I'm rather looking forward to the day when I can nap in the back seat while my driverless car plows up the interstate to first chair at the mighty Sundown after an early season Nor'easter.
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Death of Manual Transmission ETA????
- Thread starter deadheadskier
- Start date
I'm rather looking forward to the day when I can nap in the back seat while my driverless car plows up the interstate to first chair at the mighty Sundown after an early season Nor'easter.
That's the way we're headed. I love technology, and the tech behind driverless cars in development is impressive (as is a lot of the tech in cars already on the road), but that doesn't mean I want it in my car!
You might want to buy a new car now that will last you until you die, they're getting harder and harder to find. IIRC you have an Outback, which you can no longer buy new with anything other than CVT.
Funky_Catskills
Well-known member
Funky_Catskills
Well-known member
you guys crack me up..
I'm so ready to not have to drive..
Unless I'm screaming around the mountain roads having fun - it's just a pain in the ass...
Technology is going to take over your car.. Assisted driving is happening and being phased in right now..
Auto lane change... Auto slow down with cruise control... auto parallel park.. Or how about just cruise control...?
It going to happen.. sorry... not sorry...
And I'll be laughing my ass off when I drove my car to make first chair while your driverless car refuses to drive on the snowy roads because that's not part of it's programming! :lol:
Unless you are arrested for violating CT's ban on driving yourself around in the snow!
ctenidae
Active member
Technology is going to take over your car.. Assisted driving is happening and being phased in right now..
Auto lane change... Auto slow down with cruise control... auto parallel park.. Or how about just cruise control...?
It going to happen.. sorry... not sorry...
I get the idea that some people don't like to drive, and that's fine with me, truly. Hell, the more people who ride in driverless cars, the more I'll be able to enjoy driving.
As for the Auto-whatevers, when the sun shines just right on my dash, I can see where all those little indicators would light up if I had gotten them. I don't think I've ever turned cruise control on in my car- I'd have to look at the steering wheel to even remember how (I think- unless it's on the stalk, but I don't think it is).
Funky_Catskills
Well-known member
I love to drive... when it's fun... It's not always fun.. Sometimes it's just mundane..
As a traveling sales guy, I get the mundane part. The MT makes things at least a little less mundane.
I hope I'm retired before they come out with a self-driving car. If they had them now, it would just be an excuse for my overlords to pile on even more paperwork. No matter how mundane driving is, it will never be as mundane as senseless paperwork.
I hope I'm retired before they come out with a self-driving car. If they had them now, it would just be an excuse for my overlords to pile on even more paperwork. No matter how mundane driving is, it will never be as mundane as senseless paperwork.
xwhaler
Active member
The maintenance thing that DHS brought up earlier is definitely real.
I traded my MT Tacoma in this past Fall for a AT Tundra (wanted more space for growing family) and at 115k the Tacoma was still on original brake pads.
Lots of highway miles and downshifting as appropriate resulted in amazing life on those pads.
I traded my MT Tacoma in this past Fall for a AT Tundra (wanted more space for growing family) and at 115k the Tacoma was still on original brake pads.
Lots of highway miles and downshifting as appropriate resulted in amazing life on those pads.
Good point. Bosses always find a way to ruin anything that makes like easier for people. Like the cell phone.
I agree that having less people who don't want to drive their cars behind the wheel, the better for everyone. However, I see driverless cars as being the first step towards making it illegal to actually drive your own car. Just look at all the safety crap the government already mandates on cars as it is. It's clear that they don't think the public can handle driving (and they're probably right in many cases), but instead of educating people, they continue to give away driver's licenses to almost anyone who shows up, and instead dumb down cars with some more (mandated) technology.
Agreed here too. I have an older car without a lot of the new safety auto-stuff, but it does have cruise control. That doesn't work (I don't think, maybe I just never tried it), and I'm perfectly fine with that.
