Originally posted by April Thompson:
Originally posted by mygameisplatnum:
Originally posted by 975Altima:
Autos are overtaking manuals, soon no car will come with one, expect maybe sport's_car's. Technology is enhancing them to the point that manuals will only be converaation pieces.





I highly doubt the extinction of the 5-speed...as long as their are sports cars around (which will always be the case) and people wishing to feel like their driving one (which will always be the case) there will aslways be a market for sticks.



This isn't like electric starters replacing hand cranks or coil packs replacing distributors OR fuel injection... well, I could list equipment evolution for a very long time. However, MTs are not anachronisms, unlike carbs, distibutors, Pitman arm steering, et cetera. It's a preference, and as long as there are enough manual transmission afficionados around, we'll still get to row through the gears ourselves. Heck, if Buick and DaimlerChrysler are reverting to RWD, maybe more MTs will show up again, kind of like a nostalgia movement.



It's not quite the same though. There is a significantly greater amount of effort required for a manual gearbox, and on top of that there is learning. Many younger people nowadays do not know properly how to change gear, let alone how to use the gears properly for road conditions/control. If manual's are to make a return, then there has to be greater education on how to use them properly, so that they are less taxing to the driver, and so that the driver does less damage to them. Clutches are a great example too, I've known people to switch from a manual to an automatic because they never want to pay for clutch repair again ... even though frequent atx fluid changes cost them more in the long run!
FWD to RWD isn't as taxing, for the average driver it makes no difference which wheels control the output of force.

1998.5 T-Red on Midnight Blue SVT Build Number 5320 of 6535