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Please, save the

punjabiplaya

punjabiplaya

Diamond Member
Manuals

http://www.facebook.com/SaveTheManuals

http://www.caranddriver.com/features/10q3/save_the_manuals!-car_and_driver

Like me, you may have noticed an alarming paucity of vehicles offering fully manual transmissions. Even sports-car stalwart Ferrari, of gated-shifter fame, isn’t providing a three-pedal option on the new 458 Italia. Equally distressing, I read in the Washington Post that our nation’s hard-texting youth have pronounced driving seriously lame, with only about 30 percent of 16-year-olds having acquired driving licenses as of 2008. I can’t help but think these things are related.

If folks learned to operate the entire car, not just the steering wheel and occasionally the brakes, I’d bet they’d like driving better. If they knew the sense of control imparted by that third pedal, I’d bet they would strive for its mastery. If they knew the excitement that accompanied a perfectly timed heel-toe downshift, I can guarantee they’d be hooked.

You know what we need? We need a crusade. We need to save the manuals! Not only are manual transmissions often more fuel-efficient than their two-pedal counterparts, you also can’t text while operating one. So let’s lobby carmakers to produce more of these things because they’re safer and more frugal, and let’s not tell them that they’re way more fun. Let’s train our offspring in the ancient ways of the stick shift. Let all of us knights of the clutch pedal drive our manual-equipped cars to Washington and pop ’em in front of Barry O’s house.

Won’t you join the cause? —Eddie Alterman
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Sense of control from a manual?

It's a transmission. You can have control the transmission on most modern cars by selecting the gear you wish to be in.
 
A tech that's been around for a century and losing market share for years is not suffering from some "secret" that just has to get out there so that people will see the light. I like manuals but face it they are a dead man walking in the US and eventually in the rest of the world, too. Kind of like cars without ABS.
 
Skoorb said:
Kind of like cars without ABS.
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What's this ABS thing you speak of?

I do think they will dry up...with the exception of a sports car model or two. I think there will be enough of a market for a long time for few companies to have models like the Miata, Elise, etc. that are geared toward "purist/minimalist" people.
 
Even most people that cry when they can't get a manual don't really "NEED" it. It's as essential as chrome bumpers were in older cars. It's being phased out slowly, but it's not a needed thing. Is it nice to have? Yes. A necessity? No. Newer automatics are almost just as efficient. And you even get a "manual mode" in them. Again, "MOST" of the people crying about this don't really use a manual like a race driver or anything close. The only difference is that they do more work to get their car to work everyday. If pressing your left foot to the floor and moving a knob around makes the car that much more fun, you are focusing way too much on it. lol. Am I saying that Manuals suck? No way. I loved my LS1 and T56. But, the way things are going now, I don't see them sticking around or at least, being anywhere near common as they already aren't. Also, this guy talking about hell-toe-shifts? lol. Again, do most people even know how, or even want to mess with doing that....
 
I also read an article that said 5% of the cars currently for sale in the US are manuals. So, there's not even that many out there to buy anyway.
 
speedy2 said:
I also read an article that said 5% of the cars currently for sale in the US are manuals. So, there's not even that many out there to buy anyway.
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I just read less than a month ago that 9% of car transactions in the US are manual. I guess that doesn't correlate directly to the available models with manual.
 
Bl0cks said:
I thought by manuals he meant the book. I was severely disappointed.
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Save those too! You know a large percentage of drivers have never even cracked one open. When they ask some stupid question about their car my first reply is, "Have you looked in the manual?"
 
I just thought the PSA was goofy. Dual clutch boxes are nice, as long as they're not fragile and can last as long as a good ol' stick. I do find certain pleasure in rowing my own, however the 100+ mile slogs through traffic on certain days can really wear you out.
 
MJinZ said:
Sense of control from a manual?

It's a transmission. You can have control the transmission on most modern cars by selecting the gear you wish to be in.
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This might be the wrong time to bring this up but if that runaway Toyota had been a manual all they would have done is push the clutch peddle and their problem would have been solved. Without the electronic component you are in more control, even though a lot of cars these days have assisted clutches it still will work without power, might be a little harder to use though.
 
Too many people in this world just think that driving manual makes them cooler. Who cares. Also of course there are less people getting licenses but that has nothing to do with not liking to drive but everything to do with more people living in cities than suburbs now. You don't need a car when you live in the city with public transportation readily available.
 
Manufacturers are justified in moving away from Manual. When the market doesn't demand it enough what can you do?

I have always owned Manual cars, except last time I was out to buy the car I liked the most to upgrade to (3.6 CTS), I couldn't find a single one reasonably nearby in the configuration I wanted while having the 6-speed manual option. So guess what...I did what I never thought I would ever do, I bought the best Automatic one I found nearby. I just got sick of looking around and was running out of time. I miss driving manual, but truth be told, the presence of sports shifter in my car has made me feel a little bit less regretful about the decision, at least I can easily override the gear I am in.
 
DarkThinker said:
Manufacturers are justified in moving away from Manual. When the market doesn't demand it enough what can you do?

I have always owned Manual cars, except last time I was out to buy the car I liked the most to upgrade to (3.6 CTS), I couldn't find a single one reasonably nearby in the configuration I wanted while having the 6-speed manual option. So guess what...I did what I never thought I would ever do, I bought the best Automatic one I found nearby. I just got sick of looking around and was running out of time. I miss driving manual, but truth be told, the presence of sports shifter in my car has made me feel a little bit less regretful about the decision, at least I can easily override the gear I am in.
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I couldn't do it... I love my 5 and 6 speeds... I had to settle on a color I didn't really like to get the 6MT Maxima, but it's better than settling on the gearbox, I mean, you drive the car all the time, looking at it comes 2nd place.
 
CraigRT said:
I couldn't do it... I love my 5 and 6 speeds... I had to settle on a color I didn't really like to get the 6MT Maxima, but it's better than settling on the gearbox, I mean, you drive the car all the time, looking at it comes 2nd place.
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Well the only manual ones I found nearby were with the lame 2.8L engine. I wish it was a matter of choosing silver or blue instead of black, it was a matter of choosing less powa instead of more powa. That is the only sacrifice I couldn't do for a 6 MT
 
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