Who thinks manual trannys are low tec? In what way is a manual tranny better than an auto? an auto tranny delivers constant power to the wheels (does not lose power when cluch goes in to shift). an auto will shift faster than any human can. with b&m slap shifters and selective shift autos, I see manual trannys as only offering another step as we get up to speed in a car.
I see manual trannys in the same light as drum brakes. Outdated
I think the reason stick shift transmissiions are being (slowly) fazed out is the same reason the hand crank was fazed out many years ago. It’s antiquated!!!
In the latest Hot Rod magazine there is an article on the newer high capacity clutches. After a very thorough discussion of the new friction materials available and multiple disc clutches that can handle up to 1000 hp engines, there is a discussion of the possibility of going to a computer controlled clutch with the ECM handling the launch, the gear to gear shifting, down shifting, declutching at stoppage, etc. I don’t know if there would be a manual stick backup to the paddle shifters.
Anyway, read the article because it is food for thought about where stick shifts could be headed.
With no scientific data to back it up, my personal opinion is that it’s laziness. Why exert effort to do something that can be done automatically, to coin a phrase.
Do away with electric windows on all cars and watch the street rioting begin when people are confronted with the fact they have to roll their windows up and down manually!
Just to add to that a bit, I’ve heard a few people complain over the years about being “tired of shifting gears”.
My vote is for a manual because I like to move through the gears on my own.
One plus to manuals is that on average a manual transmission will usually last the life of the car unless abused and it’s usually cheaper to replace or repair when a problem does occur.
Let an automatic fail (especially a 5-8 speed automatic that is out of warranty) and the cost of fixing that often means the car is headed for the crusher due to economics.
The fuel economy advantage of a manual transmission has pretty much gone away. A manual transmission is lighter and is a mechanical coupling therefore it is more efficient than an automatic with a fluid coupling. However modern automatics with torque lock up and computer controls that hit the optimum shift points have equalized the the fuel economy. My wife recently bought a small 4 cylinder car and when we looked at the EPA figures advantage in City driving went to the Auto and Highway went to the 5 speed stick by one MPG. If that vehicle had a 5 speed auto it probably would have beaten the stick shift. Fun factor still goes to a true stick shift. Auto stick shift or whatever the marketing guys call it is worst of both worlds.
Really? I thought the hand crank was phased out because you could break your arm if you didn’t use them correctly. I don’t know many people who have broken their arms shifting gears incorrectly.
Have you ever driven a car with a hand crank starter? You have to get out of the car to turn the crank. I think most manual transmissions can be operated from inside the auto mobile.
For your next trick, will you please compare automatic transmissions to indoor plumbing? I never considered how primitive my horseless carriage is simply because of its manual transmission.
ichoosestick305, you might consider discussing the repercussions of Toyota’s sticking throttle. If your throttle sticks in the open position, and your car has a manual transmission, you just press the clutch to regain control of the car. If your throttle sticks in the open position, and your car has an automatic transmission, you might have the composure to shift it to neutral, and you might not. Of the people who have been injured or killed in out of control Toyotas, I am pretty sure none of them had a manual transmission.
Who thinks manual trannys are low tec?
I do. If you don’t believe me, check out howstuffworks.com at How Manual Transmissions Work | HowStuffWorks and at How Automatic Transmissions Work | HowStuffWorks .
In what way is a manual tranny better than an auto?
Manuals are cheaper to maintain, cheaper to repair, and cheaper to replace.
Having had to start a farm tractor and other machinery with a hand crank, I agree that the “self starter”, invented by Cadillac about 100 years ago, was probably the single greatest advance in car technology. It allowed women to actually start cars on their own and the rest is history. Once women started driving, the car market greatly increased, and Henry Ford capitalized on this big time!
I’m not sure I agree with all your assesments here. I have had both manual and automatics is many cars over the years. I don’t think I’m a lazy driver, and I do most of the maintenance on my own vehicles. But, I now prefer an auto over a manual for a few reasons:
-
It’s a real pain to drive a manual transmission with either arm in a cast/sling or your foot in a cast. After having a couple bike related injuries, I decided that at least one of our cars had to be an automatic.
