Is Manual Clutch Now Officially "Retro"?

[Philpug]

I used these all through the late 90s and early 00s..

I had to go out and buy one of these. The Miata just has a cassette player and radio.

 

[crgildart]

^^^ In true retro fashion!

 

[James]

Traffic and distracted driving killed the manual trans with a good boost from it's not that much cheaper. Hard to shift while eating breakfast, lunch, or dinner, putting on makeup, or the final nail- texting and reading god knows what.

 

[VickiK]

Good one Phil

I know, right? Like I said, @Philpug , Edmunds needs you IMHO. But certainly not at our expense.

 

[Bill Talbot]

I had to go out and buy one of these. The Miata just has a cassette player and radio.

@Philpug
You don't know about Jeff in FL? He did some work on my original radio/cassette. Also added a MP3 port and added a fair amount of boost to my aftermarket, higher quality headrest speakers.

Life in Miata land is good!

 

[Bill Talbot]

Traffic and distracted driving killed the manual trans with a good boost from it's not that much cheaper. Hard to shift while eating breakfast, lunch, or dinner, putting on makeup, or the final nail- texting and reading god knows what.

Yeah...none of that interests me...at all!

 

[Don in Morrison]

For about the last 30 years, the hot setup for short track Late Model stock car racing has been a reworked Chevy Powerglide 2-speed automatic. They do use a manual clutch for starting out, but for shifting from 1st to 2nd the automatic takes over. The shift occurs going into the first turn after the green flag and the car stays in high gear the rest of the race. Automatics now outnumber manuals in entry-level stock car racing on the short tracks simply because the cars they are converting to race cars never came with a manual transmission.

I've only owned two manual equipped cars in my life and one was a three-on-the-tree. I learned to drive in a Chevy pickup with a manual transmission with a "granny low".

 

[cantunamunch]

<- talking of wacky manual shifting, I drove a Traction Avant once.

 

[Dave Petersen]

Geeze, I haven't driven a manual transmission since the 1980s -- I don't know if I even remember how!

I think paddle shifters on steering wheels are pretty cool.

 

[cantunamunch]

I have to express a strong dislike for the +/- shifters, whether paddle or sidestick.

Having to downclick 5 times instead of one wrist flick when braking to a stop is stupid.

Having to look at the indicator instead of knowing where one is by feel is stupid.

Not being able to match revs to the gear you're dropping into is stupid.

Not being able to jump gears like 2->4 is stupid.

 

[Don in Morrison]

I made the decision to avoid manual transmissions if at all possible the day that I bench pressed my brother's Muncie T10 into his Chevelle SS396 after one of his many clutch explosions. He eventually made a boat anchor out of the 96er one day when he missed a shift and spun every bearing in the engine.

 

[James]

There's manual linear transmissions too. Sequential transmission like a motorcycle. You have to pay a bunch extra for an indicator to tell you what gear you're in.
They're expensive. This one is about $10k ,$600 for the indicator. That's fairly cheap. Light, 83 lbs.

https://shop.quaife.co.uk/nissan-350z-60g-6-speed-sequential-gearbox

Another one:

 

[Monique]

There's manual linear transmissions too. Sequential transmission like a motorcycle. You have to pay a bunch extra for an indicator to tell you what gear you're in.

When riding my motorcycle, I never seem to know exactly what gear I am in when downshifting for a turn. It would be good to be sure if I'm in 2nd or 3rd, for example. I don't know why I can't keep it in my head.

 

[James]

When riding my motorcycle, I never seem to know exactly what gear I am in when downshifting for a turn. It would be good to be sure if I'm in 2nd or 3rd, for example. I don't know why I can't keep it in my head.

Well there's a solution for that too. Don't know anything about it but here's one. You can change the color.

http://www.healtech-electronics.com/products/gpds/

 

[Monique]

Well there's a solution for that too. Don't know anything about it but here's one. You can change the color.

View attachment 9977
http://www.healtech-electronics.com/products/gpds/

I don't need it *that* badly.

 

[pete]

Traffic and distracted driving killed the manual trans with a good boost from it's not that much cheaper. Hard to shift while eating breakfast, lunch, or dinner, putting on makeup, or the final nail- texting and reading god knows what.

exactly why I only found manual fun for off roading or riding a cycle (either manual or motor), heck, I can't eat a burger, text or sip my beer (it's ok, it's light), steer with a knee and expect the other leg on the pedal to shift ...

 

[Philpug]

exactly why I only found manual fun for off roading or riding a cycle (either manual or motor), heck, I can't eat a burger, text or sip my beer (it's ok, it's light), steer with a knee and expect the other leg on the pedal to shift ...

I knew a guy who cut off the head restraints out of his pickup because they were "unsafe", he couldn't tilt his head back to drink his beer.

 

[bbinder]

I guess that I am the oddball here -- I like driving with a manual b/c it is more engaging and can make a mundane car more fun to drive. It also makes me pay more attention to my driving. I don't get into bad stop and go traffic that often -- when I do, I just tough it out and my left calf muscles get a lot of exercise. I suppose that if I spent more time in traffic that I might cherish an automatic transmission more. I have driven a number of cars with paddle shifters and found them to be mostly silly... the only one that felt like I was actually controlling anything was on a Nissan 370. The other good thing about the manual in my 911 is that it acts as a passive drunk driving inhibitor -- if I drink too much then I cannot engage 1st gear, and I am stuck.

 

[DanoT]

I guess that I am the oddball here -- I like driving with a manual b/c it is more engaging and can make a mundane car more fun to drive. It also makes me pay more attention to my driving. I don't get into bad stop and go traffic that often -- when I do, I just tough it out and my left calf muscles get a lot of exercise. I suppose that if I spent more time in traffic that I might cherish an automatic transmission more. I have driven a number of cars with paddle shifters and found them to be mostly silly... the only one that felt like I was actually controlling anything was on a Nissan 370. The other good thing about the manual in my 911 is that it acts as a passive drunk driving inhibitor -- if I drink too much then I cannot engage 1st gear, and I am stuck.

So what is it about 1st gear in a Porsche 911 that requires sobriety to engage?

 

[Philpug]

I guess that I am the oddball here -- I like driving with a manual b/c it is more engaging and can make a mundane car more fun to drive. It also makes me pay more attention to my driving. I don't get into bad stop and go traffic that often -- when I do, I just tough it out and my left calf muscles get a lot of exercise. I suppose that if I spent more time in traffic that I might cherish an automatic transmission more. I have driven a number of cars with paddle shifters and found them to be mostly silly... the only one that felt like I was actually controlling anything was on a Nissan 370. The other good thing about the manual in my 911 is that it acts as a passive drunk driving inhibitor -- if I drink too much then I cannot engage 1st gear, and I am stuck.

Not the odball at all. All things being equal, I also would prefer a stick but not all things are always equal, some sticks suck.