Is the Manual Transmission Dying Out?

[Bob Lee (QSC)]

those who have total manual transmission with clutch, at what RPM do you shift up for everyday get to work driving?

When the engine is cold I try to upshift always at less than 3000 rpm.

When the engine is warmed up I upshift at a low speed if I don't need to accelerate quickly, maybe 4000 or higher if I need or want to accelerate faster.

 

[Pilgrim]

those who have total manual transmission with clutch, at what RPM do you shift up for everyday get to work driving?

There is no correct answer. Where you shift depends on whether it's warmed up, the traffic situation, the power curve of your motor, and whether you're using the transmission to engine-brake in traffic or not. It's up to the operator to weigh all those factors. The one thing I would urge you to do is DO NOT lug it. Driving a stick at 1500 RPM is hard on the motor, especially if you're going uphill or otherwise imposing heavy load on the motor.

But - in my 1983 280ZX Turbo the power doesn't come on until 3K RPM. Therefore once it's warmed up, I don't upshift below 3K RPM or I have absolutely no power in the next gear. The power curve in that ZXT is from 3000-5500 RPM. The redline is higher, but there's no more power on tape after 5500 or so.

 

[Mike N]

those who have total manual transmission with clutch, at what RPM do you shift up for everyday get to work driving?

My daily driver ($200 Plymouth Colt) doesn't have a tach, and I don't watch the tach in the Elky. The sound of the engine tells me where to shift.

 

[Pilgrim]

Elky?

Does it have antlers and fur?

 

[pbasswil]

varunkapahi wrote:
those who have total manual transmission with clutch, at what RPM do you shift up for everyday get to work driving?

My daily driver ($200 Plymouth Colt) doesn't have a tach, and I don't watch the tach in the Elky. The sound of the engine tells me where to shift.

Yeah, once you're used to manual you don't think about when (at what RPM) to shift any more.

But when you're first learning stick, you do need some guidance. Your car's manual will probably give you RPM/gear suggestions, but then you'll have to adjust from there to suit the situation you're in.

First, in general terms: There is not one correct RPM to shift at. When your engine is turning fast, it gives you more power, but is noisier and uses more gas. Generally you want it going only as fast as you need to cruise or accelerate satisfactorily.

The sooner (the lower RPM) you shift up a gear, the more you save gas, but the lower your power and the slower you will accelerate. If you shift way too soon (not enough RPMs), the engine will labour or even stall.

When you're just learning, experiment with shifting at different RPM, observe what works for you -- and listen to how the engine sounds! (Keep the radio off while learning stick.)

If you need to quickly get out of a jam, or quickly accelerate to safely merge onto a freeway, then you can wait longer (and rev your RPMs higher) before shifting up a gear, and press the accelerator further down.

My tiny car goes right up to freeway speeds in 3rd; some won't. Listen to your engine, and when it starts sounding like an F1 Ferrari, you probably need to shift up right away! Super high RPM in a road car with regular oil will wear out your engine and your ears.

Anyway, those are some ideas.

- pw

 

[neurotictim]

But - in my 1983 280ZX Turbo the power doesn't come on until 3K RPM. Therefore once it's warmed up, I don't upshift below 3K RPM or I have absolutely no power in the next gear.

I had a 1985 300ZX Turbo 5-speed that I absolutely loved to drive - and the power curve on that thing didn't start till around 3K either. When the engine was warm, though, what a blast!

...Until you hit the ever-present Hampton Roads stop and go...

Very nice clutch on it, too - I dunno how many the car had seen, but the one in the car when I bought it (which was the same as when I sold it) was smooth and easy as butta.

 

[warwick.hoy]

Manuals will decrease. How am I supposed to change my underwear, shave, eat my breakfast, smoke my cigarette and talk on my cell phone if I have to shift gears.

Note that I own a manual and do not own a cell phone

 

[ADbassman]

Seeing as I don't take my Stratus out to the track, I really have no need for a manual. I can drive one well enough, it's just the speed limit really negates the necessity of the performance differences between a manual and a automatic. I don't really feel any "cooler" driving a manual either. Just feel like I'm doing more work than I need to when sitting in traffic on the highway.

 

[pbasswil]

Manuals will decrease. How am I supposed to change my underwear, shave, eat my breakfast, smoke my cigarette and talk on my cell phone if I have to shift gears.