-
I would much rather drive a Jeep off-road with an auto than a manual. The experience is much more enjoyable as I can pay attention to where I am. It’s too easy to stall/burn out a clutch on difficult trails with a manual.
-
Autos are rated at higher towing capacity, and I have towed some heavy trailers behind my Grand Cherokee to help my kids with moving.
In addition, I have not found my manual transmissions to have been any more reliable than the automatics. The weak link on a manual is the shift linkage (pardon the pun).
Just to add to that a bit, I’ve heard a few people complain over the years about being “tired of shifting gears”.
Well, it sort of depends on where one lives and how one drives. Many years ago I lived in New Jersey and commuted to work in stop-and-go traffic every day for about an hour or two depending on just exactly what time I left home. In that situation I want an automatic. I got tired of shifting gears in traffic. Anyone living in or around a big city and using their car to commute will probably say the same. Now that I live in rural Virginia and don’t face that kind of traffic I far prefer a stick shift, but if I were commuting in and around DC I’d want an automatic for sure. Same thing if I did a lot of towing. The automatic would make it easier. “Horses for courses” as the Brits say.
Car makers produce what people ask for. And apparently the American car buyer has been, for the last few decades, asking for cars that increasingly separate the driver from the driving experience. Automatic transmissions are only a part of the picture. Cars have become less and less about driving and more and more about becoming a comfortable pod that just hapens to deliver you to your destination.
I think you’ll find a lot of useful information here:
No surprise that you’re most likely to find a manual transmission on sport-oriented car. There’s a direct correlation between actual involvement in the driving experience and enthusiasm for the process. So while cars have gotten safer, Americans as a whole are becoming worse at driving. Why else would this website have a forum dedicated to distracted driving?
It’s also very difficult to text message or apply makeup while shifting gears. 
You make a great point, and that article does a great job of exploring the underlying issues. If you like riding around in a cage, you are already disconnected from your environment.
When I used to work for a farmer that had a hand crank Farmall F-12, I thought that anyone who used a tractor with an electric starter was a wimp.
As to the indoor plumbing business, there was a certain advantage to the outdoor facilities. In a family situation if you have to wait for someone to get finished in the bathroom, the outdoor facility really sped things up.
Regardless of the advantages of automatic transmissions, I intend to “force” my two children to learn/use a manual transmission car. For two simple reasons: 1. One needs to learn how. 2. It is terribly awkward to text/talk on a cell phone while driving a manual transmission car in traffic. I figure that is worth the cost alone…
The Terminator would have trouble pushing one of those things down.You get in a Mack with a loose set back and a stiff clutch everything moves but the clutch.As an aside,a Quarry truck driver told when they switched to automatics in thier Macks ,he didn’t like it-for two weeks(afterwards he would rather fight then switch),progress is progress-Kevin
Surprise! the fastest time of any high performance sedan at the Nurburgring EVER was turned in with a fully automatic transmission. John Heinricy drove a Cadillac CTS-V for one lap in 7:59 - in fully automatic mode. He tried to outdo it manually in the following laps, but was not able to. I think that John had his hands full no matter how he used the transmission and was not at all separated from the car. I didn’t look at your dull car list. Is the CTS-V on it? Say it ain’t so! GM can shift better than YOU (and I) can!
I can’t speak for Mr. P., but none of my vehicles are high performance vehicles, so lap times don’t usually concern me. I am more focused on the experience.
We taught our daughter to drive a stick shift when she was in high school. She learned only because “mom and dad thought it was a good idea”, and she was convinced she would never need to use it.
A few years later, she studied abroad in Australia where she and friends rented cars on many weekends to explore the country. All the cars they rented were stick shifts and she was the only one who knew how to drive a stick.
She then went to Europe last summer and had to rent a car there as well. It too was a stick shift.
She’s glad she knows how to drive a stick.