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Let the manual transmission die

13K views 401 replies 84 participants last post by  rickhamilton620 
#1 ·
#6 ·
We all know manual transmission WILL DIE with ICE engine. There is no if, it's only a matter of WHEN. Now is the time to get one last manual car before they are all gone. I got a 19 C7 for this very reason. Daily driver is a manual WRX, fun vehicle is manual C7 and a STR 765R. I refuse to get an automatic, even dual clutch one. I am excited for an electric car as a daily driver to replace the Wrx when the time come.
 
#11 ·
Fact is that a car purchase is still a partially an emotional purchase. Once almost all vehicles become so incredibly boring
it will kill larger sales and destroy the customer base.

I don't mind that car companies are killing themselves slowly, I will smile at their arrogance, greed, and stupidity.
 
#16 ·
Do you think anyone clicked the link?
This is like flipboard comment sections. No one reads the article. They just comment based on the title.
 
#17 ·
The biggest reason I bought my NC3 was I needed a manual in my life again. I've had to drive a pickup for work for years, wifey has her DSG GTI (which is fun but not the same). The opportunity came about to have a 3rd pedal earlier this year and I jumped on it. I'm not one of those manual purists but still love them. Hell, when I took my teenage daughters for a ride in the Miata they were blown away...they'd honestly never seen a manual before. I plan on keeping it for a lot of years but it will one day be replaced by, another manual something for sure. I didn't read the article btw lol.
 
#21 ·
Do not try to claim the manufacturers are forcing the death of the manual transmission in the US. It is the average consumer buying new in large numbers and enthusiasts who only buy used vehicles that are leading manufacturers to drop manuals in the US.
 
#20 · (Edited)
no.

edit: i don't get the point of this article. "just let manuals die because they're gonna die anyway?" really? yeah kids, grandpa's getting old and has trouble walking now. go get a golf club and just "pull the band aid off quickly".

what a weak article. yes, people should still buy new manual cars because that's the best we can do. i know I will.
 
#42 · (Edited)
I remain adamant that Detroit killed the manual transmission for one simple reason: keeping the 3 speeds around long after they should have adapted to modern 4 and 5 speed transmissions. Threes had horrendous gear spacing and the powerband's of 60s engines wasn't nearly as wide and generous as modern engines. This wasn't a problem with a large V8, but it was in a large car/truck with a 6 or a small 8. Keep in mind that 3 speeds had been in use since the 1920s!, albeit without any syncromesh.

Why does this matter? Because although some cars ad optional 4 speeds, they were nearly as much money as the optional autos, which were especially desirable as A: it was new, exiting technology and B: power steering wasn't commonly equipped until the mid-60s. Thus only hardcore enthusiasts paid extra for optional 4 speeds, rather than simply offering the good transmission standard.

Even into the 70ies some cars simply didn't have a 4 speed standard, or at all. (Maverick, Vega, Gremlin/Pacer/Hornet). Guess that's your punishment for buying a small car:rolleyes:. Of course Detroit adapted modern 5 speeds by the 80s but by that time gas was cheap again and manuals were associated with cheap, low end cars which many Boomers still believe to this day.





Oh, and to all of you people saying "put up or shut up brah", some of us are young. I can afford a new car (a decent car, not something ridiculous like a Versa or Mirage) but that has only been the case recently. People here like to say were living in a "golden age" of enthusiast cars, but IMO that's only true if you can afford a 55K car. I can't, and 90% of people under 30 can't-why do you think I buy used? In 1985-1995, you had scores and dozens of enthusiast cars that were affordable: Fox Mustang GT, Mazda MX-3 and MX-6, Prelude, S12 200SX, FB RX7, S13 240SX, the infamous Diamond Star coupes, AE86, Corolla GTS, I could go on... Just watch Motorweek retro reviews! There are a handful of affordable enthusiast cars sub 30K today, and they're mostly excellent cars, but our choices get more and more diminished every year all across the price spectrum.
 
#44 ·
Regarding buying what's on the lot vs ordering, I've bought 4 new manual equipped cars (1 Mazda, 3 VW) and not a single one of them was on the lot. I'm more than fine with waiting to get exactly what I want. A car is something one should have for a while, thus I don't understand peoples aversion to ordering something and having it come a few months later. If I wrote off my car and the dealer had no manuals I'd buy a beater to drive while I waited.
 
#46 ·
Regarding buying what's on the lot vs ordering, I've bought 4 new manual equipped cars (1 Mazda, 3 VW) and not a single one of them was on the lot. I'm more than fine with waiting to get exactly what I want. A car is something one should have for a while, thus I don't understand peoples aversion to ordering something and having it come a few months later.
Yep. Shortly after VW announced the TDI in the Jetta Wagon in early 2002, I went to the dealership and ordered a Manuel. Waited 4 months for it to come in. 17 years later, that wait doesn't seem like much. :laugh:
 
#51 ·
Honestly, with the rise of the ZF 8AT and other great autos, I won't really miss the stick.

I mean, at this point there are two kinds of stick shift cars:

-Cars you have to rev the nuts off to get power (like my s2000) and you can get caught in the wrong gear and that kind of sucks

-Cars with so much power that you don't need to shift anyways (turbos, V8s, etc) and it doesn't really matter


Yeah, shifting on a windy back road will always be fun, but other than that, I have grown to love the near-instant power of a good auto, where you just jab the throttle and go. I was "manuel only" for a long time, but now...eh.
 
#53 ·
As the article said too, all manuals are not created equal. The crappy manual in my Z is what pushed me over to the auto side, and I haven't looked back, at least for daily drivers. If I ever get another manual car, the gearbox + clutch are gonna have to be "my old 92 Accord w/an H22A swap + Quaife + upgraded synchros" perfect
 
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