Comments on: Are Manual Transmissions Done, And Should We Care?

By: Brian

Brian — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 23:05:32 +0000

If electrics are the cars of the future, then, both the manual and automatic will go the way of the dodo. I’ve owned and driven both, and for the daily commute I’ll take an auto. Put me in a sports car on hilly, twisty road with no traffic and the stick is the hands down winner (provided a surgeon can fix my knee).

By: Tyler

Tyler — Thu, 05 May 2011 02:55:23 +0000

The first car I had had a slushbox and I hated it, I will never own another automatic ever again. My current car (an 07 civic) has a manual and so does the 94 miata parked next to it. If any car I own has one thing, it will be a manual gearbox.I don’t care about a few tenths quicker to 60, the pure mechanical connection to the car is addicting. Besides, you cant heel toe in a car with a slushbox. I put driving enjoyment first and foremost, everything else comes second.

By: Justin

Justin — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 20:24:36 +0000

This strikes me a wholly American thread despite the use of a Ferrari as the justification. An SMG in a Ferrari bears no resemblance to the auto transmission in most American sold cars even those with the fake paddle shifters. I can’t imagine any Cadillac or even any “big three” car with a decent manual- they just don’t like or care about them. BMW, etc are a wholly different story.

They aren’t as reliable as a manual transmission, nor as efficient and there can’t be a single person on earth who thinks an Automatic is more enjoyable to drive. The only reason automatics are on the road is you don’t have to pay attention while you are using one and most American’s don’t like to pay attention while driving.

By: Acidtonic

Acidtonic — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 04:47:35 +0000

They can pry my manual from my cold dead hands. I will never give up if at all possible. Another thing for me is that I avoid front wheel drive as well.

I skip entire vehicle lines if they are front wheel drive or lacking in a manual. Before I bought my Evo I was waiting on Ford to produce a full time AWD manual trans turbo Focus or Fiesta. After seeing FWD only I switched to the import arena and decided on an Evo IX over the Subaru STI/ Audi S4/ BMW 335XI. I had a Cobra previously and although it looked and sounded better, the Evo simply destroys it at everything.

So yeah, I bought my first import despite owning nothing but Fords. I wanted a sports car that could handle the bad weather and snow here without compromising on performance.

Perhaps I’m just strict in my requirements but roughly to sum it up….

Stock motor unmodified needs to handle at least 400 horsepower to the ground for 70,000 miles.

Weight must be under 3400lbs.

Only full time all wheel drive, or rear wheel drive. Has to have limited slip differential(s).

Manual transmission required. Period. No caving here.

0-60 in under 5.5, 1/4th in under 13.75.

Price under $55,000. Preference to vehicles with potential for high daily driver fuel economy, or bad weather traction/handling.

So the car I decided upon is a 2006 Evolution IX 5spd. Prior to this car I thought a V8 was the only way to go. Now I’m not going back. Sorry for the long read.

By: Doug

Doug — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 22:31:10 +0000

I would argue that the benefit of manual transmission is in that it requires a greater physical and mental commitment to driving. Physically, it’s the best method to retard texting/phone use while driving b/c of the necessity to commit both hands to the car to drive in traffic or in changing terrain. On the mental side, one has to constantly be thinking ahead regarding traffic/terrain patterns so that one doesn’t get caught out of gear and stall/overrev the car. I don’t have access to the stats, but I would imagine that manual cars are less involved in texting/phone accidents that automatic cars.

By: eddie_357

eddie_357 — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 04:55:57 +0000

adapting 7 speeds on the twin clutch lowers first gear,for rapid acceleration.WOT shifts are obtainable on the twin clutch which are incredible and addictive. what about people who dont want to row the the gears all the time.after they get their paddle shift car they can go to you tube and tag word HEEL and TOE and say wow that looks like a skill i might not be able to develope without alot of practice!

By: guilf1

guilf1 — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 15:46:52 +0000

umm… ditto.

By: chuggada

chuggada — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 01:40:19 +0000

Who cares about the lap times. Theres a road near where I live, two way, one lane on each side and it snakes along a lake and is filled with straights and hills and hairpins, etc…I used to drive it when I had an auto, but after I got my manual…I cant express how many more times the fun was magnified with that gearbox. I’d take physically dropping down to second, letting off of the clutch’s sweet spot and blasting out of a hairpin over a few tenths of a second any day.

By: Mark Smith

Mark Smith — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 01:06:25 +0000

A manual is just plain more fun and, even with all of the fancy traction control devices around today, I feel like I have more control. Take starting from a stop on a slick surface. I’ve always felt I had more control in a manual than I do with an Automatic.

Yes, I grew up driving manuals and all but 2 of the cars I’ve even driven regularly are manuals. I may be a dinosaur, but I’m a happy one!

By: Werty

Werty — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 20:38:59 +0000

Unless you are racing the car professionally, who care about being slightly faster. How far apart were the times on the “Ring” for the manual vs automatic CTS-V? For 99 percent of the people who buy sports cars it is about fun. Yes I know faster is more fun. But, being the one who is controlling the car is even more fun. I have way more fun driving in a stick-shift car without traction-control, ABS, ESP, or throttle-by-wire. It feels more visceral to me. I’m the one driving the car, not a computer. To be fair there may be cars with those things that I would like. But, they are beyond the vast majority of people’s reach. Ferrari may very well make the greatest automatic of all time. I’ll probably never get a chance to find out. All I know is that every auto I’ve ever driven was less fun than the manual. I feel like I have time to make a sandwich while most auto-sticks try to grab the gear I just told it to.