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

latimes.com

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

#391

Post by akerro »

barrkel wrote: post #334
akerro wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>that'll earn you a restriction on your license, barring you from driving a manual. It's probably fair, but almost everyone (myself included) chooses to practice in manuals It is fair. When you do motorcycle training for up-to 125cc, you can take a scooter which doesn't have gears, or motorcycle with gear. If you learn how to use gears you know how to ride a scooter, but if you take a scooter, you're not allowed to r…

In the UK at least, CBT is not geared vs automatic specific. If you do your basic training on a scooter, you can still ride a geared 125 unaccompanied on the road. The full test is specific though. The bigger issue with scooters vs geared bikes isn't the extra effort of using the gears, it's the much higher centre of gravity and (usually) wider turning circle of geared bikes that complicates manoeuvres. More forward…

>In the UK at least, CBT is not geared vs automatic specific

Of course it is, I was actually talking about UK. Bottom of CBT cert has a line "Moped / Motorcycle", if you have "Moped" ticked and want to ride a gear bike, you have to re-do the CBT on a gear bike.

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

#392

Post by akerro »

peteretep wrote: post #293
ealexhudson wrote: post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is only partly true. While it's correct for the A1 license (up to 125cc), if you have provisional + CBT you can do that training on an automatic bike and then go out and ride a geared bike for as long as you renew the CBT. Personally, I think it's a silly restriction. I learned gears on my own, if you know how to ride a bike it's not complicated to pick up - even in the CBT training they expect learners to pick…

Very much worth noting that the CBT is a UK-only thing, and meaningless outside the UK.

Some EU countries don't require CBT-equivalent training to ride 125cc

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

#393

Post by flyinghamster »

vetinari wrote: post #317
Reason077 wrote: post #223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've driven manuals most of my life. Before stop/start came along, I was in the habit of just holding the clutch pedal down while stopped at intersections or in traffic. Anecdotally, I think most drivers do the same. Now, when driving stop/start equipped vehicles, I always try to use it. But in a manual, it does takes more thinking and effort and I wonder how many casual drivers actually bother. The thing is, most of…

By holding down the clutch pedal, you are literally destroying the clutch. When I was in the driving school, I was taught to never do this. If you are stopping, even for just few seconds, put in the neutral. It becomes automatic movement in a short time. Few years ago, I had colleagues who came from a certain foreign country and were not used to manual transmission. They got a company car with manual transmission. Th…

Holding down the clutch pedal when stopped won't harm the clutch, but it may put excess wear on the throwout bearing that allows it to slide back and forth.

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

#394

Post by exDM69 »

ollie87 wrote: post #314
exDM69 wrote: post #301

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you sure it actually blips the throttle and it's not just the synchromesh gear in the gearbox? There's no need to blip with a synchronized gearbox, which has been the standard in road vehicles since the 1930s or so. Even if it does blip, you can still utilize engine breaking but you have to shift early and sometimes skip gears.

Not sure why I got downvoted here. It actually blips the throttle. It's not the syncho, trust me. http://www.minif56.com/forum/353-mini-cooper-f56-forum/7010-... It's not the first car to have it either, and there is actually PLENTY of reasons why you'd need to blip or heel-toe when driving even in a car with a synco'd gearbox. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnXLZg_O1rk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4n9tMdISBg

Yeah, it's not completely out of question that it would blip the throttle, but it's not a very common feature either.

I drive an old piece of shit car with a very worn out synchromesh gear (it's a conical brass ring with grooves for friction - that wear out) so it's a bit smoother to blip the throttle a little when downshifting to the smallest gears. I don't heel-toe or left foot brake on the road (I'm proficient in both from simulator and performance driving), I just use my right foot to give a little gas. I rarely need to brake and downshift at the same time unless I'm in heavy traffic, I mostly rely on engine braking controlling speed.

Outside of performance driving or old worn out cars like mine, there's no real need to rev match on normal road cars.

How does the clutch in your car work? In an unsynchronized gearbox, you'd double declutch and blip when the clutch is up and gear is neutral (to rev match gears inside the gearbox). Is this thing just to match the engine and gearbox input shaft speed? Not gears inside the box? Or does it do something similar to double declutch w/ heel-toe?

