THSCC Forums

An interesting read from CNN Money. The #1 on the list made me shiver... say it ain't so! Some of the other stuff makes you go "yeah, I can see that happening...."

http://www.money.cnn.com/gallery/autos/ ... ?hpt=hp_t3

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Rodney

'08 Bullitt mustang, CAM 7
Autox VP '09-'10, President '11-'12, interim President 2nd half of ‘14
proud recipient of the Bowie Grey service award '12
Now just a guy driving a mustang....

I knew manuals were becoming extinct but <4% of all cars sold in the last decade? Ouch.

Half of the stuff on that list was either well on its way out or gone before I was born. Full size spares? Hinged vent windows? Hard top Convertibles? Is this supposed to be a retro piece written from the perspective of 1979?

I agree on some of that. When I read the part about the hinged vent windows and hard top convertible (no "B" pillar), I thought "seriously?" It really has maybe been decades since I have seen that. Then there was this quote about keys...

"when was the last time you saw an external keyhole anywhere on a car?"

ok, again, seriously? How about earlier today in my new 2013 car and frankly likely all of the other cars in the parking garage?

I knew that the manual transmission is on it's last gasp. I have started teaching my oldest how to drive and we started with a manual. I am proud to say she didn't stall the first time. Then again, the clutch in the Fit is so easy it's hard to stall it.

Richard

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Richard Casto
1972 Porsche 914
2013 Honda Fit Sport
2015 Honda Fit EX
http://motorsport.zyyz.com
Money can't buy happiness, but somehow it's more comfortable to cry in a Porsche than a Kia.

I'm surprised leaded fuel isn't on that list.

Carburetors will be on the list in a few years.

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2001 Honda S2000 - SOLD
2012 Boss 302
2003 BMW 330i

I hope automakers and the general public will eventually realize that touch screens are an impractical interface and return to providing tactile controls. Maybe when all the tesla s's are crashed while people play angry birds on the center console...

I think leaded is gone (maybe not in a handful of countries?). I think carburetors should be on that list now (the being "going away soon). Is any major manufacture building new cars with carburetors?

Other items on my list...

* A/C as an option
* Traditional throttle cable (move to drive by wire)
* Traditional distributor and plug wires (move to coil on plug)
* Sub 2000 lb car.
* Analog style gauges other than fuel, rpm and speed. (more idiot lights or pure digital in a cluster)
* Stability control that is not part of the standard package.
* Throttle body or port fuel injection (I think we may move to 100% direct injection faster than people think)

I think some older tech will live on for awhile in commercial vehicles, light trucks, etc. I think many things will show up in the lower end vehicles (drive by wire throttle for example) as manufacturers just design engines that can be used in multiple vehicles. So they will build to the higher spec.

Richard

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Richard Casto
1972 Porsche 914
2013 Honda Fit Sport
2015 Honda Fit EX
http://motorsport.zyyz.com
Money can't buy happiness, but somehow it's more comfortable to cry in a Porsche than a Kia.

We still use leaded fuel in small piston powered airplanes, at least those that don't have an auto fuel STC.

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92 Miata 1.9L naturally aspirated. SSM 21

Actually, I heard that Ford is bringing back the radio knobs for just that reason. It's easier to reach over and feel a knob (ok, open door) and keep your eyes on the road vs looking at a touch screen menu. Nothing tactile about a touch screen.

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Rodney

'08 Bullitt mustang, CAM 7
Autox VP '09-'10, President '11-'12, interim President 2nd half of ‘14
proud recipient of the Bowie Grey service award '12
Now just a guy driving a mustang....

I don't think manufacturers are allowed to use carbs any more. Can't do the emissions requirements with them. I think they were supposed to go away in motorcycles before now, but they've delayed it some (most are gone at this point, though).

And Ford finally figured out the knob thing?!?

We looked at an Edge a few months ago, but some of the options we wanted would have required the Sync business which not only used a touchscreen but all the controls UNDER the touchscreen were a smooth panel of "buttons" that were just like a touchscreen. So you still had to LOOK at them to find them. We couldn't take that. Ended up getting a CPO 2010 X5d instead (were interested in the Edge for the Ecoboost for the mileage, but the X5d ended up better in that department anyway).

Long live buttons and knobs.


--Donnie

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My Blog

If they electrified them (to the touch), would that be tactile enough?

I haven't had to deal with one of the touch screens yet. So far, so good. I found the three rotary knob HVAC control arrangement popular in the 90's to be ideal. You don't have to look at it to operate it. Ditto for the two knobs+5 preset buttons+AM/FM slider radio in my first Mustang. The 47-look-alike-push-button HVAC controls on my '12 Fusion (located really low, next to my right knee) are pretty awful, but at least I have a separate 26-look-alike-push-button interface for the radio. Still, those 73 buttons are less likely to cause me to crash than a touch screen.

Wing vents. Love them. Miatas have a little quarter window next to the A-pillar that ought to be a wing vent.

Death of the manual transmission -- it is disheartening to think that even Ferrari has stopped offering them in its newer models. Sure, the flappy paddles are faster, but where's the fun if there's no possibility of failure to match revs on a downshift? (A few weeks ago a friend invited to drive his brand-new SBY Laguna Seca. If I had tried a heel-toe downshift, there was the ever-so-tiny possibility of, shall we say, abusing the privilege. No rev matching that day. Nevertheless, the car sounded and looked fabulous.)

Once all of the manual transmission cars are gone, I'm going to buy big Buick, or perhaps a Geely, and hire one of you drive me to the grocery store, drug store, senior citizen's center, doctor's appointments, and Tarheel Telsa Sports Car Club (THTSCC) meetings.

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Art McDonald
Premier Amateur #518
2008 Dishman Cup
Pivot Cone Snob

Rodney is a waxer (but in a good way)

I've yet to drive an automated manual car that I would enjoy owning. Then again, I've not driven the 991 GT3 nor any Ferrari with them. All of them create a best guess of how to engage the clutch based on a very low fidelity input from you -- the throttle position and rate of change. Herein lies the problem for daily driving, parking lots, drive-thru lines, creeping traffic, trying to drive the car up onto ramps, etc.

When I was hunting for this non-sunroof M3, I kept coming across cars with the DCT, and while it is extremely fast shifting and a blast to drive on a track, besides giving up the involvement of a manual, you give up the ability to control the car to your desires in situations like I mentioned above. It's either slipping the clutch too much, or it errs by underestimating what you want, so you give it a bit more throttle and then whoa way too much response, so you back out of it or hit the brakes, etc, while just trying to negotiate low speed daily stuff. Since all these things can't read your mind nor see what you are trying to achieve, they can only go by the throttle position and rate of change with perhaps g-sensor sensing. It leaves open a whole realm of undesired outcomes that make you simply want a clutch pedal. Or maybe it's just me? Well, add my wife to that set also as I knew better than to get DCT in the M3 since she would seriously hate driving it (she's driven a manual forever and loves it).

The one thing you do get with these automated manual gearboxes is a hugely increased rate of failure to a previous extremely reliable portion of the drivetrain. I guess that's good for tow truck operators and mechanics.

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Current stable:
2019 BMW M2 Competition slicktop 6MT
2011 BMW M3 sedan slicktop 6MT
2007 BMW 328i wagon (slushbox for now)
1975 CanAm 125MX2

the bmw 335d and the audi quattro tt v6 i think both have paddle shifters. Most heavy equipment is automatic, or semi automatic. While I do miss stick shifts, its a dying art.. The newest cars are touch shift, my mothers bmw 528i is the tiptronic auto.. its fun.

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