The End of Manual Transmission

[dual fours]

Another thing that I always liked about a manual transmission is the clutch. Again driving a truck in wet or slippery conditions, it’s nice to be able to control downshifts. I guess new **** has a computer override... to do it for you.

I liked the Manuals trans. that if the battery took a dump, you could get it in a gear and push or roll it down a hill then pop the clutch to get the motor started. I do miss that feature in the Automatics.

 

[SteveSS]

Let's be honest. Manuals are harder to launch at the dragstrip and they suck in traffic jams but they're so much fun everywhere else. I'm not a top speed or a cornering guy but God I love burnouts.

 

[moparedtn]

I believe Ford has a pipe, or something, that puts exhaust sound into the cabin.

If they're actually running an exhaust pipe into the passenger compartment, that would explain a lot of the
pedestrian killin's....

 

[moparedtn]

I believe every Tesla owner goes to Starbucks at least twice a day and orders extra soy in their lattes.

Don't forget the sushi!

 

[Hey-O]

I've had a manual trans in the family until 2017, Mustang Saleen yellow label, not a daily driver. I learned to drive on a manual and only owned manual, except two, till 90. My wife still drove Manual till we got a mini van in 91. I'm not going to miss them. Some cars deliver to much power to fast to enjoy rowing through all that. 10 speed automatic made manual useless as far as I'm concerned. They were fun, but my knees are done with that.

 

[Ceedawg]

It's called a fart-pipe.

None in mine but it had cat-backs, noise-drone was too much but it did have 500 hp to the wheels and the supercharger sounded sweet.

 

[patrick66]

The main thing that really upsets me about the impending EV revolution is the lack of a manual transmission. I absolutely hate CVT, and a Tesla as much as I appreciate the tech and American made, it's about as much fun as driving a toaster. I like the 727 with a shift kit but that's the only automatic I enjoy driving. Everything else, has to be manual.

There is no "transmission" in an EV, as once you apply the "gas", the power goes straight to the wheels. There is a switch for reverse and drive, and that's it. No CVT. I too, despise CVT transmissions. The Nissans are especially problematic. What's funny is that Dutch automaker DAF invented the technology back after WWII, and made cars with their CVT for decades. I can't remember a downside to their design. But Nissan managed to screw the pooch on them. My old '08 Altima (which was a pretty good car!) had zero mechanical issues, ever. I drove the car from 42K miles to 99K miles. But I didn't trust that CVT.

 

[patrick66]

In other countries, manual transmissions are still popular. For instance, while in the Dominican Republic two years ago, manual transmissions were the norm. Even small busses, such as this 15 seat Toyota hotel transfer vehicle are manual.
View attachment 1326901

I remember driving the older versions of those Toyota buses in Saudi. Definitely designed for Asian people, as there is zero room for average sized people. Try a crew with gear going out to the jet!

 

[Photon440]

I remember driving the older versions of those Toyota buses in Saudi. Definitely designed for Asian people, as there is zero room for average sized people. Try a crew with gear going out to the jet!

They're much larger than a Chrysler minivan. More like a Mercedes Sprinter.

 

[Matt B.]

Thinking of the younger generations. My 17 year old son is so enamored with manuals. When ever he is with his one friend who has a Saturn with a 5spd he asks to drive. He is constantly telling me how great a driver he is with a manual. Last week I took out my RR to get gas and he came with. On our way back home I pulled over and said get in the driver side. He had a huge grin with a slight nervous look. Never driven an old car with a stick. After a 2 mile herky jerky ride home. He said “Holy crap that’s nothing like driving my friends car “. I just smiled and said jokingly “ I thought you were an expert “
MattB

 

[Richard Cranium]

There is no "transmission" in an EV, as once you apply the "gas", the power goes straight to the wheels. There is a switch for reverse and drive, and that's it. No CVT. I too, despise CVT transmissions. The Nissans are especially problematic. What's funny is that Dutch automaker DAF invented the technology back after WWII, and made cars with their CVT for decades. I can't remember a downside to their design. But Nissan managed to screw the pooch on them. My old '08 Altima (which was a pretty good car!) had zero mechanical issues, ever. I drove the car from 42K miles to 99K miles. But I didn't trust that CVT.

