Why can't we all get along?

"POD" (podimus)
09/16/2013 at 11:47 • Filed to: Manual Transmission, Automatic, DCT, PDK

There have been several articles over the last few months about the trend of auto manufacturers, especially higher end sports car manufacturers (cough.... Porsche... couch), removing manual transmissions as an option from their vehicles. This article by !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and this response and discussion started !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! got me thinking. Why can't automataic and manual transmissions get along?

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

Now, I know what your thinking, you're probably saying, "Damn it Pod, we've had enough of these 'God Save the Manuals' posts". Well fear not, this isn't one of those. I drive a manual daily, every car I've owned has been a manual, manual transmissions are my personal preference. However, I fully realize that they are likely to be phased out. Decreased demand, increased cost of development, old die hards opting for DCT, etc. No, this is an article about what could replace manual transmissions. Specifically, what could replace them that would keep the enthusiast minded driver happy (or at least pacified).

Let me start by outlining what I love about manuals. The biggest of which being the increased control over the drive train. I can select a gear that places the motor in whichever rev range I feel best suits the driving conditions I'm in. Cruising on the highway? Keep the revs nice and low, fighting other commuters on the way to work? Perhaps I keep the car in a lower gear so I've got some more power on tap if I need to merge or change lanes quickly. The other aspect about manual transmissions that I love is the visceral involvement. I truly feel like I'm more connected to the car when I'm driving a manual. Something about having all 4 of my limps working strikes me as akin to all 4 of the cars wheels working. I just feel like I'm one with the vehicle and that makes me happier behind the wheel. Finally, and equally important, is feedback. That tactile feedback I get from the shifter when the transmission slides out of one gear and snicks into another is gratifying. Surprisingly so actually.

So, with this shift to dual clutch automated manual transmissions, where does that leave the enthusiast?

Well lets work off the premise that automakers simply are not going to make manual options in the future. Lets expand this by saying that they also are not going to be offering a real mechanical linkage from the cab to the transmission. Because lets face it, that adds cost, and production complexity. Drive by wire is already happening with many of the controls in our vehicles.

So what's out there at the moment? Currently we have flappy paddles.

While these can do a good job in letting me select my own gears and give me a bit more control over the rev range, they lose out on that visceral involvement of all 4 limbs working in harmony with the vehicle. They also are lacking that tactile feedback of the car sliding in and out of gear with a flick of your arm.

We also have a "Manumatic" style set up, placing the gear changes on the shifter stick.

This, for me at least, is a little better in that it gets my right arm involved more, and is slightly reminiscent of a manual transmission. It still loses out on the 4 limb involvement, and physical feedback.

So what to do? In my mind, why don't we simply keep the DCT's, but add a simulated manual gearbox and clutch?

Now, pitchforks down. I know what I just said was blasphemy, but think about it, we are losing our manual transmissions. It. Is. Happening. What we need to do identify is a economically viable solution that is relatively easy to implement for auto manufactures and allows the enthusiast a similar experience to a standard manual transmission. I think this could be it. Pagani Huayra has already started this with their single clutch automated transmission by adding a "manual shifter" (and a sexy as hell one) that has mechanical feedback. And while the Pagani's is just a + - set up, it is adding that all important "feel" to the shifter.

So why not take it a step further?

Add an option to replace the automatic gear selector with a manual one that has a gear layout similar to the diagram above. The internal of the shifter would be gated and spring loaded (similar to a mechanical keyboard) to give you that all important feedback. A weighted clutch unit would be added as well and electronically plug into the transmission. When depressed, the first clutch kicks the car out of the gear you are in, the simulated manual box is "shifted" into whichever gear you want, once the shifter passes the a certain point in the gate, the second clutch takes up that gear and it is engaged once the clutch pedal is released. For me this would seem to solve most of the problems I have with current DCTs. I get my (fake) feedback via springs in the shifter and weighted clutch. I get my 4 limb involvement while driving, and the auto manufactures don't have to worry about making separate transmissions for manual and automatics or separate production lines to produce them.

