Manual cars... not 4b's.

[Bird]

Seriosuly Lost or what ever you are calling yourself these days

Go live in Sydney traffic for 4 years and i bet you will trade your manual in after a 1 week

I drove trucks around Sydney for 8 yrs when I lived there, never a problem...

[lino6]

The last auto truck I picked up from Mack at Laverton was wen the western car park was still being widened and traffic was attrocious. It was an automated manual truck, and I found myself putting it in manual mode because I got sick of it changing gears all the time when all it needed to do was hold 1 gear. But apart from that loved the auto shift.

Think the moral is, you'll never get 1 thing to suit all situations.

[chester ver2.0]

I drove trucks around Sydney for 8 yrs when I lived there, never a problem...

When was that 1955

[Bird]

When was that 1955

~88-around 96/8 but did country runs for few years too after that..

[DaveR]

For me, each to their own and what ever suits a need is fine.
BUT
I always know an Auto driver is behind me in traffic, they are the ones who tail gate me when I am slowing.
Thinking that is ridiculous are we?
Well, in the Troopy, and on the hwy in 110 k zone, I can slow down, take the off ramp near my place, go Down the off ramp to the lights after a final sharp bend and the last 30 meters is where I use the brakes.
Auto drivers are always up my clacka thinking I got no brake lights.
Sometime, if I see kids etc in the car behind, I will flash the brake lights so they know I am slowing down.
Drive an auto, not knowing how to drive a manual, OK, fine, but these folk who don't have the license for Auto need to be at least told how a Manual works.
By the way, not that I give a Rats when in the troopy, but the inconvenience of someones car wrapped around the back end and then they say his lights don't work is not what I want. I see my lights every time I back into the drive at home.

[Big Damo]

Interesting while wasting sometime yesterday to pickup some stuff for work, I walked through the Yota, Mitz and Nissan yards.

I was almost shocked to see that there's nearly no cars that come in a manual anymore. I don't mean 4wds, I mean daily drivers..  Out of ~100 cars in the yard at Yota dealer (getting ready for a big sale this weekend) there was 1 manual. A used RX8!

What's up with that? I can understand Auto off road, but ... I still like a manual for daily...

Must be why Commodores sell so well, I don't think Falcons come in a manual?

Bought an XR6 Falcon last year in Auto, Manual was a no cost option but towing capacity was much lower on the manual so bought the auto.
Always preferred driving manuals but with the 6 speed auto do not have the performance issues that slush boxes suffered from, also getting great fuel economy and the manual shifter in the box works great.
Just the way things are going

[speewa158]

Enquired about a manual Pajero oiler  yesterday ,,  can be had but its a special order could take a month or so . Woth the wait  IMHO 

[GeoffA]

Enquired about a manual Pajero oiler  yesterday ,,  can be had but its a special order could take a month or so . Woth the wait  IMHO 

So a new bus may be coming your way Jamie??

[matt91]

At least you have something to do in start stop traffic if you have a manual, less boring .

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

[Beatle]

'Lazy' drivers are only one reason most cars are auto these days.  Of course there are also many many variations on what is defined as 'automatic'.

Modern engines need to be much more efficient.  Electronic control only goes so far, so the transmissions need to help with that economy by keeping the engine in a much narrower rev range.

Transmissions are electronically mated to engines these days so neither operates in isolation.  Add electronic stabilty control, electronic braking, cruise control and other electronic chassis systems, and it's easy to see why you need an auto box for full integration with the vehicle as a unit.

Power outputs have increased significantly and manual gearboxes struggle to stay in one piece compared to an auto.  All it takes is a 'snatchy' take off, or a thonged foot sidestepping the clutch and BANG!  That's why most auto sedans have a higher tow rating than the equivalent manual model.  You can build a strong manual box, but it will be very heavy, usually clunky, and result in significantly slower acceleration in general use.

Plenty of modern transmissions are worth more than the engines they are mated to because there is so much tech in a transmisssion these days.