Commentary: Death Of A Manual

"TotallyThatStupid" (jbbush) 03/13/2014 at 16:36 • Filed to: Manual Transmissions

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There's been a lot of chatter for a long time about the impending demise of the row-your-own manual transmission. I'm not talking about those automated manuals – with or without an actual clutch or two – with acronyms lifted from the annals of phone company documentation such as DCT, DSG, PDK, etc. No, I speak of the real, three-pedal mechanical gear changers with a friendly stick emerging from either the floor or – if you're old – the steering column.

Let's start with nomenclature. You can call them whatever you want. You can have paddles. You can have an up/down or left/right slot in the center console. You can have buttons on the steering wheel or on the side of the shift knob. But – and this is the key – if your car has only two pedals and/or has the ability to change gears all by itself, it's an automatic. That's really it.

Nope.

Nope.

I don't even know what this is.

Given my druthers I'd rather have a three-pedal manual. I completely accept the fact the computer-controlled automatic is faster and more accurate. That's great for the crowd who thinks that, just because they can lap Laguna Seca or the Nürburgring on a 40-inch screen, they can clearly do it in real life. Good for them, the artless hacks.

I'm not going to complain about the lack of manual transmission options in new and newer cars and trucks, because after all this time I have come to realize that despite my age and household income landing me squarely in the appropriately juicy demographic, I will never be any manufacturer's target market. I am an enthusiast who prefers older and old cars and will likely not ever buy a brand-new car again. This knowledge is not a burden to anyone. But more on the new-car thing in a minute.

Several years ago while working as a service advisor at a Volkswagen dealership, I had a conversation with my friend Brian in the sales department. I had recently had part of my frontal lobe removed via my left eye socket, and was thinking about taking the company up on one of their ultra-cheap friends-and-family Sign & Drive lease deals.

Side Note #1: I'm not morally opposed to leasing. Some will tell you it's a waste of money, and that at the end of the term – since you've essentially been renting the car – you have nothing. A true statement, but realize you have the option to walk away from the car. No, it won't be for free. But even if you have to write a $1000 check to not own a three-year-old VW just out of warranty… well that's just money well spent.

Anyway, I lamented to Brian the only options I would want on a then-new Passat CC is a 6-speed manual, heated seats, and a sunroof. Oh, he said, the manual is only available in the most basic of base models – i.e. no factory sunroof or heated seats. Further, assuming you wanted one of their nifty little Tiguans… well, you could only get a manual in the most basic of base models there, too. No 4Motion all-wheel-drive, no aforementioned factory sunroof or heated seats. A manual was available on the 2-door Rabbit (née Golf) but not the 4-door. I guess I could have gotten a diesel that wouldn't start in the dead of winter, or a GTI.

Side Note #2: A sunroof and/or heated seats could be added to almost any car, of course. However, my almost five years in service taught me to never, ever cut a hole in the roof of a new car, because that way lies madness. Conversely, we rarely had problems with the aftermarket tushy warmers, as opposed to the factory VW units that would occasionally light themselves –and you – on fire.

I said to Brian if VW made the car I wanted, I would buy (lease, whatever) it on the spot. He said I wouldn't, and he's probably right. For people like me – all six of us – it's more the idea of being able to buy a manual in a new car.

My heart finds it sad that real manuals are going away in cars I could actually see owning someday. Ferraris and Lamborghinis don't count. Even if I hit the lottery, nothing new from their showrooms would land in my garage, !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . Porsche seems to be making fewer and fewer manuals available in their new high-end models, but that's okay, too.

However, when that someday arrives I might want a just-released BMW 4 series convertible – several owners down the road, of course – and there will be no manuals. Ditto an F31 3 series wagon, either with or without all-wheel-drive. And the X1. The list goes on.

My head gets it, however. Thanks to federal guidelines, it's hugely expensive to certify cars that will sell in only very small numbers. Example: Apparently the number of manual Lamborghini Gallardos sold was so small the factory called the dealers who did order one to confirm said order wasn't a mistake. Car makers are in business to make money, not to cater to those six people who really want to row their own, but wouldn't actually lay down the credit application.

For several years BMW has had an interesting stance on the manual transmission. They say not a lot of buyers take manuals, so they don't make more of them. (They also don't include them in their lease deals.) However, anecdotally I've heard they can sell every manual-equipped car they build. So which is it? If they built more, would they sell more? Or if they built none –which seems to be the direction they're headed – would they chalk it up to nobody wanting them? Is the marketing department telling us nobody wants manuals so they won't build more and, since we can't have them, we now don't want them?

My head hurts.

