Like me, you may have noticed an alarming paucity of vehicles offering fully manual transmissions. Even sports-car stalwart Ferrari, of gated-shifter fame, isn’t providing a three-pedal option on the new 458 Italia. Equally distressing, I read in the Washington Post that our nation’s hard-texting youth have pronounced driving seriously lame, with only about 30 percent of 16-year-olds having acquired driving licenses as of 2008. I can’t help but think these things are related.

If folks learned to operate the entire car, not just the steering wheel and occasionally the brakes, I’d bet they’d like driving better. If they knew the sense of control imparted by that third pedal, I’d bet they would strive for its mastery. If they knew the excitement that accompanied a perfectly timed heel-toe downshift, I can guarantee they’d be hooked.

You know what we need? We need a crusade. We need to save the manuals! Not only are manual transmissions often more fuel-efficient than their two-pedal counterparts, you also can’t text while operating one. So let’s lobby carmakers to produce more of these things because they’re safer and more frugal, and let’s not tell them that they’re way more fun. Let’s train our offspring in the ancient ways of the stick shift. Let all of us knights of the clutch pedal drive our manual-equipped cars to Washington and pop ’em in front of Barry O’s house.

Won’t you join the cause? —Eddie Alterman of Car and Driver Magazine

XenoVibe wrote:

Tiptronic > Auto > Manual
STFU !! I WINZ >:O

Xeno is back. Hi, hi, hi. XD

AWDfreak wrote:



You can't drive a manual if all you've driven is an autotragic. Tiptronic/shiftable or not. There's nothing more satisfying than getting to know and understand your car with the clutch pedal...

XenoVibe wrote:



It was just a joke, half pint.. and TBH tiptronic is the best lol hence F1, F3, Indy 500 and alot of super cars using it. It can rev match and double clutch faster than humanly possible. Also Automatic / Power Glide have their merits and are superior to manual in certain motorsports.

What do you mean no manual? xD I had a manual '93 240sx S13 and im gettin an '87 200sx S12 tomorrow than swapping a manual SR20DET next month.

Besides theres cars like the Acura TL-S that is an automatic hydraulic transmission but still allows you to select shift points.
Anyways werent you 13 last time i talked to you :|