The Standard Transmission Thread

That's the rub -- in terms of efficiency, performance, or handling, modern automatics beat modern manuals nearly every time. You can be the fastest, most precise driver in the world, doing the most efficient shifting ever seen. You're still not as fast, precise, or efficient as a computer.

So really, owning a manual transmission is all about driving experience. Some folks are very attached to that driving experience. Others are less so.

My opinion hasn't really changed. I don't find driving a standard overly problematic or bothersome, even in traffic. I don't think driving a standard makes me a better driver. I don't have any sort of delusions that anyone would call my car sporty or quick. Sometimes I'm a bit self-derogatory -- ha ha, Martian is one of those self-important pricks who actually chooses to drive stick in 2018, that kind of thing. But I bought the car because it was a good deal and the transmission didn't factor into it.

I will say that after a few years of driving only stick shift which itself came after a few years of rarely driving at all, the one time in recent memory that I drove an automatic the whole experience felt a little off to me. I'm definitely more comfortable with a standard, and when and if I trade in my current vehicle I'll probably look for a stick in the replacement, unless I choose to go electric. So I guess I'm a little attached to it, but just out of familiarity more than anything else.

 

I agree 100% with about 90% of what you say. In hilly country automatics tend to shift and hunt too much. They'll upshift after cresting a hill because they can't see that in a hundred yards it's uphill again. So then the engine labors for a little too long before it downshifts... just as you crest another little hillock.... Back and forth, forth and back.
But you are right. Like many things, it is a master of choice, taste, and preferences.

 

I think I remember @martian posting that he drove a manual Ford Fusion. But maybe that's only available in Canada.

Lindy
SAAB 9-5 manual 5-speed
Honda Accord EX-L V-6 manual 6-speed

 

Yeah, I think they took it out in the second gen models. I've got a 2010 so it's the first gen (but the second first gen, because Ford is like that).

I've been driving it for three years now, it's a great car. It's kind of a shame that they don't do it anymore because the Duratec 2.5L with the 6 speed manual is an excellent drive train, reasonably peppy and just rock solid.

I'm probably going to exchange it soon for something a bit bigger; between the kiddo and the band I'm finding it just isn't quite big enough for my needs. If Magpie drove I'd get a truck and let her have the Fusion but she doesn't, and it feels a bit silly to get two vehicles when I barely drive the one I have in the first place.

 

It is a shame. Mustangs and the like have no appeal to me, but I hate to see yet another brand losing the clutch. I like 4-doors and my favorite cars are those that are "stealth fast." My '06 Accord V-6 w/ 244hp and 6-speed manual looks just like a typical white 4-cyl Accord but has gobs of torque like an old American V-8 and I had it up to 130mph on US60 between Socorro and Magdalena, NM (and it had more to give-Speedo goes to 160) when I had a sudden thought of my tires.
My blah silver colored 2002 SAAB Aero Turbo 5-speed sedan had a better top end, but not the torque that the Honda has.

There aren't any American made stick shift sedans except for a few pricey Cadillacs and they must be Unicorns, because although I've read about them but never actually seen one.

 

I thought the new mid-engine Vettes looked really cool until I learned that the only transmission option is a DCT. Like, that's fine, they're better for performance, but I want my third pedal in a sports car. Flappy paddles just don't give the same experience for me. I'm not going to track it, so driving experience trumps raw performance anyway.

The thing is, from a technical perspective retiring old school manuals in favour of automatics or DCTs or CVTs make sense. There's no one category at this point in time that a manual does better than any other type of transmission except maybe in terms of mechanical simplicity, and modern transmissions are sufficiently reliable now that this isn't really an advantage in and of itself. So I get why they're going away, but I just don't see myself ever buying a performance car without one. Assuming I'd ever buy a performance car in the first place, which honestly now that I actually have the means seems like something I'm more inclined to fantasize about than actually do.

My Fusion is still going strong, and despite talking about trading it in nearly constantly I still haven't pulled the trigger on it. It's good on gas, has been extremely solid mechanically, and does 95% of what I need without complaint; it's hard to justify dropping thousands into a new vehicle while all of those things remain true. I also keep eyeing sporty little roadsters. Considered picking up a Fiero of all things, despite their many flaws they're just neat little cars that are hard not to love. But finding one that hasn't been beaten to hell in 2019 for a reasonable price might be a bit of a trick. Plus the thing about how owning two cars seems silly when I only put like 8k per year on the one I have; can't put the kiddo in a roadster so I'd have to keep the Fusion and then I'd just have two cars I barely drive, without even solving the problem of occasionally needing to move things that are too big to fit in the Fusion.

In all likelihood I'll keep driving the one I have until it dies, which at the rate I'm going will be some time after 2065. Assuming gasoline cars haven't been outlawed by then.

I will say the ecoboost drivetrain in the Mustangs is super neat, getting V8 like performance out of a turbo I4 is a nice feat of engineering. Get em now if you're gonna get em at all I guess.