Is it just me or does it seem like MT is getting phased out? Every dealership i go to there is more AT inventory on cars that you would think are more popular in MT. Are auto's taking over the market? However, i hear MT is still the standard in Europe.

Seems to me that the "standard" MT is no longer "standard".

 

Is it just me or does it seem like MT is getting phased out? Every dealership i go to there is more AT inventory on cars that you would think are more popular in MT. Are auto's taking over the market? Not that i hold a grudge against auto drivers (i drive an auto). However, i hear MT is still the standard in Europe.

Seems to me that the "standard" MT is no longer "standard".

 

Americans are getting lazier.

 

That's because something like 95% of all new cars sold in the US are AT. If you want MT, you basically have to special order it or get a car that only comes in MT.

 

ROFL, I thought you meant Motor Trend.

It'll still be an option but one you may have to order. Not many people want manual transmissions.

 

Unfortunately manual tranny's seem to be declining in favor of DSG style trannies w/paddle shifters.

They do give the opportunity for those that don't know how to drive a manual tranny the luxury of being able to control the gears like the tiptronic trannies did, except much better.

It'll be a sad day when the Manual tranny is removed from vehicles. I think the maxima is one fo the first to suffer that. They no longer offer it in a manual the last time I checked their site.

And we just started having a discussion about this in another thread starting with this post:

https://acurazine.com/forums/showpos...9&postcount=26

 

sports shifting (in terms of performance) will never be as good as MT...

but, with that said... I think the popularity of sports shifting, tiptronics type transmission would be a reason why this is happening

 

Another thing to consider is with DSG w/Paddle shifters auto manufactuers no longer have to offer multiple trims in terms of the tranny for their cars. what that means is lower design and production costs IMO.

 

Is it even possible?

 

:wtf:

My post got deleted from this thread

 

No, it didn't. He double posted. https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=371749

 

 

I honestly thought he was talking about Motor Trend magazine...

 

That's where my post went

 

lol sorry, mods plz delete one of these threads

 

Hopefully there will always be enough purits out there to prevent that. I myself can't imagine not driving MT.

 

Welcome to 1990....You're only realizing this now? AT's have oversold MT's at least 20 to 1 for some time..

 

They will supply the demand. I like to think that more enthusiest cars will stay MT but if anything they will move to smg/dsg. If anything, econoboxes are unlikely to lose the MTs.

 

(we) Americans = lazy and don't care about true sports driving for the most part. [rant] We are too busy suing people and creating new laws so people don't have to think for them selfs anymore[/rant] And it seems 90% of the population wants to drive big SUVs anyway...

Europeans realize there is more to performance than straight line acceleration and a connection to driving and the road is important...

There is such a small handful of American cars that even attempt to create soul/connection with the road. It's just not something we as Americans excel at; the Europeans have spent years refining the sport/luxury/daily suspension setups.

So I'm not in any way shocked we'd want to take away any connection to sports driving we had; we had little to start with... In the end the majority of the population wants to get in; stick their McDonalds cup in the holder and just push the gas pedal and yap on their cell phone...

I mean anyone ever look at the statistics of automatic vs. manual corvettes sold? it's pretty pathetic IMO...

Hopefully I'm just jaded; but this certainly seems to be our future...

 

i only didn't get MT because I'm always in stop and go traffic and really don't drive on any free open space unless i drive at 1am in the morning. MT well for me it sucks to drive in stop and go traffic.

 

^^ if you are driving in free open space, you wouldn't have a need to change gears except when starting and stopping.

 

Duplicate threads merged.

 

This is pretty deep, but all so very true.

 

I just drove 825 miles up and back w/ stops one way with auto on the way up and manual on the way back, guess which way felt like it was 825miles of never ending fun?

 

Really? I hope those F1 Drivers don't find this out.

Seriously, there is a *chance*, eventually, that AT shift speed/technology will improve to the point that it can be as good as a manual. It will really be whether it can be done affordably and reliably, since F1 type shift technology proves it can be done technically.

 

If only there were a transmission that had a clutch and behaved like a manual-shifting gearbox most of the time, then whenever you wanted you could press a button to enable paddle shifters or a DSG transmission mode, where you could blip off light-speed shifts. Then also at will you could turn it into a fully automatic for when you're driving in rush hour traffic. Yet in the end, it would be as light as a manual transmission so there wouldn't be any performance drawbacks.

I live in a dream world, yeah. I would much rather get a MT and pocket the extra $$$, whatever it costs, and enjoy the satisfaction of changing gears over the tenths-of-a-second difference in the quarter mile with a DSG. Besides, with that extra money I'll spend the difference on a performance part and make up the difference.

Sadly I may have to move to Europe one day as Whiskers did in order to enjoy MT vehicles. Ever since I started driving stick I've never wanted to go back to automatics.

 

Interestingly enough, BMW is offering a true 6 speed manual in the M5 now due to demand from the US market....

 

I think a lot has to do with the commutes that the average American has. I used to have a 1:30 bumper to bumper drive to work and the thought of shifting gears the entire time was a bit of a drag. I got a new job and my commute is only 20-25 minutes and it is going against traffic so the thought of a manual is not out of the picture.

 

Ironically (here in the NYC area), I see MANY more E60 M5s on the road versus the E39 M5 during the same time in its model durationc. I HAVE TO correlate that to the fact that the E60 was the first M5 to come equipped with an auto tranny.

That said, cars like the Corvette and GTO are only marginally slower in AT than their MT counterparts. (Even VQ35 Nissans to some degree can fall into this category.) So, the only attribute missing is that man-machine connection.

Directly to the point is gsi's post above.

 

Before my TL-S I had a 93 Accord coupe 5speed. I sure do miss that car, but most of all I miss shifting. I never realized how much I would. I deeply regret selling it, but it would have had to be parked in the driveway and would have most likely been stolen.

My next car will definitely be a MT TL.

It better not be phased out! YOU HEAR THAT ACURA!

 

Good luck with that, they don't listen to the people that actually love the brand.

 

Less then 20% of drivers in the US can drive a manual.

 

MTs ARE getting phased because of new and better gearboxes. Examples are SMG,DSG and many more. Even the Porsche 911 Turbo Tiptronic Auto,is faster than it's manual version. The autos or semi are faster,easier to use and therefore the most popular. However, for sheer driving pleasure, nothing beats an manual transmission.(on a M3 or a Honda)

 

Less than 5% of drivers in the US can DRIVE properly.

 

dad who works for Honda of America at Anna where you guys engine was built. he said probably for every 100 auto trannys built there are only probably 15 sticks.
his line runs: Civic Si, 08 Accord, CR-V,Element, and RDX.
I know certain models like the Si you can't get an auto but he was meaning models like the Accord where both are offered.

 

It's the way of life. Even super cars these days are offered dsg style units with auto mode. Long gone are the days of grandma driving a stick-shift VW Rabbit, or the rich dude around the corner going nuts in a manual Ferrari. Nowadays grandma is kicking back in an auto buick and the rich dude has a auto shift f1 tranny in his ferrari. The lazier we get the less 3rd pedal we see.