In the end when most vehicles are electric, I wonder if manufacturers will continue making niche "mechanical" cars for motoring enthusiasts, not unlike how mechanical watches survive to this day even with digital and more accurate ways to keep time.
The end of the manual transmission is near?
271–280 of 875 posts
Re: The end of the manual transmission is near?
#272I 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…
If it's in your budget I highly recommend test driving the Porsche Macan. It has a screen but as far as I can tell it's not required for anything that doesn't implicitly require a screen (i.e. GPS). Overall the car is amazingly well designed. The tactile experience is there, you can feel your way around everything without moving your eyes from the road/immediate dash area. It still has an analog clock. I also feel li…
I don't own a car anymore, but it's something I online window shop sometimes. It seems like Lexus is going to be the last luxury car brand to keep physical controls instead of all screen.
Re: The end of the manual transmission is near?
#273I 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…
If it's in your budget I highly recommend test driving the Porsche Macan. It has a screen but as far as I can tell it's not required for anything that doesn't implicitly require a screen (i.e. GPS). Overall the car is amazingly well designed. The tactile experience is there, you can feel your way around everything without moving your eyes from the road/immediate dash area. It still has an analog clock. I also feel li…
And a Mazda is the down-market alternative :)
Re: The end of the manual transmission is near?
#274Manual transmissions are dead. I grew up learning to drive a manual transmission car. Awesome. I loved the feeling of driving and shifting gears up the hilly, mountainous, twisty horrible roads in Jamaica. Exhilarating! But cars got better. I got older, and now automatic transmissions are so much more efficient than manual transmissions * for ordinary people *. We're not talking about people who love driving here. We…
> I got older, and now automatic transmissions are so much more efficient than manual transmissions * for ordinary people *.
It’s not just ordinary people. The opposite, if anything. F1 and rally cars haven’t been manual for decades. I don’t think any modern super is manual.
Though with the ev-ification the point is moot as save for a few rare exceptions they’re single-gear.
Re: The end of the manual transmission is near?
#275Earlier quoted context omitted.
>because the front of the car eats people. Swallows them, chews them up, and spits them out. How so? Could we just use modern crumple materials in the same shape?
Unfortunately you're being down voted, but the reality is there are crumple zones built into some hoods (bonnets) that help protect the pedestrian from immediately impacting the solid parts of the engine. So the concept isn't completely unexplored.
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Re: The end of the manual transmission is near?
#276I'm using my high point's account for this: in 2016, 2 years after my Stage IV Colon Cancer dx and continuing treatment I (Silicon Valley fat engineer) bought a 2005 BMW 325 manual Convertible much to the dismay of my wife.
Let me tell you - there is NOTHING like driving Highway 9 up to Skyline through Saratoga after chemotherapy. The manual transmission maybe mattered less than the convertible aspect (fresh air is what kept my nausea away) but the physical connection to the mechanism made me feel alive.
The car basically fell apart within a few years - but I don't regret the $8k it cost me.
Re: The end of the manual transmission is near?
#277I 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…
That's exactly what Olympian Motors is doing. They're a YC company. It's beautifully styled imo and has only physical controls inside https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/olympian-motors https://olympianmotors.com/
-- these are really beautiful - $100,000 USD seems a lot - however - it's a pretty sweet ride --
Re: The end of the manual transmission is near?
#278Earlier quoted context omitted.
Okay but then why is the rolling brick wall of a modern pickup allowed?
It’s more than just about style. As much as modern pickup trucks have become a fashion statement, many large pickup trucks are providing real utility to construction, farming, etc. And much like 18 wheelers they can’t scale down the front while maintaining utility because they need large engines and high ground clearance.
So what? The question stands.
Re: The end of the manual transmission is near?
#279Great. That means nobody is going to steal my car, and I won't have to let valets drive it.
Re: The end of the manual transmission is near?
#280I wouldn't jump to this conclusion just yet! Porsche, Ferrari, etc all commanded huge premiums this year for their manual versions. Specifically among younger buyers and first time buyers! You even see this effect downmarket - Toyota promised to never make a manual version of their Supra, then just this last year they put together a cobbled transmission to save their car. Manuals are also an order of magnitude less c…
My VW GTI with 6 gear manual is such a joy. And what I fail to convey to my GenZ kids is the simplicity of it. Once I started the engine on a hill by engaging clutch. Kids were puzzled, but not so impressed. Oh well.
Hey, I'm a Gen Z kid and I drive a 20 year old shitbox with a manual (a BMW 3 series that I love).
At least for enthusiasts, the love is alive and well