They work good on snowmobiles, which is where they belong.

 

[patrick66]

They're much larger than a Chrysler minivan. More like a Mercedes Sprinter.

They come in all sizes; from a microvan to a Sprinter-sized van to a van just shy of being a full-sized bus. I spent a total of nearly five years in the Middle East shithole to know. Even the bigger bus shown previously has seats that make anything American look enormous! Not designed with the Westerner in mind. We had the smaller ones, plus a handful of American school buses for crew duties. Driving anything
like that on that part of the planet keeps you thinking tactically at all times.

 

[SteveSS]

How I learned to drive a manual story: When I was a young cowboy probably about 10 my dad and I took some cattle to the sale barn. How it worked was you backed your truck with the cattle pen in the bed to an unloading chute and these old cowboys are everywhere with these fiberglass poles with whips on the end are herding the cattle through the chutes and pens where they will get a tag in their ear to be identified. Dad went somewhere to do the paperwork and left me in the truck. So this gruff old cowboy starts yelling at me to move the truck out of the way so other trucks could get in, but I didn't know how to drive a manual. He kept yelling so I learned that minute. Been driving them ever since.

How my little brother learned to drive a manual: I was driving our old Ford with our big German Shepard in the middle and my little brother on the other side. I had a big fountain drink with a lid and a straw which I had to put in my teeth to turn the wheel with one hand and shift with the other. When I looked right the dog looked left and that straw dug a groove across my open eye. My eyes were watering so bad i couldn't see anything. My brother had to learn to drive to get us home. I got to the doctor and I had a great big gauze patch over my eye the next day at the ranch. I don't remember why I was trying to bulldog a steer but he dug me off a pond embankment and twisted my ankle badly. I remember the horrified looks on people's faces as this teenage cowboy with a big patch over one eye came hopping into the doctor's office.

 

[YoungGun87]

Don't forget the sushi!

Lmao so true. Watching stories on IG makes me feel like I'm living in a SIMS video game and they're all NPCs doing the same exact things on a daily basis.

 

[Ceedawg]

How I learned to drive a manual story: When I was a young cowboy probably about 10 my dad and I took some cattle to the sale barn. How it worked was you backed your truck with the cattle pen in the bed to an unloading chute and these old cowboys are everywhere with these fiberglass poles with whips on the end are herding the cattle through the chutes and pens where they will get a tag in their ear to be identified. Dad went somewhere to do the paperwork and left me in the truck. So this gruff old cowboy starts yelling at me to move the truck out of the way so other trucks could get in, but I didn't know how to drive a manual. He kept yelling so I learned that minute. Been driving them ever since.

How my little brother learned to drive a manual: I was driving our old Ford with our big German Shepard in the middle and my little brother on the other side. I had a big fountain drink with a lid and a straw which I had to put in my teeth to turn the wheel with one hand and shift with the other. When I looked right the dog looked left and that straw dug a groove across my open eye. My eyes were watering so bad i couldn't see anything. My brother had to learn to drive to get us home. I got to the doctor and I had a great big gauze patch over my eye the next day at the ranch. I don't remember why I was trying to bulldog a steer but he dug me off a pond embankment and twisted my ankle badly. I remember the horrified looks on people's faces as this teenage cowboy with a big patch over one eye came hopping into the doctor's office.

How I learned to drive a manual story: When I was a young cowboy probably about 10 my dad and I took some cattle to the sale barn. How it worked was you backed your truck with the cattle pen in the bed to an unloading chute and these old cowboys are everywhere with these fiberglass poles with whips on the end are herding the cattle through the chutes and pens where they will get a tag in their ear to be identified. Dad went somewhere to do the paperwork and left me in the truck. So this gruff old cowboy starts yelling at me to move the truck out of the way so other trucks could get in, but I didn't know how to drive a manual. He kept yelling so I learned that minute. Been driving them ever since.

