Is it time to say goodbye to the manual transmission?

No. I mean only if you want mass depression and soulless commuting devices. 

Never, when those fancy electron and software powered devices get old and crusty they will become spectacular boat anchors.  A box of gears and a dry clutch will just need a little love to make it another 100k.

Not to mention how they really help to depreciate an older classic.  Who is lining up to buy a ten to fifteen year old DSG vs Manual trans car?  I won't even look at them.

Are they faster and better out of the box, yes, can I afford to keep up, no.  That is a me problem YMMV.  

TLDR: DSG's and the like are better than manuals, but only available on a select few vehicles.

For me, there are times I prefer a manual and times where an automatic makes sense.  A cheap little econobox or something sporty, I'd prefer a manual.  A luxury sedan or a truck, automatic all the way.

Why?  I just feel more connected to the car with a manual and believe I can make better decisions on the right gear than the car can.  I'll admit it's probably not true, and it's totally just my perception.

Do I think manuals will eventually go away?  It's possible as the technology improves and becomes cheaper.  In the early days of paddle shift, lap times were often shown to be faster in a paddle shift instead of a manual.  So, the proof is there that a good paddle shift/automatic transmission will beat a manual every time.  The challenge then (and still today in some ways) is that a paddle shift automatic like that is a high end car option. Sure, a Nissan Versa may have paddle shifters or slap stick, but they don't perform nearly as well as a DSG, or even as well as a manual does. 

If/when the same technology and performance in your DSG is available on pretty much anything, I could see manuals going away.  I don't see that happening, however, as manufacturers are moving towards CVT's instead of "normal" gears.  (Ignoring the fact that the market doesn't buy manual transmission cars anymore, so there's a smaller incentive to even make them)

-Rob

What an incendiary headline. 

The answer is No and whatever anyone else says as a counter is wrong. 

CVTs are terrible. 10 speeds are meh. DCTs are a good in between but nothing will ever replace the driving experience with a proper manual. I get that some manual boxes are dog doo doo but,  have you ever driven a buttery smooth Honda 6-speed in anger? Such an amazing experience. It sure as hell beats clicking a paddle on the back of the steering wheel. 

Since I'm also a youngin, I'll weigh in with my 2 cents.

• Are manuals really fun to drive? Yes.
• Does a manual offer a unique driving experience? Yes.
• Do I want to daily drive a car with a manual? Absolutely no.

In all the years I've been driving, there have only been a handful of times where I thought to myself "This would be a better experience if the car I was driving had a manual transmission."

EDIT: It's definitely "weigh" and "way" in this instance. That's what I get for writing in a hurry.

Bringing this over from the other thread...

In our other thread on manuals, I talk about this "driver involvement" crap. If that's all it takes to be a driver or get enjoyment out of a car, put a shifter and clutch pedal on your easy chair at home and get all the driver involvement/enjoyment you want, since that's all that equals "driving" to you. Oh, there's more to it than that? My point exactly. In fact, I'd posit that steering, braking, and accelerating are MORE important to the control/enjoyment of a car than a manual transmission. Go out to your car (and I'll let you start it up). Don't touch any control except the clutch and gear lever (not the steering wheel, not the brake pedal, not the accelerator pedal) and see how far down the road you get.

Manual transmissions were a mechanically necessary part of making a car move. ICE engines need to have multiple gear ratios in order to accelerate and cruise, by staying in the powerband. But they WILL stall at a stop in gear and not be able to accelerate FROM a stop unless you allow a way to decouple the engine from the transmission, and allow slippage to get moving. So you need a clutch (or torque converter in an automatic). Electric motors need none of that. They don't "idle." They don't "stall." You can come to a stop in gear and accelerate from a stop without slipping anything. Adding a manual transmission to an EV is the height of stupid engineering just to keep some clueless "enthusiasts" placated. And FAKING a manual trans is even worse (looking at you, Toyota).

But manual transmissions were not the only thing necessary to make early ICE vehicles move. You needed manual cranking to get the engine started, manual spark advance/retard to start, then run it, manual chokes to make the carb work right, etc. Why aren't you demanding all that in a car these days? Why get stuck on that shifter as the ONE thing that defines driving and enjoyment to you? I'm getting so tired of closed minded "enthusiasts" who won't give a car a chance, especially something like (the GTI EV), because of some primitive hang-up.

These are massive fun and don't have shifters at all...

oooh and they are EVs, too...

In reply to Colin Wood :

*weigh* 

I have not NOT had a manual trans daily since..... um..... 1998? That was only because 9C1's were only offered in auto (700R4). Since then it's been a slew of 3 pedal cars and I would have it no other way.  

Colin Wood said:

Since I'm also a youngin, I'll way in with my 2 cents.

• Are manuals really fun to drive? Yes.
• Does a manual offer a unique driving experience? Yes.
• Do I want to daily drive a car with a manual? Absolutely no.

In all the years I've been driving, there have only been a handful of times where I thought to myself "This would be a better experience if the car I was driving had a manual transmission."

Almost every car I've ever driven, I could argue the point on how it would be infinitely better with a manual. Especially rental beaters. 

I do agree that manual transmissions are in a lot of cases more fun than an automatic. My first car was a Chevy Cavalier with a manual. If that car had an automatic it would have been super boring to drive. With the manual it was fun, well as much fun as a completely stock Cavalier could be. 

But from a performance standpoint new automatics and dual clutch autos, but not CVTs, are hard to argue against, just look at the lap times from our testing at the FIRM. 

However if you gave me the keys to a Miata with a manual and the same car with an automatic to drive I would have a hard time not picking the manual transmission for pure fun factor. 

In reply to ChrisTropea :

Not just fun factor but longevity as well. The Forte GT comes with the 7-spd DCT. It's faster. But it's more fragile, which is the case in a lot of these. Manual transmissions are rarely fragile (except Subaru... we're lookign at you WRX) and will hold up for hundreds of thousands of miles with a simple fluid change every few years. Show me an auto that you can replace 2.5 qyarts of fluid once every 100k and it lasts for 300k miles. I am sure there are a few examples but they are the exception and not the rule.