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End of the manual transmission?
High Gear Media via Foxnews ^ | May 02, 2012 | By Thomas Bey

Posted on 06/01/2012 7:23:21 AM PDT by US Navy Vet

Go to any given dealership with 100 new cars.

On average, just four of the 2012 models will have manual gearboxes.

The trend of the vanishing third pedal is nothing new, notes The Detroit News.

Even a decade ago, just 8.5 percent of 2002 models were manuals. The paper’s own automotive reporter even confesses she never learned to drive a stick shift until it essentially became a job requirement.

It’s more than a little contradictory to automotive reviews (including many you’ll read here) extolling the pleasure of enthusiastic driving with a true manual gearbox. Likewise, purists gravitate to manuals for tackling their favorite twisting road or occasional track day. It’s the original form of in-car connectivity.

(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Technical
KEYWORDS: manualtransmission; stick
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To: US Navy Vet

I can, but I really don’t enjoy it in urban traffic.


161 posted on 06/01/2012 8:43:18 AM PDT by Secret Agent Man (I can neither confirm or deny that; even if I could, I couldn't - it's classified.)
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To: Josh Painter
‘68 Charger R/T

The drag racers found out that the automatic Chryslers were faster off the line back then because the torque converter allowed them to hook up faster and get off the line before the other guy

The push button shifters were a bit geeky though

162 posted on 06/01/2012 8:44:49 AM PDT by Gordon Pym (2+2=4)
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To: US Navy Vet

I’ve got a stick in my pickup and would never drive anything else. I spent a good deal of time in Namibia where they drive on the right, and that gives you a whole new perspective on driving a standard transmission - shifting with the left hand takes a bit to get used to. Gear pattern and pedal layout are the same, but the stick’s on the wrong damn side! Where I really noticed it was when you down-shifting to turn and want to put on the signal at the same time - you need two left hands...


163 posted on 06/01/2012 8:46:17 AM PDT by stormer
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To: Only1choice____Freedom

Brings back a 1984 memory of towing a 69 Boss 302 on a trailer behind a friends Dodge Ram pickup from Pa. to Fl. on I-95.

Remember when “Ram” meant 4 wheel drive? this was an auto.

Well, shortly after I drove over the Va/NC state line I changed with the owner & went to sleep in the back.
Soon I was woken up by the other passenger - “something just came out from under the truck and bounced off your hood!”
“Yeah right, leave me alone.”

BOOM! Fire & smoke in the cabin - the front U joint had broken & cracked the Auto Tranny case & that was the end of that box forever!

Had to hitch all that way home & rent another truck to bring my baby home. Not a good experience!

His truck stayed in the local Dodge dealer’s repair lot - they were very nice about it - for 6 months till he could pony up $$ for the replacement trans.

If it was a manual I could have sealed the crack in the case & refilled it.
No automatics ever for me. :)


164 posted on 06/01/2012 8:46:57 AM PDT by bill1952 (Choice is an illusion created between those with power - and those without)
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To: US Navy Vet

I can drive a stick...


165 posted on 06/01/2012 8:47:36 AM PDT by GOPJ ( "A Dog In Every Pot" - freeper ETL)
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To: St_Thomas_Aquinas; MatD
>>I taught my wife to drive a car with a manual transmission. Don’t I get some sort of award for that?-—

>Yes, but we will need some verification.

>It’s like claiming to have seen a sasquatch....

...or claiming to be 1/32 one.

166 posted on 06/01/2012 8:47:36 AM PDT by Erasmus (BHO: New supreme leader of the homey rollin' empire.)
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To: AngelesCrestHighway
Automatics should be banned - for the children.

There are all sorts of stories of kids grabbing the keys and going joy riding, not always with a good outcome.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2115727/Utah-boy-8-takes-sister-5-night-joyride-mother-sleeps.html

167 posted on 06/01/2012 8:48:27 AM PDT by Paladin2
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To: svcw
If you use down shifting, saves on the brakes.

Downshifting to slow a car is not a wise idea except on a steep hill where downshifting can help control the car. Otherwise, it is an expensive habit as it causes clutch wear leading to expensive replacement.

Brakes are wear items designed for replacement and are far less expensive than clutch replacement.

168 posted on 06/01/2012 8:50:15 AM PDT by JohnG45
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To: lacrew

“If you work on your own car, you will quickly realize:

new clutch = $200
new automatic transmission = $1,500

I drive a stick because I’m cheap.”

Yup, and if you take good care of your clutch (don’t ride it, don’t slip it excessively, don’t drop it off the line, match revs before engaging) you won’t be spending that $200 very often. I have a ‘91 Miata with 278K on the clock, and it’s only on its third clutch; the original lasted about 100K and the second lasted over 140K.