How my little brother learned to drive a manual: I was driving our old Ford with our big German Shepard in the middle and my little brother on the other side. I had a big fountain drink with a lid and a straw which I had to put in my teeth to turn the wheel with one hand and shift with the other. When I looked right the dog looked left and that straw dug a groove across my open eye. My eyes were watering so bad i couldn't see anything. My brother had to learn to drive to get us home. I got to the doctor and I had a great big gauze patch over my eye the next day at the ranch. I don't remember why I was trying to bulldog a steer but he dug me off a pond embankment and twisted my ankle badly. I remember the horrified looks on people's faces as this teenage cowboy with a big patch over one eye came hopping into the doctor's office.

And then you had to camp out in the high desert naked for three weeks eating nothing but berries, grubs and snakes drinking cactus juice. The you became a bonified cowpoke.
My hats off to you, sounds like you grew up in a great place!

 

[SteveSS]

As I've stated before. Cowboying isn't like the movies. It's just a lot of dirty work. You have to feed them and make sure all the birthing goes okay because that's your source of income. Protect them because they can get into all sorts of trouble like getting stuck in the mud in the middle of a pond. Turning the young bulls into steers and you know what that means. There can only be one bull in the herd. And he's usually one pissed-off MFer. Herding, herding, and more herding! There are a million other chores involved. Of course, we didn't have a 10,000-acre spread as they do on the Yellowstone series. I always laugh about how when cowboys ride into town in the movies there are about 100 people and horses milling around and not a bit of horse poo.

I don't ever remember watching a sporting event on TV with my family, I probably don't know all the rules of football. We had a cattle ranch and that's what we did with any spare time.


You other cowboys out there know I'm telling the truth.

 

[Ceedawg]

As I've stated before. Cowboying isn't like the movies. It's just a lot of dirty work. You have to feed them and make sure all the birthing goes okay because that's your source of income. Protect them because they can get into all sorts of trouble like getting stuck in the mud in the middle of a pond. Turning the young bulls into steers and you know what that means. There can only be one bull in the herd. And he's usually one pissed-off MFer. Herding, herding, and more herding! There are a million other chores involved. Of course, we didn't have a 10,000-acre spread as they do on the Yellowstone series. I always laugh about how when cowboys ride into town in the movies there are about 100 people and horses milling around and not a bit of horse poo.

I don't ever remember watching a sporting event on TV with my family, I probably don't know all the rules of football. We had a cattle ranch and that's what we did with any spare time.


You other cowboys out there know I'm telling the truth.

I was joking with you before but I know it’s very hard work and time consuming. I doubt if I could have done it.

 

[SteveSS]

I know, you were actually complimenting me. I've been thrown off more horses and stayed up with newborn calves in front of a heater enough times to earn wearing my cowboy hat. You'll never catch me wearing it indoors. That's bullshi* for drugstore cowboys. Well, that's a lie. I do wear it for an indoor rodeo or PBR event.

 

[Ron H]

Miss my ’70 Cuda and ’67 GTO 4sp, yeah something about having that control of the ride is priceless. Was a fan of the mopar push-button since my cousin gave me a thrill in his new ’64 Sport Fury when I was around 10. Stuck in my head wanting one someday. PB T’s were legendary in drag racing in early 60’s. Only reason my old ride is an auto. But, nothing like a manual. My old Dodge plow truck has a stick; never plowed with an auto now going on 20 years and don’t want to. Tried to teach my nephew how to drive it, after 30 minutes was unsuccessful. Tried to teach my girlfriend (wife now) how to drive the Cuda, nope, unsuccessful. My patience wore thin quick though as the gear mashing got too much and no cash then to fix it. Ahh, she didn’t have interest learning anyway.

When we visited our daughter in the PC in Costa Rica, most rentals were stick (and in crappy shape – longer story). Damn good thing had a manual w/ 4WD too, as the crap roads and hills were incredible! Some ‘hills’ gave ya a feeling the vehicle might just do an end-over-end roll. Was a hoot traveling there though; like off-roading.

 

[SteveSS]

I got to test drive a bunch of preproduction Challengers, everything up to and including the Red-Eye, Wide-Body, Hellcat. (I think that one doesn't come with a manual though.) The ones that had 6-speeds aggravated me somewhat trying to go into 6th. I had to stick my right elbow out pretty far to make sure I was getting 6th not 4th. I have a Hurst shifter with a 6-speed in a different car and I haven't had the same problem. I'm sure if I owned one I would get used to it.