Row your own gears.

[Jesda]

https://autos.yahoo.com/blogs/motoramic ... 33483.html

Adoption of manual transmissions has grown ever so slightly.

[Ajax]

saw this yesterday; really hope they start making a comeback. Eventually my Protege5 will give out and I'll have to buy another used car- don't want to have to search 3 states to find a decent 5 speed.

[SX APPEAL]

Glimmer of hope... I'll always own at least 1 MT vehicle though, even if that leaves me buying 2015 models in 2045.

[OriginalWheelman]

[Looneybomber]

It's easier to find an STD-free sorority girl than a fun, fuel efficient, RWD car with a MT, and that graph explains why.

[themadscientist]

It doesn't matter what people want. The auto manufacturers are convinced they know us better. Some are closer than others, but they all believe in themselves more than they should.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

Who the hell makes a CVT truck?!?!

[MinisterofDOOM]

Who the hell makes a CVT truck?!?!

Remember, the EPA's definition of "truck" is about as useful as a Ray Charles' definition of the color red. They probably consider the XV CrossTrek to be a truck. And minivans. And the Murano. And somebody's shoe. And the grime in my kitchen sink. All the same thing, really.

[Rogue One]

Who the hell makes a CVT truck?!?!

Remember, the EPA's definition of "truck" is about as useful as a Ray Charles' definition of the color red. They probably consider the XV CrossTrek to be a truck. And minivans. And the Murano. And somebody's shoe. And the grime in my kitchen sink. All the same thing, really.

Nissan's NV200 would probably be classified as a truck, and it has a CVT.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

Remember, the EPA's definition of "truck" is about as useful as a Ray Charles' definition of the color red.

I LOL'd.

Nissan's NV200 would probably be classified as a truck, and it has a CVT.

I was under the assumption this graph was for US sales, but I guess I could be wrong. I would think global market share of manuals would be higher.

Even still, that bad boy comes with a 5 speed

[Ajax]

Even still, that bad boy comes with a 5 speed

Okay, as ugly as that may be, if I had a need to haul stuff, I'd consider driving that.
Hey question- right-hand drive vehicles with manuals- are the pedals in the same position- left foot=clutch? And the transmission gates- lower gears on the left? I've never driven one so I'm curious.

[numbnuts240]

everything is the same, just on the wrong side of the car

[Dattebayo]

Even still, that bad boy comes with a 5 speed

Hey, wow. I'd drive that too. It's just what I'd need to replace the truck with that could still get in and out of tight spaces like short garages downtown...

What is that thing?

[numbnuts240]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlQz6I7E ... autoNissan[/youtube]

[Dattebayo]

A half-ton 1.6 liter?

[MinisterofDOOM]

Who the hell makes a CVT truck?!?!

Even weirder is the distinction of L vs A. L means an auto with a lockup TC. Who still makes lockupless Automatics?! Notably, there don't appear to me any with greater than 4 gears, so I'm assuming this is for entry-level commercial-purposed vehicles or something.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

A half-ton 1.6 liter?

Or a 1.5l diesel!

[lne937s]

Who the hell makes a CVT truck?!?!

Even weirder is the distinction of L vs A. L means an auto with a lockup TC. Who still makes lockupless Automatics?! Notably, there don't appear to me any with greater than 4 gears, so I'm assuming this is for entry-level commercial-purposed vehicles or something.

What? I don't think you all are reading the chart correctly. The far right hand side represents current day. Almost all automatics are lockup, with most of them being 6 speeds. And this is EPA vehicle classifications: the Pathfinder, Rogue, Murano, Juke, Forester, XV Crosstrek, NV200 (NYC Taxi), etc. are all classified as CVT trucks.

Similar to records versus digital audio, I have a feeling that manuals will retain a sliver of the market that prefers them. Seems to be stabilizing a bit around 5%. However, I have a feeling if the economy begins to stagger that the people who opt for this personal preference may decline slightly despite the typically lower price for manuals.

[MinisterofDOOM]

What? I don't think you all are reading the chart correctly. The far right hand side represents current day. Almost all automatics are lockup, with most of them being 6 speeds. And this is EPA vehicle classifications: the Pathfinder, Rogue, Murano, Juke, Forester, XV Crosstrek, NV200 (NYC Taxi), etc. are all classified as CVT trucks.