Note that I own a manual and do not own a cell phone

:^)

I don't own a cell either. However, I habitually eat apples/pears/plums when driving, which I palm in my shifter hand while shifting with fingertips. I quite like the challenge. :^]

Haven't killed anyone so far; but there may be a few dirty, dried up cores lurking behind the pedals. ;^D

- pw

 

[A-Step-Towards]

dude get a used late 90's jeep . Like with basses buy cars used i got a 1998 jeep 5 speed with 60,000 miles for 6000$.

 

[fdeck]

My Scion has a stick, but I would prefer automatic. My enjoyment of driving simply isn't enhanced by stepping on a pedal and pushing a lever back and forth 1000 times.

 

[Mike N]

Elky?

Does it have antlers and fur?

No, but my buddy's Chevelle had antlers and fur after we clobbered a deer while doing 70 mph.

 

[thehangingmist]

There is no correct answer. Where you shift depends on whether it's warmed up, the traffic situation, the power curve of your motor, and whether you're using the transmission to engine-brake in traffic or not. It's up to the operator to weigh all those factors. The one thing I would urge you to do is DO NOT lug it. Driving a stick at 1500 RPM is hard on the motor, especially if you're going uphill or otherwise imposing heavy load on the motor.

But - in my 1983 280ZX Turbo the power doesn't come on until 3K RPM. Therefore once it's warmed up, I don't upshift below 3K RPM or I have absolutely no power in the next gear. The power curve in that ZXT is from 3000-5500 RPM. The redline is higher, but there's no more power on tape after 5500 or so.

My daily driver ($200 Plymouth Colt) doesn't have a tach, and I don't watch the tach in the Elky. The sound of the engine tells me where to shift.

Yeah, once you're used to manual you don't think about when (at what RPM) to shift any more.

But when you're first learning stick, you do need some guidance. Your car's manual will probably give you RPM/gear suggestions, but then you'll have to adjust from there to suit the situation you're in.

First, in general terms: There is not one correct RPM to shift at. When your engine is turning fast, it gives you more power, but is noisier and uses more gas. Generally you want it going only as fast as you need to cruise or accelerate satisfactorily.

The sooner (the lower RPM) you shift up a gear, the more you save gas, but the lower your power and the slower you will accelerate. If you shift way too soon (not enough RPMs), the engine will labour or even stall.

When you're just learning, experiment with shifting at different RPM, observe what works for you -- and listen to how the engine sounds! (Keep the radio off while learning stick.)

If you need to quickly get out of a jam, or quickly accelerate to safely merge onto a freeway, then you can wait longer (and rev your RPMs higher) before shifting up a gear, and press the accelerator further down.

My tiny car goes right up to freeway speeds in 3rd; some won't. Listen to your engine, and when it starts sounding like an F1 Ferrari, you probably need to shift up right away! Super high RPM in a road car with regular oil will wear out your engine and your ears.

Anyway, those are some ideas.

- pw

yeah the sound of the engine or the feel of the car tells me when to shift up or down, i was just asking to make sure i wasn't doing something crazy since i learnt to drive by my self more or less. so last time i really observed my rpm meter to check with everyone else but i agree on the fact that it depends on your car too. i usually shift up around a little below 3 and around 4 when i really want to go faster but mine is a 1.0L small car

 

[megadan]

I drive a stick and I do enjoy the better control, better milage, and 'fun' factor.


I generally use the clutch to slow down to but I'm trying to get out of that habit.

One other important aspect of the stick shift to me is the 'true' neutral - I do a lot of coasting with and without the engine on and it's far simply to have the shifter and clutch options for neutral. On our old van you couldn't see the gear selection lights when the engine was off (Old guitarist turned it off on me one day while driving down a twisty country road at speed, as a joke - no gear reference, no power steering or braking in an old minivan - ahh!)


On a side note, back in a high school a friend had a real POS car, a little ford breadbox, Fiesta maybe? Anyway one day both the brakes AND the E-brake went on the way to a friends house. His dad came and drove it home with no brakes at all, just shifting to slow and stop. Couldn't do that on an automatic!

My daily driver ($200 Plymouth Colt) doesn't have a tach, and I don't watch the tach in the Elky. The sound of the engine tells me where to shift.