Of course, several manufacturers still offer manuals, including BMW. But it seems for people like me the used market is the best hope. Every version of the E36 and E46 could be had in with a manual. Ditto the E34 and E39 5ers. Even some X5s – albeit with "only" the 3.0-liter – had a manual. Other manufacturers offered manuals as well in all manner of vehicles, some through the mid-2000s.

The problem is every year those cars get older.

Totally That Stupid is a blog run by two lifelong car geeks. More at !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . You can also !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .

RiceRocketeer Extraordinaire > TotallyThatStupid 03/13/2014 at 16:40

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I had recently had part of my frontal lobe removed via my left eye socket

Wait, what?

jkm7680 > TotallyThatStupid 03/13/2014 at 16:42

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Good commentary! How many Mercedes in the United States are available with manual? One or two?

N/A POWAAAHH > TotallyThatStupid 03/13/2014 at 16:42

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why are you looking at euros? Japanese cars and atleast american coupes will always have manual.

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > jkm7680 03/13/2014 at 17:10

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Okay to be fair with MB - they have very rarely offered manuals in their AMerican offerings since the 50s and 60s. You have the 190, a handful of gray market SLs, and the SLK and base C-class. That's it. An oddball gray market import G-wagen or CL or whatever from the Fatherland doesn't count as them "offering" manuals.

TotallyThatStupid > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles 03/13/2014 at 17:33

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True, only a handful of Benzes had a manual in the States, but they do exist - some W124 300e cars, some 190s, the R129 300SL, and then later a few C-classes and the SLK Roadsters. Not a lot, but some. It seems like the latter-day C-class availability varies with the phases of the moon.

Manuél Ferrari > TotallyThatStupid 03/13/2014 at 17:37

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I have a related question that might be stupid but I'll ask it anyways. One big reason the stick is dying is fuel economy regulations. A very tall overdrive gear is required to achieve awesome highway fuel economy. You use a lot less fuel when cruising 80 MPH at 2000 RPM than you do at 3200 RPM.

Automatic transmissions with 8-10 gears allow the driver to have multiple overdrive gears. This provides a smooth transition to the tallest gear when accelerating to the top cruising speed.

Now my question is whether enthusiasts who prefer stick would have any problem with 7 speed sticks that didn't have a smooth transition from 6th to 7th gear. Basically 7th gear would have the ratio that the 8th or 9th gear would have if the transmission had more gears. 7 is probably the max number of gears for a stick as anything more than that would be difficult to operate. Would it be too weird for car companies to make the 7th gear so tall that you never used it unless you were going well over 70 MPH, and you knew that you'd lose a lot of revs when changing gears so you shouldn't change into 7th if going uphill or if you're going to need passing power?

I personally don't think it would be weird at all. It would allow the car companies to get highway MPG numbers on the 7 speed stick that were similar to the new 8 and 9 speed autos that we're seeing in the marketplace. I really wouldn't care if 7th was awkward to use. It would be sweet if the first 6 gears were all that you used around town and in congested highway driving and 7th was an insanely tall overdrive for high speed cruising. I don't think the 7th gear in the current 7 speed sticks and 7 speed DCTs is tall enough. An uber overdrive gear would be pretty cool even if you didn't have a smooth transition to it and lost a ton of revs when shifting into it.

JR1 > TotallyThatStupid 03/13/2014 at 18:09

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Maybe it's just what I'm used to, but at 19 all I have ever owned are automatics. Sure a manual would be more fun but the desire to own one for a daily commuter just isn't there for me. I would not go out of my way to buy one on a daily driver. My weekend car I would want to be a manual but I do not lament the passing of manuals for daily drivers, it was bound to happen eventually.

WhatDaFunk > JR1 03/13/2014 at 18:34

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I didn't have any interest in owning a manual car until the only car I had access to was a hand me down with a manual. Since then I've had no interest in owning an automatic. So, I guess what I'm trying to say is that you might not realize how much you'd actually like to have a manual DD until you've lived with it.

nermal > TotallyThatStupid 03/13/2014 at 18:51

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Meh. You can still get a Jeep and a GTI with a manual. What more do you need?

syaieya > TotallyThatStupid 03/13/2014 at 19:09

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To top it off, the manual Mercedes Benzes really didn't have good transmissions in them post W201 era. They weren't confidence inspiring and didn't do anything to help the car's feel. I mean yeah, it'd be cool to own just by the principle of the thing. But, eeehh, beyond that there are just better combinations offered from different cars.

MrBillG59 > TotallyThatStupid 03/13/2014 at 20:48

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If it has a torque converter it's an automatic. If it has a clutch or two it's a manual.

A car is not a video game, things shouldn't be put in there for your entertainment. Manual transmissions were good because they gave you more control and allowed the car to perform better .

