Benzie

The best part and the most skill involved in driving a standard is operating the clutch and feeding in the power to the wheels as you choose. Why not equip the QS5 with a fold-down clutch pedal, which would operate electronically of course, but with the same travel, tension and feel of a real clutch, to turn the car instantly into a manual transmission version? How awesome would that be? It would be just like driving a manual but with the added benefits of never missing a gear or burning a clutch.

2018_SQ5

Why not equip the SQ5 with a 700hp V-12 power plant?

Why not build a Jack Daniels distillery on Neptune?

KaDeTime

Benzie

Because my idea is a good one that would sell cars. It wasn't that long ago that manuals were a preferred option for many real drivers which admittedly don't exist today but I started out on a manual and they are fun to drive. No one would mistake or claim fiddling with the paddle shifters is anything like the experience of driving a manual, but throw in a clutch pedal and you could have something.

Omeletpants

Audi just dropped manual transmissions form all their cars last week. So, apparently, Audi doesnt believe they would sell more cars

KaDeTime

they also dropped QS5... i guess OP dreams will never happen now

NeedMoreHP

katzjamr

Consumer Reports: Pros, this car handles well and has plenty of power. Cons, too many confusing pedals.

superswiss

Well, the SQ5 (I think that's the car you mean) has a torque converter. What exactly is a clutch pedal supposed to do if there is no clutch in the first place. If it had a dual-clutch transmission, but then you need two clutch pedals to operate each of the clutches. We kinda don't have enough legs for that. There are some automatic transmissions that use a start-up clutch instead of the torque converter. Primarily the AMG Speedshift transmissions, but that clutch is only used to come to a full stop and then start again. Kinda like F1 cars. For shifting gears later, the clutch isn't used. Same idea in F1 cars. The shifts take place without the need to use the clutch and interrupt power from the engine. F1 cars have a button on the steering wheel to operate the clutch, so that getting off the line the fastest requires driver skill instead of the computer doing launch control. The manual transmission is pretty much history at this point. There are no benefits other than self gratification and adding a fake clutch pedal would be pretty dumb.

spindlewood

We are being disconnected more and more from the physical processes. That feeling that comes with the control of manual shifting is satisfying because we're involved. Now it's all electronic push button - or not even. Thermostat climate control... Lane assist, A few more iterations and we're driverless. It's cool but not satisfying. Shifting has gone the way of the rotary phone. You might be able to falsely make it feel like you're doing something, but it would be all illusion. The urge to be connected to and in control of our machines will ultimately date us as old timers. We can tell our great grand kids, "I lived with the dinosaurs and cars you actually had to drive yourself..."

Sorry, maybe a bit too philosophical for Audiworld...