The Decline of the Manual... But a Glimmer of Hope?

[ECONORAM]

Originally Posted by JasonG

I remember once watching a valet try to park my one ton diesel manual truck.
After stalling it numerous times he just got out.
My dad and mom were behind me in his decked out dually. Dad says out the window "same transmission".
We both pulled past two spots and simultaneously backed both trucks in.
My wife, watching from the valet stand, said it looked like synchronized swimming.
The valet still had his mouth open when dad and I walked up.
We felt bad though and gave him a nice tip anyway.
Nowadays, that would never happen.

I'd have liked seeing that transpire...

Originally Posted by freebeard

I saw a kid driving down the street with his hands at 11:30 and 12:30, holding a "smart" phone. He could see everywhere except where his car was going.

/I guess that's off-topic. Sorry.

Unfortunately, it's more and more common today. I'm certain it takes a lot of attention off of driving, more so than shifting gears. Redpoint's right; it is distracting. I remember the first time I tried to call and drive; I had to hang up 'cuz I nearly ran off the road.
By the way, hands at 1130 and 1230 isn't fooling anyone but him.

This makes me ask the question, what is it exactly that is driving manufacturers to shove out more slush boxes? I remember hearing that Dodge (a couple years back) had done a survey saying more folks wanted autos, but they didn't ask me... I understand technology is making autos better; maybe that's part of it.
*So, does anyone think there's a market for a business swapping slush boxes for manuals? Could help spur the movement...

[Xist]

Originally Posted by UltArc

And we become MORE reliant on technology (as a people, not US here).

As I am trying to get a OBD-II bluetooth dongle to work with my smartphone...

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by ECONORAM

This makes me ask the question, what is it exactly that is driving manufacturers to shove out more slush boxes?

All cars used to be manual shifting, and automatic transmissions were a luxury feature.

Americans Humans are lazy (I have a Roomba and Neato), and not shifting a gearbox is easier than shifting one.

The manufacturers don't push autos, the consumers do.

Originally Posted by Xist

As I am trying to get a OBD-II bluetooth dongle to work with my smartphone...

I just installed the pro version of Torque on my phone after having smashed my UG in the door jam. Can't say I miss the UG anymore...

Smart phones can be had for $10 new, and the Elm237 can be purchased for less than $10, so for less than 20 bucks, anyone driving a 1996 or newer car can have a fantastic gauge.

Good luck Xist!

[darcane]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

All cars used to be manual shifting, and automatic transmissions were a luxury feature.

Americans Humans are lazy (I have a Roomba and Neato), and not shifting a gearbox is easier than shifting one.

The manufacturers don't push autos, the consumers do.

Exactly. If the manufacturer makes a pile of manual vehicles and they don't sell, they are going to cut back the following year. Rinse and repeat until the manual is dead.

They aren't catering to people who are fiscally conservative either. Most of us on this site buy only used cars because we can't/won't pay the price of a new car. Many economy cars are getting near $20k now, so what's a little more to fit it with an automatic, right? You're financing the darn thing for 7 years, so you'll hardly notice!

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

Americans Humans are lazy (I have a Roomba and Neato), and not shifting a gearbox is easier than shifting one.

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 manufacturers don't push autos, the consumers do.

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.

[redpoint5]

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.

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.

[MetroMPG]

I'm in violent agreement with you: there are multiple reasons for what's happening.

[freebeard]

I'm in violent agreement with you...

Don't Tase me, bro — but I want to go with no clutch and no transmission, like the Telsa. According to Teslarati, they added a feature called Creep, so it would act more like an automatic.

What it’s like to drive a transmission-less Tesla

[Fat Charlie]

What most people call efficiency is actually applied laziness. Shifting your own gears may look like more work but it's actually the easiest way to get the car to do what you want it to do when you tell it to do it. Being helpless in a car while the TCM figures out what you want and then waiting for the hydraulics to catch up once they finally get told what to do is no fun, and trying to game that system by hitting the gas way before you want to actually move is nerve wracking.

Just let me pick what gear the car's in. It's a lot easier that way.

[samwichse]

Those charts tell me the people driving modern trucks are a bunch of weenies.

The only place I'll take my automatic is in a tractor, please (hydrostatic for the Brush Hog win!).