markcincinnati

And, I guess it is a good thing that I am, since I am the cause of the demise of the manual transmission. I saw this coming, so I quick fast ordered a brand new fully loaded 2003 allroad (with the 6spd manual). I loved that car.

I figured I'd effectively killed the manual transmission due to the fact that I "petitioned" Audi to keep the manuals in 1999 when I ordered my first Audi A6 V8 -- which was only available with an automatic.

My 2000 A6 V8 was a great car. I liked it and ordered a 2001 A6 V8 -- also with an automatic. I again wrote letter after letter to Audi asking that the stick shift be kept available on their cars. As I recall it was possible, then, to order a new A6 2.7T with a no-charge manual option.

You couldn't get a V8 with anything but an automatic, however.

Well, true to form, I became what some of you, I see, have or are becoming, a member of the "lunatic fringe" that writes letters and petitions companies to do things that are (from the company's point of view) illogical, expensive and unlikely to have many takers.

All it takes to cement the 98% decision to -- in this case -- drop manuals in favor of automatics is for a few lunatics (and remember I was one of you) to write a letter or two or work up some kind of petition.

These things rarely work and usually backfire. I did it, I killed the manual transmission in the A6 lineup. I quickly burned through the warranty period of my 2003 allroad and, since the lease was up, ordered a brand new 2005 A6 3.2 V6 with all the bells and whistles. The automatic was fine, fine enough to make me miss the allroad's stick shift a little bit less as every mile was ticked off.

Whattya gonna do?

What you could do -- but the chances of this happening are slim -- is use a tool such as the AudiWorld forum to pull together a statistically significant number of CUSTOMERS (not talkers, BUYERS) who would put their collective MONEY out there.

I'd be shocked if we could get a dozen people who would cough up over 50 large EACH (in cash or credit) simultaneously in order to essentially petition the car company with cash. The car company -- Audi in this case -- has people who can make and unmake decisions. There is nothing in it for the people who have these make or break powers to make a financially unsound decision -- nothing other than a demotion.

If enough people are willing to pool their buying power simultaneously, that and only that will get the car makers attention.

As I recall, Audi did retain or bring back the A6 with a manual transmission option for a year or two (in response to what was said to be "market pressure" -- which was proven to be bovine scatology) in the A6 in the late 1990's into and up to the 2005 A6. As far as I know these stick shift A6's are still on dealer's lots, unsold.

At some point, in the past 10 or so years, it became apparent to Audi (of America at least) that American Audi Car BUYERs, not members of the lunatic fringe, would eschew Audi's manual transmission equipped cars whenever possible. And, as noted, the lunatics sealed the deal.

For that, I am sorry, since I figure I am largely responsible for the almost 100% death of Audi's manual transmission equipped cars.

I, like you, screwed up in reverse.

I'll leave you fellow lunatic fringe folks to your devices.

As I am wont to say: Drive it like you live.

If that puzzles you, how about this: Qwit yur bitchin' and put your MONEY where your mouff is!

Right now I'm trying to figure out how to get Audi to not kill the 7-spd DSG in their S cars.

Fat chance of that.

Mike B

We are most definitely NOT over the 6mt. Took delivery last Thursday of our replacement for the '01 TT Roadster. Our dealer went nuts finding a car with the options we wanted including the manual gearbox.
As you can see from the signature, all of our cars are 6mt. Our son's B5 S4 is also; it used to be mine. Our daughter and son-in-law have a B7 A4 and a C5 allroad; both also 6mt.
You can still buy manual cars in Europe, just not in lazy, shiftless America. That's a shame for those of us who like to be totally involved with our driving.
JMO. (Obviously no one else agrees or we would still be able to order at least the S cars with manual gearboxes).

superswiss

Manual transmissions are pretty much resorting to lower end vehicles. In Europe especially. The higher up you are moving in the performance chain (S, RS and equivalents from other brands) you'll more and more find only dual clutch or well tuned tiptronic transmissions. Most people who buy performance cars don't want to take away from that performance with a slow, clunky manual transmission. Especially turbo engines benefit highly from these faster transmissions, because they have virtually no interruption of power during an upshift and therefore the turbos don't lose boost. Similarly, I wouldn't want a manual transmission in my RS5, because it's much quicker with a dual clutch to get it into the higher rev band where the engine makes the power. The dual clutch downshifts multiple gears faster than most people can press the clutch pedal. I know most who still want a 6MT are more about the experience than the performance. I can understand that. I used to exclusively buy manual transmission cars, but now that I shop in the performance segment, I want a fast transmission to go with the fast car.

Mike B

I understand that the DSG box can shift faster that I can. However, just because I like the involvement one gets with a manual doesn't mean I'm not into performance.
One caveat here for those who prefer the DSG box: with the 2017 S4, Audi has changed to turbo's and reverted back to a torque converter automatic which any moron can beat with a 6mt. I'm really glad I got the supercharged car with the manual.
Also, it appears that I'm posting in the wrong forum. I've been told that mine is a B8.5, not a B9. I apologize.

superswiss

This is a speculation forum at the moment as nobody here has driven a B9 yet, unless there are some European's that have taken delivery already. Most of what we know about the B9 are approximations based on current models.

I do wanna see you beat the ZF 8 transmission in the B9, though. I'm curious about the tuning that Audi is going with, but the SQ5 is a pretty good idea. It's probably not as aggressively tuned as in the RS7, though. I still have hesitations about a torque converter transmission, because of the lack of a locked drivetrain at all times, but in terms of speed and performance I would recommend you test drive an RS7 to see what the ZF 8 with proper tuning is capable of, or one of the latest Jags such as the X-type.

These transmissions can be night and day different depending on the car. You really have to experience them in a few different tunes. Just to give you an idea. I'm not a big fan of the DSG in the S4/5 for example. It's quite watered down. For example it still automatically shifts before redline even in manual mode and it's very soft otherwise. Fast, but clearly tuned for comfort and safety. On the other hand in the RS5 it's a completely different animal. It holds the gear in manual mode all the way to redline and bounces off the rev limiter like a traditional manual transmission. Not to mention the overall more aggressive shifts and responsiveness due to the upgraded hydraulics. Similarly, the ZF 8 in the RS7 is tuned much like the DSG in the RS5. It also doesn't upshift at redline in manual mode for example. The R8 is another example to experience a proper dual clutch transmission.

If we wanna push it even higher, go drive a Ferrari, Lamborghini or Pagani etc. I'm pretty sure the lack of a clutch pedal will be the last thing on your mind. The point is IMO you can't judge the transmission on its own. You have to judge it as part of a particular car and the whole package.