Manual Transmission? Yea or Nay?

latest on this manual vs automatic:


My plea to the big three....

hone eagle wrote:

BenK wrote:
Maybe the solution is to remove the tachometer altogether so that these types
won't know what is going on...they shouldn't anyway as they will only wonder
what the heck is going on...

Kind of like gauges - none of them are really real.
(Iam sure there are exceptions)

Why they are coined 'idiot' lights for a reason... :B

Recently, there has been a slew of posts from the automatic only herd

Here is one who found in astonishment how manually defeating or better
put...manually selecting or controlling the 'automatic' such a
bewildering and wonderful discovery... :S

These posts are indicative of the 'herd' of which I speak and some
who do know what the heck think they are not part of...well they are
as am I forced to be with no choice when ordering my Suburban

Tried something new last trip.

BenK wrote:
Maybe the solution is to remove the tachometer altogether so that these types
won't know what is going on...they shouldn't anyway as they will only wonder
what the heck is going on...

Kind of like gauges - none of them are really real.
(Iam sure there are exceptions)

Maybe the solution is to remove the tachometer altogether so that these types
won't know what is going on...they shouldn't anyway as they will only wonder
what the heck is going on...

This is the main herd that you guys are now part of...albeit you are
more knowledgeable, but never the less, part of their herd...they out
number you and me, therefore drive the OEM marketing's option
availability list

The automatic is doing what it is designed for...clueless folks, but then they
question if it is okay...or that they have cruise on and it *WILL* drop down
to 1st or whatever trying to maintain whatever speed dialed in

That is the driving force behind automatics... IMHO

Why I can NOT order a manual for my Sub when I filled out the order form
Even had the dealer (they sold semi's and pickups's as a service to their
trucker customers called to see if there is anyway the factory would
stuff in a manual...we both knew better, but gave it a try

Greetings,

I just made my first trip into the hills with my new 2 me fiver and my new 2 me truck. We are talking Texas hills, so they were not extended lengths, but there were some 7% grades that were probably a couple miles long.

I have the SRW F350 6.4L and I am pulling about 10,500 plus 4 people and a couple hundred pounds in the truck. I set the cruise on 64 - 66 for most of the trip. I run about 1,700 rpms and about 17 lbs of boost in normal running with the fiver.

Here is my question: When I hit a couple of those hills, the rpms jumped to 2,300 and the boost jumped to near 30 lbs. The truck held the cruise speed. It was not hunting for a gear or anything like that. It just shifted down, and kept the speed. Is this okay? Or should you back it down?

I have towed around Houston quite a bit now, and I am just not used to hearing the engine work that hard, even though it did not seem to be in a bind.

Thanks for the replies.

http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/26913637/srt/pa/pging/1/page/2.cfm




AND this one...asking if they should lock out either or both of the
double OD's...or didn't know to engage tow/haul...heavens...it is an
*AUTOMATIC* so let it do it's thing and stop asking manual tranny
questions...oh, but the tow/haul button is manually initiated and they
have to 'think' about that...betcha it's going to become an automatic
feature soon along with the increased cost and complexity of the
strain gauge system....oh my, then they can see that the strain gauge
can be highly integrated into the whole vehicle to have the main
computer know when it has been over loaded... :R

http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/26914934/srt/pa/pging/1/page/1.cfm



Again, these types are what the main herd is made of and drives the
OEM's option list and the more they pay willingly, the more automated
it will become

Boy, some posts in here sure do smell of that ol' elitist attitude that rears it's ugly head now and again.

I learned to drive with a 3 on the tree pickup. My first truck was a 4 speed manual. I've driven OTR tractors enough to know it wasn't something I wanted to get fat doing. I've had a LOT of manual vehicles both truck and auto and I'm proud to say it wouldn't break my heart if I never had to own another manual transmission truck for the rest of my days. Not in something I have to USE. If it's a toy, that's one thing, if it's something I have to use to work, that's another.


If that makes me part of the "herd", well, I've been part of worse things. If it makes somebody feel better to say I drive an auto because I don't know how to drive a stick, which means I don't know how to drive, so be it. No skin off my nose and doesn't bother me one little bit.

I say to each his own, and to denigrate someone based on their preference is...rude at best.

Automatics were invented to put people behind the wheel when they have no business there!

This type of question is why automatics were invented, IMHO...but they still
don't get it...even when there is a tow/haul button AND a glove box manual...

http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/26914934/gotomsg/26915343/p/1.cfm#26915343

I just bought a 2013 Jeep Wrangler: granted, it's not considered a typical "tow vehicle". That being said, there is no way in Gods great green earth that I would have ordered it with anything but a manual tranny. In fact, if I couldn't get a manual, I'd have them put in pedals and use them to get around.

ricatic wrote:

camping man wrote:
Heck, my wife can drive my manual truck like it's nobody's business. Too many nancyboys out there anymore.

somewhere, earlier in this thread, I mentioned the fact that the manual devotee's always had someone who would result to name calling and questions of manhood to attempt to defend their position...and a poster called me out...but , again, my point was validated...

Deb can drive a manual transmission vehicle as well as any one...including me...and I have over a million miles in manual transmission vehicles. Does my current preference to not own a manual transmission make me a nancyboy? :B:B:B...do I need to surrender my CDL "A" and DOT medical card???

With real world performance of either transmission being a draw, the manual devotee's should stop complaining, buy what they want, make sales numbers look to manufacturer's like there is really a bigger market out there than 1.5% and maybe the manual will return. Ram's sales of manual transmission trucks should be skyrocketing.

But herein rides the problem, the manual guy's had their chance for the last 20 years or so to drive sales numbers up. But instead,manual transmission sales continued to plummet as truck sales numbers rose. This happened even though automatic transmission buyers continued to subsidize their manual brethren. Now that the subsidy for the manual transmission has ended, there is that small issue about three still unanswered questions addressed to the manual devotee's. They are simple, non-inflammatory questions that require only an honest yes or no. Here they are again:

How many manual transmission devotee's would order an optional manual transmission that added to the cost of the truck?

Absolutely yes!

How much would the manual transmission devotee's be willing to pay for that transmission?

I'd say about $1500.

How many manual transmission devotee's would not spend the extra money and just buy the standard automatic transmission?

If I need to replace my F-350, I'm at the point I'll have to...simply because nothing else is available, new or used.

When I bought my Cherokee, I wanted a 5-speed. My requirements were pretty wide: 4.0, 4WD, air conditioning, no sunroof, any color except black, navy, or yellow. I found exactly TWO 5-speeds. One (1999 Sport 4-door) was not even worth consideration (it wasn't a 4x4); the other was (1998 SE 2-door), but had 15,000 more miles, several minor options (cruise control, full gauges, tinted glass) and one critical option (tilt column) missing, the weaker Dana 35 axle, drove like it needed a bunch of front-end work, and the dash had been hacked to install a stereo. It also had a serious rust spot...and cost MORE than the one I bought.

No manual transmission devotee has ever answered any of these questions. A yes answer to the third question would be especially telling. Why? Because every yes answer to that question further reduces the already miniscule 1.5% market share the manual transmission has now...

Any takers today????

Regards

They're just not out there. I recall someone HERE spent a month looking for a standard-shift crewcab Frontier. He found ONE in the COUNTRY...it was 2000 miles away.

Liz's boss would have loved a standard shift...but it was not offered in the Excursion. (The Suburban it replaced IS a standard.)