dvs_dave

This is silly. Foot operated clutch pedal, plus directly hand selected gears equals a manual transmission. How you can say otherwise I don't know?

Anything that has an automated clutch, double, single, torque converter, whatever as it's irrelevant; and either manually selected, or automatically via computer and servo operation is either a semi-auto or an auto. Not a manual.

Just because you may be able to select a particular gear "manually" doesn't make a transmission all of a sudden manual. They arent called semi-manuals are they?

superswiss

I'm optimistic you'll wrap your head around it eventually. I'm not saying that these transmissions are conventional manuals, but they are also not conventional autos. As in any major market, there is room for a third player. These transmissions combine aspects of a conventional manual transmission with aspects of a conventional automatic transmission and their inner workings and "feel" is closer to a conventional manual, than a conventional auto as is the case with a dual-clutch transmission. Not that Wikipedia is the source of all knowledge, but this page does a pretty good job of putting it in perspective. While they are not called semi-manuals they are known as clutchless manuals and since they are semi-auto, what do you think the other half is?

Lastly, the current crop of manual transmissions are now adopting aspects of these semi-autos, such as automatic rev matching on downshifts. That's why I pointed out the lines are getting blurred.

mishar

That's about design and semantics, but it started abut us. Are we opened to embrace progress or stacked in nostalgia for old times and old ways. Being old is not all about birth certificate.

superswiss

Well said, sir! The conventional manual transmission is an artifact of yesteryear that refuses to die among an ever shrinking minority. I get it. Up until my current car, I refused to buy anything that didn't come with a manual transmission. Not that I was particularly fond of manually operating a clutch in the daily grind of driving, but it was about feel and control. Interestingly enough, this same argument is going on in other forums where we primarily have members in their 20s and 30s.

superswiss

Also, speaking of progress, electric cars such as the Tesla S do away with the need for multiple forward gears all together. You can shed all that dead weight if you are willing to abandon that inefficient internal combustion engine.

cre8value

In an effort to point the thread back on track (who doesn't love a spiteful MT vs AT thread hijacking?):

One trend I see lately in the luxury/near luxury segment is the removal of the spare tire, and in its place a Flat Tire Kit. Probably for cost and weight savings? I'd think most consumers would rather have the spare?

The other trend I'd like to see Audi steer away from is the removal of the hatch and wagons from the lineup. S4 Avant. A3 Hatch. Niche segment I know, but has its place. Kind of like available manual transmissions on sports cars have their place.

superswiss

Good ones. I think Audi would be more than happy to sell wagons, unfortunately, nobody buys them in the US. The US consumer doesn't buy wagons, but they buy cars that project a lifestyle, like the Allroad. In Europe, hatchbacks and wagons sell like hotcakes, so Audi as a whole won't turn away from them, but they won't sell them in countries where there's no market for them.

GnatGoSplat

Hofmeister kink. Audi is one of the few companies that doesn't use the kink on their sedans and I think it's one of the reasons Audi has the best looking sedans. A5 Sportback and A7 do have the kink, but those are hatchbacks. I would not like to see the kink make its way to the notchbacks.