When do you anticipate this happening? Sure seems to me that manual transmissions will eventually be a thing of the past. I think it's sad.
The inspiration for this thread was today's release of the 2011 Hyundai Sonata Turbo. Very impressive numbers on this car. 274 horsepower, 269 lbs of torque, 34 MPG on the Highway. For reference, I drive a 2007 Sonata with a V6 that has 235 horsepower, 226 lbs of torque and I get 29ish MPG on the Highway. Pretty substantial improvement and I might be wrong, but I don't think there's a sedan on the market today that produces as much power with as good of gas mileage as the 2011 Sonata Turbo.
I was disappointed to read there will be no manual transmission offered in the Turbo. Not surprised as there was no manual offered in the V6. I bought it over a manual 4cyl due to some features I wanted that were only available in V6. That said, it bummed me out when I bought my car that I couldn't get a manual transmission.
Today's release led me to do some research. There are hardly any medium-large sized sedans being offered today with an available manual transmission. I thought this was specific to American and Asian cars, but even German automakers appear to be phasing out manuals. Even Audi got rid of the manual transmission in the A6 following 2004. The current S6, which is a 'sports sedan' is only available in an automatic. :blink:
I didn't check Mercedes, but it would appear that the only option out there for a mid-large size sedan is a BMW 5 series. WAY, WAY above my pay grade.
As hard as it is to say without getting laughed at as a Hyundai owner, I'm a bit of driving enthusiast. :lol: I LOVE driving my wife's manual Mazda3 Hatchback. That said, we want to have at least one larger car for multiple people transport.
Anyone else think it's totally lame that there are so few cars being offered today with manual transmissions?
The inspiration for this thread was today's release of the 2011 Hyundai Sonata Turbo. Very impressive numbers on this car. 274 horsepower, 269 lbs of torque, 34 MPG on the Highway. For reference, I drive a 2007 Sonata with a V6 that has 235 horsepower, 226 lbs of torque and I get 29ish MPG on the Highway. Pretty substantial improvement and I might be wrong, but I don't think there's a sedan on the market today that produces as much power with as good of gas mileage as the 2011 Sonata Turbo.
I was disappointed to read there will be no manual transmission offered in the Turbo. Not surprised as there was no manual offered in the V6. I bought it over a manual 4cyl due to some features I wanted that were only available in V6. That said, it bummed me out when I bought my car that I couldn't get a manual transmission.
Today's release led me to do some research. There are hardly any medium-large sized sedans being offered today with an available manual transmission. I thought this was specific to American and Asian cars, but even German automakers appear to be phasing out manuals. Even Audi got rid of the manual transmission in the A6 following 2004. The current S6, which is a 'sports sedan' is only available in an automatic. :blink:
I didn't check Mercedes, but it would appear that the only option out there for a mid-large size sedan is a BMW 5 series. WAY, WAY above my pay grade.
As hard as it is to say without getting laughed at as a Hyundai owner, I'm a bit of driving enthusiast. :lol: I LOVE driving my wife's manual Mazda3 Hatchback. That said, we want to have at least one larger car for multiple people transport.
Anyone else think it's totally lame that there are so few cars being offered today with manual transmissions?