# usatoday article: "More stick-shift fans switching gears"



## jaisonline (Mar 24, 2002)

More stick-shift fans switching gears
By Eric Mayne, The Detroit News

DETROIT — The stick shift — an automotive mainstay since the invention of the "horseless carriage" — is slowly going the way of the tail fin and carburetor.
Thanks to technological advances and drivers looking for an easier way to navigate congested roadways, the old standard manual transmission doesn't come standard much anymore.

"One more generation and you'll probably have people who have absolutely no idea what a three-pedal car does," said Bill Visnic, senior technical editor of Ward's AutoWorld, an automotive trade magazine.

By 2012, just 6% of all vehicles sold in the North American market will have manual transmissions, according to a forecast by Germany's ZF Industries, the world's largest independent transmission maker.

In 2002, 10% of vehicles sold in the USA and Canada had manual gearboxes.

Purists lament the change. But for some drivers, slick new automatic transmissions — some of which enable drivers to shift without a clutch — now rival the old standard gearbox. Increased traffic congestion has reduced the manual experience to drudgery for others.

Edmund Handwerker, a 19-year-old student in New York, has a 1996 Mazda Miata with an automatic transmission. "Everyone asks, 'How come you don't get a manual? A Miata should be manual,' " said Handwerker. "I live in Brooklyn and I'm in stop-and-go traffic all the time."

In a car equipped with a manual transmission, gridlock can mean pushing and releasing a clutch pedal over and over again. And because some pedals are stiffer than others, driving can be physically exhausting. And talking on a cell phone and sipping coffee — favorite pastimes of today's drivers — are much easier without worrying about shifting gears.

Because Ted Marshall drives 30,000 miles a year in his job selling heating and cooling equipment for K.L. McCoy in Detroit, he made sure his 2004 Pontiac GTO had an automatic transmission. And he doesn't miss the sporty feeling associated with shifting.

"This car responds anyway — zero to 60 in 5.3 seconds," said Marshall, 41, of Grosse Pointe Park, Mich.

Reversing a decades-old industry marketing equation, Pontiac designated automatic transmission as standard equipment on the GTO. The 6-speed manual, which it shares with the Chevrolet Corvette, is a $695 option.

If manual transmissions become scarce, most dealers won't grieve.

"We used to have the manual trans available on the Grand Am," said Ed McDade, sales manager at Ray Laethem Pontiac Buick GMC in Detroit. "When I stocked them, they'd just sit here. In the past, the small economical cars with a stick would be the way to go because they were even cheaper. It's not the case anymore."

As automatic transmissions proliferated in the past half-century, fewer and fewer people learned the time-honored skill of coordinating clutch, shifter and throttle, McDade said.

Jason Vines, vice president of communications for DaimlerChrysler AG, once filled a test drive request from an automotive writer from a national publication. The request was for a Dodge Viper.

"We had it delivered and the journalist goes, 'This is a stick! I can't drive a stick!' " Vines said, noting Dodge doesn't offer the Viper any other way.

Six-speed automatics and continuously variable transmissions are among the new technologies replacing manuals. Both offer varying degrees of sporty performance and fuel efficiency. Software prevents the driver from pushing the vehicle beyond its limits.

However, this can foster a point-and-shoot approach to driving that worries Randy Bleicher, a racing instructor and vice president of Arizona-based ProFormance Driving Events.

"It takes away the true essence of driving," Bleicher said. "There used to be a skill to driving, the coordination of the feet and hands together. Now, people can go fast without thinking about what they're doing."


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## mikeee2 (Sep 3, 2004)

very interesting article... =)


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## bbkat (Oct 27, 2002)

jaisonline said:


> More stick-shift fans switching gears
> By Eric Mayne, The Detroit News
> 
> In a car equipped with a manual transmission, gridlock can mean pushing and releasing a clutch pedal over and over again. And because some pedals are stiffer than others, driving can be physically exhausting. And talking on a cell phone and sipping coffee - favorite pastimes of today's drivers - are much easier without worrying about shifting gears.


 :tsk:


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## Artslinger (Sep 2, 2002)

> "And because some pedals are stiffer than others, driving can be physically exhausting."


 :rofl:

Just walking up a stairs is exhausting to half Americans.


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## Tanning machine (Feb 21, 2002)

jaisonline said:


> More stick-shift fans switching gears
> 
> Jason Vines, vice president of communications for DaimlerChrysler AG, once filled a test drive request from an automotive writer from a national publication. The request was for a Dodge Viper.
> 
> "We had it delivered and the journalist goes, 'This is a stick! I can't drive a stick!' " Vines said, noting Dodge doesn't offer the Viper any other way.


That journalist should lose his job. An automotive writer who can't drive a stick?
:tsk:


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## Matthew330Ci (Sep 9, 2002)

traffic is such a bull**** excuse for getting an auto. 

Peple should just admit they can't drive a stick shift, instead of pretending like they were considering stick shift.


