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Visitors to the upcoming Los Angeles Auto Show will see supercars, hoverboards, self-propelling luggage and all manner of new transportation options.
But they'll be hard pressed to find a clutch pedal or a stick shift. Available in nearly half of new models in the U.S. a decade ago, the manual transmission is going the way of the rumble seat, with stick availability falling to about a quarter this year.
Once standard equipment on all motor vehicles, preferred for its dependability, fuel efficiency and sporty characteristics, the four-on-the-floor is disappearing from major car manufacturers' lineups — and subsequently from the sprawling auto show's floors.
Consider, too, that electric vehicles don't even have a transmission.
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The Disappearing Stick Shift: Less Than 3% of Cars Sold in the U.S. Have Manual Transmissions
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(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 18 2016, @06:03AM
The real killer of fuel efficiency is wasted braking. It kills your brake pads, too. Some drivers seem to think they must either be accelerating or braking at all times. The idea of maintaining a constant speed, or slowly decelerating by coasting, or just maintaining a reasonable distance behind the car in front so they don't need to react abruptly to every little thing that happens, just doesn't seem to ever occur to them.
Of course, the little indicator light on the dashboard that tells you if your driving meets with the approval of the car's computer, does not have anything to say about this. It only complains if you accelerate too hard, or go too fast.
I have read somewhere that the best way to improve the fuel efficiency of the average driver is to put a real-time live MPG readout right in front of them, so they can actually learn what in their driving style impacts fuel efficiency. I know Toyota does this, although you can select lots of other things to display on that readout. Other manufacturers have the same information but put it in silly places. My Dodge Ram, for example, has the MPG readout in the ceiling, near the dome lights.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 18 2016, @09:07AM
It's called a Honda.
The newer Hyundai's have it too.
(Score: 2) by Pslytely Psycho on Friday November 18 2016, @11:08AM
"I have read somewhere that the best way to improve the fuel efficiency of the average driver is to put a real-time live MPG readout right in front of them."
I set my '95 Vettes fuel monitor to that once. It just made me cry.
In all seriousness however, I use that setting frequently, and it really does make a difference. Over the last year I have owned it I have improved my overall average about .9 mpg. I averaged 13.6 city with a short highway stretch to work originally, and it currently stands at 14.5 as I get ready to bed it for the winter.
On road trips I averaged about 25.2 and never managed to improve that, but freeway travel is pretty consistent compared to the city and I was a pretty decent driver to begin with.
I used it in my Freightliner as well, but, never managed to make a significant improvement as driving a truck is far different than a car. You go full throttle going uphill in a semi, and use your gears to control torque going uphill and gears and snub braking to control downhill, so it is much more difficult to improve on if you are a relatively smooth driver to begin with.
On-topic: I am saddened by the demise of the manual transmission. I personally love them and the majority of my vehicles over the years had every thing from three-on-the-tree to 18. I know automatics have improved to the point that reliability and performance are near-equal, but I'll always have an affinity for that 1959 two toned brown Rambler coupe I learned to drive in three feet of snow in 1975.
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