Let’s Admit It: Manual Transmissions Need to Go


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1 minute ago, Aheer.R.S. said:

Well, from my Truck Driving experience, I can put your mind at ease in regards to 4 stroke engine braking, (2 stroke runs out of oil if there's no throttle) it does negligible damage to an engine, as there's oil in the sump.

Trucks use exhaust brakes (Jake Brake) when travelling down long declines purely for that reason, (overheat the brakes, and you'll have none at the bottom.) Downshifting and letting off from the throttle wont hurt your engine if it's regularly maintained

I'm less worried about engine wear vs. transmission wear. I think truck transmissions are heavier duty than say a car.

 

Disclaimer: My car has a truck transmission in it :|

 

 

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1 minute ago, adrynalyne said:

I'm less worried about engine wear vs. transmission wear. I think truck transmissions are heavier duty than say a car.

 

Disclaimer: My car has a truck transmission in it :|

 

 

My Omega's Fine, 2000 model, still running with 200k miles on the clock

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Just now, Aheer.R.S. said:

My Omega's Fine, 2000 model, still running with 200k miles on the clock

Do you engine brake all the time with it?

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Just now, adrynalyne said:

Do you engine brake all the time with it?

More or less, car's old, (worth £500-600 if that now) if it breaks, it breaks, I was looking at a Subaru legacy to replace it anyway

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Just now, Aheer.R.S. said:

More or less, car's old, (worth £500-600 if that now) if it breaks, it breaks, I was looking at a Subaru legacy to replace it anyway

Well, that shoots that second train of thought all to hell ;)

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Just now, Aheer.R.S. said:

??

The one that engine braking wears too much on the transmission.  See my previous post.

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9 minutes ago, adrynalyne said:

The one that engine braking wears too much on the transmission.  See my previous post.

oh...

I can only answer from my own experiences, I've only ever had one car in which the manual trans broke, and it was all me, a '98 VW Golf, I forced it into reverse one day when I was ###### off with the car, and broke reverse (wouldn't stay in reverse) but other than that, with my car history, I've never broken a trans apart from that one.

 

The Omega was my Brother in Law's he sold it to me when it had 100k or so miles, (he bought it at an auction where they sell off ex police cars, still performance modified)  I've driven wherever I was sent in it, used it as a tow car, raced in it, go to track days in it (safer and keeps it off the roads, my god I've changed :p ) and I can't honestly say if it feels any different, BUT I haven't driven a newer model Omega with little mileage work done for comparison

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7 hours ago, adrynalyne said:

I've heard two different sides about engine braking.  Yours, and the alternate view of, "its better to wear your brakes than much more expensive transmissions". The second one makes a lot of sense IMO.

 

I can downshift with my automatic whenever.  Even rev matches :)

The second one is false though.

 

a transmission doesn't wear out from being used, that's not how engine braking works. also most auto's can be set to 3rd gear to hold roughly 50kmh in downhill.

 

Also when going downhill using the engine and not free rolling actually uses less fuel, even though many assume that just rolling down in neutral would use less fuel.  There's also the issue that if you're going down a very long hill(like some very long steep Norwegian mountain roads) relying on your brakes can be outright dangerous. as they WILL overheat and stop working and then you're ###### out of luck. 

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6 hours ago, Aheer.R.S. said:

oh...

I can only answer from my own experiences, I've only ever had one car in which the manual trans broke, and it was all me, a '98 VW Golf, I forced it into reverse one day when I was ###### off with the car, and broke reverse (wouldn't stay in reverse) but other than that, with my car history, I've never broken a trans apart from that one.

 

The Omega was my Brother in Law's he sold it to me when it had 100k or so miles, (he bought it at an auction where they sell off ex police cars, still performance modified)  I've driven wherever I was sent in it, used it as a tow car, raced in it, go to track days in it (safer and keeps it off the roads, my god I've changed :p ) and I can't honestly say if it feels any different, BUT I haven't driven a newer model Omega with little mileage work done for comparison

YEah, most people do things far worse for the transmission than engine braking :)

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So many comments sound like, I don't like apples so no one should have them... 

 

I drive a manual because I enjoy it, the wife drives an auto because she simply does not want to row gears, but she has no problem driving my car whenever she wants. I will be replacing my car in a year for a truck and that will be a manual as well, no second thought for me. The only problem I have with automatics is that when i drive one my left foot looks for a clutch.. 

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I used to be a fan of manual transmission trucks but for the longest time now, I prefer automatic.

My challenger is an 8 speed automatic and I have shifter paddles on the steering wheel, and I absolutely love em.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Meanwhile, in the rest of the world outside of the USA, manual gearboxes outnumber automatics by about a zillion to 1. :p

 

Automatics are garbage. They burn way more fuel, you can't engine brake, you can't tow them, and you can't jump start the bloody things, and when they go wrong they cost you a goddam fortune to fix.  They're also nothing but a crutch for people who can't handle more than 2 things at once, which is why in the UK, if you pass your test in an automatic, you're NOT allowed to drive a manual, whereas if you pass in a manual, you ARE allowed to drive an automatic.