A double-clutch transmission not only achieves those goals, but exceeds them.

Old-Busted-Hotness > RiceRocketeer Extraordinaire 03/14/2014 at 06:58

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It's called a transorbital lobotomy. Much classier than cutting a hole in your head.

Old-Busted-Hotness > TotallyThatStupid 03/14/2014 at 07:07

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For several years BMW has had an interesting stance on the manual transmission. They say not a lot of buyers take manuals, so they don't make more of them. (They also don't include them in their lease deals.) However, anecdotally I've heard they can sell every manual-equipped car they build. So which is it? If they built more, would they sell more? Or if they built none –which seems to be the direction they're headed – would they chalk it up to nobody wanting them? Is the marketing department telling us nobody wants manuals so they won't build more and, since we can't have them, we now don't want them?

I think it works like this: Dealer orders 99 autos and one manual, and that one in an unpopular color. Customer comes in, wants a car and may have a vague preference for a manual but not in that godawful metallic puce, opts for automatic because buy today. The manual preference isn't strong enough to make the buyer wait or accept the ugly color. Eventually some hardcore manual guy buys the one in metallic puce and they order another one in metallic periwinkle, which eventually sells at the end of the year under heavy discount. So yes, they sold every manual they ordered, and yes, nobody wanted them.

The real issue is that BMW doesn't build driver's cars anymore. They build luxury cars with the image/marketing of a driver's car.

ChrisFu > TotallyThatStupid 03/14/2014 at 15:59

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You hit the nail on the head in the first half. The decontented trims you are required to select to get a manual equipped model are whats killing manual sales, not the manual itself. Perhaps people wouldnt be actively dissuaded from manual transmissions if they could get (even some of) the same options as the "automatic only" versions.

OEMs still mistakenly believe that manual transmissions are selected merely for cost reasons.

doodypie > TotallyThatStupid 03/14/2014 at 16:37

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Amen, though I really do think there's several times I would have bought a new vehicle if I could have had it with a stick. If I could trade my 75k mile S4 Avant for a new example today I'd do it in a heartbeat, but I'll be damned if I'm going to trade it for a slushbox Allroad. I've also always been driven nuts by that dichotomy - 'Nobody wants sticks, so we don't build them" vs "We don't have any in stock because they sell the moment they arrive, if not before".

I think it points to the real problem, which is that dealers are lazy. They know they can talk most people into an automatic if that's what's on the lot, even if they might have preferred a stick. So they don't order more than a few token examples as low-sticker bait cars. Which also starts to explain the absurd idea they have to only put manuals in the lowest trims.

Unfortunately it's probably too late to reverse the feedback loop.

The World of Vee > jkm7680 03/14/2014 at 18:05

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Currently none. The last one to offer it was the last generation C class pre-facelift in the RWD C300 Sport

The World of Vee > Manuél Ferrari 03/14/2014 at 18:07

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I'd be 100% ok with that. The 7th gear in the C7 is pretty much this as it is, in my (albeit short) drive I never needed to use the 7th gear, but I'm sure if I was highway cruising in 7th in eco mode I could probably get close to 25mpg

Manuél Ferrari > The World of Vee 03/14/2014 at 18:13

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That is cool that your 7th gear is pretty tall. And congrats on the C7!

I have 7 gears in my E90 M3 but the ratios are super short. The 7th gear's ratio seems similar to the ratio for 6th gear in most 6MT cars, so it doesn't really save me any gas mileage. I think BMW used 7 gears in the DCT not to save fuel but to achieve shorter gear ratios.

I get why they did it, it works brilliantly for gears 1-5. I just don't get why 6th and 7th weren't taller as you can achieve a very high top speed in 5th gear when accelerating hard. 6th could have been taller as it's not needed unless cruising and 7th could have been much taller.

jkm7680 > The World of Vee 03/14/2014 at 18:14

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Mercedes stopped caring about enthusiasts. That's the simple answer. They got too caught up in rich Jersey shore soccer Moms, and depressed accountants that they completely forgot that we're here. Instead of entering corporate hell, why not make something fun, and interesting?

Even as an Audi owner, Audi is beginning to slip into the never ending abyss that Mercedes has already fallen into. The new A3 isn't available with a manual, and the upcoming A4 redesign, probably won't either. They balance it out though, the S5, S4, Tt, R8 will not become slushboxes.

AndTheyCalledHimGearhead > TotallyThatStupid 03/14/2014 at 18:21

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THIS. All of this manual-transmission-in-a-base-model-only BS from VW. It drives me absolutely insane. They're denying themselves enthusiast sales in the hundreds and they just have no idea/don't care.