Now, I'm certain it is not this simple, and that there would still be software development cost, product testing costs, refinement, implementation, etc... I think this idea has potential though, and perhaps through discussion it could be hashed out further. Truly, I don't want to see manual transmissions go, but if they do, I want to see something take up the torch that at least lets me believe that I'm still driving the car the "good ol' fashioned way".

DISCUSSION (16)

Z_Stig > POD
09/16/2013 at 11:51

I remember reading in C&D some months ago that BMW is developing something like this already.

POD > Z_Stig
09/16/2013 at 11:52

Are they? That is promising then! Do you have a link? I'd love to read it.

Goshen, formerly Darkcode > POD
09/16/2013 at 11:56

I'm suddenly liking the Huayra more. I'd still rather have a pure manual though.

Z_Stig > POD
09/16/2013 at 11:58

Sorry.....and I'm pretty sure that article is buried under the stacks and stacks I have of C&D and R&T.

POD > Goshen, formerly Darkcode
09/16/2013 at 11:59

So would I, rush hour traffic or no, I still prefer a manual.

It goes back to supply and demand though. If people need to buy them for the manufacturers to continue producing them. I know I'm preaching to the choir on a site like Oppo, but unfortunately we are a small minority.

POD > Z_Stig
09/16/2013 at 12:00

Ahh, no worries. I'll search google and see if I can find something. Thanks for pointing that out though, now I'm very curious to read BMW's take on it.

Victorious Secret > POD
09/16/2013 at 12:08

I don't like DCTs that much.

Single clutches on the other hand, I'll take them.

Are they more rough? Yes. Are they more uncomfortable? Yes. Are they more visceral? Absofuckinglutely.

Banging a 1-2-3-4 off a Ferrari single clutch is just about the best kind of fun I've ever had. Its aggressive, it pushes you back into the seat, there is a slight delay before it goes into the next gear which causes you to think everything is okay but really in the next 100 milliseconds the gear comes in and reminds you that bird is the motherfucking word.

POD > Victorious Secret
09/16/2013 at 12:10

I would think you could do a similar thing with a single clutch too. And since the delay would be human (time it takes to move the shifter) it might feel even closer to a manual transmission.

Barbarian772 > POD
09/16/2013 at 12:26

Ican't relly imagine that your system would be cheaper than just putting a manual into it....

Victorious Secret > POD
09/16/2013 at 12:26

It is an interesting situation though.

Everyone I know who now has a high powered DCT doesn't really feel like going back to a manual. They still enjoy it, but they have said they don't willingly go back to ze manuals.

POD > Barbarian772
09/16/2013 at 12:38

Why not? Same production line, just a modular clutch and modular gear box. The rest is the same. Software cost would have to be taken into consideration, but you have to do that anyway with current manuals. You are also getting economy of scale this way, which you don't get (as much) with new cars that offer manuals (because they don't sell many of them).

POD > Victorious Secret
09/16/2013 at 12:40

I've driven a few high powered DCTs, they are OK. For the track, I would prefer the DCT, for everyday driving, I prefer the manual. But that's a personal preference argument. That all comes down to value sets and what one likes. I agree that the trend of high horsepower car owners to go DCT is interesting. I think there is more to that though.

Decay buys too many beaters > POD
09/16/2013 at 13:00

You know what I want? A real manual set up with a sequential gearbox. I've been in love with the idea ever since I started riding motorcycles, but the only car that seems to be available in that format is the Caterham 7.

POD > Decay buys too many beaters
09/16/2013 at 13:04

I would love to drive that!

Barbarian772 > POD
09/16/2013 at 13:06

Yeah, but I think a stick with + and - would be enough if I can't get "real" physical feedback... Everything else would seem totally weird and I think even people who go for the manual right now wouldn't really want it....

POD > Barbarian772
09/16/2013 at 13:10

That is a good point. I might be able to live with a + / - set up that had good physical feedback. But I do really love a 6/4 down shift for passing on the highway. It's very satisfying. Could I live with two downward taps that have good feedback? Maybe.