Manual gearbox in sportscars
Poll: Manual gearbox in sportscars
Total Members Polled: 186
Discussion
A lot of us here have drooled over the years at wonderful creations such as the Jag XK, the new F-Type, the promising new AMG GT as well as numerous Ferraris and Maserattis and the list goes on. Most of us will have to wait a few years for most of these to pop up on the used car market in order to scratch the itch of a fun second car to enjoy on the weekend.
For me, and I would suggest for a lot of PH'ers retaining the ability to change gears manually (with a proper clutch pedal) is an integral part of the sporty driving experience, giving satisfaction that a modern autobox cannot even come close to. The perfectly timed shift, the double clutching and rev matching downshift before a blitz takeover...its gratifying!
It seems that most modern sportscars have abandoned the manual box completly (not even optional), which basically reduces our choices in the future to cars up to the mid 00's and some yanks.
I would like to start a poll to see how many of us would like to have the option of a manual box on such cars. Having no idea how to start a proper "poll thread with graph" I kindly ask the admins for help.
Thank you
For me, and I would suggest for a lot of PH'ers retaining the ability to change gears manually (with a proper clutch pedal) is an integral part of the sporty driving experience, giving satisfaction that a modern autobox cannot even come close to. The perfectly timed shift, the double clutching and rev matching downshift before a blitz takeover...its gratifying!
It seems that most modern sportscars have abandoned the manual box completly (not even optional), which basically reduces our choices in the future to cars up to the mid 00's and some yanks.
I would like to start a poll to see how many of us would like to have the option of a manual box on such cars. Having no idea how to start a proper "poll thread with graph" I kindly ask the admins for help.
Thank you
I love autos for day to day commuting, but for sporty fun the feeling of a good manual is incredible. I thought I'd never change my mind, until a friend whose opinion I respect greatly bought a Boxster S with the PDK transmission. He reckons it is the first transmission good enough to replace a manual box in a sports car, so my head is well and truly turned by this revelation.
i don't think you have to be all for one or the other, it totally depends on the car and the context
i personally like all 3 type, manuals, semi autos and autos
you can't beat the performance of a seamless shift box, so that is what you need in an modern super car weather you like it or not, there's no point trying to fight it
For everything else it depends on the car, a lot of people think of a conventional auto as being less of a drivers car than the manual equivalent and it's only something to choose if you travel in a lot of stop and start traffic, but i think that is because a lot of people have little experience with autos and have only driven slightly ropey old-fashioned 3 and 4 speed autos possibly not attached to the right sort of an engine.
The waft off acceleration you get from a powerful engine attached to a torque converter is amazing, totally different experience to the brutality of a manual. You can do it over and over and over again without feeling like you are putting the slightest strain on the power-train or behaving like a hooligan, it just seems more civilised. You don't always want civilised, if you got sports seats, a sports steering wheel, stiff suspension and an exhaust that wakes the dead, a manual box totally completes the experience, but if you've got leather arm chairs and a big long bonnet a manual isn't always the best thing to have.
i personally like all 3 type, manuals, semi autos and autos
you can't beat the performance of a seamless shift box, so that is what you need in an modern super car weather you like it or not, there's no point trying to fight it
For everything else it depends on the car, a lot of people think of a conventional auto as being less of a drivers car than the manual equivalent and it's only something to choose if you travel in a lot of stop and start traffic, but i think that is because a lot of people have little experience with autos and have only driven slightly ropey old-fashioned 3 and 4 speed autos possibly not attached to the right sort of an engine.
The waft off acceleration you get from a powerful engine attached to a torque converter is amazing, totally different experience to the brutality of a manual. You can do it over and over and over again without feeling like you are putting the slightest strain on the power-train or behaving like a hooligan, it just seems more civilised. You don't always want civilised, if you got sports seats, a sports steering wheel, stiff suspension and an exhaust that wakes the dead, a manual box totally completes the experience, but if you've got leather arm chairs and a big long bonnet a manual isn't always the best thing to have.
Polls are interesting but sales are more interesting…and we have seen one manufacturer after another drop the manual option…Mercedes years ago, but now most, if not all Ferraris,Porsche GT3s,BMW M cars and the like have moved over, often cars that defined sporty driving. I have driven SMG,PDK,and many of the other acronyms as well as manuals forever.
I will likely keep a manual permanently regardless, but I have already had a paddle shift car, and my next performance car will without a doubt be paddle shift. Manual is of course a lot of fun and at this stage is fun without any specific purposeful output i.e. faster on a track etc. Pretty much all modern competition cars use sequential gearboxes anyway,so there is no longer the traditional connection with racing machines and professional drivers that the rest of us could try to emulate albeit (at least in my case) a great deal more modestly.
Nothing against manuals, and I will hang onto mine for the fun, but I do enjoy a well set up dual clutch paddle shift car. I do understand the skill of H&T and keep it up, chaps. However, just as in any pursuit, not everyone will be a traditionalist.
I will likely keep a manual permanently regardless, but I have already had a paddle shift car, and my next performance car will without a doubt be paddle shift. Manual is of course a lot of fun and at this stage is fun without any specific purposeful output i.e. faster on a track etc. Pretty much all modern competition cars use sequential gearboxes anyway,so there is no longer the traditional connection with racing machines and professional drivers that the rest of us could try to emulate albeit (at least in my case) a great deal more modestly.
Nothing against manuals, and I will hang onto mine for the fun, but I do enjoy a well set up dual clutch paddle shift car. I do understand the skill of H&T and keep it up, chaps. However, just as in any pursuit, not everyone will be a traditionalist.
I had an M3 DCT (e90 V8) got so fed up with the transmission around town that I traded it for a manual E90. after 4 years of great enjoyment got another e90 with DCT (upgraded software) it is so much fun to drive - absolutely awesome and fast. Wish I'd had it all along. Haven't tracked it yet, so time will tell.
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