169 posted on 06/01/2012 8:50:39 AM PDT by ZirconEncrustedTweezers (To criticize the government is to speak blasphemy against a liberal's god.)
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To: stormer

...while approaching a busy round-about and trying to remember the right-of-ways, and remember to look LEFT! I drove a stick in New Zealand quite a bit.


170 posted on 06/01/2012 8:52:06 AM PDT by shorty_harris
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To: docbnj

Tough to push start any newer car now because they need electric power to the computer to run everything including the fuel injection


171 posted on 06/01/2012 8:54:16 AM PDT by bill1952 (Choice is an illusion created between those with power - and those without)
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To: stormer
Gear pattern and pedal layout are the same, but the stick’s on the wrong damn side!

I have sometimes wondered about that (I guess I have too much time on my hands).

One approach to RHD cars that appeals to the engineering mind is simply to flip the blueprints, so the gear pattern and pedal layouts would be mirror imaged about the centerline. Come to think of it, maybe the gauge faces and and legends should be, too. ≤}B^)

I guess ergonomics does enter into it at some point, though, spoiling the sweet symmetry of the strictly engineering approach.

172 posted on 06/01/2012 8:54:16 AM PDT by Erasmus (BHO: New supreme leader of the homey rollin' empire.)
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To: JohnG45
Downshifting to slow a car is not a wise idea except on a steep hill where downshifting can help control the car. Otherwise, it is an expensive habit as it causes clutch wear leading to expensive replacement.

Brakes are wear items designed for replacement and are far less expensive than clutch replacement.

When you downshift, you put it in a lower gear, then before letting out on the clutch, blip the gas pedal to speed up the engine. That way there is no slippage that will wear out the clutch plate.

173 posted on 06/01/2012 8:58:07 AM PDT by A. Patriot (Re-electing Obama is like the Titanic backing up to hit the iceberg again.)
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To: shorty_harris

And if you’re a pedestrian trying to cross a road...


174 posted on 06/01/2012 9:01:01 AM PDT by stormer
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To: US Navy Vet
I still own and can drive my 1974 Porsche 914 with 5 spd stick. Ditto for the 1994 Saturn SL2. My 4x4 trucks all have automatic transmissions with all the fancy ABS and auto-hubs so they are safer in the snowy conditions of an Idaho Winter. All of my motorcycles are standard clutch/gear shift arrangements. My wife has a "twist-and-go" Piaggio BV500. Some days that looks tempting as many years of navigating heavy traffic while operating a fairly heavy clutch pull is doing some repetitive stress damage to my left hand. Honda makes a new, high performance touring bike with an automatic transmission. It uses a double auto-clutch to smoothly shift. Far more efficient than the CVS transmissions on the Piaggio bikes.
175 posted on 06/01/2012 9:02:00 AM PDT by Myrddin
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To: I cannot think of a name

I drove a stick for about 5 years. I still kept stomping the floor with my left foot for about a month after I switched to an automatic.


176 posted on 06/01/2012 9:04:53 AM PDT by DManA
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To: wtc911
When the light changed I tore out....full speed....backwards.

LOL!

177 posted on 06/01/2012 9:05:43 AM PDT by ELS (Vivat Benedictus XVI!)
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To: Erasmus
If the pedal layout was flipped it would be damn near impossible to drive. You'd quickly learn what it feels like to be one of those little old ladies that runs her Caddie through the front of the dry-cleaner...
178 posted on 06/01/2012 9:06:31 AM PDT by stormer
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To: ZirconEncrustedTweezers

“I have a ‘91 Miata with 278K on the clock, and it’s only on its third clutch; the original lasted about 100K and the second lasted over 140K.”

You’ve got me beat in two categories.

First, my ‘02 Elantra only has 267k.

Second, I’m on clutch number 4.

Frankly, I’ve given up downshifting, to try and coax a little more life out of the clutch.


179 posted on 06/01/2012 9:06:58 AM PDT by lacrew (Mr. Soetoro, we regret to inform you that your race card is over the credit limit.)
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To: Focault's Pendulum
Did mine in a 69 Beetle. Learned to work on engines with that one.

When it finally gave up the ghost, I had a box full of parts left over. Don't know how it still ran, but it did.

The bible of the shade tree mechanic. Made you wanna prop a Beetle up on milk crates and pull the engine out just to see how it felt. How did it feel to have that massive 1500 cc engine, btw?

180 posted on 06/01/2012 9:10:19 AM PDT by Lonesome in Massachussets (The Democratic Party strongly supports full civil rights for necro-Americans!)
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