Quote:
Originally Posted by MetroMPG
I don't think it's that cut & dry: I'm the epitome of lazy in most things, but I love shifting gears myself. Even in city driving it makes the drive much more enjoyable (disclaimer: I rarely face stop & crawl).
The way they're marketed (here at least), there's more profit in automatics. That's a big incentive to steer ambivalent purchasers into them.
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I, too, enjoy rowing my own despite a love for all things automation. However, if automatics were economically advantageous, I would choose them instead of a manual. My primary reason for choosing a 6-speed manual was the economics of the fuel savings. The secondary reason was fun. I'd gladly trade fun for convenience if automatics outperformed manual operation.
We disagree on what is the most significant factor in the decline of manual transmissions.
The majority of people I know under 30 don't know how to drive a manual. Likely the reason is that they started off driving an automatic, since they are easier to learn. Then, they never bothered to learn manual shifting. The older people I know prefer an automatic because older people tend to prefer simplicity.
Finally, automatic transmissions have made great improvements over the years. Automatics used to have fewer gears, shift more harshly, burn up, get worse fuel economy, and transmit less power to the wheels when compared to a manual. These disadvantages have mostly been overcome with modern designs.