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The end of the manual transmission is near?
721–730 of 875 posts
Re: The end of the manual transmission is near?
#722I’ll stay manual until I go electric. Every time I’ve tried automatic transmissions I had the feeling that the computer was struggling to figure out what I’m gonna do (upshift, downshift, accelerate slowly, accelerate agressively?) based on the limited input available. It always felt annoying compared to the direct control with a manual.
Ive always found automatics difficult to drive in the city, where they are suppose to make things easier. They just don't have the level of control i can get from a manual for quick acceleration to get out of side roads into traffic. Even in the "sport" mode i've found them sluggish, and it was a fairly new rental a few years ago.
Maybe the high end models get the really responsive automatic gearboxes, but i suspect not everyone can afford that, compared to any old cheap manual that can do the same thing.
Now, electric wont have that problem as i understand, so happy to drive without gears then.
Re: The end of the manual transmission is near?
#723Earlier quoted context omitted.
But anyone that drives a manual will let you know it's mostly about the clutch and how you use it, rather than choosing what gear you're in. Using a clutch just right can produce amazing amount of torque just when you need it. Automatic clutch can be incredibly efficient, but it simply can't know what you want to do.
Another nice thing is using the clutch to roll start a vehicle with a dead battery.
My first car was a Beetle with the autostick. It was great. I started it more times than I could count by pushing/rolling it.
Re: The end of the manual transmission is near?
#724Earlier quoted context omitted.
> 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…
> The Mustang and Camaro were the size of a full size sedan today , if not bigger This is verifiably false with three minutes of searching, which I did on my cellphone as I sit by a campfire. As an owner of both a 1965 Mustang and a 2015 Explorer, the difference in size between these vehicles is comical. I've rented a 2020 Camry that was larger in every dimension. It got great gas mileage, but small it was not. 1967…
You are comparing a two door sports car to a four door sedan. Yes some cars have become larger, but they are also incredibly more safe. The doors are thicker and reinforced to protect you in an accident. The roof is taller and stronger, and the pillars are reinforced steel so you don't get crushed in a rollover.
They still make the Mazda Miata, BMW 1 series, Toyota BRZ, etc. These are all small cars, although I'm not going to research all of their dimensions. The truth is there is a very small minority of people who want cars smaller than that, and it's not profitable to produce them.
Re: The end of the manual transmission is near?
#725Earlier quoted context omitted.
As a cyclist, I fear that indeed, automatic requires less thinking, thus less concentration. Are there studies on the frequencies of accidents based on manual vs. automatic?
I would be very interested in such a study. I have driven both autos and manuals and have noticed a distinct difference in focus when driving the latter. I feel more engaged with the roads and my environment. I also noticed that I've never fought to stay awake while driving a manual, and unfortunately this is the case with automatics. My previous and current cars are manuals, and I don't ever plan on buying an auto i…
I always feel like the fighting to stay awake feeling is a consequence of the road, like a long boring highway. In this case, how is a manual any different than a automatic, being that you are in the highest gear and driving without needing to shift?
Re: The end of the manual transmission is near?
#726Earlier quoted context omitted.
> 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…
> The Mustang and Camaro were the size of a full size sedan today , if not bigger This is verifiably false with three minutes of searching, which I did on my cellphone as I sit by a campfire. As an owner of both a 1965 Mustang and a 2015 Explorer, the difference in size between these vehicles is comical. I've rented a 2020 Camry that was larger in every dimension. It got great gas mileage, but small it was not. 1967…
For a better comparison, I have a 2018 Camaro. It is 190" long, 6" longer than the '67 Mustang.
Re: The end of the manual transmission is near?
#727Earlier quoted context omitted.
When he was alive, my ol grandpa once told me: "Nobody makes anything for me anymore--they've all just left me behind!" I thought to myself HA! I'll never get like that! I'm always going to be an early adopter, I'll always be optimistic for the new, I believe that technology always marches forward! Now that I'm getting up there in age, despite swearing otherwise, I'm starting to feel like grandpa. I'm just not the ta…
> Computers keep getting more and more locked down and are losing peripheral ports. Excuse me Sir, do you have a moment to talk about our Lord and Saviour, the Framework laptop? https://frame.work/
> Excuse me Sir, do you have a moment to talk about our Lord and Saviour, the Framework laptop?
Very gladly: It has even fewer ports than most mainstream laptops. The theoretical flexibility doesn't make up for the facts that it can have at most 4 ports, and the MicroSD reader counts as a port. So you can have one USB-C (which you need for charging), one USB-A to be able to connect a mouse, one HDMI to be able to connect a monitor that doesn't provide USB-C power, and a MicroSD card reader.
You don't get built-in Ethernet ever
Re: The end of the manual transmission is near?
#7282 years ago, I bought a slightly used Tacoma. I looked for months to find a light pickup truck with a manual transmission. In theory, there were a couple of models from two manufacturers available with a manual, but in reality, I couldn't find one on a lot. In the used market, it was maybe one in fifty. I held out until I found one, because I knew that this would be my last chance to drive a manual, and more than lik…
Get a motorcycle. They're still almost exclusively manual. Heck, it's not hard to find one with low miles and in good condition that still has a carburetor as motorcycles didn't switch to to electronic fuel injection en masse until 2010.
Manual transmission, manual choke, manual fuel valve, no traction control, no ABS, no computers (if you get one made before 2010) - what more can you ask for? The ones made prior to 2010 also tend to have analog gauges. It's the ultimate analog riding machine!
Get one of these old machines and have fun. In 10 years or so you won't be able to find fully-manual, non-computerized, motorcycles either.
Re: The end of the manual transmission is near?
#729Earlier quoted context omitted.
1997 Range Rover P38 owner here. Entirely gizmo-free and less rot-prone than old Toyotas.
God did I ever love my '92 Rover. Maybe I should get another one.
'92 would be an RRC. Get a P38, they're a lot more "liveable" as a daily and they don't rot anything like as badly. Also an RRC is insanely expensive, and P38s have only just started the upward curve.
Re: The end of the manual transmission is near?
#730Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
I currently use a (automatic) borrowed car from the shop while my (manual) car is being repaired. I mostly do city-driving. One of the biggest issues with the automatic is stop-and-go traffic. It's absolutely trash at accelerating smoothly but fast, and I have no choice but to either go very slowly forward to not make it janky, or really aggressive acceleration. With a manual car, smooth-but-fast acceleration is easy…
That is not my experience *at all*. There must be something wrong with that particular transmission.
I love driving manual, but a long stretch of having to commute in stop and go traffic made me switch to automatic, and it has always been a buttery smooth experience for me.
There is nothing worse than the smell of burning clutch in the morning.