It used to be a performance thing. The automatic could pick the best gear to drive in from your current speed and whether you wanted to accelerate or brake, but it could not stick you in a lower gear because it knew you were going to accelerate in a moment. So, if you wanted a sporty drive, you used the stick.
This was odd as there were automatic performance bikes which could do an insane number of gear changes a second, bababaabaabarrrm, and I don’t think there was any reason why cars couldn’t do the same.
Yeah I understand that. And it went beyond that. Until better autos came around a human being on a good stick could tradition from gear to gear faster than an Auto, And the actual transition itself would happen faster. Until autos with overdrive and more gears started showing up. And selectable gears (you can do what your describing on most autos since the 80s, at least for 1st through 3rd). Came along you often had a limited number of gears (often only 3 to 4) with slow ratios. My gear head family in Ireland understand that as well. But they also understand this:
When you get right down to it that was and is only a factor if your talking about performance cars. Or special situations like offroading or certain uses for trucks. There are plenty of shit manuals transmissions, often bolted to good cars in the world. And for regular driving the manual doesn’t get you much. In heavy traffic and city driving a manual is often actively unpleasant to deal with.
When autos first began to be introduced in force. It was usually on luxury models or as an upgrade on a higher end car. This gave them an appearance of luxury, desirability, And convenience. When they became the default in the US. With manuals increasingly only available on expensive or performance cars. That got inverted. The manual got all the social cache. It meant skill, power, being faster. You looked for that, you paid for that.
That never happened in Europe. The auto stayed the less common more expensive option. So it stayed the desirable one. So the Europeans I know who don’t care about cars are confused Americans are willing seek them out and pay extra. That we desire them at all. The enthusiasts are confused about us insisting on them in economy shit boxes and boring commuter cars when we can usually get the auto at the same price or cheaper.
They do and can. There’s a reason why high end super car brand’s are all switching to autos and have prioritized autos for an least a decade. A high end modern dual clutch auto can physically go from gear to gear faster than a manual can do it and initiate a gear change faster than human reaction time. You can involve many more gears than a human can deal with.
They took off with performance bikes first because car sized ones capable of dealing with car sized forces were finicky and insanely expensive. When practical, And capable of out doing an inline manual, they got adopted by racing and super/hyper cars. And now their available down market. Sometimes standard, often as the upgrade over a CVT or simple auto alongside our in place of the manual.
Iirc those super bikes were all using dual clutches. It’s basically a variety of manual thats automated by its nature so it’s changing and using gears in exactly the same way. But because they’re automated and computer controlled. They can do it be better stronger faster. They’re the prototypical “flappy paddle” shifter.
I love it!
After reading your post I got fearful that manual transmissions are really an obsolete technology. Looking to buy a 2019 or 19 Subaru XV to replace our 2002 WRX.
Subaru offers a 6-speed manual. Woot!
A 6-speed tyranny!
:~}
Yeah, but those electronic clutch transmissions aren’t great for day to day driving. Trying to parallel park for example is a lot harder when your car doesn’t like to creep slowly.
My last Subaru wagon was a 2002 LLBean model, heated leather seats and all, and automatic. It had the racing suspension, handled like a dream, and I used to tell people it was a stealth race car hiding in a fancy station wagon. I still want another one.
The first Subaru wagon I had was 80s vintage, crap steel body, held together with duct tape (literally - that’s what the top of the quarter panels were replaced with after they rusted completely out), manual shifting, and fun to drive up and down the hills and valleys. OK, fun to drive down. Not up.
I still harbor resentment that Subaru killed the turbo wagons (Legacy and Outback) here in the US. They said the reason was because they weren’t selling, but they hardly made any, and they were impossible to find at dealers. Of course you didn’t sell any, you didn’t offer them for sale.
If it’s only the past few years then how do you know? “New cars have good reliability.” That’s fine, but it’s mostly build quality at that point. Design defects/underengineered parts take longer to show up.
The same is true of manual transmissions in general. Dealerships might stock one or two if you’re lucky, and if it’s a little 2 seater when you’re looking for a 4 door car then it doesn’t help. Even then you need to go to the really big dealerships. And then of course your negotiating power is diminished because you’re asking for a vehicle that’s rather unique.
Yes, it would also have had an electric starter, but those old 6-volt, positive ground batteries tended to discharge when the car sat for a while, so it was still handy to have a crank option.
The main thing to bear in mind is you skip gears. which ones you actually use will depend on your semi’s load.
A little research reveals that there’s even more complicated manual transmissions in the trucker world:
Every car I’ve had, from my first (a rustbucket Toyota Corolla), had stick. I visited the UK in 1999, and rented a Rover 200 with a manual. Shifting with the left hand took some getting used to, but it wasn’t difficult, and I returned it without any damage, inside or outside.
Ever since returning, I’ve found four-way stop signs infuriating. I’m glad to see roundabouts being built on this side of the pond, but they’re still few and far between.
I always imagined people who drive a stick must be very frustrated by stop-and-go traffic. There are so many cars on local roads with speeds from 25 MPH to 40 MPH. It usually takes two or three cycles to go through any intersection with a light. At four-way stops, you have to deal with at least three cars on each road (three times as many during peak hours of the morning, afternoon, and evening). Whenever it takes a long time to drive a short distance, I say to myself that it could be worse - at least I don’t have to shift gears on top of everything else.
Given how difficult that is for me with my dominant hand, I could guarantee that would cause me to get into an accident. I can’t even brush my teeth with my left hand without slipping.
