The death of the manual transmission

[Slant]

Right. From my City, people started moving to Suburb X. It's about a 15-25 minute commute depending on traffic. Then businesses realized the skilled workers were there, and moved themselves. Then people in Suburb X were like, "Too crowded!" and moved further out. Now, literally, a town in a different state is the new Suburb X.

That interestingly left a vacuum in my City, which led to a revitalization. Property prices dropped, entrepreneurs could afford to buy space for small businesses, people moved into houses newly affordable.

This is not a normal story though. See, Detroit.

It's certainly an interesting development. Do you actually think of it as a sort of ring city by now? With the "suburb" being the centre while the "city" is the ring around it? That would totally blow my mind and be all kinds of awesome.

[belfpala]

It's certainly an interesting development. Do you actually think of it as a sort of ring city by now? With the "suburb" being the centre while the "city" is the ring around it? That would totally blow my mind and be all kinds of awesome.

Not really. The primary city is still The City. The oddity is that it's now a center for arts and recreation rather than business (although some Fortune 500 companies still headquarter in The City).

More like a mushroom cloud than a ring, maybe?

[Gothicshark]

http://www.latimes.com/business/auto...115-story.html

Manual transmissions are now only offered on 27% of American models (down from 47% 10 years ago), and only 3% of cars sold have one.

Who here knows how to drive a manual?

my current car is a 2016 Nissan Versa sedan with a 5-speed manual transmission, I drive for Uber in it. I learned to Drive in 1986 on a BMW 328i (moms car) it was a manual. I drove tractor trailer from 1995-1997, back then they were all manuals.


p.s. I live in Los Angeles California, and I'm native to LA.

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There's really no reason for them anymore, as automatics are just as efficient now.

only in high-end cars, cheep cars with manuals are still better than cheep cars with automatics. And it always will be, as manual transmissions just cost a whole lot less to manufacture. My 2016 Nissan Versa with a manual, purchased in Los Angeles was $9,000 new, with 9 miles on it. You just can't get a car under $10k any other way.

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Are you required to learn to use a slide rule to get a university degree too?

You should, if you are in a math, engineering or science.

[A dot Ham]

All non-Americans.

OMG RUDE!

I learned to drive manual on my '93 Honda Civic, my first car BTW. (didn't have a tachometer either lol)

I purchased a 2013 Focus ST when it came out... only manual transmission.

Manual transmission cars are dying out because the reason(s) a person may have wanted/needed one are simply not true anymore.

(1) Used to be more fuel economic
(2) Better performance

Today they are more of a novelty than a necessity. More than that they are special order items rather than a standard available option.

Everyone wants paddle shifters these days anyway. As soon as the mad mom with a mini-van started shopping for a porsche and/or ferrari, the stick shift died.

[Azgraal]

There's no better feeling when driving than to shift one down and floor it to overtake someone on the highway.

Manual is only "dying" in the US. EVERYWHERE else, it is (thankfuly) the norm.

[Gothicshark]

How do you guys manage to text and eat your burger while driving if you have to worry about shifting gears too?

this is why we have so many accidents. When driving you are driving, when texting you are not driving, when eating you are not driving...


... unless you drive for uber and you're starving, that's why traffic, and second gear, an BK is so important.



*Not endorsing BK (Burger King) it's just there is one next to the Jenny waiting area at LAX, and often I'll get something there and go wait and eat, only to be called for a P/U prior to stopping, so second gear inhale burger and fries, pick up the passenger, slowly drink the large Coke.

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Really depends on how quickly self-driving cars take over
fingers crossed for 7 years

Only boring people. Or Uber. Will use it. I Drive, Computers can entertain me while driving, that's it.

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Then you really haven't been paying attention to the industry

The tech is ready, but the will for the majority of the world isn't ready. Sure in crowded US cities it will become a thing, but the rest of the world will wait a generation. Just like the PC.

[Sughs]

Self driving cars will never "take over" in our lifetimes and I can't see them becoming main stream for another 20-30 years.

The prediction is already that SDCs will be the most common in the 2040s and 50/50 in the 2030s. They will become a big thing in 10.


Anyway, manual transmission is easy and fun. There's pros and cons. I guess eventually it will start to disappear. My favorite is double clutch like in super cars tho, that's the shit.

[Kaganfindel]

I just replaced the clutch on my truck. Standard equipment in new cars won't affect me for another ten or fifteen years, when I'm shopping for another old used car to ride to death and sell for parts.

[Sughs]

Only boring people. Or Uber. Will use it. I Drive, Computers can entertain me while driving, that's it.

At start, as they get cheaper more people will buy it or people will stop buying as much cars and just use self driving taxis/uber most of the time.

I only like to drive in open road around the country or with low traffic. Being in the middle of Lisbon or any major city in the world in the morning or at 5pm is just boring, i would prefer to read something or take a nap instead being 1 hour doing the stop and go game.

