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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: 2) by bob_super on Friday November 18 2016, @06:33PM
I drive a subcompact (nissan Versa). The gear ratio in 5th is about 20MPH per thousand RPM. For long distance, having a longer 6th to let the engine run around 2500rpm would be a lot less noisy than my current 3500rpm, and would reduce wear and tear and gas mileage (not complaining about almost 40, but I'll take any improvement). I would have to drop back to 5th on hills, given the torque, but that's not a major sacrifice.
Quite a few recent econoboxes got a 6-gear box so they can feel peppy despite small engines, and still have decent mileage/comfort on the highway. Mine isn't one of those.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 18 2016, @07:02PM
If you ever wear out a set of tires on your Versa, switch to somewhat larger diameter tires. Will move all your gears up a little bit. Every little bit helps...and there are a lot of choices in tire size.
Years ago with a chain drive motorcycle, I installed a larger front sprocket. The result was that 4th became an overdrive. Thus it went about the same top speed in both 3rd and 4th gears (about 110 mph), but much more relaxed cruising in 4th/high gear. I sacrificed some acceleration in 1st gear, but there was still plenty so that wasn't a problem for me.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Friday November 18 2016, @08:41PM
I tried when I finally got rid of the original tires (don't expect to need new ones for a while). Even figured out the right tires to not have to buy new rims.
The problem is that legitimate shops in California all told me that they are not supposed to put tires over 3% bigger than stock, and actually did the math to be sure. I would guess it's for tachometer calibration reasons. So I still have tiny 14" ones and just try to ignore the engine noise.