Sign In Join 



The Future Of The Manual Transmission

5809 messages,  Last post on Dec 03, 2009 at 12:30 PM

You are in the Automotive News & Views Forum. Your Hosts are steve_ & claires

What is this discussion about? Transmission


Messages Page 517 of 582
1
...
514
515
516
517
518
519
520
...
582
Prev
Next
Last
Go To Msg #
Search This Discussion

#5153 of 5809
Re: another auto writer [plekto] by ruking1
Dec 05, 2008 (7:48 am)
Reply

Replying to: plekto (Dec 02, 2008 10:04 pm)

..."Never on an actual dyno with the wheels and transmission attached, because automatics suck enormous power"...
 
Indeed I have seen dynos (rear wheel hp/torque outpu)t with up to 20% parasitic waste, automatic transmission. Compared to 9-11% parasitic waste 6 speed manual transmission. It is also reflected in lower mph, more weight, slightly less handling and performance.
 
..."Also, to get those 0-60 times, they power shift the automatic after dumping it manually out of neutral at near redline. The Corvette, for instance, is designed to last 200 such full bore launches before the thing breaks. This sort of behavior is unreasonable, hard on the equipment, and completely unrealistic. Yet almost all magazines and manufacturers do it. "...
 
I read an article on the Corvette Z06 (aka 6 speed MANUAL) , about an engineer whose job job it is to ACTUALLY get the advertised 0 to 60 mph times. (the article cited 4 seconds at the time). NICE JOB! I hope he gets to keep it given the current Bail Out Dog & Pony Shows. The manual transmission is designed for 100 "full bore launches" before the probably of components breaking increases. (i.e., dramatically )
 
Anymore, even the 1000 to 5000 hp DRAGSTERS use automatic clutch packs for the all important seamless (as possible) hooked up launches. In other words, the race variable, bobbling the clutch is taken out .
 
I like the 5/6 speed manual transmissions for the open road. No doubt it is great fun on the various tracks. However that (hobby) is a niche market within a niche market.
 
Here on the left coast, we are blessed with the iconic and stereotypical Pacific Coast Highway (Highway 1) all the way up north. If you are a road (car) nut. This drive is truly like no other.
#5154 of 5809
Re: another auto writer [ruking1] by xwesx
Dec 05, 2008 (8:49 am)
Reply

Replying to: ruking1 (Dec 05, 2008 7:48 am)

Here on the left coast, we are blessed with the iconic and stereotypical Pacific Coast Highway (Highway 1) all the way up north. If you are a road (car) nut. This drive is truly like no other.
 
Here, here! I drove the coast highway down the southern 50% of Oregon last October in my (then) new 2008 Outback, loaded to the gills with family and cargo (including about 150# on the roof). It was a wonderful drive, even if the car was disappointingly top-heavy at the time. We headed to central Oregon by way of highway 101 across extreme northern California. That road was fantastic as well.
#5155 of 5809
Re: Manual transmission thoughts... [shipo] by xwesx
Dec 05, 2008 (8:54 am)
Reply

Replying to: shipo (Dec 05, 2008 4:57 am)

My family, with an "extended" group of parents as well, always had a mix of manual and automatic transmissions. I first drove manual transmissions, in the form of farm tractors, for years before actually being allowed to drive a road vehicle. By the time I had finished school, I had driven anything from an automatic Camry to a manual dump truck. It was good experience, as I can drive anything I choose now. But, given a choice, I prefer a manual.
 
I will agree, though, that automatics are easier to sell as the audience is larger. Manuals do not necessarily demand less of a premium (sometimes the contrary since there are *far* less on the "slightly used" market), but they can take quite a bit longer to unload.
#5156 of 5809
Our Civic Duty by ateixeira
Dec 05, 2008 (12:00 pm)
Reply
I think each person here should teach as many people as they can how to drive stick.
 
I taught my wife and my brother. I tried with my sister but she wasn't interested, and you can't teach a person who doesn't care to learn.
 
Both my kids will learn, that's for sure.
 