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## jgrgnt (Apr 27, 2002)

Geez, how many transmission threads do we need? :yikes:


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## Jspeed (Dec 23, 2001)

Matthew330Ci said:


> traffic is such a bull**** excuse for getting an auto.
> 
> Peple should just admit they can't drive a stick shift, instead of pretending like they were considering stick shift.


That's a bit harsh. I, for one, am very skilled at driving a stick (learned how to drive on one) yet I prefer an auto in stop-and-go traffic. I'm sure there are others like me too. You just can't speak for everyone.


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## Stuka (Jul 17, 2002)

Matthew330Ci said:


> traffic is such a bull**** excuse for getting an auto.
> 
> Peple should just admit they can't drive a stick shift, instead of pretending like they were considering stick shift.


:thumbup:

I drive my Turbo with its lousy clutch in LA traffic to work. My 325is beater is also stick shirt. :bigpimp:

Traffis is such BS excuse. It is a bigger pain to have to put your foot always on the brakes in traffic than to occasionally clutch in (if you know how to time your car idle speed to match the traffic speed). :tsk:

What's next? Automatic Turbo? Oops, they already make them for 50 year old guys looking for girlfriends half their age. :bling: :bustingup


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## armaq (Apr 18, 2003)

jaisonline said:


> In 2002, 10% of vehicles sold in the USA and Canada had manual gearboxes.


This is a bit surprising to me. I thought there were more


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## Dave 330i (Jan 4, 2002)

After 40 years with stick shift, my next car will have SMG II.

The Sequential Manual Gearbox, aka Sequential M Gearbox ( since, for now, the only US BMW to have SMG-II is the E46 M3 ). It's not an automatic, and its not a manual. It's a sort of mix between the two. There's no torque convertor ( like a manual ), yet the driver can opt to have the onboard computers change gears for him ( like an automatic ). Oh, and there's no need for a clutch -- SMG-II does it all itself via hydraulics.

So picture a manual, but without a clutch pedal. Instead of the conventional H-pattern, SMG-II gives drivers something different. Drivers can still opt to row their own gears ( hitting the rev limiter just like a normal manual ), but changing gears happens in the blink of an eye by pulling back or forward on the "shifter". 80milliseconds. No human could possibly change that fast. Oh, and if you have to downshift, you'll even get a little throttle blip as SMG-II matches revs. Heel-toe driving gone, perfect shifts every time. :thumbup:


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## Dave 330i (Jan 4, 2002)

Stuka said:


> What's next? Automatic Turbo? Oops, they already make them for 50 year old guys looking for girlfriends half their age. :bling: :bustingup


You young punk will eat your words one day. Yes, Porsche makes/sells Tip Twin Turbo. Check with Ogner, Woodland Hills.


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## Moderato (Nov 24, 2003)

The dumbest ass, lazy, "I could care less," worst driver in the world can drive an auto. That's why they're so popular. The world is populated with people like that. If you're a good driver, but just don't want to shift gears then of course there is nothing wrong with an auto but for me driving a manual is the best immersive driving experience, and that is something I enjoy. I could see how SMG could be useful on the track if shifting is an issue for you. The day a true manual becomes extinct is the day I lose interest in what kind of car I drive and start to look at a car as simply a means of getting from point A to point B and nothing else.


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## Frobozz (Oct 10, 2003)

The day I can't get a manual....that is the day I'll cry


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## rruiter (Feb 10, 2004)

Artslinger said:


> :rofl:
> 
> Just walking up a stairs is exhausting to half Americans.


People are just too damn lazy.


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## Matthew330Ci (Sep 9, 2002)

armaq said:


> This is a bit surprising to me. I thought there were more


that stat is also surprising to me, but because I thought there were far less...


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## AF (Dec 21, 2001)

Jspeed said:


> That's a bit harsh. I, for one, am very skilled at driving a stick (learned how to drive on one) yet I prefer an auto in stop-and-go traffic. I'm sure there are others like me too. You just can't speak for everyone.


This debate has been hashed and rehashed a few times here and each person has their own feeling. I've sat in traffic in a manual and I've sat in traffic in an automatic and there is no doubt that I definitely prefer an automatic in traffic.

BTW call me lazy while my lazy a** is comfortably in traffic sitting my beater automatic :supdude: and then of course I pretend I am driving manual when I put it in tiptronic mode so I could be just as cool as the manual driver's when traffic opens up. No doubt my tip is just as much fun as a manual  : popcorn:


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## FenPhen (Jan 13, 2004)

Full text from the original Detroit News article:
http://www.detnews.com/2004/autosinsider/0409/13/a01-271661.htm


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## Chris90 (Apr 7, 2003)

Dave 330i said:


> Heel-toe driving gone, perfect shifts every time. :thumbup:


Yeah, but I still can't drink my coffee and eat my donut, cause of the damn steering wheel. I'm waiting for Active Steering II, so both my hands will be free as well. Perfect steering, every time! :thumbup:


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## Artslinger (Sep 2, 2002)

Steering is to much work... I'm waiting for the day the computer will keep my car between the lines. 

And another thing... BMW needs to lighten up the heavy steering and excessive road feel.


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