www.google.com/amp/s/thewest.com.au/lifestyle/motoring/is-the-manual-dead-ng-b881184804z.amp

"In 2019 only 9.2% of new cars sold in Australia where manual"

It seems people are over manuals now. I reckon its a shame because driving a manual is a nice skill to learn and master. Without many new manual cars being built the next generation probably wont be bothered getting there manual license at all therefore phasing them out.

What do you blokes reckon?

With electric cars only definitely manual transmition is going away.I love even my small tractor converted now to run on electric motor nad lithium batteries.
Usually I can live gear on 2nd and use only electric control for speed and forward , reverse function.
Only when conditions change dramatically I could use any other from 6 available gears.

Manuals use less petrol.

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Mr Milk said..
Manuals use less petrol.

Future cars don't use petrol, they run on rainbows and hugs

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Mr Milk said..
Manuals use less petrol.

Ever driven CVT?

My son just got his Ls today any he's getting a manual license. I think the issue is going to be trucks. The whole world isn't suddenly going to be electric or auto.

Add to that the future is probably more likely the Mad Max Armageddon. He'll need manual skills.

Auto makers are phasing manuals out. Trucks included.

Where I work we have a manual runabout ute, very few of the staff are licensed to drive it, I would say about 5 out 60.

To be fair I think passing a driving a test has got much harder than it was in my day so the young ones do everything possible to help them through.

Manuals are being phased out because it's not gender inclusive. It's too much "man" oriented... man-ual

Maybe if they changed the name to womanual they would become more popular...

Nevertheless, I love driving my 90 series manual prado. It even has manual window winders. There is no mucking around with some stupid buttons or having to have ignition on... i can open the window any time i want.

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superlizard said..
...i can open the window any time i want.

I'm hearing ya'.

I've got an old Landrover. The windows just open anytime they want.

... even when it isn't running. (which is most of the time).


(well, actually so do the doors.... and the bonnet... except of course when you want them to)

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Mr Milk said..
Manuals use less petrol.

In the old days agreed, and still could be if you know what you're doing. Modern autos are much better than the old. My 2018 commodore has 9 forward gears, and if you drive for economy sits between 1100 and 1500 rpm, on a return trip to Margarets it returned 6.7 l/100km.

Manuals are definitely going the way of the dodo, but I don't think its a bad thing. There are really no trade-offs. Robotised manuals should give equivalent or better fuel consumption, and lock up torque converters have come a long way. The HUGE benefit (if people would be bothered to learn and apply it) is the ability to left foot brake, which greatly hastens the process of getting off the gas and onto the brake in an emergency, which definitely helps avoid collisions and saves lives. I use it selectively based on how 'complex' the driving situation is at the time and the likelihood that I'll need to brake quickly and unexpectedly.

no male shpuld be allowed to get an auto only license

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eckas said..
The HUGE benefit (if people would be bothered to learn and apply it) is the ability to left foot brake, which greatly hastens the process of getting off the gas and onto the brake in an emergency, which definitely helps avoid collisions and saves lives. I use it selectively based on how 'complex' the driving situation is at the time and the likelihood that I'll need to brake quickly and unexpectedly.

This was very much frowned upon when I was learning how to drive. I personally still think its a silly idea. Just my opinion though.

My opinion is that if you see anything that you think could be a risk, or possible risk, you take your foot off the accelerator, ready for the brake, or even brake slightly.

Anything that catches you so that a left foot brake is going to help you enough is rare.

Taxi drivers do it because they get tired. My mother does it because she has become lazy. She also claimed that the car kept going when she tried to brake once... I think my father and I agree on what really happened.

.ooo2 of a second to move your foot 1 inch is not going to prevent an accident.... Bahaha, hilarious

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decrepit said..

Mr Milk said..
Manuals use less petrol.

In the old days agreed, and still could be if you know what you're doing. Modern autos are much better than the old. My 2018 commodore has 9 forward gears, and if you drive for economy sits between 1100 and 1500 rpm, on a return trip to Margarets it returned 6.7 l/100km.

You read my mind, kind of. On the fuel consumption thing I'm wondering if you get better economy by running the motor at its maximum power output and use a lower gear to keep at the speed limit or running the motor slow.
At first glance, you would have to think that max power output is burning fuel most effectively.

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Gazuki said..
.ooo2 of a second to move your foot 1 inch is not going to prevent an accident.... Bahaha, hilarious

You can move your foot at 5000 inches per second?
That's 284 mph

My misses always tells me that I am quick

Anyone tried to hire an auto in Europe? Was pretty much impossible a few years ago, and any friends cars I have borrowed while over there have always been manual. I wonder if this has changed?

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FormulaNova said..

My opinion is that if you see anything that you think could be a risk, or possible risk, you take your foot off the accelerator, ready for the brake, or even brake slightly.

Even now that you've become a Western Australian?