My old man retired in 2000. He worked in finance and had some of the very first generations of cell phones and used them for maybe a decade or so. When he retired he refused to buy a cell phone until just last year. He was that sick of it. No call waiting on his home phone either. He only converted to a cell because so many of his friends and family were easier to get in touch with via text.
+1. The fewer devices I have to ignore when people want to contact me, the better!
Tin
Active member
For me less moving parts is always easier to fix and less things to break. I love my MT for the gas mileage. Lots of areas where I can pop it in neutral for miles going up and coming back skiing. My neutral record is 7.8 miles leaving Jay. I think the whole K access road can be done is neutral when leaving as well.
Edd
Well-known member
Driving down the Kancamagus highway towards Conway in neutral is a bit of a rush.
Cannonball
New member
I recently rented a little Mercedes MT in Portugal. I stopped buying MTs a long time ago so I thought it might be kind of fun driving a sporty little MT on European roads. It wasn't. It just reminded me why I stopped buying MTs.
I think the difference is this: some people see cars as toys, some people see cars as tools. If you see them as a toy you want as many ways to play with them as possible. If you see them as tools you want them to do the job as simply and seamlessly as possible. Neither is a wrong perspective. I see them as tools.
I think the difference is this: some people see cars as toys, some people see cars as tools. If you see them as a toy you want as many ways to play with them as possible. If you see them as tools you want them to do the job as simply and seamlessly as possible. Neither is a wrong perspective. I see them as tools.
Not Sure
Well-known member
My AT in my van almost caused me to hit a dump truck this past winter. I started up and left without warming up the engine came to the end of my road and hit 40' of ice, engine still on high idle pushed me after I hit the brakes , just missed a big dump truck ,was scary not being in control.
Had a MT on my Toyota 4x4 back in the 80's loved it but devolped knee issues . I havent had any knee issues since.
Had a MT on my Toyota 4x4 back in the 80's loved it but devolped knee issues . I havent had any knee issues since.
skiNEwhere
Active member
I believe subaru stopped making MT's for the outback 2 or so years ago. I always thought that they would be one of the last to cave in too.
I definitely miss the stick shift, totally agree with what DHS said about being able to control the amount of torque and gear for whatever driving situation you're in.
This is especially true of my F-150 that weighs over 2.5 tons. Since I live at 10k feet and work at 5k, there is a considerable amount of heat on the rotors of the F-150 when going downhill. If I were to use just the brakes I would (and have) create hot spots and eventually warp the rotors which causes shaking while braking. I have to press the "tow/haul" button while going downhill, and if I hit the brake after picking up speed, the tranny will automatically downshift for me and engine brake. It's a PIA though, a lot of the time it won't upshift after the road flattens out, so I have to keep turning it off and on. That, or use the manual gear select button that's annoyingly placed on the column shifter.
I don't think ford has had MT's available on an F-150 since '08. I don't even think any car manufacturer has MT's available on lightweight trucks now either.
At least my motorcycle has a MT, I don't think that's gonna change anytime soon.
I definitely miss the stick shift, totally agree with what DHS said about being able to control the amount of torque and gear for whatever driving situation you're in.
This is especially true of my F-150 that weighs over 2.5 tons. Since I live at 10k feet and work at 5k, there is a considerable amount of heat on the rotors of the F-150 when going downhill. If I were to use just the brakes I would (and have) create hot spots and eventually warp the rotors which causes shaking while braking. I have to press the "tow/haul" button while going downhill, and if I hit the brake after picking up speed, the tranny will automatically downshift for me and engine brake. It's a PIA though, a lot of the time it won't upshift after the road flattens out, so I have to keep turning it off and on. That, or use the manual gear select button that's annoyingly placed on the column shifter.
I don't think ford has had MT's available on an F-150 since '08. I don't even think any car manufacturer has MT's available on lightweight trucks now either.
At least my motorcycle has a MT, I don't think that's gonna change anytime soon.
Lightweight midsized trucks you have options. Toyota Tacoma and the Nissan pickup. Maybe the Chevy Colorado as well.
