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Death of Manual Transmission ETA????

MR. evil

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We bought a Honda Accord coupe last year and it was almost impossibe to get with a stick shift. It took us a couple of months to locate one in New England as Honda made less than 1000 of them With a V6 / manual tranny combo. The Accord is one of the best selling cars in the US and Honda made so few of the sports coupe model with stick shift.....WTF.
 

bvibert

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I have a VW direct shift gearbox in my GTI. It's basically two manual transmissions bolted together and shifts with solenoids. It's far quicker than a manual transmission with a professional driver. I use the paddle shifters all the time in the snow and for speed control going down hills.

That's fine, and is pretty cool technology, but unless it has a clutch pedal and a traditional gear selector then it's an automatic and I'm not interested.

Manual transmissions are last century's technology.

That may be, but they're still a whole lot more fun than the alternative.
 

wa-loaf

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I'm curious - how many of you left-foot brake when driving autos?

Never done it. I have put my foot out to clutch and reached for the stick. But the brake is in the same place on an auto as it is in a manual so it's pretty tough to mix-up.
 

mondeo

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Did it by accident while moving my friend's Yaris... Good thing the brakes are as strong as the acceleration (i.e. not very).

-w

Never done it. I have put my foot out to clutch and reached for the stick. But the brake is in the same place on an auto as it is in a manual so it's pretty tough to mix-up.
Not talking about accidentally. As in, when I drive an auto, my right foot doesn't touch the brake pedal. Very hard to do with three pedals, heel and toeing doesn't allow you to mix gas and brake anywhere near as well as a free left foot. And going faster is more fun than just having three pedals.
 

bvibert

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I'm curious - how many of you left-foot brake when driving autos?

Not I. The left foot is for the clutch, if there isn't one then it doesn't get used, aside from occasionally stomping it on the floor like there was a clutch when slowing down...
 

bvibert

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Not talking about accidentally. As in, when I drive an auto, my right foot doesn't touch the brake pedal. Very hard to do with three pedals, heel and toeing doesn't allow you to mix gas and brake anywhere near as well as a free left foot. And going faster is more fun than just having three pedals.

I have no problem controlling the gas pedal with my right foot while also using it to apply the brake. Aside from blipping the throttle while down shifting I'm not sure why else I'd need gas and brake at the same time. Your last line confuses me.
 

mondeo

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I have no problem controlling the gas pedal with my right foot while also using it to apply the brake. Aside from blipping the throttle while down shifting I'm not sure why else I'd need gas and brake at the same time. Your last line confuses me.
Controlling over/understeer in corners, also makes it easier to smoothly transition from hard trailbraking to accelerating right at the apex rather than missing a quarter second. If you're not on the gas or brakes, you're wasting traction.
 

WJenness

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I have no problem controlling the gas pedal with my right foot while also using it to apply the brake. Aside from blipping the throttle while down shifting I'm not sure why else I'd need gas and brake at the same time. Your last line confuses me.

This.

-w
 

bvibert

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Controlling over/understeer in corners, also makes it easier to smoothly transition from hard trailbraking to accelerating right at the apex rather than missing a quarter second. If you're not on the gas or brakes, you're wasting traction.

Now you're just putting way too much thought into it. That fraction of a second isn't going to make any discernible difference for drivers on public roads. Not to mention it's not very hard to lean your foot over onto the accelerator while coming off the brake if you're that worried about it.
 

deadheadskier

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We bought a Honda Accord coupe last year and it was almost impossibe to get with a stick shift. It took us a couple of months to locate one in New England as Honda made less than 1000 of them With a V6 / manual tranny combo. The Accord is one of the best selling cars in the US and Honda made so few of the sports coupe model with stick shift.....WTF.

I love your car. It would be high on my wish list, but the wife and I intend on multiplying in the next year or so and she thinks getting a baby seat into a coupe will be a PITA. The back seat for your car is pretty darn roomy for coupe IMO.
 

MR. evil

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I love your car. It would be high on my wish list, but the wife and I intend on multiplying in the next year or so and she thinks getting a baby seat into a coupe will be a PITA. The back seat for your car is pretty darn roomy for coupe IMO.

it's a great car, lots of power, handles well and really fun to drive. The only complaint would be the brakes. Very soft pads, already had to replace the rears with only 25k. After a year and a half I am still not used to the 6 speed after driving a 5 speed for so long.
 

deadheadskier

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it's a great car, lots of power, handles well and really fun to drive. The only complaint would be the brakes. Very soft pads, already had to replace the rears with only 25k. After a year and a half I am still not used to the 6 speed after driving a 5 speed for so long.

I'll be curious to see if the second set last longer. Rears on my Hyundai went around 40K, which was apparently normal. They said the second set would last longer. I'm now at 98K and they're fine. I'm just about to replace the fronts.

mebbe i'm reading this wrong but it says you can still get a stick on the pasat....
http://www.allautoreviews.com/auto_reviews/volkswagen/volkswagen-passat-wagon.htm

maybe that's what's available in Europe?

according to the VW website the wagon comes with a six speed auto

http://www.vw.com/passatwagon/completespecs/en/us/#engineering
 

Marc

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it's a great car, lots of power, handles well and really fun to drive. The only complaint would be the brakes. Very soft pads, already had to replace the rears with only 25k. After a year and a half I am still not used to the 6 speed after driving a 5 speed for so long.

Wat? You drivin around with the e brake on? I hardly ever have to replace rear pads. And never before the fronts.
 
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