What's with the manual trans hype?

[qnet]

This is an age old debate lately among car enthusiast. I didn't read through the entire thread, so I'm sure this was mentioned. For me it's just fun to row through the gears.

I have a BMW M2 which is a 7 speed dual-clutch. It's a good gearbox for traffic, the track, and can even be fun in regular driving.

I do sometime wonder how the it be to have a manual. It's a big area of discussion on the BMW forums.

When I had my JK wrangler, it was really enjoyable to drive in a manual. Bouncing around, rowing through the gears, LOL.

Both transmissions have pros & cons IMO.

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[7ToeJoe]

When I was a dumb kid, gas and gas money were in shorter supply so I'd coast down all the long hills.

 

[toystwo]

5% of all Jeep Wranglers are manuals. 95% are autos.

I expect roughly the same for the Bronco.

I don’t think that is true. I’ve seen that the 4dr/2dr breakdown is 95/5. It doesn’t appear Jeep releases auto/manual breakout but people that have tried creative methods to estimate the breakout come up much higher - such as 80/20 for 2017 models (although manual take rate has declined significantly over time of course).
https://www.inwheeltime.com/grabn-gears-no-more/

 

[Crowza]

For me personally, if the car is going to do it for me, I'd rather it just go all of the way and opt for a self driving car over an automatic.

I enjoy driving, and I personally prefer to be in control of my engine. I've only ever own a single automatic (currently) and it is just so boring, I wish it just went ahead and did everything else for me.

It doesn't matter, on road, off road, highway, motorcycle, etc. I don't have any desire for an automatic in any shape or form.

 

[harpo]

When I was a dumb kid, gas and gas money were in shorter supply so I'd coast down all the long hills.

hold my beer

In the old days we just turned the car off, with no power anything why not turn it off? I'd come out of the Eisenhower tunnel on I-70, coast to about Georgetown, from there to the base of Floyd hill it was on and off depending on traffic and mood. Then the final long coast down into Denver.

Ahhh the memories - digging through the couch for lost change - putting in $0.70 of gas. I'd like to say it was the 50's but it was early 80's.

 

[Hyperforming]

Personally it’s about being engaged, much the same way that riding a motorcycle without a helmet or a Jeep without the top (or any convertible) is a completely different feeling. It’s strips away some of the isolation and connects you to the machine and the road. A manual transmission (a good one that is) can turn an otherwise mundane vehicle into a fun experience. A bad one can ruin it though (last gen Tacoma comes to mind) so I’ll be waiting til I can drive one to get really serious and make a decision especially with it only being available with the smaller motor. Hopefully demand might change that.

 

[makatron]

I pretend to daily the Bronco so ACC is a must, so automatic for me.

 

[derpydestiny]

I pretend to daily the Bronco so ACC is a must, so automatic for me.

The thing is, ACC shouldn't be limited to automatics only. My Mazda 3 is a MT and has acc. There is no reason it couldn't be implemented.

I love the look of the Bronco and I want an "SUV" with a MT. Kind of a no brainer here. I'll definitely will need the hardtop with the extra noise isolation. I will suffer the rare cases where a manual is going to cause me annoyances for the 95% of the time where it brings me joy.

I'm more annoyed doing my commute in an automatic, TBH. I find my self not engaged.

In fact I'd even go to the extreme of saying a lot of our traffic is due to automatics. People randomly ride their brakes (sometimes it is due to poor road designs, I will grant you that) which makes the people behind them hit their brakes slightly harder and it dominos into stop and go traffic. And then when you're in stop and go traffic, automatics are so un-engaging, people day dream, which causes even slower traffic.

On a side note, I've been wondering if the crawler gear might actually be good for heavy traffic. We'll have to see.

 

[harpo]

The thing is, ACC shouldn't be limited to automatics only. My Mazda 3 is a MT and has acc. There is no reason it couldn't be implemented.

I love the look of the Bronco and I want an "SUV" with a MT. Kind of a no brainer here. I'll definitely will need the hardtop with the extra noise isolation. I will suffer the rare cases where a manual is going to cause me annoyances for the 95% of the time where it brings me joy.

I'm more annoyed doing my commute in an automatic, TBH. I find my self not engaged.

In fact I'd even go to the extreme of saying a lot of our traffic is due to automatics. People randomly ride their brakes (sometimes it is due to poor road designs, I will grant you that) which makes the people behind them hit their brakes slightly harder and it dominos into stop and go traffic. And then when you're in stop and go traffic, automatics are so un-engaging, people day dream, which causes even slower traffic.