The World of Vee > Manuél Ferrari 03/14/2014 at 18:34

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Oh I don't have a C7 haha yet. I went for a test drive in one when I test drove the ELR. Both amazing cars in their own rights

The World of Vee > jkm7680 03/14/2014 at 18:36

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Audi's best years were 2002-2004

I love my Audis (C5s all three, 2.7tt, s6 w/ 6speed, rs6) and I think Audis looked best before the big gaping grille.

Alas the mid 2000s were such a great time for cars.

jkm7680 > The World of Vee 03/14/2014 at 18:45

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Yeah, my 08 A4 Mt, has the "Beard" It looks all right. My favourite Era for cars is the early 2000's though.

The World of Vee > jkm7680 03/14/2014 at 19:03

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Early 2000s (collectively 5th gen B/C/D2) are best

Though apart from the D2 S8 the best looking A8 is the 04 D3. For one year it was a full D3 A8 but it doesn't have the beard.

So nice.

jkm7680 > The World of Vee 03/14/2014 at 19:12

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The A8 before the beard looked amazing, the S6, S4 all looked nice to me.

Manuél Ferrari > The World of Vee 03/14/2014 at 19:13

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Oh cool

Interesting you liked the ELR. Did it handle ok? I'm always worried that cars like that will be bricks and not fun to drive

The World of Vee > Manuél Ferrari 03/14/2014 at 19:56

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I'm going to be leasing an ELR come end of May. It drives like a hot hatch owing to it's FWD architecture. But I made a post on the ELR the other week, I have my "fun" cars that I wrench on and everything but when it comes to my boring commute to work (20 miles each way) I'd rather have something comfy and floaty.

I have a C300 4matic lease that ends in may and I would never want to own one of these as my "car" but for a 1 year lease for to and fro it worked nicely. I take my RS6 (03, love) for the fun journeys on the weekends and my 04 A62.7tt (stage three, 6 speed, tracker. I love C5 Audis) for when I'm going to the local raceway for autocross. But this way I don't have to worry about random things going wrong on my DD.

I was actually going to get a Lincoln MKS because it does the exceptionally comfy and floaty thing better than pretty much anything short of an S Class, but when I realized I could lease an ELR for 24 months for about the same price I jumped for it. I'm going to eventually replace my "toys" with a C7 Vette, and by replace I mean I'm going to make my A6 track only and take it off insurance and then I will DD my RS6 and the Vette will be my toy, but that's gotta wait till I can afford to buy a car that expensive so probably half a decade down the line. Until then the ELR will most definitely do.

And OMG, it's so pretty!

The World of Vee > jkm7680 03/14/2014 at 19:58

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Yes sir they do. Oh my god they do.

Everytime I see an 04 D3 or an 03 S8 for sale I always consider it for a second. And then I realized I'd have to get rid of a car to get one of those and I have such strong emotional bonds to the cars I own that I just couldn't do it :(

Manuél Ferrari > The World of Vee 03/14/2014 at 20:57

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That is cool that its' comfy but drives like a hot hatch!

I know what you mean about 20 mile commutes. My commute was exactly 20 miles each way for 12 years. I kept leasing and buying different cars to try to make it better. I started out with an SUV cause everyone else had one and I didn't want headlights in my rear view mirror. I then leased two Merc E350s back to back and got bored of them. I got a 997 6MT that I still have in order to make the drive more fun. But all it did was make the drive more annoying because of driving the stick in traffic.

I then got the other car I still have to make both fun but not annoying - an E90 M3 with DCT. The commute was less of a pain but I still got sick of it so I gave up and moved right next to work instead of experimenting with more cars, haha.

Your stage III Audi sounds interesting. How much HP and torque is it putting out?

The World of Vee > Manuél Ferrari 03/14/2014 at 22:23

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Ohhhhh it's so much fun! it pulls close to 440hp on a stable tune but if I wanna risk a gasket I'm sure it could touch 500. Torque isn't changed too much from stock it's got a bit of lag but then it just goes for days

Manuél Ferrari > The World of Vee 03/14/2014 at 22:29

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wow it must fly!

even the standard amount of torque is probably pretty high so i bet it pulls

The World of Vee > Manuél Ferrari 03/14/2014 at 22:32

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it's my "oldest" car in the stable because I've owned it the longest (since new) so I have a strong attraction to it. I don't think I could ever sell it.

And I mean, look at it. A couple more tiny modifications and it's perfect it. (rs6 honeycomb grills, s6 blades instead of the flat rs6 blades, rs6 mirror caps, rs6 decklid, and lower the coilovers juuuust a tad bit more)

Manuél Ferrari > The World of Vee 03/14/2014 at 23:05

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that is awesome that you've had it since new!

and cool that it has coilovers