irenesbob

An amusing or saddening article on standard and automatic transmissions. It says only 4% of new cars sold in the US in 2014 were stick shifts. Anyway, just thought I’d post:

https://www.yahoo.com/autos/question...248577082.html

superswiss

The traditional automatics have come a long way, but it's really the semi-automatics in particular the dual-clutch that has put the last nail in the coffin. You can observe massive sales drops in cars such as the TT-RS and R8 after the intro of the S-tronic. Folks don't feel like taking away from the performance of these cars by equipping them with a slow mechanical lever to shift gears. That's why the new R8 will be S-tronic only and all future RS will be S-tronic or Tiptronic only depending on the engine torque. All RS and R cars have tuned versions of these transmissions, though. BMW is going the same route. The current and previous gen M5 in the ROW has only been available with a semi-automatic. The manual M5 was an afterthought for the US market. For me after driving manuals for 15+ years, the dual-clutch was a big factor in buying the RS5. I like to canyon carve and it just makes for a faster, more fun experience in the mountains and canyons. Then the rest of the time when driving is dull, I have the option of just putting it in automatic mode and enjoy the ride. Best of both worlds.

SloopJohnB@mac.com

That's all I have to say.

irenesbob

A former neighbor of mine who previously had worked for a major car maker's corporate offices told me years ago that the move to eliminate stick shifts was based partly on the experience the manufacturers had that automatic transmission cars were racking up (on average) much lower warranty costs overall than stick shift cars. He said it was not just clutches and transmissions, but the higher chance of over-revving the engine as well as dropping clutch at high RPM putting major stress on all components, even body parts. He said that as buyer's expectations for bullet proof cars and desire for longer warranties grew in this country, the car companies had to assess the cost implications of warranty's and see if there were ways to reduce costs.
I do not know enough to endorse this view or not. I am just reporting what I was told back in the late 1990's.

Friendo

Well, I hate it.
In my opinion automatics are boring and paddle-shifting is nonsense.
I'm going to cry my eyes out when my S5 (V8, 6-speed) get retired because it's almost impossible to get a manual trans anymore.
And that's all I have to say about that.

DOT

I made the move to a dual clutch transmission seven years ago, and shared your sentiment...made your exact comment (more or less) to many friends. A few months ago I went back to three pedals and couldn't be happier. As far as I'm concerned nothing beats rowing your own and matching revs yourself. Manuals may be obsolete tech, I give you that, but they are simply more fun. And BTW....I live in NYC.

Jamblastx

I could not agree more! I fully understand that the newer dual clutch transmissions offer better performance but I could not care less. I'd much rather row my own than have two tenths of a second better in a 0-60 time. And since I spend exactly 0% of my time on the track with my S5, nor am I street racing, the ever so slight performance gain of a dual clutch versus the fun I have of using a manual, is moot to me.

The only slightly good news is that there still are options for us manual dinosaurs and while our numbers are dwindling, we have been a rabid bunch and as long as we make ourselves heard, we can get the auto manufacturers to listen a little bit longer.

On the horizon, the new Alfa Romeo Giulia is being offered in a manual and closer to home, the new A4 has a manual option (at least in Europe and being considered for the US) which may bode well for the next generation A5/S5.

superswiss

It seems the phase out of the manual transmission is happening from the top down. For Audi, A6 and above has been automatic only for a while. RS/R will be semi-automatic or automatic only. Next on the list is the S4/5. In Europe, Audi had dropped the manual transmission for the B8.5 S4/5. They continued offering it in the USA as it was already federalized and I'm sure they factored the whole model run into their amortization schedule of the federalization costs. I highly doubt we'll see a B9 S4/S5 with a manual transmission. There doesn't seem to be interest in Europe and the market to justify the US federalization cost is disappearing. This thesis is further supported by the A3/S3. While available with a manual in Europe and it was considered for the US, it still hasn't happened. We are now entering the second model year of the S3 and still no manual. The longer Audi waits the less of a business case they have to make up the federalization cost and it's not like the A3/S3 isn't selling. The B9 A4 will be available with a manual transmission in Europe, but if AoA didn't have a business case for the A3, what makes you think they'll have one for the A4? Today's A3 buyers are tomorrow's A4 buyers.

BMW is now considering phasing out the manual on their M-cars, so they seem to be following the same strategy.

There might be a few car manufacturer's left such as Alfa, that are banking on scooping up what's left of the manual transmission market.

SloopJohnB@mac.com

And AFAIK probably impossible to drop it into a too-low gear. Really afraid to try…stuff happens.

Brakes are less expensive than clutches and transmissions; engine braking is just a fun thing to do, apparently like clipping playing card(s) on your bicycle frame to hit the spokes. On the track you only downshift to accelerate.

eric strauss

Until recently, all of my sports cars have been manuals, and I have loved driving them - ranging from Datsun 280Z's and Honda Preludes to BMW 3-Series, S5's and TT's.

However, our new S4 and RS5 are the 7-speed S-tronic equipped. Our passion is to do long bouts (100-150 miles) of canyon carving through the phenomenal, mostly empty roads of the Angeles Crest and Los Padres National Parks and surrounding environs.

The S-tronics allow me to use my left leg as a full-time brace against the G-loads and I can focus with more precision on cornering and exit maneuvers. Of course, if you have a five-point harness, this is unnecessary. But in my street cars, it seems a little over the top.

So, the S4, with all of the low end grunt from the supercharger, almost always finds the right gear for the situation, if left in Dynamic Mode. The RS5 needs to be in the manual mode (Dynamic setting) as the power curve is way north. The upshots and downshifts are fast and reliable. The rapid fire nature of the shifts change the shift points to deeper in the curves.

I must admit, it is a different, but compelling drive. I am sure a manual sports car will find its way back into the fold at some point, but the new setups are sure entertaining.

Happy Motoring

Eric