Same, an RPM means nothing to me. I shift based on the sound of the engine and my speed, and what I'm trying to achieve.

 

[3506string]

My car has a shift light, which from what I understand is for best mileage but I didn't pay too much attention to it. I used the feel and sound of the car to shift. My shift light was set to really low rpm, I know when I get a little over 25mph it comes on to shift to 4th. My car had a pretty flat torque curve for everyday driving so I could keep my rpms pretty low driving around the city without bogging. I rarely had to stray into the fun zone 3500+rpm unless on an on ramp or something.

Just got the diagnosis back from the shop today and a $2204 estimate Apparently my car ran hot enough to melt the coil housing. Needless to say the headgasket was destroyed and there is a chance the block was cracked and I would bet money the head was warped beyond repair or cracked. Crazy thing is my temp gauge was hovering around half way when I felt the loss of power. Anyways it was a good run. I got 6 years and 90,000mi out of it before it started falling apart not bad for $4000. It held up pretty well but that blasted cooling system was its ultimate demise. I can't help feeling that this is all GM's famous dex-cools fault J/K

 

[L-A]

To those who voted "Production will decrease severely", do you mean for America, or do you include the rest of the world (Europe especially) ?

 

[tycobb73]

For all of you who downshift to stop, you better hope my blind, monoscope wearing butt isn't behind you as I rely on lights a lot to tell me what's happening.

 

[Nedmundo]

To those who voted "Production will decrease severely", do you mean for America, or do you include the rest of the world (Europe especially) ?

I meant for the U.S., because I expect the manual to remain in high production for other markets. But here, fewer and fewer choices are available with manual transmissions. Often, in a car available with four and six cylinder engines, the manual will be available only with the four, e.g. Honda Accord, Ford Fusion, Mazda 6, Acura TSX. And for some of those, it's very difficult to find a stick on a dealer lot, at least around here. The MT has almost disappeared from mainstream mid-sized cars in the U.S.

I recently went car shopping, and was shocked to find stick shifts were rare even on 3 Series BMWs. Across four dealers, there were only three, two of which were used. To me, that speaks volumes about the decline of the manual (and BMW's increasing popularity more for image than performance).

I also looked at, and eventually bought a 2010 Acura TSX with six-speed manual. It's another example of the MT's waning popularity. Apparently, when the new generation came out in 2009, Acura expected a 20% MT take rate. It was only 5%, so for 2010 two exterior colors were deleted for MT, and MT cars only come with one out of three interior colors (ebony). Again, declining choices.

But for me, MT is essential. Our other car is a Mazda 5 minivan, and even that has a stick. (It's an incredible gear-hauling machine too.) Some complain about stick shifts in the city, but I love it -- my machete for slashing through the urban jungle!

 

[MadMan118]

This country is getting lazier, and with that goes manual transmissions too. It's both sad and disgusting.

 

[burk48237]

In the US manuals are decreasing for a couple of reasons.

1) The trend toward SUV's and wagon type vehicles. Even the smaller SUV's (CRV's, Outbacks, Rav4's) are hard to find with manuals. Dealers don't want to get stuck with them, as they kill resale. A larger SUV is about impossible to find in a manual.

2) Safety, as more and more of us live in our cars with cell phones, GPS's and iPods, one more driving decision to make is too much of a pain. Driving while eating a MCsalad, doing our makeup, talking on the phones, setting our GPS's is hard enough, adding a shifter would put us in sanatoriums.

3) The nature of the business. In order to make money in the Auto business the companies are going to have to trim models and option packages. And since manuals are a tougher sell, they will be one option that gets severely limited.

4) The wealthy who are the only ones that can still afford most sports cars buy them more for status cymbals then actual driving pleasure. When that trophy wife passes you doing her make up, talking on the cell phone (see #2) driving a Vette, you can bet it's an auto. I have a good friend who was at Daimler Chrysler when the Mercedes SLK230 came out and they offered a special lease deal to employees. He couldn't get a manual, that was two seat "sports car". He told me only about 20% of their sales of that two seater were manuals.

I've owned several 2 door sport coupes from Acura, BMW, and VW in my life, all were 5 speeds (pre six speed). If I could afford a second fun vehicle it would definitely be manual. But I need space for samples, most of my friends need space for child seats, and the vehicles with space make much more sense in an auto.