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

#395

Post by TeMPOraL »

sshanky wrote: post #128
vmarsy wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>when automatic transmissions are consistently outperforming humans at fuel efficiency Do you have data to back this up? Unless you're driving a dual clutch "dry" transmission or a CVT, because of Physics, an automatic transmission will always be less efficient. The Automatic transmission Torque converter [1] will waste some of the energy provided by the engine, especially with city driving. Also, most automatic cars…

In modern cars, disengaging the clutch (or using neutral) when coasting (toward a stop or down a hill) is less efficient than staying in gear. This is because it takes some fuel to keep the engine idling, where staying in gear allows the computer to completely cut fuel flow, as long as the forward motion is keeping the engine turning.

Oh so that's what was happening...

Two days ago my friend and I were driving a rented car and we've noticed that when coasting, the computer said the fuel consumption is 0, but when the friend disengaged the clutch, the fuel consumption actually went up (!) to some value. We've been wondering what's going on, and we actually suspected a software bug in the fuel consumption indicator. Thanks!

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

#396

Post by rhinoceraptor »

cjrp wrote: post #316
rsp1984 wrote: post #313

Earlier quoted context omitted.

An often lost fact in automatic vs. stick-shift discussions is that in practice automatic transmission causes much heavier wear on the brakes of the car. This is because with a stick-shift you can just gear down when going downhill or before a foreseen stop and let the engine do most of the breaking for you. You then only use the brakes to bring the car to a full-stop on the last couple meters. This gets you much bet…

I use engine braking in this way, but I've often wondered how much additional wear this is putting on the clutch. Given that brake pads/discs are cheap, and a clutch is not, maybe in the long run this doesn't actually work out cheaper?

If you rev match properly, the down shift should be just as smooth and quick as a normal up shift.

E.G. you're in fourth gear at 50 MPH, you engage the clutch pedal, shift to third, tap the gas, and release the clutch pedal.

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

#397

Post by ollie87 »

exDM69 wrote: post #394
ollie87 wrote: post #314

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure why I got downvoted here. It actually blips the throttle. It's not the syncho, trust me. http://www.minif56.com/forum/353-mini-cooper-f56-forum/7010-... It's not the first car to have it either, and there is actually PLENTY of reasons why you'd need to blip or heel-toe when driving even in a car with a synco'd gearbox. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnXLZg_O1rk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4n9tMdISBg

Yeah, it's not completely out of question that it would blip the throttle, but it's not a very common feature either. I drive an old piece of shit car with a very worn out synchromesh gear (it's a conical brass ring with grooves for friction - that wear out) so it's a bit smoother to blip the throttle a little when downshifting to the smallest gears. I don't heel-toe or left foot brake on the road (I'm proficient in…

I know how car without a synchro works, the first car I ever drove was a 1950's Land Rover.

Watch the video, it works exactly how Engineering Explained describes, he even explains the benefits.

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

#398

Post by magoon »

It's harder for a manufacturer to implement an effective stability control system in a manual. The federal mandate of safety features after the Explorer/Firestone problems included that all cars have stability control and TPS. The tire systems are easy, but stability control usually combines ABS with engine cutoff. In order for engine cutoff to work, the transmission must be engaged. This is also why automatics stay in gear when you're going downhill They call a feature "Downhill Assist" where the car attempts to maintain a stable speed relative to the pressure on the accelerator pedal. Combined with uphill assist, this makes for a more consistent driving experience.

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

#399

Post by philoye »

This is so sad to me. Manual transmissions are just more fun, no matter which car you have. I have a 10 year old Subaru Outback and even that (top) heavy PoS gives me joy on a curvy road.

Of course I know that a modern auto is _way_ faster than a human, but I don't care in the slightest. My father in law has a Mercedes C63s and holy shit is it fast, but it would be 10x better with a stick. Spending a ton of money on a Porsche 911 but getting an automatic is baffling to me—unless you actually race it.

Life is too short, find fun where you can. Don't let the robots win.

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

#400

Post by mannykannot »

kbart wrote: post #385
baq wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

can confirm with anecdata: in my car the computer reports 0.0 fuel consumption when coasting in gear but non-zero when in neutral/clutch depressed.

another anecdata: I once drove a car that reported negative fuel consumption when driving down the hill. EDIT: no, it was neither electric nor hybrid car, but some old petrol car with manual transmission (Saab 900 or similar).

A hybrid?
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