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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?

#351

Post by ciconia »

eric4smith wrote: post #113

Manual 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…

> now automatic transmissions are so much more efficient than manual transmissions * for ordinary people *.

Efficient in what way? I find it highly unlikely an automatic would have better fuel economy than a manual.

Re: The end of the manual transmission is near?

#352

Post by lisper »

eric4smith wrote: post #113

Manual 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 drove a manual for about 20 years and I still really enjoy them, but there is one thing that made me happily leave them behind: stop-and-go traffic. Not having to clutch constantly when driving in the city is a big enough win that I'm willing to give up the fun of a manual for it. But I do sometimes miss having a stick on a windy mountain road.

Re: The end of the manual transmission is near?

#353

Post by bch »

Buttons840 wrote: post #149
boppo1 wrote: post #146

Earlier 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?

A crumple material that will crumple in a car vs pedestrian collision? Like NERF foam or something?

I recall one manufacturer popped the hood so that it could act as a shock absorber should a pedestrian land on it...

Found it - Nissan has an actuator[0] that lets the cars hood be used as a damper for unlucky pedestrians in case of collision.

[0] https://www.nissan-global.com/EN/INNOVATION/TECHNOLOGY/ARCHI...

Re: The end of the manual transmission is near?

#354

Post by netfortius »

atty wrote: post #252
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 po…

["end of" + "near"] != "long term". Long term I'd see Europeans moving away from cars, as much as possible. €4k incentive in France to get rid of your car and get electrical bikes, and a public transportation of the kind that the US can't even dream (inside cities trams and buses + high speed trains + inter-cities and inter-countries buses - all at least in Europe and neighborhood (where car could be a term of comparison)), are much more impactful than the stick shift obsolescence.

Re: The end of the manual transmission is near?

#355

Post by fragmede »

ciconia wrote: post #351
eric4smith wrote: post #113

Manual 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…

> now automatic transmissions are so much more efficient than manual transmissions * for ordinary people *. Efficient in what way? I find it highly unlikely an automatic would have better fuel economy than a manual.

power transmission. With 7 and 8-speed clutched automatics, there is no longer the same transmission loss as with older torque converter models.

Re: The end of the manual transmission is near?

#356

Post by randunel »

taxyz wrote: post #304
NonNefarious wrote: post #282

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quoted post unavailable.

Sixt rental cars in France hasn’t been doing manual transmission cars for years - automatics get better gas mileage and are actually better on overall emissions (you’ll notice modern manual cars keep the revs up even when you let off the throttle). Germany has followed, I believe. But you’re right, it’s probably those dumb Americans’ fault.

> you’ll notice modern manual cars keep the revs up even when you let off the throttle

It's called "engine brake" and the fuel consumption is 0 in spite of the revs.

As far as mileage goes, my experience in modern cars is still the opposite, manuals still use less fuel.

Re: The end of the manual transmission is near?

#357

Post by _4pnn »

greenthrow wrote: post #207

This article misses mentioning that by far most EVs have no gear changing at all. The Porsche Taycan has 2 gears as did the original Tesla Roadster. Pretty much every other EV has one. So it's not only that manuals have been losing ground to automatics, but automatics have their days numbered as well. Also grouping dual clutch transmissions like the PDK with regular old torque converter automatics is extremely silly.

But, ... imitation is the new game- the new '24 electric Dodge Charger will supposedly purposely come with gears ... and air baffles. Baffles, to generate 'engine' sounds because speakers are too fake, and gears to make it seem like arriving to the next intersection is a series of arm wrestling steeple chases despite having a steadily controlled torque curve.

To be fair, plenty of internal combustion cars prior to this rising electric era have embraced sound issues and overcompensated. Like the Mustang engine sound passthrough to entertainment system speakers, and the GT-86 / FRS / BRZ engine sound tube passing through the firewall.

Re: The end of the manual transmission is near?

#358

Post by dinom »

withinboredom wrote: post #332
dinom wrote: post #283

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not the tires? New cars come with tire pressure sensors and tire pressure plays a big role in fuel efficiency as well as safety. It's just a few more bits of info. Anything that has a remote chance of making more profit than the competitor will be attempted. Even if it's morally questionable... moral != legal. Heck, VW even threw legality out the window with emissions shenanigans a few years ago. I'm not arguing…

I think they were making a joke. You’re talking about the wheels. The tires are just the rubber part on the outside of the wheels.

Could be. That said... the sensor is generally referred to as a "tire pressure" sensor, not a "wheel pressure" sensor. No sense in nit-picking though.

The point is they'd put a fart detector in the cabin (and send that data to the mother-ship too) if they thought it would be profitable.

:-)

Re: The end of the manual transmission is near?

#359

Post by Dreami »

gerdesj wrote: post #94
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…

It's unlikely it took you five minutes to get the hang of clutch control and shifting gears. OK, it is possible you managed to avoid kangerooing but only for a small range of circumstances. From rest (with a gear selected and clutch depressed), you have to unlatch the handbrake, whilst at the same time gradually engage the clutch and deploy power via the throttle pedal. You have to ensure you don't go backwards on a…

In Switzerland, most instructor cars are Diesels, since they have higher torque and are very hard to stall. Then you go home and drive your parent's petrol engine car and you stall it all the time

Re: The end of the manual transmission is near?

#360

Post by randunel »

mongol wrote: post #333
Salgat wrote: post #245

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I ended up going back to automatic after 3 years of manual. Automatic is more fuel efficient, more convenient, and honestly I can't enjoy urban traffic either way, at least with automatic I don't have to think about it. If I truly want to enjoy a manual I'll do it on the race track.

> Automatic is more fuel efficient I thought it was the opposite. Has that changed?

It hasn't changed, automatic gearboxes still eat up more fuel than their manual counterparts on the same cars.
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