Does anyone know why they didn't make a stick option for our TLs? I prefer Auto myself .....and I am very surprised they don't really care that our cars are Auto ...or even mention it.

 

Probably because its a luxury car and not a sports car? or actually its a "Touring Sedan" but regardless its probably because its a luxury automobile.

 

I love my auto!!! Ya like you said it's a touring sedan.

 

well supposedly TL stands for Touring Luxury but that is definitley the reason why it isnt offered in stick.

 

I have no complaints ...I actually was considering buying a car with stick ..supposedly it was faster and only "real drivers" drive stick.

i have yet heard any criticism about the TL only being auto. ..not yet that is

 

I am not too worried about my TL being Automatic cause I have a 300ZX turbo that is a stick, so I get my fix every now and again.

 

Manual is actually faster, not supposedly. It has to do with physics and timing, and depends on the skill of the driver, but manual can preserve engine life when used properly and be much faster than an auto when used (improperly )

 

Market demand for sticks in the US is very low, and it costs mfg more $$ to certify two engine/tranny combinations with the EPA. Fewer available combinations make the mfg engineers smile, too -as there are fewer change-overs

Manual transmission availability may become a marketing tool - the 540 BMW in stick actually costs more than the auto - a reversal from all those years of paying extra for the auto.

Nissan has priced the 2k2 Maxima 6 spd at the same price as the auto.

I'd prefer manual in just about any car (ok, maybe not a full size luxo-cruiser or a full size truck), but even if the TLS had been avail in stick, we still would have gotten the auto - the wife is the primary driver and fights rush hour traffic every day.

 

if you really want to know what a 2.5 would be like with a manual transmission just drive a Vigor. pretty much the same damn thing.

 

eh, i've had enough of stick in my younger years...i like the auto so now i have my other hand free for other girls, uh i mean things...
besides, i hate using stick in city conditions...all that stopping-and-going would really annoy me if i had stick.

 

 

not really relevant but since we're talking transmissions, check out the CVT transmission Audi is [utting on the new A4's. They call it multitronic, its a 'gearless' automatic, so no jerk whatsoever from shift change. Those crazy German engineers are always up to something. Theres a good article on it with a little diagram of the tranny on MSNBC.com

http://www.msnbc.com/news/665417.asp?0si=-

 

I've read another article on the new Audi CVT before. It looks pretty impressive. A CVT equipped A6 can actually accelerate faster than stick shift A6. CVT is nothing new though, It just wasn't able to handle alot of power.

 

i love the auto on our cars. granted i live in a pretty urbanized area with a lot of stop and go traffic so it's a lot easier to drive through traffic with an auto than manual. heck i guess i'm just lazy. But i guess if you want the feel of the engine you can always "manually" drop it down to D3 or whatnot. hahaha.

 

well, it still isnt. They figured out a way to make it handle exactly the amount of horse the car puts out. anything more and the CVT cant handle it, which means no room to get faster i.e. mods, upgrades. They also cant put it on the quattro's yet.