So let's all make it our duty to teach at least a few people how to drive stick.
#5157 of 5809
Re: Our Civic Duty [ateixeira] by nippononly
Dec 05, 2008 (1:32 pm)
Reply

Replying to: ateixeira (Dec 05, 2008 12:00 pm)

My count is at 3 - 2 friends and a niece. Unfortunately, none of them owns a car right now, so I have no way of knowing if it "took"!
 
All 3 became totally proficient after a few short sessions however. All 3 already knew how to drive - they learned and tested on automatics. When I learned to drive, I learned on a stick, so I learned driving and the manual shifter at the same time.
#5158 of 5809
Re: Our Civic Duty [nippononly] by ateixeira
Dec 05, 2008 (1:34 pm)
Reply

Replying to: nippononly (Dec 05, 2008 1:32 pm)

St. Peter will let you take the FasTOLL lane in to heaven, then.
#5159 of 5809
Re: Our Civic Duty [ateixeira] by nippononly
Dec 05, 2008 (1:50 pm)
Reply

Replying to: ateixeira (Dec 05, 2008 1:34 pm)

what I wonder is this: if you learn to drive on a stick shift, are you more likely to be hooked for life?
 
If you learn to drive on an automatic and then learn stick later, are you less likely to be a life-long devotee of the third pedal?
#5160 of 5809
Re: Our Civic Duty [nippononly] by kyfdx HOST
Dec 05, 2008 (2:02 pm)
Reply

Replying to: nippononly (Dec 05, 2008 1:50 pm)

It's not the learning...
 
It's the owning....
 
If a stick isn't your daily driver by the time you are 21, I doubt you'll ever buy one... No matter what you learned on..
#5161 of 5809
Re: Our Civic Duty [kyfdx] by xwesx
Dec 05, 2008 (2:12 pm)
Reply

Replying to: kyfdx (Dec 05, 2008 2:02 pm)

I suspect, in the absence of external influence, you are probably right. I taught my wife to drive a manual when she was 22, and she did okay at it even to the point that I gave her full access, in the winter (which does mean constant snow/ice here), to my '69 Chevy pickup. She used it almost daily, but one night she took a corner too fast and swung it into a sign post in the median of the road. For some reason, that small incident broke her spirit with that truck and she did not drive it again for years. A short while later, we purchased our '96 Outback. I did not even think of looking for a manual given her sudden fear of it. But, after a few years, she started saying that she would not mind having one (still would not drive my truck!). As fate would have it, the '96 was destroyed two years ago, so sure enough she said she wanted a new Outback, manual transmission. I had my doubts but certainly was not going to argue. I forced her to test drive one, after which she still wanted that transmission type, so that is what we purchased.
 
Oddly, after we had to sell it and go Subaru-less for a while, she will not touch the Escort. It is probably her disgust of the car itself rather than not wanting to drive a manual, though. I can't blame her - it is a homely little thing.
#5162 of 5809
Re: Our Civic Duty [nippononly] by steve_ HOST
Dec 05, 2008 (2:16 pm)
Reply

Replying to: nippononly (Dec 05, 2008 1:50 pm)

I learned to drive at 13 in a '53 Buick that had an automatic. Then at 15, I learned to drive stick on a friend's '57 Chevy column shifter (3 on a tree). It's a wonder I didn't swear off manuals from then on - boy, that was an awful car. I guess driving VW Bugs in the 70's got me liking shifting again.
 
My wife learned to drive in automatics but went to the Grand Canyon with three girlfriends when she was 17 and one of the kids owned a stick shift car. They shared driving so she learned how to shift on that trip.
 
There's was a one year gap in our stick shift ownership after we met in '80, but the current dry spell has lasted 9 years now.
 

Messages Page 517 of 582
1
...
514
515
516
517
518
519
520
...
582
Prev
Next
Last
Go To Msg #
Search This Discussion
To POST a message, please Sign In.

New? Join Now!

Forum Tools

Please sign in.
Email Address:

Password:

Forgot Password?

Search Forums

Enter Keyword(s)

Advanced Search

Browse by Vehicle



View All Vehicles
Advertisement
Ask the Community
See What People Are Asking

Browse by Board

Browse by Topic


View All Topics

Today's Chats

Advertisement