Is it me or in last 2-3yrs fat/lazy Americans started to drive 5spd & 6spd? 2 of my buddies who had auto domestic in the past has 5spd Jeeps. My other friend just got used porsche/ford focus(beater) both stick. My new tenant upstairs has 05 boxster-stick..

 

So that's four people out of 300,000,000 Americans. Good basis for a claim

 

Did people every buy manual jeeps in large numbers?
I don't think i've ever seen a auto wrangler.

 

i don't think anything has changed

 

Nothing has changed IMHO

 

I think it depends on the region. When I was in the midwest, I didn't know anyone with a manual. Here in the bay area I know quite a few stick drivers.

 

people think that "tip-tronic" crap is like a manual, such bull

 

Fixed for accuracy.

 

I hate it when people have automatic but they say it is also manual because you can choose the gear. It pisses the hell out of me. They also think that the automatic transmission will always be just as fast as manual transmissions of the same car.

 

Those are pretend-a-manual trannies. Don't worry, they can never replace the real thing.

 

"fat/lazy Americans"

Nice way to refer to your fellow countrymen.. that is, if you are one.

 

I have yet to see an automatic transmission that can shift as quickly as someone who knows what they're doing with a manual. I'm talking drag racing here, people, with serious manual shifters and trannies.. not like the ones in out TLs.

This is not to say that we don't have really fine manuals, because we do. But there is not way you could punish them like you could with the Muncies in GM supercars of the mid-60's. It just ain't gonna happen.

 

Ah, the old battles on A-TSX we used to have....

 

MT = pain in the ass for a daily driver.

 

Your pain, friend.. my gain.

 

MT = adds to the fun of my daily drive.

 

Mt >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> *

 

Actually, look at the new Porsche Turbo figures.

 

It looks like grammar is out of style with Newplay1.

 

Remember the old 22's?

Terry

 

But dom has changed his evil ways... and had joined the darkside... Now he can work on improving from going around corners @ 53mph

 

The Dom vs. Clutchperformer battles were classic....

 

22's? Perhaps the terminology.. but please enlighten me.

 

Sorry SouthernBoy.

The old M-22 rockcrusher transmissions. I love the six speed in my Accord. As smooth and precise as any manual I have driven, but I don't think I would drive it as I would have one of the old Muncie 21's/22's of yesteryear.

I think I'm getting old.

Terry

 

Oh.. sorry I didn't catch that.

For those of you who do not know or may want some info, the Muncie 4-speeds during the 60's came in three flavors. The M20 was the standard wide-ratio box (2.52 first gear). The M21 was the standard close-ratio box (2.20 first gear). And the famed and rare M22 was the "special" close-ratio box (also 2.20 first).

The M22 was known as the "rockcrusher" because of it's incredible strength. As I recall, it also sported straight cut gears which gave it away a bit because of the increased gear noise. But what a manual tranny. It was rumored to handle over 1300 HP and over 1000 lb/ft of torque.

I had the M21 in my 1966 SS 396/360 Chevelle with a 3.73 posi rear and I loved it.

 

Also, the shifters. There is no way that a cable-actuated shifter is ever going to compete with a rod-linkage shfter like we had back then in the supercar era. GTO's and 442's came standard with Hurst shifters when you opted for the 4-speed tranny. My Chevelle used the Inland Steel shifter and I never swapped it out for a Hurst because I could really shift that thing fast. It was perfect for me.

The abuse we shed on those things would wreck a TL shifter and manual box in short order. But then again, the TL was not built for, nor meant for racing. Supercars of the mid-60s WERE built for racing as they came off of the production lines. Dollar for dollar, you couldn't buy a better built machine (in these terms) anywhere in the world back then.

 

One other thing I should qualify. I love the manual in my TL. Since I don't race the car, it suits my purposes just fine.

 

I drive a 6spd, but I don't think it adds any "fun" to my daily drive. Sure, it is "fun", but the "fun" people are claiming is really very extremely utterly completely overstated.

The only time AT should keep their mouth shut is when the cars are being auto-X. Other than that, AT = MT, depending on preference

 

The Tiptronic in the 997 does.

Personally, it is either a manual or auto. There are various trannys out there that are in a gray area (Ferrari F1, SMG) but you can categorize all the others by whether or not it has a clutch.

 

A clutch assembly is a major component of a manual transmission, but also consider this. Fluid coupling. All automatics use fluid to transmit torque from the engine's crankshaft to the transmission's output shaft. Manuals do not have any such thing. With a manual transmission, you determine whether or not the drivetrain is locked from the engine to the drive wheels via the transmission and the clutch assembly.

As for my statement about a seasoned individual who knows what they're doing with a manual transmission in a drag race being able to outshift any automatic, I stand by my statement. During the 60's, we saw the increased use of automatics in major drag racing classes. Initially, these were the outstanding Torque Flite Chrysler transmissions.. the best at the time. Later, GM introduced their fine Turbo-Hydromatics (hope I have this right).

Still, there were drivers like Ronnie Sox who could shift so fast, you couldn't even hear a change in engine RPMs (I'm not exagerating here.. I was present during some of his races with the Paper Tiger '65 Plymouth Hemi funny car).

I could throw shifts in around 1/10th of a second with my '66 Chevelle. I'd venture to say that Mr. Sox could better me be perhaps 3 fold. I can't think of any automatic capable of shifting gears in under a 10th of a second.

 

I guess i should elaborate a little... I have to use my car for work, and sometimes it's a pain in the ass for that.

I need an automatic truck or SUV for showing property, putting up signs etc...

I do spend alot of time enjoying my MT though.

 

I completely understand your situation and agree with your choice for the reasons stated. I would do the same as you under those circumstances. Were it me and I was doing what you do for a living, I would also opt for a "working" vehicle with an automatic transmission.

 

All i know is if i had an automatic A4 then i would have been bored with it long ago.

Maybe thats why i got bored with the TL so fast. Im sure i would have kept it longer if it was a manual.

With that said, i really want my next car to be SMG/DSG.

 

Base A4 are terribly boring, no matter what the transmission.

 

thats why i modded it right away

 

Not to hijack but Thanks Southern Boy for the memories
I almost lived at the track with Dad and remembered those quick swifters.

 

I think one notices more MT when they drive one. They "look" for it.

Also, one thing I've noticed. Working at an engineering firm I notice a LOT of MTs in the parking lot. I even remember there being a lot at school (when I did have an AT). I love driving my MT, except when traffic gets shitty.

Could it be an engineering thing? Those business guys spend too much on phone to drive a stick

 

 

Hey, if you grew up around here (I see you sig is in DC), you not doubt remember Aquasco Speedway and Capitol Raceway and Bud's Creek (later called St. Mary's and now known as Maryland International Raceway). Of those tracks, I went to Aquasco the most (I still have some pictures of some of the race cars launching in the mid 60's). Really good racing there.. I loved it.

Though a Chevy lover at the time, I really admired the Sox & Martin racing team and especially watching Ronnie Sox run the Paper Tiger (remember the Moon tank in his grill?). I modeled my shifting technique after his and certainly not in his league, I was able to make 1-2 and 3-4 shifts in less than 1/10th of a second (speed shifting, not power shifting).

God did we have fun.

 

Been driving MT all my life till I arrived to the US. I wanted to rent a car stick shift. No one offers it here, sucked. Depends on the region. Latin America, 95% of the cars if not more, are MT.

Funny how some people call stick shift car as "Standard" when it is actually OPTIONAL for many cars, like the CL.