[Faenskap]

I will never buy an Automatic. Manual transmissions are much more fun once you learn it. But in the US the absolute best thing about owning a manual transmission is youre likely to never have your car stolen because most people dont know how to drive it!!

Great, theft prevention! I'm in the EU though, so it wouldn't matter. I'm not completely unfamiliar with the theory behind manual transmission, but putting it into practice is quite the challenge. Especially on the road I live, as you'll often wait for a green light, uphill. I'm afraid that when I will drive, I'll either roll backwars on to the car behind me, or crash with the person in front of me.

What makes manual more fun for you?

[Tennis]

When I learned to drive I learned manual. Total waste of time.

Why even bother? Automatic is much easier.

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All non-Americans.

Wrong. Barely anyone drives manual here.

[Damajin]

One of my many licenses is a CDL-A so of course I can drive manual, especially if you attach 40-50 feet of trailer and a bunch of axles to it. Haven't done that in awhile but it's the bike riding thing in a nutshell.

[Altrec]

I have driven manual transmission, but I don't see the need for it. All of my cars have been automatic, although my current car has a sport mode with manual paddle shifters on the wheel so I can have similar "fun" that way if need be.

[Bigbazz]

The prediction is already that SDCs will be the most common in the 2040s and 50/50 in the 2030s. They will become a big thing in 10.


Anyway, manual transmission is easy and fun. There's pros and cons. I guess eventually it will start to disappear. My favorite is double clutch like in super cars tho, that's the shit.

Only issue with double clutch is that it's heavy and really expensive, not practical. Racing cars generally don't use them, most rally cars for example just use a standard 6 speed H-shift dogbox with straight cut gears, with a separate hydraulic automatic shifting system to allow sequential shifting, like with a up/down lever or paddles, as it's lighter, easier to work on.

Maybe if double clutch becomes cheaper/simpler in the future it will become mainstream, because at least for road cars where weight isn't critical it's an amazing way to have durable super high speed/performance shifting, but it's so expensive right now that we only ever really see it on really upmarket cars, mostly supercars.

[Orlong]

Great, theft prevention! I'm in the EU though, so it wouldn't matter. I'm not completely unfamiliar with the theory behind manual transmission, but putting it into practice is quite the challenge. Especially on the road I live, as you'll often wait for a green light, uphill. I'm afraid that when I will drive, I'll either roll backwars on to the car behind me, or crash with the person in front of me.

What makes manual more fun for you?

Its more fun because you just feel like the car is part of you. I dont really know how to explain it. After you get good at it, youll have no problem pulling out on a hill. While you learn though you can hold the emergency break up to stop you from rolling backwards and slowly let it off as you get the car moving.

[Tennis]

Takes like an hour to learn how to drive a manual vehicle. I don't understand why some people consider this shit so prestigious.

Uhh it takes a lot longer to learn to drive. Most people spend hours and hours before they get their first license.

[Tommi]

After you get good at it, youll have no problem pulling out on a hill. While you learn though you can hold the emergency break up to stop you from rolling backwards and slowly let it off as you get the car moving.

Umm, that's basic clutch control. Something everyone who learns to drive a manual in UK can do.

Fun is subjective. I didn't find it fun in an hour of start stop traffic every day driving a manual. I find driving my automatic in manual mode far more fun. Just as much control except my car shifts faster than any human can :P

[Masark]

I will never buy an Automatic. Manual transmissions are much more fun once you learn it. But in the US the absolute best thing about owning a manual transmission is youre likely to never have your car stolen because most people dont know how to drive it!!

Yeah, they'll cost you to a few thousand dollars in repairs attempting to steal it.

[oxymoronic]

Takes like an hour to learn how to drive a manual vehicle. I don't understand why some people consider this shit so prestigious.

euros always think what they do is special. yet somehow are 2nd place to a nation that has only existed for 240years. makes them very upset and they use every waking moment trying to figure something they are better at. right now they think its "driving" cause most of them use manual. shit is funny to read though. the idiots in here making a fool over themselves over something so trivial as a transmission. i had me a z28camaro and a mustang 5.0 both stick. automatic are way better. maybe if euros could afford a decent car they would know.

ps i've never heard of a euro race car driver. quit acting like you guys are good at the sport. if there is real money involved you can bet an american is the #1.

[Khorneflake]

Then you really haven't been paying attention to the industry

It's not the industry, it's the infrastructure. Doesn't matter how well those cars do, much of the older generation will be driving their own cars and old people will still be crashing into them. Not to mention the cost of running a car nowadays (in Europe especially) is exceedingly high and British roads in particular are a certifiable nightmare, I can promise you that no insurance company is going to be willing to gamble low fees on a new technology.

20-30 years seems reasonable.