Plenty of life left in the manual gearbox, says Volkswagen

Started by le mans, July 19, 2019, 06:34:01 AM

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brian

I simply cannot understand why autos are so much to the fore here.
Is the demand driving autos or is the lack of choice imposing them on the market? More profit in a speced up auto could be on driver.
Škoda Fabia 1.0 TSI Race Blue

RobClubley

Autos are much more pleasant in stop/start traffic, especially with radar cruise engaged. But given the choice I'd suffer the morning commute in a manual just for the thrill of changing my own gears when I'm on the open road.
1985 ur quattro
1992 Ford Courier - the sensible daily

brian

I agree that in stop/start traffic an auto is easier but are we to assume from the Euro figures that they do not have stop/start traffic.............there has to be more than that to the uptake, or not.
Škoda Fabia 1.0 TSI Race Blue

80 Vert

Its quite simple, cellphone age. (before hands free of course)
Other than that its just laziness and lack of ability to drive.
Manuals are hugely popular in Europe, gridlock or not.
No great surprise the article mentions not to count on any coming here.
2010 T5 Transporter TDI  Tuned by Superior Tuning NZ
2003 Jetta Coupe soon to be R36TT
1991 Golf GTI 2.0 TSI swapped
1963 Type 34 Karmann Ghia, turbo 2.0
1990 Porsche 964 911 Carrera 4
1980 1303 Beetle vert, under restoration

Naekyr

Quote from: brian on July 19, 2019, 08:55:25 AM
I simply cannot understand why autos are so much to the fore here.
Is the demand driving autos or is the lack of choice imposing them on the market? More profit in a speced up auto could be on driver.

You must live in a small rural town with no traffic.

Because driving in Auckland or Wellington with a manual is a nightmare.

Even driving with a DSG auto in Auckland traffic is not fun.

The reason for having so many autos for sale is not the lack of choice for the consumer, it's the lack of demand leading to suppliers not importing manuals because they don't sell fast enough.

80 Vert

I don't own any auto or dsg at all. No issues driving manual in traffic.
2010 T5 Transporter TDI  Tuned by Superior Tuning NZ
2003 Jetta Coupe soon to be R36TT
1991 Golf GTI 2.0 TSI swapped
1963 Type 34 Karmann Ghia, turbo 2.0
1990 Porsche 964 911 Carrera 4
1980 1303 Beetle vert, under restoration

slowburn

99 B5 S4 Avant
85 coupe quattro
72 fiat 124 coupe
97 corolla wagon

brian

Quote from: Naekyr on July 19, 2019, 01:26:08 PM
You must live in a small rural town with no traffic.

Because driving in Auckland or Wellington with a manual is a nightmare.

Even driving with a DSG auto in Auckland traffic is not fun.

The reason for having so many autos for sale is not the lack of choice for the consumer, it's the lack of demand leading to suppliers not importing manuals because they don't sell fast enough.
I would refer you to my earlier comment, is there no traffic in Europe?
Škoda Fabia 1.0 TSI Race Blue

le mans

I've been driving manuals in Auckland traffic for 17 years, I don't find it a drama at all. There is a different mentality in NZ to Europ it seems (I'm a kiwi by the way). My thinking is manual = more engaging, more reliable, less maintenance, cheaper purchase cost. Dual mass flywheels and light, modern clutches make them a breeze to drive. I guess most new drivers are no longer licensed to drive them?

dummer

Quote from: le mans on July 19, 2019, 03:17:21 PM
I've been driving manuals in Auckland traffic for 17 years, I don't find it a drama at all. There is a different mentality in NZ to Europ it seems (I'm a kiwi by the way). My thinking is manual = more engaging, more reliable, less maintenance, cheaper purchase cost. Dual mass flywheels and light, modern clutches make them a breeze to drive. I guess most new drivers are no longer licensed to drive them?
Not sure about the Dual mass flywheels

Naekyr

Quote from: brian on July 19, 2019, 01:53:54 PM
I would refer you to my earlier comment, is there no traffic in Europe?

Do you have a source that shows most cars in europe are manuals?

I don't really understand it, there must be an underlying reason. I know Europe is super anal about car emissions and from what I've reading manuals emit fewer emissions than auto boxes, so that could be one of the reasons?

le mans

Possibly not now but 6 years ago I was walking along a lane of parked cars in France and 9 out of 10 were manuals. All the taxis we caught in Europe on that trip were manual. Anecdotally it was chalk and cheese to the NZ fleet.

rambo_005

I live in London and regularly travel to different parts of Europe. Auto transmissions seem to be reserved for large and luxury type cars over here. I can't tell you why, but manual shifting appears to be the unquestioned norm and everyone seems to manage just fine.

VW'n

Does it have anything to do with jap imports?
I recall someone telling me that most cars in Japan are auto, hense the trend towards auto started when the bulk of our second hand cars started coming from Japan??
06 B6 Passat Wagon 2L Turbo (Family Wagon)
87 Mk2 Golf silver (the toy)
95 mk3 gti rusty ABF (Sold)
86 Mk2 Golf red (sold)
89 Mk2 Golf blue (sold)
85 Mk2 Golf GTI silver (parted)

Trofeo

I was surprised to find our 5008 hire car in Portugal was a manual. Must say having to change gear with the wrong hand and navigate a foreign city while staying right was interesting. You get used to it quickly, but it seems an unnecessary addition to hire cars. Maybe they make more from insurance claims than rentals.
2015 Amarok 4WD auto
2018 Golf R-Line Tsi

user2154

300k km never have to change a clutch plate.. also stop start traffic auto for the win

slowmo

From my observation of living in Europe, most cars are base models and manuals are the cheapest. Compared to countries like NZ or Japan where the spec level is usually high end-ish, but still overpriced and lame (eg. Halogen lamps on a 2019 GTI ffs???)

Also, driver training is a big thing - you have to spend so much money on training to get a licence and one of the key areas is car control.

In the Philippines, where i?m originally from, almost all vehicles are manual (buses, taxis, jeepneys) as they are the cheapest options. Even with 3-4 hour traffic jams, everyone gets by.



Current: 2004 MK4 R32 3-door NZ New DBP

Past: 2010 MK6 GTI / 2013 Nissan Leaf LOL / 2007 B7 RS4 / 2006 MK5 R32 / 2005 MK5 GTI / 1998 MK4 GTI / 1997 B5 A4 MTM

Horch

My Euro driver is optioned with a 9 spd auto which I tend to drive in manual mode in Auckland traffic.

How many buyers enquire about manual gearbox availability in NZ today .... Zip! Yeah you do get from time to time a genuine old school troglodyte demanding a box of cogs because he can drive like Lewis Hamilton on any given Sunday.

Demand ceased mid-late  90?s with the intro of intelligent transmissions with dynamic shift program technology. They are faster, cleaner and simply meet millennial buyer demand.

As a buying nation we do not accept base models and as such sell more RS, AMG and M Sport model variants per capita than most European countries.

Buyer behaviour may only change with a intro of a vehicle emission or luxury tax... hang on a minute ... did Jacinda mention this recently..?

BTW ever Googled Tesla, e-tron, EQC, iPace manual. ?

2018 Porsche 991 Carrera T Manual
1988 urquattro MB
1986 MB 300SL
1956 DKW RT250
2006 Vespa PX200

the phantom

I had a SEAT rental in Spain and a Renault in the UK, both manual, no issues with either, both our cars here in Auckland are manual again no issues in traffic

driver not steerer?
Land Transport New Zealand, taking the fun out of driving since August 2008