More sad news for the manual

[Chief 08]

The other problem is that when some manufacturers do offer a manual, it's only available in a base model. Then they say nobody buys them.

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[fjrman]

The CVT is a just a bump in the road for the eventual transition to the driver-less car.

You'll basically be taking a car-sized totally automated Greyhound to all your destinations.

Hop in, occupy yourself and companions with whatever, and let the Greyhound get you there safely with no effort from you.

 

[typemismatch]

The CVT is a just a bump in the road for the eventual transition to the driver-less car.

You'll basically be taking a car-sized totally automated Greyhound to all your destinations.

Hop in, occupy yourself and companions with whatever, and let the Greyhound get you there safely with no effort from you.

Hush yer dirty mouf!

... sad to say you're right though

 

[aighead]

I'm an in-betweener of a couple comments from above... I like my manual transmission, I also like the couch feeling of an automatic. What I'm guessing is as we move to more and more computer control prior to complete autonomous driving I'm going to be inclined, with many others, to go back in time and pick up some of the older non-computered cars that you can actually fix, and don't track you, and aren't part of the grid and are full of manual transmissions... Creature comforts are nice, but I also like to run away if I want. Like Ham radio operators, manual drivers may also save the world one day...

 

[neteng101]

The other problem is that when some manufacturers do offer a manual, it's only available in a base model. Then they say nobody buys them.

The main reason they do this is just to claim a lower starting price to get people in the door. They don't really expect to sell them in any quantity, its just a cheap marketing trick (if they have that option). Typically done with lower priced cars though so its not something you'd see for the luxury brands where they might opt to just do away entirely.

But BMWs have already pretty much killed the connection to their cars already, and what's left of their sportier offerings often still needs to go on a diet and finishing school. They should really claim the Ultimate Driving Lounge Chair instead of Ultimate Driving Machine as their slogan.

 

[jred721]

Maybe the Manual option is gone from their Non-M 3 Series, but the real thing that would suck is that if the manual transmission is gone from the upcoming M3/M4 as well. If there is a manual trans on the new M3 though, i'm 100% jumping on it. I'm not keen on keeping my N63 engine out of warranty .

 

[CivicChina]

Very very sad. Bmw actually stopped offering manual 3 series many years ago in China, and so did Audi and Mercedes.
Actually the Civic is the ONLY car over 150 hp for sale with a manual transmission (except chinese brands), so i will have to keep driving it until it turns into dust.

 

[xcoreflyup]

Holy crap, good on Datsun for putting a manual in the Maxima. A friend of mine had an Xterra which was a manual. Blew me away when I saw that.

Sadly manuals will eventually disappear, hopefully not in my lifetime. CVT, and even modern AT just have better accelleration/efficiency and more reliable operation (more often as time passes).

I learnt stick shfit driving in a Nissan Pathfinder. Those thing just wont quit.

 

[xjoshuax89]

Honda is slowly killing it too. No more MT unless you get an Si or the 2.0 na. and canada dumped all the 6mt except the Si.

The hatch sport touring comes in 6mt up in Canada or did that change for 2019?

 

[conbrio]

The hatch sport touring comes in 6mt up in Canada or did that change for 2019?

I was going to ask the same thing! I have a 2017 sport touring hatch with a 6MT here in Canada, I hope they didn't get rid of this option!

 

[dallasjhawk]

The hatch sport touring comes in 6mt up in Canada or did that change for 2019?

We dont have any news on the hatch yet. Since the Sedan and Coupe launched a year before the hatch/si/R they got the first updates.

 

[Axatax]

Nobody who's buying manuals gives a flip about shifting speed on an auto, or 1 MPG economy improvement or anything else like that. We have them because we like them.

Oh, and BTW: I'm sure I can get better mileage than an auto if I drive like a dick.

 

[David Harper]

When buyers stop buying, makers stop making. its that simple. Not enough people buy manuals.. so makers stop making them. 10 people notice.. no one else cares.

exactly. so few of us want manual that the economy of scale dictates the auto makers will phase them out. I love my LX 6mt coupe, but I was probably lucky since it may be one of the last ones. When I bought it in 2016 the dealer had to get it from another dealer 60 miles away. That's how rare they are.I wanted 2 doors and MT. Both of those together are very hard to find I guess. What's hard to figure is everyone who sees it loves it. When I went to the dealer to pick it up there was a crowd around it saying to me "is this your car? It's awesome" Even the salesman were standing around looking at it. One of them took it for a ride before I got there. He told me he had to find out what it was like to drive it.

 

[Micah]

Nobody who's buying manuals gives a flip about shifting speed on an auto, or 1 MPG economy improvement or anything else like that. We have them because we like them.

Oh, and BTW: I'm sure I can get better mileage than an auto if I drive like a dick.

Yep, I have done it. Averaged 48mpg across a tank by driving like an old man with a long backroad commute that was between 35-45 mph, 90 minutes each way. Most of it was through deer filled woods so I really did not have a choice. Glad I found a better paying job closer to home.

 

[Captaindicki]

exactly. so few of us want manual that the economy of scale dictates the auto makers will phase them out. I love my LX 6mt coupe, but I was probably lucky since it may be one of the last ones. When I bought it in 2016 the dealer had to get it from another dealer 60 miles away. That's how rare they are.I wanted 2 doors and MT. Both of those together are very hard to find I guess. What's hard to figure is everyone who sees it loves it. When I went to the dealer to pick it up there was a crowd around it saying to me "is this your car? It's awesome" Even the salesman were standing around looking at it. One of them took it for a ride before I got there. He told me he had to find out what it was like to drive it.

Do you still get nice compliments from people? I love my manual coupe, Its a great combination. Looks and drives great. I get compliments every now and then, but generally Canadians are a bit more reserved and not as talkative or friendly as Americans

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