 

 

 

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10 minutes ago, FloatingFatMan said:

Meanwhile, in the rest of the world outside of the USA, manual gearboxes outnumber automatics by about a zillion to 1. :p

 

Automatics are garbage. They burn way more fuel, you can't engine brake, you can't tow them, and you can't jump start the bloody things, and when they go wrong they cost you a goddam fortune to fix.  They're also nothing but a crutch for people who can't handle more than 2 things at once, which is why in the UK, if you pass your test in an automatic, you're NOT allowed to drive a manual, whereas if you pass in a manual, you ARE allowed to drive an automatic.

 

 

 

You might want to update some your knowledge of autos. 

 

1. They are usually more efficient on fuel than manuals these days. 

2. I can engine brake all day long with mine, even without using  the paddles, but I can do it that way as well. It even rev matches on downshift. 

 

 

They might be a crutch to some. I for one have a wife who won't learn manual but more importantly, a bad ankle after a crash in my last manual. So not a crutch because I cannot do two things at once. 

 

 

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1 minute ago, adrynalyne said:

You might want to update some your knowledge of autos. 

 

1. They are usually more efficient on fuel than manuals use days. 

2. I can engine brake all day long with mine, even without using  the paddles, but I can do it that way as well. 

In the EU, only really expensive cars have flappy paddles, and those that do are usually godawful, especially for parking. As for fuel efficiency, EU models are almost universally far more fuel efficient than US ones, so I'd be surprised if that was the case over here.

 

 

1 minute ago, adrynalyne said:

 

They might be a crutch to some. I for one have a wife who won't learn manual but more importantly, a bad ankle after a crash in my

last manual. So not a crutch because I cannot do two things at once. 

So in your case, quite literally a crutch because of your dodgy ankle! :p

 

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Just now, FloatingFatMan said:

In the EU, only really expensive cars have flappy paddles, and those that do are usually godawful, especially for parking. As for fuel efficiency, EU models are almost universally far more fuel efficient than US ones, so I'd be surprised if that was the case over here.

 

 

So in your case, quite literally a crutch because of your dodgy ankle! :p

 

But not because I cannot do two things at once ;)

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1 minute ago, adrynalyne said:

But not because I cannot do two things at once ;)

You're a man, aren't you? Of course you can't do two things at once! :p  Hell, most of us struggle with one!

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Just now, FloatingFatMan said:

You're a man, aren't you? Of course you can't do two things at once! :p  Hell, most of us struggle with one!

I suppose you are right. I'm supposed to be working and instead I am posting. Why can't I do both? :p

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I love manual trannys, so hope they don't go anywhere!

 

Nothing like feeling you're actually involved in driving the vehicle.

 

As far as down shifting for the purpose of slowing down/braking, I never do that. No sense in it. As far as automatics with ABS and traction control, I hate them both!

 

Between most people being to lazy, I'd be willing to bet people now a days would say in the back of their minds, having a manual tranny would interfere with their texting/talking on their phones!

 

Getting older now so actually prefer a front wheel drive with automatic in winter time, but it's FINALLY starting to get decent here and almost ready to break out the hot rod and start having FUN driving again!! :)

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I've driven my sisters, old Mercedes car which was automatic and I hated it. 

 

you'll be hard pressed to rent a automatic car in Europe. manual is still king. and I can't see it going anywhere.

 

 

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4 minutes ago, Cnónna said:

I've driven my sister old Mercedes which was automatic and I hated it. 

 

you'll be hard pressed to rent a automatic car in Europe. manual is still king. and I can't see it going anywhere.

 

 

You drove your sister? How was the handling?

 

 

 

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8 minutes ago, cork1958 said:

I love manual trannys, so hope they don't go anywhere!

 

Nothing like feeling you're actually involved in driving the vehicle.

 

As far as down shifting for the purpose of slowing down/braking, I never do that. No sense in it. As far as automatics with ABS and traction control, I hate them both!

 

Between most people being to lazy, I'd be willing to bet people now a days would say in the back of their minds, having a manual tranny would interfere with their texting/talking on their phones!

 

Getting older now so actually prefer a front wheel drive with automatic in winter time, but it's FINALLY starting to get decent here and almost ready to break out the hot rod and start having FUN driving again!! :)

Most manuals have abs and traction control too. 

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1 minute ago, adrynalyne said:

You drove your sister? Aren't there laws against that?

 

:blush:

 

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47 minutes ago, FloatingFatMan said:

Meanwhile, in the rest of the world outside of the USA, manual gearboxes outnumber automatics by about a zillion to 1. :p

 

Automatics are garbage. They burn way more fuel, you can't engine brake, you can't tow them, and you can't jump start the bloody things, and when they go wrong they cost you a goddam fortune to fix.  They're also nothing but a crutch for people who can't handle more than 2 things at once, which is why in the UK, if you pass your test in an automatic, you're NOT allowed to drive a manual, whereas if you pass in a manual, you ARE allowed to drive an automatic.

 

Umm, your automotive knowledge is seriously outdated based on your posts here. Might want to brush up before you spew more FUD ;)

Automatics are usually more fuel efficient, can be jump started (what?), are found in cheap cars (ex: Honda Fit), can engine brake...

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Just now, tsupersonic said:

Umm, your automotive knowledge is seriously outdated based on your posts here. Might want to brush up before you spew more FUD ;)

Automatics are usually more fuel efficient, can be jump started (what?), are found in cheap cars (ex: Honda Fit), can engine brake...

Re jump starting: I think he meant the rolling/ pop the clutch method of getting the engine started. I wasn't aware that worked still on modern day manuals but I've never been in a situation to try it either.

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