• Deadend [he/him]
    ·
    1 year ago

    In 3% of potential scenarios/ .0001% of your driving time - manual transmission used to be better than automatic.

    That was in the 1980s.

    Manual is only better for racing (shifting based on conditions more than just rpm, and weight) and for looking cool.

    Every automatic transmission has options for extra torque mode for hauling.

    • ssjmarx [he/him]
      ·
      1 year ago

      Manual is only better for racing

      And in racing nobody has used a stick shift and a clutch in at least a decade - paddle shifters can give you a perfect up or down shift every single time at the push of a button without taking your hands off the wheel, so why risk making a mistake by messing around with a clutch? Even fast motorcycles have hopped on this train (unlike with other car advancements where they took decades to adopt it), making the clutch basically only used when you're doing specific off-road things.

      But I like shifting anyway. It makes driving more fun, which is also the reason why I switched to a motorcycle for my commutes, because that's more fun than any car could be.

      • Deadend [he/him]
        ·
        1 year ago

        That’s the valid reason! It’s fun!

        It’s also why they are adding it to these cars. It’s fun. Even if it is very silly in context.

    • StewartCopelandsDad [he/him]
      ·
      edit-2
      1 year ago

      Manual is only better for racing (shifting based on conditions more than just rpm, and weight) and for looking cool.

      I like having the option to sit at higher RPM if I expect to need it in the next few seconds. If I'm stuck in the right lane of a packed highway and there's an onramp ahead where people are going to merge like idiots. If I'm about to pass somebody. Autos can't read your mind, so they will always have a nonzero delay starting once you put the pedal to the floor.

      Of course this is not relevant to 99% of drive time and paddle shifters do much the same thing. Unfortunately cheap cars don't come with them (or with an option to change the RPM at a certain speed with a CVT, which I think is a terrible wasted opportunity). Electric motors have different transmission needs altogether so I think putting a stick shift on one is stupid.