Farewell to my 6-speed transmission

[LDB]

I got enough of shifting with the 18 speed in my KW900. When I win the lotto I'll likely get a few cars with manual transmission for my Jay Leno emulating garage.

[Draigflag]

I like your positive thinking, you said "when" no "ifs" in sight!

[Jay2TheRescue]

I haven't owned a MT car in ages (A 1981 AMC Spirit with a 4 speed). I will occasionally drive my dad's 5 speed Focus, and that is a fun little car to drive. I also have a 6 speed in the motorcycle. Once, I was in a large group ride, and they kept languishing around 20-30 MPH. All that shifting was hell on my knee (My left knee isn't all that good). I guess as long as I have motorcycles I'll still have a manual. The motorcycle manufacturers seem very reluctant to put automatics in except for scooters and bikes made for handicapped persons.

[trollbait]

Many of the popular hybrids simply don't have what people think of as a transmission. The planetary gear set of a Prius can be held in one hand. What is taking up the space of a traditional transmission under the under are the motors, controller, and inverter with accompanying cooling system.

Honda had a manual on the Insight, and found out drivers can cause more damage to the battery with it than their poor management software did alone.

Part of the reason trucks in the US no longer have a manual option is because the manufacturers got tired of the warranty claims and complaints from inexperienced manual drivers towing with them.

A poster on a Sonic forum has already destroyed three manuals. Granted a retention ring is weaker than it should be, but he was going beyond everyday driving.

[LDB]

Originally Posted by Draigflag

I like your positive thinking, you said "when" no "ifs" in sight!

You have to think positive. My wife keeps telling me I'm never going to win. Something about you have to buy a ticket or such foolishness. I said the odds are about the same either way so why shouldn't I.

[Draigflag]

Originally Posted by trollbait

Many of the popular hybrids simply don't have what people think of as a transmission. The planetary gear set of a Prius can be held in one hand. What is taking up the space of a traditional transmission under the under are the motors, controller, and inverter with accompanying cooling system.

Honda had a manual on the Insight, and found out drivers can cause more damage to the battery with it than their poor management software did alone.

Part of the reason trucks in the US no longer have a manual option is because the manufacturers got tired of the warranty claims and complaints from inexperienced manual drivers towing with them.

A poster on a Sonic forum has already destroyed three manuals. Granted a retention ring is weaker than it should be, but he was going beyond everyday driving.

That's crazy. Do people not learn clutch control and how to change gear properly during driving lessons? Granted it takes quite a while to master finding the bite, changing gear at the right time and being gentle as not to ride the clutch or make it slip, but after a few lessons, it just becomes instinct. I remember trying to sell a car to an American guy living here once, he kept crunching gears on the test drive. Then he checked dipstick and said "You guys don't change you oil very often do you?" I mean Cliché or what?

[trollbait]

Well in theory, you don't have to have driving lessons to take the test here. You likely won't pass, but the only reason people pay for driving lessons, and not just learn from family members and friends, is that it means an insurance discount.

We also don't differentiate a license on whether a person can drive a manual or not.

[Charon]

Over the years I have driven cars, trucks, motorcycles and motor scooters with all sorts of transmission variations. Old Cushman scooters had only a centrifugal clutch and no gearshift at all. Cushman Eagle scooters had a two-speed crashbox, and a centrifugal clutch with a foot pedal operated throwout for shifting. Vespa scooters had three- or four-speed twist grip shifters. I have driven motorcycles with left- or right-foot shifters, operating either up or down, with three, four, five and six speeds. I have driven cars and light trucks with three, four, and five speed manual gearboxes, column shift "three on the tree" or floor shift, and even a through-the-dash shifter on the Renault R4. I have driven automatic transmissions with one speed (1950 Buick Dynaflow), two speeds, three, four, five and six speeds and a CVT. Some had torque converter lockup (which usually feels just about like another shift); some did not. I have driven heavy trucks with Eaton Super Ten boxes, and a school bus with a four-speed plus a two-speed axle to "split" the shifts. The buses our district currently owns are automatics. I have had three motor scooters (still have one) with CVTs. Oh yes - I have also driven a Rambler with an E-stick, and a VW Beetle with an "Automatic Stick Shift." I like to think I have a fair amount of experience. In all the years, with all the different transmission types, the only time I have really felt any need to "take control" of automatic transmission shifting is on long steep downhill grades for engine braking. Yes, it might be fun to play with the gears, but in general the automatic transmission does a pretty good job.

The truck with the Eaton Super Ten had a Detroit Diesel 12.7 liter turbocharged engine. Its nameplate rated it at 500 horsepower at 2100 rpm, or 375 horsepower at 1800 rpm. The company for whom I drove limited their engines to 1800 rpm. The transmission gearing was such that when the engine was at 1800 rpm, shifting up a gear dropped it to about 1500 rpm. Shifting up two gears would drop the engine to 1200 rpm, at which rpm it didn't really make useful torque. When one gets into heavy traffic at varying speeds with such a power package, shifting loses its thrill, even if the truck made it fairly easy. Make the traffic stop-and-go where the clutch has to be used, and it becomes even less fun.

Decades ago there were articles on drag racing and automatic transmissions. Consensus seemed to be that a good driver with a manual transmission, doing everything just right, could beat an automatic about one time in ten. The other nine times, the automatic would win - and it would turn in very consistent times. Just lately I read an article bewailing the disappearance of manual transmissions. In it was mentioned a man who has been racing Corvettes on race tracks for many years. His latest Corvette has an automatic, because it gives him better lap times.

Yes, there are those who feel manual transmissions make one more "connected" to the vehicle. There are those who feel automatics are only for disabled or elderly and feeble drivers, or those who are incapable of learning the intricacies of manual gearboxes. I look at it from the point of view that every time the driver changes gear, he (or she) is admitting they were operating in the wrong gear.

[ChewChewTrain]

Originally Posted by Charon

Decades ago there were articles on drag racing and automatic transmissions. Consensus seemed to be that a good driver with a manual transmission, doing everything just right, could beat an automatic about one time in ten. The other nine times, the automatic would win - and it would turn in very consistent times. Just lately I read an article bewailing the disappearance of manual transmissions. In it was mentioned a man who has been racing Corvettes on race tracks for many years. His latest Corvette has an automatic, because it gives him better lap times.

I kinda knew it, but I didn't know it.

Every time a manual transmission is shifted an angel gets its wings. (yes. it doesn't make sense to me, too, but work with me.)

[14Corolla]

My first lesson in driving. My father took me to an open large parking lot. Told me to let out the clutch slowly. Don't touch the gas pedal. This made it easy to learn a clutch. Didn't have to learn this. He thought it best I learn a clutch first.
I had a neighbor gal who wanted to learn to drive a standard transmission. I did the same with her. Biggest problem with her was getting through her fake act as a person. Get her to face the fact, she was gonna goof up. That's what we were there for. Just back off. Don't sit there and laugh and scream excuses.