubiquitous ZF 8-Speed) will be faster to 60 than a manual with even the best driver by several tenths.

Re: Fewer than 3% of cars sold in the U.S. have manual transmissions

#28

Post by astrodust »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #15
bcook wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do any performance-focused vehicles use CVT? Answer: No.

http://www.drive.com.au/motor-news/why-you-wont-see-another-... (Sept 2015) "Ferrari has emphatically ruled out offering a manual gearbox in its next generation of vehicles, for one simple reason: performance. Speaking at the Frankfurt motor show this week, stakeholders at Ferrari said the manual transmission had become obsolete in a performance sense because modern dual-clutch transmissions were much faster and effe…

That's a sequential shifter, which is a different beast than an automatic.

They've had paddle-driven shifting on their cars for over a decade now which just triggers gear shifts manually. It's not an automatic transmission in the classic sense, there are still gears. Classic automatic transmission systems use a fluid mechanism to transmit power which is where a lot of the power loss comes from.

Re: Fewer than 3% of cars sold in the U.S. have manual transmissions

#29

Post by civilian »

rwbt wrote: post #9

A few years ago I had to learn stick shift because there was a good deal on a car I liked and decided to see if it's worth it. Ever since, all my cars are standard transmission and I wouldn't have it any other way. They're definitely going away, but I'll keep buying as long as they're available. There is something very satisfying about the mechanical nature of a stick shift car. Mind you, I drive in traffic heavy Los…

I delivered pizza one summer in a manual. I can't ever go back. :D I really think that driving manual requires you to be more attentive... and I should look to see if traffic accidents data backs me up.

Re: Fewer than 3% of cars sold in the U.S. have manual transmissions

#30

Post by rvanmil »

I switched to automatic a year ago and I'm glad I did. Stick shift feels ancient already, and besides it's just annoying once you realize it can be done automatically. I'm from The Netherlands though, so most of my colleagues and friends call me "grandpa" now, because automatic is, as they say, for old people; almost everyone here drives stick shift.
Post reply on HN