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The end of the manual transmission is near?

popularmechanics.com

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Re: The end of the manual transmission is near?

#251

Post by Smoosh »

progman32 wrote: post #10
lapcat wrote: post #9

There's nothing worse than getting stuck in traffic going up a slick hill in a Midwest winter with a manual transmission. Your car goes backward!

In an old manual transmission, that's true. Modern cars have anti roll back systems. But also, use the hand brake.

Hand brake?

Can't you use the clutch and foot brake smoothly enough to take off on a hill? Even a slippery one? Hand in your manual transmission driver's licence!

[Tidbit: where I live drivers are issued with different licences for manual and automatic cars. You have to pass the test in a manual car for that licence, otherwise you can only drive automatic cars.]

Re: The end of the manual transmission is near?

#252

Post by atty »

netfortius wrote: post #239

US centric article, of course, when it comes to the scale implied ("end of" and "near"). Haven't seen any significant (intent to) move in that direction, in Europe, for example.

I don’t see how it’s any different for EU long term, even if they haven’t caught up to the US/other markets yet. Automatic ICE vehicles are more fuel efficient, since they can have significantly more gears. And electric cars (usually) only have 1 gear, completely getting rid of the need for any gear shifting at all. The combination of electrification and the continual march to higher efficiency and more performant powertrains naturally leads to a reduction in manuals, looking 10-15 years out.

Re: The end of the manual transmission is near?

#253

Post by coin »

tenpies wrote: post #30
recursivedoubts wrote: post #7

I reiterate my compromise proposal: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32397975 I will give up my manual transmission, if you will bring back pull-knobs, twist knobs and other tactile switches for the main controls of my vehicle, with the appropriate tactile feedback at set points so I can set them without looking. After thinking on it, I am going to raise my demands, however: you also need to produce cars that are…

Can I add a request? A car that doesn't phone home. That is, one that the government is utterly unable to remotely turn off, monitor, or impose distance quotas. One that cannot be hacked through a poorly secured server in a car maker's server farm or government server with the username/pass admin/admin.

Somewhat related https://www.thedrive.com/news/43086/new-cars-will-have-to-de...

Re: The end of the manual transmission is near?

#254

Post by coin »

QuarterReptile wrote: post #147
tenpies wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can I add a request? A car that doesn't phone home. That is, one that the government is utterly unable to remotely turn off, monitor, or impose distance quotas. One that cannot be hacked through a poorly secured server in a car maker's server farm or government server with the username/pass admin/admin.

It seems like it should be straightforward to pull out any cell radios, no? I've removed them from cell phones with ease, and I have to think the larger size of a car would lend itself to this being easy.

Those cell radios might be buried deep in the circuitry

Re: The end of the manual transmission is near?

#255

Post by kbenson »

recursivedoubts wrote: post #7

I reiterate my compromise proposal: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32397975 I will give up my manual transmission, if you will bring back pull-knobs, twist knobs and other tactile switches for the main controls of my vehicle, with the appropriate tactile feedback at set points so I can set them without looking. After thinking on it, I am going to raise my demands, however: you also need to produce cars that are…

> reasonably sized as in the 50s and 60s. Fire all your designers, go back to whatever your models were in 1965

What alternate dimension are you from? My older brother had a 60's Ford Fairlane when I was growing up. My first car was a 67 mustang. I had a friend with a 68 Camaro. I knew someone else that had multiple Thunderbirds from that era.

These were not small cars. The Mustang and Camaro were the size of a full size sedan today , if not bigger. The cross sections of the doors were very large, they just aren't very space efficient at all. They're only small relative to the other cars of the era, and I wouldn't call their size reasonable in any real way.

Those are the coupes. The sedans, such as the Fairlane and Thunderbird? Those were about as big as a modern full size crew cab pickup.

Re: The end of the manual transmission is near?

#256

Post by owlninja »

rad_gruchalski wrote: post #48

> it’s not something you master overnight. I’m not ashamed to mention that it took me a few sessions in a parking lot to get the fundamentals down This kind of line always confuses me. I mean, I remember my first driving lesson in the UK. Guy arrived in a BMW 116, manual. He said to me: what is there to explain, you get in and drive. So I got in and drove. Did my first hour, took 5 minutes to get comfortable with the…

The badge of honor is knowing how to drive a manual in the US. I say this as someone who can drive a manual, but it has become overly nostalgic for some.

Re: The end of the manual transmission is near?

#258

Post by calvinmorrison »

Vecr wrote: post #233
calvinmorrison wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> it started automatically keeping pace with the car in front of me on the highway I hate how technology is changing the roads. This happens to me so frequently. I am a right lane driver. I hang out, I cruise at 55, and take my time. It feels like every few minutes someone comes up behind me, slows down, and doesn't go around. If I go to the left lane they speed right past me, so I can go back into my right lane... B…

I'm not sure where you live but what those cars are doing is the correct thing, in regards to laws and driving best practices in what I think are many places in the US. You shouldn't really be going left to get rid of them, even if that's legal where you are (it's not legal to go into the left lane except to pass in multiple states), or you are driving on a highway with three lanes in each direction. The cars should…

(3 lane, 476 north) What's happening is, they're on auto cruise, they're always a set distance from me (i speed up, they speed up). I go left, they speed up.

Re: The end of the manual transmission is near?

#259

Post by epalm »

rabuse wrote: post #65

I ride a motorcycle most of the time, and I will always love manually pulling the clutch and clunking into the next gear; gives me more of a man and machine bond.

Even on 2 wheels the automatic transmission is coming. Honda’s been perfecting a DCT for over a decade, and by some accounts it’s pretty sharp.

Re: The end of the manual transmission is near?

#260

Post by Ancalagon »

StanislavPetrov wrote: post #224
QuarterReptile wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It seems like it should be straightforward to pull out any cell radios, no? I've removed them from cell phones with ease, and I have to think the larger size of a car would lend itself to this being easy.

On newer cars most every component from your tires to your rear window defroster phones home about your activity.

The tires, really?? I figured maybe the wheels but the tires?
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