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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?

#841

Post by Fire-Dragon-DoL »

amarant wrote: post #628
pjmlp wrote: post #520

Earlier quoted context omitted.

North Italy has enough ice and snow driving, including compulsory wheel chains, at least while we keep having European Winters.

GP did mention Rome though.. There's snow and ice in the Italian Alps for sure, but in Rome? Hardly likely.

In Rome no, there is no snow, it's too hot.

The 3 times I can remember there was snow in Rome the city would completely lock, with cars abandoned in the middle of the road (picture post zombie apocalypse kind of thing), so you can't drive even if you want to, because there is no room on the road.

Re: The end of the manual transmission is near?

#842

Post by 0x0000000 »

jacquesm wrote: post #827
dingaling wrote: post #824

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Over-revving is next to impossible nowadays as the ECU will cut fuel flow to prevent it. Hence "bouncing off the limiter".

It's super easy: downshift into the wrong gear and let go of the clutch. That's the bulk of those cases.

Colloquially known as the "money shift"

Re: The end of the manual transmission is near?

#843

Post by walnutclosefarm »

taylodl wrote: post #728
walnutclosefarm wrote: post #704

2 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…

> what more can you ask for?

Four wheels, a cargo bed, and, when it's -20F outside, a cab and heater ;-)

Other than that, yeah, a cycle is great.

Re: The end of the manual transmission is near?

#844

Post by randerson »

CamperBob2 wrote: post #148
PheonixPharts wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

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. Not anymore, unfortunately. In the current gen (2022+) Macan they got rid of the buttons in favor of a glossy touch panel. It looks cleaner, but it won't by the time you get home from the dealership.

At least still has high quality physical buttons for A/C and the steering wheel controls, which is most of what you're likely to use while moving. My least favorite thing about the Taycan is the capacitive AC controls.

Re: The end of the manual transmission is near?

#845

Post by dieselgate »

zaarn wrote: post #775
Maursault wrote: post #773

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Regenerative braking is not Engine braking, which itself is not at all like using brakes other than it slows the vehicle down. Though it is probably most commonly used to spare brake wear, the importance of it is to help the driver maintain control of the vehicle. Active use of engine braking by shifting into a lower gear helps control speed while driving down very steep and long slopes, and to maintain better contro…

How is regenerative breaking not the same as engine breaking? Other than the lack of ICE in the EV, the engine is being used to slow down the vehicle, it has the exact same effect.

Well it’s not the same in a similar fashion of “1 + 1 = 2” is not literally the same as “3 - 1 = 2”. Maybe they accomplish similar goals but downshifting to brake can be done for as many gears as the transmission contains in a stepwise fashion. But without a transmission in a single speed vehicle with regenerative braking it’s more of a “spectrum” of braking and not directly controllable by the driver.

And for the record I believe “engine braking” is a slightly different mechanism than “downshift braking” but could be wrong here - my manual passenger vehicles don’t have explicit “engine brake” controls but a semi truck might.

Re: The end of the manual transmission is near?

#846

Post by vlan0 »

masklinn wrote: post #303
vlan0 wrote: post #298

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While true, the motivating factors for F1 and mass production vehicles are not the same. F1 is pure min/max. Which of course means manual is gone. But min/max on my GTI means I lose connection with the vehicle and my ability to drive matters less. For what? .4 faster 0-60 or 1/4? Eh

The comment I replied to was a statement of efficiency. Not a statement of the pleasure you derive from transmission vinyl.

Huh, thanks for calling me out on that. My brain must have been in a different gear.

Re: The end of the manual transmission is near?

#847

Post by dumpsterlid »

yencabulator wrote: post #741
dumpsterlid wrote: post #625

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Even for people in the car, some older car designs put the drivers legs under the engine block. In a head on collision at speed, the legs were the crumple zone (meanwhile the steering column was being pushed through your torso)." Anytime anyone waxes nostalgic about how "they dont make cars like they used" I think about this video. They sure as hell don't make cars like they used too, you can get out and walk away f…

I agree with you, but crashing a 50-year old car also isn't the same as crashing a new car. Rust, failed fasteners, etc has to bias that crash to make it even worse for the old car.

