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

[Miller88]

Originally Posted by ECONORAM

I tried that in my RAM for about a day. Probably could have done it longer if I didn't have golfer's elbow in both elbows...



I agree. Some good info here. For the 07 RAMs, the stick had a 1:1 5th, and a .78 6th gear, where the auto has a .75 4th and a .67 5th. I figured it was a racket to push better looking mileage figures for autos so the OEM could quit offering stick shifts... Yet they have now offered a 7sp in the new Challenger.

I too was thinking a small engine needs more gears, as you'd want to keep it in the power band more often. That thinking might come from owning a VW GLI...with a close ratio 5sp.

That's one thing I like about Ford's GTDI offerings. Provided you know how to drive a GTDI engine for mileage, they do make good low end torque. The 1.0L ecoboost Fiesta is probably more reasonable with a 5 speed, than the 1.6L NA engine.

I have figured out how to get 30MPG out of my parent's 2013 Focuscape 2.0L ecoboost on 87 octane. I'm waiting for another trip now that they run 91 octane gas in it and have went from ~23.5 to 27MPG in daily commuting

[darcane]

Originally Posted by ECONORAM

I agree. Some good info here. For the 07 RAMs, the stick had a 1:1 5th, and a .78 6th gear, where the auto has a .75 4th and a .67 5th. I figured it was a racket to push better looking mileage figures for autos so the OEM could quit offering stick shifts... Yet they have now offered a 7sp in the new Challenger.

That's only half the story. What final drive ratios were they paired with?

My old 6-spd Vette had a 0.50:1 OD vs. 0.70:1 in the auto.
But standard ratio was 3.07:1 in the rear end vs 2.59:1 for the auto.

The manual still had a lower overall ratio, but the axle ratios evened them up some. Without knowing the axle ratios for these trucks, you can't really compare the tranny ratios.

I think the Automatics typically have higher gearing because the torque converter multiplies the torque to give more brisk initial acceleration than a manual with the same gearing.

[ECONORAM]

Both trannies came with 3.92 rear gears, but with the 33" tire option and 20" wheels that equated to a 3.55 rear end. *Most trucks that I've seen came with that 3.55... 'cuz 20s sell better, I think. If I swap in one of those 6speeds, I'm putting some taller gears in the rear to get the 6th ratio closer to that of the auto's 5th.
Now RAM puts a 3.21 gearset in the trucks; auto gears are the same but the new trucks are better aerodynamically.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Manuals are still prevalent here in Brazil, but locak versions of the Corolla don't even have this option anymore.

Originally Posted by darcane

Foot operated parking brakes are annoying, but I really don't want electric parking brakes on anything of mine. Do they even work as an emergency brake any more?

The only type of parking brake that works effectively as an emergency brake are the lever-operated ones. But anyway, in a car with automatic transmission I'd still rather get a pedal-operated parking brake instead of an electric one. But anyway, since I'm not so comfortable doing heel-and-toe to start uphill driving, that's the only time a pedal-operated parking brake becomes a PITA and makes me prefer a lever-operated parking brake that I can use for that.