From the article accompanying the chart:

These charts from the EPA's report show the production shares of transmissions going back to 1980. The numbers are the gears; the letters "L" and "A" are for automatics, with "L" standing for those with a lockup torque converter, the standard in most vehicles. The green section for "M" shows how modern five-speed manuals peaked around 1987 for cars at 25 percent and in 1990 for trucks at roughly 30 percent, before the great decline set in. (Four- and three-speed manuals had been on the way out long before.)

And then, right there on the right side in the span covering the last 5 years, is a blip labelled "A6" meaning a non-lockup 6AT.

[lne937s]

What? I don't think you all are reading the chart correctly. The far right hand side represents current day. Almost all automatics are lockup, with most of them being 6 speeds. And this is EPA vehicle classifications: the Pathfinder, Rogue, Murano, Juke, Forester, XV Crosstrek, NV200 (NYC Taxi), etc. are all classified as CVT trucks.

From the article accompanying the chart:

These charts from the EPA's report show the production shares of transmissions going back to 1980. The numbers are the gears; the letters "L" and "A" are for automatics, with "L" standing for those with a lockup torque converter, the standard in most vehicles. The green section for "M" shows how modern five-speed manuals peaked around 1987 for cars at 25 percent and in 1990 for trucks at roughly 30 percent, before the great decline set in. (Four- and three-speed manuals had been on the way out long before.)

And then, right there on the right side in the span covering the last 5 years, is a blip labelled "A6" meaning a non-lockup 6AT.

I see what you are referring to now... As the blip is not visible on the chart (signifying very small fractions of a percent), it probably refers to a one-off product or perhaps a manufacturer reporting error.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

Maybe they are DCTs. Dual Clutch autos.

[lne937s]

Maybe they are DCTs. Dual Clutch autos.

I found the study... You're right. Starting at page # 73

Dual clutch transmissions are relatively new to the light duty vehicle market. DCTs are essentially automatic transmissions that operate internally much more like traditional manual transmissions. The two main advantages of DCTs are that they can shift very quickly and they can avoid some of the internal resistance of a traditional automatic transmission by eliminating the torque converter. Currently, automaker submissions to EPA do not explicitly identify DCTs as a separate transmission category. Thus, the introduction of DCTs shows up in Tables 5.3.1 through 5.3.3 as a slight increase in automatic transmissions without torque converters (although some DCTs may still be reported as traditional automatic transmissions). EPA’s long-term goal is to improve DCT data collection, and transmission classifications in general, and to be able to quantify DCTs in future Trends reports.

http://epa.gov/fueleconomy/fetrends/197 ... r14023.pdf

Pertaining to the topic of the post:

In MY 1980, automatic transmissions, on average, had fewer gears than manual transmissions. However, automatic transmissions have added gears faster than manual transmissions and now the average automatic transmission has more gears than the average manual transmission. There has also been a large shift away from manual transmissions. Manual transmission production peaked in MY 1980 at nearly 35% of production, and has since fallen to 3.5% in MY 2013. Today, manual transmissions are used primarily in small vehicles, some sports cars, and a few pickups.

[SX APPEAL]

Anyone who's driven a new corvette with the 7MT will understand the difficulty of adding more gears to a traditional manual trans. 1-4 work just fine, but 5,6 and 7 are just a hair dodgier to find, especially if shifting quickly. Coming down from 7th, you're never really 100% sure if you're going to land in 6th or 4th lol. IMO 6 is about the max you should have in a traditional H-pattern MT. My team leader when I worked in chevy service (got to do a lot of pre-delivery inspections on C7 vette's ) cracked me up one time. I said "I can kinda understand getting the auto with these new vette's since the manual is a little tricky from 5th, 6th and 7th." And without missing a beat, he replied "Yeah, especially if you're trying to hold a beer!" Sometimes I miss chevy.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

Or you could just do what MGB used to do with their 4 speeds (that essentially made them a 6 speed manual) - add a switch-operated overdrive gear, or 2nd gear rear end like a semi.
Boom, your 6 speed becomes a 12 speed.

[Looneybomber]

Anyone who's driven a new corvette with the 7MT will understand the difficulty of adding more gears to a traditional manual trans. 1-4 work just fine, but 5,6 and 7 are just a hair dodgier to find, especially if shifting quickly. Coming down from 7th, you're never really 100% sure if you're going to land in 6th or 4th lol.

Better than the infamous 5-2 downshift in the S2000's. That will ruin you day...loved that transmission though.