On a side note, I've been wondering if the crawler gear might actually be good for heavy traffic. We'll have to see.

My brother ties the rise of stop and go traffic to the rise of the automatic transmission. His theory is in pre-automatic days people would just chug along at a walk so they wouldn't have to shift/stop. I agree.

 

[tomknight]

OT, but related. The wife's first car was a Fiat Spider. For our 30th Anniversary, I looked all over to find the right color combo with a manual.

When I went to go see it, the sales guy pulled up, looking a little frazzled, and told me it was a manual, and asked if I knew how to drive it. Clearly he didn't. I just gave him a WTH look, and took off.

In performance cars, there is no substitute for 3 pedals.

I'm indifferent in this vehicle, but I've had it in my go-fast cars. They are getting hard to find though, even in performance models, which is a much bigger disappointment than in a Bronco.

...

Driving a manual allows you to become one with the vehicle.

Unless of course you don't know how to drive one.

 

[UncleBuck]

I fucking love rowing my own gears. My problem is that I want the bigger motor and that my wife will be driving this Bronco and she hates a manual transmission. Honestly, if the manual came on the 2.7L, I’d die on that hill and fight with the wife about it, but Ford saved me the headache I guess. As I’ve stated before in other posts, I’m planning on adding a Shelby GT350 to my fleet and it’s ONLY available in the manual and nobody will ever be allowed to drive it but me.

 

[Rick Astley]

I'm more annoyed doing my commute in an automatic, TBH. I find my self not engaged.

In fact I'd even go to the extreme of saying a lot of our traffic is due to automatics. People randomly ride their brakes (sometimes it is due to poor road designs, I will grant you that) which makes the people behind them hit their brakes slightly harder and it dominos into stop and go traffic. And then when you're in stop and go traffic, automatics are so un-engaging, people day dream, which causes even slower traffic.

On a side note, I've been wondering if the crawler gear might actually be good for heavy traffic. We'll have to see.

Quoted for truth! This ties along with my post earlier in the thread outlining some specific driving advantages to a MT.

To answer your side note: I had a "Super Low" 1st gear in a '91 civic wagon 4wd with 6sp mt. The "SL1" was perfect for crawling in traffic. I'm not exactly sure what the gear ratio was in that, but with about 84 all-wheel torques on tap, it was just enough to keep the car rolling without using the clutch.Sure it would chug just a little bit but it was a bonnie and a beauty in rush-hour traffic (which lasts 20 hours a day here in Seattle, pre-covid). I am very excited about the MT in Bronco and the crawler gear in the MT actually makes this MORE convenient in traffic and more fun overall than the AT.

 

[Rick Astley]

I fucking love rowing my own gears. My problem is that I want the bigger motor and that my wife will be driving this Bronco and she hates a manual transmission. Honestly, if the manual came on the 2.7L, I’d die on that hill and fight with the wife about it, but Ford saved me the headache I guess. As I’ve stated before in other posts, I’m planning on adding a Shelby GT350 to my fleet and it’s ONLY available in the manual and nobody will ever be allowed to drive it but me.

You should try driving a Ranger with the 2.3 ecoboost. That's a hard motor to fault in real-world usage. It's the time-honored American "paper warrior" that looks at the stats and has to have the biggest motor regardless of need or how they actually perform.*

*I say this as somebody who built a 390 ci out to 420 ci FE V8 in one of their cars... But who has also driven a 2019 Ranger a few thousand miles. The 2.3 is more than enough for anything other than when you and your buddies pull out rulers and start measuring each others dongs in the parking lot.

 

[Isram65]

I want a manual because it gives ME the greatest control over the vehicle, whether in rain or snow or mud. With a manual you can use the engine as a brake, let it glide in neutral, keep it in your desired gear longer than the computer would keep it in the same gear. It allows you to have a much more connected feel to the road and it puts YOU in control vs the computers.

Driving a manual allows you to become one with the vehicle.

Unless of course you don't know how to drive one.

What if it came auto with paddle shifters to put you in more control?

 

[RobC2]

I'm still undecided. Almost all of my cars have been manuals, with two recent exceptions: my JKU Wrangler and Charger Hellcat. The Charger only comes with an automatic and I personally felt the JKU manual I test drove was awful. I did own an S2000 and Camaro SS 1LE at the time, so that probably contributed to my feelings. Now, my Tacoma is a manual and it is kind of clunky if I am honest. I think I just prefer manuals in sporty cars and autos in trucks. Not being able to get a 2.7 or possibly even Sasquatch with a manual makes the decision easier.

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