You wouldn't believe it. This morning. A full-sized, bigger than a bus, fire truck, lights flashing, siren blaring trying to nudge his way onto Hampton road. Commuting 4wds just kept on blasting through. About 6 went through before one stopped. All the fire truck could do was to add to his presence by honking his airhorn in protest. What is it? Do they just think stuff him, or do they drive on such an auto pilot they didn't even see the fire truck?

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Mr Milk said..
At first glance, you would have to think that max power output is burning fuel most effectively.

Maximum efficiency is closer to the point of peak torque production than peak power output.

Real men don't even have synchromesh. Double declutching is where it's at.

Coffs Harbour suzuki dealership had a 50/50 split on jimny orders

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Ian K said..

FormulaNova said..

My opinion is that if you see anything that you think could be a risk, or possible risk, you take your foot off the accelerator, ready for the brake, or even brake slightly.

Even now that you've become a Western Australian?

You wouldn't believe it. This morning. A full-sized, bigger than a bus, fire truck, lights flashing, siren blaring trying to nudge his way onto Hampton road. Commuting 4wds just kept on blasting through. About 6 went through before one stopped. All the fire truck could do was to add to his presence by honking his airhorn in protest. What is it? Do they just think stuff him, or do they drive on such an auto pilot they didn't even see the fire truck?

Ian, I am not sure about WA drivers yet. I think they are the same as NSW drivers, but they just have more space. No better, no worse, but not used to the volume of traffic in Sydney.

The other day on the Kwinana, I thought I would stay in the left lane as I passed an on-ramp. It bugs me that so many people move right, even if they are slow, and then take forever to move back into the left lane. The on ramps are all clearly marked with dotted lines, so its not as if its a merge for the freeway traffic, and the person on the on-ramp should be looking for a slot to slot into.

But you often get people that "merge" onto the freeway doing 80kph, and then only after disrupting traffic, speed up to 110, and then slow down to 95, all in the right lane.

Anyway, when I tried my experiment, this guy speeds up on the onramp, to sit parallel with me. Seeing my experiment out, I stayed at my original speed, and this guy couldn't work it out. Seriously? How hard is it to speed up, or even slow down, and slot in in-front or behind. Not this guy. No wonder they put in the 'smart freeway' system as there are a lot of idiots out there.

I am back in Sydney at the moment, and have remembered why I left. Traffic here sucks!

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eckas said..
Manuals are definitely going the way of the dodo, but I don't think its a bad thing. There are really no trade-offs. Robotised manuals should give equivalent or better fuel consumption, and lock up torque converters have come a long way.

I was watching an episode of Wheeler Dealers not so long ago where they were repairing a VW gearbox I think. It was impressive that they have effectively got a manual gearbox with a robotic clutch and gear selector. What a great idea. I think the same gearboxes had reliability issues though, but probably related to the electronic controls not the actual gearbox.

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Ian K said..

FormulaNova said..

My opinion is that if you see anything that you think could be a risk, or possible risk, you take your foot off the accelerator, ready for the brake, or even brake slightly.

Even now that you've become a Western Australian?

You wouldn't believe it. This morning. A full-sized, bigger than a bus, fire truck, lights flashing, siren blaring trying to nudge his way onto Hampton road. Commuting 4wds just kept on blasting through. About 6 went through before one stopped. All the fire truck could do was to add to his presence by honking his airhorn in protest. What is it? Do they just think stuff him, or do they drive on such an auto pilot they didn't even see the fire truck?

They drive automatics so they can concentrate on their phone.

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eckas said..
Manuals are definitely going the way of the dodo, but I don't think its a bad thing. There are really no trade-offs.

True that. The only things that a manual has over an auto (that i can think of) is being able to push start. Maybe for 4x4ers manuals are more bush-proof.

If i had to go through stop-start traffic everyday i would auto all the way. Got stuck in a bit of traffic today and inching out over and over was a bit of a pain.

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Flatty said..

If i had to go through stop-start traffic everyday i would auto all the way. Got stuck in a bit of traffic today and inching out over and over was a bit of a pain.

I used to commute through Sydney traffic in a VN V6 commodore manual with a heavy duty clutch for an hour each way. It was no fun. The car was great to drive on the freeway, but as you say, is not fun in stop-start traffic. I would find people would try and overtake me as I would be less keen on crawling forward all the time.

I replaced it with a V8 auto. It was slower, but much more relaxing.

Nah the worst drivers in Australia live in WA.
and the very worst of WA drivers live in Mandurah.
you have to see it to believe it. It's unbelievably bad man.

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eppo said..
>>> the very worst of WA drivers live in Mandurah.
you have to see it to believe it. It's unbelievably bad man.

I think they are improving, they all merged well going over the bridge and kept to 70km/hr, or perhaps I was just lucky

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eppo said..
Nah the worst drivers in Australia live in WA.
and the very worst of WA drivers live in Mandurah.
you have to see it to believe it. It's unbelievably bad man.

Interesting. On one of my very rare trips to lovely Mandurah, I couldn't believe how patient and giving the drivers were. In fact I was starting to get paranoid, there was so much niceness going on. Must have been a special moment.

Buster Fin - That must have the drugs they were all on