"Rust, failed fasteners, etc has to bias that crash to make it even worse for the old car."

Did you see that bel air in the video? It is in beautiful condition as far as I can tell.

Besides, things like rust would make the car crumple more not less and the issue is that the car doesnt crumple enough (in the right spots) so I imagine rust in the frontend could actually make it safer ironically.

Re: The end of the manual transmission is near?

#848

Post by dumpsterlid »

Retric wrote: post #749
dumpsterlid wrote: post #615

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pickups are actually one of the worst vehicles imaginable in the snow. You have to throw a lot of weight in the rear to get traction, the wheelbase is long so that spinning out of control is far more likely and terrifying, trucks are super high off the ground so roll over risk is high (ESPECIALLY with lifted trucks) and worst of all extremely heavy vehicles like big trucks have a horrendous stopping distance in the s…

Unless you want to toss a snow plow on the front and actually deal with it. That’s the thing even in urban areas you will see pickup trucks cleaning parking lots etc.

Yah but even then, I suspect a 4x4 suv would be better suited than a pickup for that... its just people use absolute incredible shit tier beater trucks for plowing similar to how people use shit tier cars to deliver pizzas. I dont think its because a beater truck is better than say a 4x4 SUV, it just is (was?) easier to find a beater truck.

If somebody is using a nice truck to snow plow they are pissing away money. Ice, constant torquing stress on the frame, hitting shit hidden in the snow, salt on main roads everywhere (depending on place) etc... it is fastest way to reduce the value of a vehicle next to driving it into a brickwall or driving it off a bridge into the ocean.

Re: The end of the manual transmission is near?

#849

Post by dumpsterlid »

kube-system wrote: post #695
1234letshaveatw wrote: post #667

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does everyone here live in a studio apartment? Pickup trucks are the most utilitarian vehicle you can buy. Whether you use it for hauling furniture from the antique store, or you transport firewood or a load of topsoil or throw a kayak in the back, or one of a million other jobs. I don't get how people can become so radicalized that they develop a hatred for pickup trucks. We are doomed as a country

I’ve owned several pickups. My current pickup has two doors, a vinyl floor, roll up windows, a key to open the door, and dents all over it. That’s a utilitarian vehicle. The $60k luxury barges I see at the mall are not that.

Exactly when I see a pickup drive by that that is dented or scratched up and has a bunch of shit in the back... ya know is a vehicle that has been used for stuff a truck makes sense for and I think that is great. (These trucks are usually smaller trucks too like rangers and s10)

99% of trucks are not that these days and that may be being generous.

Also... spend half the money on a beater truck and the other half on a civic so you dont take up the whole damn road on your commute to your office job and kill me when your comically oversized vehicles rides over mine in a car crash. I am tired of seeing $70,000 trucks without a scratch on them being used like they are a commuter sedan, its selfish and stupid.

Re: The end of the manual transmission is near?

#850

Post by yencabulator »

dumpsterlid wrote: post #847
yencabulator wrote: post #741

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with you, but crashing a 50-year old car also isn't the same as crashing a new car. Rust, failed fasteners, etc has to bias that crash to make it even worse for the old car.

"Rust, failed fasteners, etc has to bias that crash to make it even worse for the old car." Did you see that bel air in the video? It is in beautiful condition as far as I can tell. Besides, things like rust would make the car crumple more not less and the issue is that the car doesnt crumple enough (in the right spots) so I imagine rust in the frontend could actually make it safer ironically.

My understanding: Crumple zones only work in conjunction with hard points behind them. If the engine goes into your knees and the wheel into your chest, they weren't strong enough, or guided in safer directions. Crumple zones' primary job is to make the stop more gradual, to reduce G-forces and whiplash.
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