I'm fine, but I'm just being honest - a manual transmission has its place in a car enthusiast's world, but the reality is that place is a smaller niche than the online cheerleaders would indicate (or admit).
This is obvious, but popular doesn't mean good. I doubt anyone here would suggest that outside of a few models (i.e., the new Z car) it makes business sense to sell a manual. But that doesn't mean the car wouldn't be better, from a driving perspective, if it had one. So this argument...
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It varies from dealer to dealer, but manual orders are consistently well under 10%.
... is like judging the quality of a movie by how much it makes at the box office. I don't care if Transformers 2 pulled in a billion dollars, it's a piece of #### that I want no part of. Popular opinion is a poor basis for conclusions about what's good and what isn't, because, well, most people are kind of dumb. Or in this case, they mostly have different priorities when buying a vehicle.
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In my opinion, a manual transmission has its place in the automotive timeline, but we're right near the end of relevance in new cars. There was a time when a manual was a simple part of a simple system, but now it's more often a simple part of a complex system that simply doesn't integrate well.
I totally disagree. You haven't supported this conclusion at all. All you've done is give sales figures to show that the broader public don't actually want to buy manual versions of most cars, not that they don't "integrate well". There are plenty of cars where a manual doesn't make much sense. There are others where it does, and where it significantly improves the driving experience. There are still others where you could go either way, and see benefits and drawbacks from either transmission depending on your personal preferences and what you're buying the car to do.
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Hey,
I think you are talking to me, we are in Lynnwood in the SE. Fairly central.
Thanks!
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How are you enjoying it so far? That's one of the vehicles on our current list of options. I drove one for about a week when my truck was in for repairs and enjoyed it, but a week isn't really enough time to get a true like/dislike feel for it.
I have a feeling we might land in a Tiguan just for the height/clearance, but I reaaaalllyyyy want a wagon haha.
Really liking it, it rides really nice. Handling the slick conditions well with the all wheel drive and winter tires, lots of room inside. We have a pretty big dog so I was looking for the most amount of space in the back. This ticks that box too.
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I totally disagree. You haven't supported this conclusion at all. All you've done is give sales figures to show that the broader public don't actually want to buy manual versions of most cars, not that they don't "integrate well". There are plenty of cars where a manual doesn't make much sense. There are others where it does, and where it significantly improves the driving experience. There are still others where you could go either way, and see benefits and drawbacks from either transmission depending on your personal preferences and what you're buying the car to do.
As a society we are on the verge of self driving cars to get us everywhere, and many new cars have so much technology in them, you can't drive them and use the tech at the same time...at least not an old man like me. So I see why fun to drive cars where driving the car is the attraction will disappear in the next 25 years. It will lose out to the technology in terms of thing the operator would rather do. I don't know what percentage of the population can drive a manual anymore...but fast forward 25 years and the question will be can you drive a car that's not autonomous and it's likely going to be the same percentage.
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I generally know what I am taking my cars in for as I do most of the work myself. I took our Mazda in figuring I needed 4x pads and rotors and brake fluid flush and was too lazy to do it myself as Mazda brake and wheel parts fuse together with rust.
They called me and said it was just the rears that needed replacement and the fronts just need a good cleaning and service. Came in less than I thought and the were friendly and right on time.
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I generally know what I am taking my cars in for as I do most of the work myself. I took our Mazda in figuring I needed 4x pads and rotors and brake fluid flush and was too lazy to do it myself as Mazda brake and wheel parts fuse together with rust.
They called me and said it was just the rears that needed replacement and the fronts just need a good cleaning and service. Came in less than I thought and the were friendly and right on time.
Great thanks, maybe we will give the a shout since they are pretty close to home.
thanks!
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"You're worried about the team not having enough heart. I'm worried about the team not having enough brains." HFOil fan, August 12th, 2020. E=NG
This is obvious, but popular doesn't mean good. I doubt anyone here would suggest that outside of a few models (i.e., the new Z car) it makes business sense to sell a manual. But that doesn't mean the car wouldn't be better, from a driving perspective, if it had one. So this argument...
... is like judging the quality of a movie by how much it makes at the box office. I don't care if Transformers 2 pulled in a billion dollars, it's a piece of #### that I want no part of. Popular opinion is a poor basis for conclusions about what's good and what isn't, because, well, most people are kind of dumb. Or in this case, they mostly have different priorities when buying a vehicle.
I totally disagree. You haven't supported this conclusion at all. All you've done is give sales figures to show that the broader public don't actually want to buy manual versions of most cars, not that they don't "integrate well". There are plenty of cars where a manual doesn't make much sense. There are others where it does, and where it significantly improves the driving experience. There are still others where you could go either way, and see benefits and drawbacks from either transmission depending on your personal preferences and what you're buying the car to do.
What point he did make, is the Pareto rule, is narrowing. Only 10%, not 20, really know.
I absolutely love them, and will always buy one if it's an option in a performance car. Yes, now that means slower. But 0-60 in 3.4 vs 3.9.... the average duck will never tell the difference, and the drama associated with a manual, actually makes them feel faster.
But this is the disconnect... or should I say connect. Driving a manual car of any kind, makes you feel like you are part of the machine. In essence, you do become 'more' part of it, as the mechanical movement of your right arm and left leg, are essential for the car to operate. You have now become levers in the critical architecture of the powertrain.
They are awesome fun, and provide satisfaction if you are interested in the extra work.
As less and less young people get exposed to them less and less people will get to feel this satisfaction, and less will want the experience. I'm being very generous by saying maybe 1/10 people under the age of 25 now have driven or know how to drive a stick. I would actually think it's closer to 1/20.
It used to be a job requirement to know how to drive a stick to work in this business, now you just have to be prepared to either teach them on some old $100 beater trade-in. Or simply have someone drive the car for them that knows how. And I blame the parents. They should have been snapping up these totally rad manual transmission 4runners, Audi and BMW Wagons, Japanese Sedans, Taurus SHO's and anything else that required a little more effort. They could have learned and shared this driving joy, and kept the demand high enough for it to make sense to the manufacturers.
Now that pretty much all cars have just become designed by committee transportation appliances, the days of the reasonably priced, super fun car is dying out. In 20 years, we're all going to get in our automated, sterile, iCar 8 SE, update the operating system, and dig boogers out of our noses while liking pictures of desserts on insta-hologram.
And now, this same phenomena is slowly starting to hit the motorcycle world, which is an absolute travesty.
Last edited by pylon; 12-31-2020 at 01:24 PM.
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Driving down the road this week over the crappy residential streets and noticed a bit of a clanging/banging sound coming from front drivers side. Thought maybe it was just ice build up but as weather warmed it started to get worse.
Crawled underneath and see the problem. I think there is a front sway bar? Looks like it's connected to the frame with two clamps at two points(left side and right) and there are two bolts in each clamp. The bolts appear to have backed out on the drivers side and that sway bar is banging around over bumpy terrain.
Is that something I can just tighten back down good and tight or is there a torque setting to allow for some slippage?
Realistically, while there is a torque setting, you can just tighten torque them by hand a reasonable level. I think they use J Nuts, so don’t go crazy. Should probably clean the threads with a wire brush and use a bit of blue locktite when reinstalling.
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No, no…I’m not sloppy, or lazy. This is a sign of the boredom.
I'd tighten them up for now and in the spring replace the hardware and clamps. If you check the forums you can probably find the torque specs relatively easily.
