xlttune

I guess everybody has their opinion of inferior, I have never had a manual leave me stranded even when the clutch hydraulics have failed but I have had a 2013 F150 with it's great auto leave me on the side of the road.

theLurker

I for one miss the manuals but I still got an 18 speed in the company vehicle and that gives me all the shifting I need. The future is no manuals, even in big rigs the new autos are smother, handle more power and more cost effective to fix. The further future is electric cars that have only 1 gear anyway. Transmission designs vary but some of these transmissions are like robotized manuals with torque converters anyway. The manual option in the dodge comes with a de-rated engine because they can't make it handle the same power their auto can. I no longer dream of buying a new sports car and driving away with a manual its gonna be a classic and it might have 4 gears each one I select myself.

For what its worth the S mode in my 2015 F150 is pretty amazing. You can manual select 6 gears with a button. Tow/haul is decent. The control you had with a manual is still kinda there but the computer wont let you over rev or lug too hard so its a lil better that way.

coolride

Not sure why so many people here seem to be against manual transmissions? Is it that you can't drive a stick? lol oK just kidding. But I am surprised at how many people seem to be so against the stick shift. I've never smoked a clutch and have never been left stranded due to a failed manual trans. But I was taught to use these transmissions right. And not to slip a clutch. I have seen a few automatic trannys just fail out of the blue, and just not move, period, or only have reverse or something. No warning. I don't care for that aspect of an automatic.

ThomD

They have been saying this for decades, and it was never true. Now, how would we know. I am sure the consensus is right and the demand isn't there. But there are people in the US who believe SPecial K is a well balanced meal, and McDonalds makes great food. The rest of the world still seems to like manual.


In the truck I replaced that was 11 years old the manual trans had never given any trouble, and did not need replacing. This was a bit like newer exhaust, or even engines, that no longer give trouble. If you burn out your clutch it was probably you. I know I used to pass a lot of automatics in the snow with my manual, but the new auto trans is good, I can live without the manual though I would prefer it.

ThomD

Cost effective to fix could just be another way of saying it is all there is, and nobody remembers how to work on them. That would be the reality we have to deal with, but it doesn't make the system better, just one that has moved on. Driving is probably on the way out. People lack manual skills, not individually, but as a society, and they lack focus. Roll on the driverless car.

tanked_darren

The biggest killer of the manual is stop and go traffic.
I'm talking grid lock rush hour stop and go.
Nobody wants to crawl shifting in and out of 1st/2nd gear...

Velosprout

It is not that we are "against" them. I was a driver of many three-on the tree, four speed, five speed, and five speed with two-speed axle trucks and cars since the late 1960's when I started driving on the farm.
1. A manual transmission may have a smaller pool of potential resale customers.
2. No longer is a manual more efficient than a modern 6+ speed transmission.
3. More parts would be required for a manufacturer to stock.
4. There is not the public demand for manual transmissions. There are more posts on these forums about sound system upgrades than there are about missing manual transmissions.
6. No longer a demand for manual-shift transfer cases either...
7. Younger purchasers no longer growing up driving or being around manual transmissions.
8. Manual transmissions may not meet the EPA requirements for mileage.
9. Sport shift/paddle shifters satisfy some of the desires to be able to manually select shift points.
10. Manual transmission offerings would require extra engineering for design of multiple transmissions and shifters, floor and seat redesign and vehicle electronic controls.
11. Drivers with disabilities are best served with automatic transmissions, and none of us can predict when a disability may occur.
12. Rental car fleets will specify automatic transmissions to allow rental to a maximum number of operators.
13. Manual transmissions would be difficult or impossible to integrate with BLIS, rollover and skid control software, adaptive cruise control, and the more autonomous driving technology that is currently being developed.
14. There is little technological improvement available with the manual transmission because the biggest variable being the experience and skill of the driver. That variable is overcome with automatic transmissions that are computer controlled.

stainlessman

I'm not against the manual tranny either. But as a consumer it would be nice to buy what you want. My girlfriends sister and her husband both buy Toyota
so they can have stick shifts. He has the smaller pick up, she has a car. Stupid ?? I think so. But you should be able to buy want you want. But as we get older...we realize ...nothing stays the same. Nothing costs less.

coolride

They are shifting to automatics in heavy duty trucks because drivers can't drive. I worked as a diesel mechanic. The trucks we had with auto trans got 50% worse fuel mileage and had less power than the same trucks we had with manual shift trucks with same engines. But still the company liked them because we had little trouble and less overall drive train damage by drivers with the allison autos and they could hire almost anyone to drive them. We actually had drivers that could not drive a standard. CDL drivers. They got their license at a school, and boom ,truck driver. The manual is not the problem, its the person operating it. If there was a shifting App on an I-phone, we would still have manuals!
Autos are easier to manage with all the traction control and so on. I get that. But it seems it would not kill Ford to offer a manual to those of us willing to pay for it. I too will likely end up with a foreign truck just to get what I want. Nissan and Toyota are both good vehicles. I'd prefer a Ford, but I didn't make the choice to stop giving customers certain options, Ford did.

Adam013085

Noone is stopping you, go for it... jump....