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Death of Manual Transmission ETA????

dmc

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Really??? Well they certainly don't speed up, and my speedo goes down so doesn't that mean they are slowing down???

It really depends on the car and I guess torque(?) or something.... haha.. I'm not real car guy...

My VW slows down when I take my foot off the gas.
 

tjf67

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Fine- they don't slow down at any rate that's useful in traffic.

when you take an automatic and down shift it slows down just like a manual. Ask the greeter at Walmart they will be able to explain it to you
 

campgottagopee

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Fine- they don't slow down at any rate that's useful in traffic.

With the tiptronic I think they do----anyway, in a "panic" stop everyone is going to slam on there brakes, no time to be messing around down shifting no matter what kinda tranny you have----just sayin'
 

dmc

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LOL---stick with the computer stuff, and traveling.

My car has more power then my girls... I back off the gas on her car and it doesn't really slow down - mine does..

Difference between a VW and a Pontiac I guess..
 

ctenidae

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With the tiptronic I think they do----anyway, in a "panic" stop everyone is going to slam on there brakes, no time to be messing around down shifting no matter what kinda tranny you have----just sayin'

That's the trouble- panic stops are really just the result of a series of overly aggressive braking maneuvers. Not all to be blamed on automatics, obviously, but if more people could slow down effectively without flashing brakelights, then teh next person back won't hit their brakes a little too hard, which causes the person behind to hit the brakes probably a little too hard, etc etc etc. I see it every day on my way home. One car taps their brakes, causing the person who's following too close to hit their brakes, causing the next car to jam their brakes, causing the next car to stop. All of that starting and stopping is inefficient adn dangerous. I bet in stop adn go traffic, a properly driven manual is much more fuel efficient.

In the end, if people paid a little more attention to their driving, a lot of the traffic jams wouldn't be so bad, and automatics make it a little bit easier to pay a little bit less attention, for the population as a whole. But, I think there are a whole bunch of things that would be a bit better if people paid a little more attention, but there are a lot of things that make it just a little bit easier to not pay a little more attention.
 

Geoff

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That's the trouble- panic stops are really just the result of a series of overly aggressive braking maneuvers. Not all to be blamed on automatics, obviously, but if more people could slow down effectively without flashing brakelights, then teh next person back won't hit their brakes a little too hard, which causes the person behind to hit the brakes probably a little too hard, etc etc etc. I see it every day on my way home.

Life must suck if you have to live with that every day.
 

mondeo

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My car has more power then my girls... I back off the gas on her car and it doesn't really slow down - mine does..

Difference between a VW and a Pontiac I guess..
Depends on whether the torque converter lockout disengages or not. Every auto I've driven, lift throttle and it disengages and just coasts down. Which is how every one I've driven works. Also, a lot of slushboxes with gear select will still override you in certain situations.

Again, slushboxes=bad. Non-sequential manuals = ok. Automated sequential transmissions = good.
 

tjf67

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Depends on whether the torque converter lockout disengages or not. Every auto I've driven, lift throttle and it disengages and just coasts down. Which is how every one I've driven works. Also, a lot of slushboxes with gear select will still override you in certain situations.

Again, slushboxes=bad. Non-sequential manuals = ok. Automated sequential transmissions = good.

I don't know what a slushbox is but the bottom/line is if you have an automatic and down shift the engine slows you down. If you are putting. 3k RPM against a manual or auto it slows down the same all things being equal. Down shift with a manual in shit conditions and you loose more control than a soccor mom jumping on the breaks and using the ABS.
 

Geoff

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I don't know what a slushbox is but the bottom/line is if you have an automatic and down shift the engine slows you down. If you are putting. 3k RPM against a manual or auto it slows down the same all things being equal. Down shift with a manual in shit conditions and you loose more control than a soccor mom jumping on the breaks and using the ABS.

A slushbox is a conventional automatic transmission.

I agree. If you use that PRNDL thingie on the steering column or center console, you have acceptable speed control with a slush-o-matic. I do it every day coming down the hill at KMart with my Mountaineer. I don't have the 6 gears of the electronic sequential gearshift on my GTI to dial in the amount of engine braking I want but it achieves what I want.... to stay at the speed limit as I drive by the speed trap on the Access Road after a couple of parking lot beers without chewing through my brake pads.

On black ice, I think you have a little more control with a manual transmission. The objective is to avoid any sudden inputs and you can do that with a clutch and proper use of the throttle. It's tougher to do that in an automatic since it shifts when it wants to, not when you want it to even if you are telling it what gear to use. I can do it in my GTI with the paddle shifters but it's not something that's internalized like if I'm doing it on a 6 speed manual transmission. When I know I'm on black ice, I try not to touch either the gas or the brake and just let the car gradually slow. As my Blizzaks wore out last winter, I got to experience what everybody else goes through a couple of times. I'd kind of forgotten.
 

campgottagopee

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That's the trouble- panic stops are really just the result of a series of overly aggressive braking maneuvers. Not all to be blamed on automatics, obviously, but if more people could slow down effectively without flashing brakelights, then teh next person back won't hit their brakes a little too hard, which causes the person behind to hit the brakes probably a little too hard, etc etc etc. I see it every day on my way home. One car taps their brakes, causing the person who's following too close to hit their brakes, causing the next car to jam their brakes, causing the next car to stop. All of that starting and stopping is inefficient adn dangerous. I bet in stop adn go traffic, a properly driven manual is much more fuel efficient.

In the end, if people paid a little more attention to their driving, a lot of the traffic jams wouldn't be so bad, and automatics make it a little bit easier to pay a little bit less attention, for the population as a whole. But, I think there are a whole bunch of things that would be a bit better if people paid a little more attention, but there are a lot of things that make it just a little bit easier to not pay a little more attention.

I don't think the tranny has anything to do with peeps not paying attention to their driving. I believe it's the cell phones, gps, ipod, cd, etc, etc......
 

AdironRider

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I just noticed this thread, and Ill admit, have yet to read all 18 pages.

However, as a driving enthusiast (fixed/restored three e30 series BMW's through high school and college) prefer the manual as well.

This being said, the manual transmission will never die in America. Bold statement I know, but there is a large enough contingent of die hard manual users in this country that there will always be a market. The euros actually arent all that nuts over manuals as you might think, most companies (from Renault to Ferrari think SMG, or the paddle shifters for you non car guys) are the wave of the future. Sure, you can shift as fast as Shumi with em, but theres no skill involved.

I heard a statistic that something like 92% of all vehicles sold in the US are an automatic of some form; however, those remaining 8% arent switching anytime soon. In a country as large and as economically strong as ours, thats a large market, and companies will continue to cater to it for a long time.


Ok, managed to skim through everything and most of my points were already made.


However, if you think its tough to find a manual in a car, try the truck market. There isnt a single half ton out there with a manual even an option.

And Deadhead, it may not get 30mpg, but I do average 23 in my Nissan Frontier Crew Cab with the 6speed stick, 0-60 right around 7 as well with a few tweaks. Its by far the best car Ive ever owned, and Im with you that Subies are complete garbage. My girlfriends Forester is a rattle can, their clutch feel is pretty much non-existant, and its really not even that great in the snow. I had to pull her out of the driveway 7 times this winter, albeit in 400" of snow, and that was a bad year.
 
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Hawkshot99

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After getting a motorcycle a few weeks ago, I am loving shifting again. Drove my truck last night for the first time, and was extremely bored.
 
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