My feelings, exactly.

BUT, a guy I know and trust, who also likes a standard, told me that the automatic transmission s out now will actually out pull a standard.
No, not ALL the automatic transmission s, but they are out there.
Me? I just like changing gears. I miss vent windows, kick panel vents.
The guy I mentioned has a Ram, diesel, firrst gear, come off the clutch easy and roll, no gas.

With all the smart phones, fast foods and a babe in the front seat can't see how anybody has an extra hand to shift a manual anymore.
Automatics are the best thing that have happened to distracted drivers.
Miss a good 4 speed on the back of a worked chevy 350.

For many years, the cars I liked to race, the only option for holding power was a standard.
Now there are new clutch packs and mods to run full line pressure. People have even hacked the TCU to change shift points and use different maps for racing or for street use on the fly.

Having driven both down the drag strip I'll take a standard. There's no challenge with an auto. You mash the pedal and then sit there. Where's the fun in that?


--Steve

Pine wrote on 06/24/15 at 06:04:02:



Man, ain't a thing wrong with downshifting a truck. As long as you slip into neutral, goose it to synch , clutch, shift, and, off the clutch. Lots quicker and easier on the synchronizers. Works on a five speed Mack, heck, no clutch on a lot of shifts.
In fact, I drove from a location pulling a oilfield trailer..18 wheeler, sitting out in the nowheres, I was last out, stepped on the clutch and something broke.. years before cell phones, Got air up, pushed the buttons, pulled the kill and jerked it into gear, shoved in the kill and mashed the gas.
Fun drive back to town.
Those trucks took such a beating.

Australia has some really nice little pickups. But, we can't get those, either.
And importing to them is awful , too. Sell an Aussie a modern bike and import tariffs will eat it up.

But, heres some of why we dont get what we want.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_tax

I, too, just prefer a standard. I feel like im actually the equipment operator.

justin_o_guy2 wrote on 07/03/15 at 07:41:07:


It's amazing how few people know about this.  Then again, most people don't want to drive a small pickup truck, but this is the reason they no longer exist in the US.  I guess part of it is lack of demand, but you can't tell me there aren't millions of lawn guys out there that wouldn't like the option.  Especially when gas goes up to $4 a gallon.

Driving my cage ('05 Sentra 1.8L 4) on the freeways of Dallas, an experience akin to being a duck in a shooting gallery, I love my auto o/d transmission. I can keep full attention on the madness around me with hands on the wheel. The way I drive I get crazy good mileage, too. It is a fantastic, trouble-free car.

But the car has power windows, with no option even back  in 2005 for manual roll-ups. They work perfectly. But they will betray me some day, and it will be raining, and it will be on a Sunday. Me no like-ey.

For many years I drove a '64 F100 pickup, three on the tree, with a clutch spring so hard that after an hour of stop and go traffic my left leg was trembling like a beaten dog. My left leg was so big I walked lopsided. And driving with a Big Gulp, lighting a cigarette with the phone ringing could be a challenge. That was enough manual truck trans for me.

But I believe in freedom of choice, so Ford, give these guys a manual!