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Bongo Lewi

Bongo Lewi

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For 2026, VW offers a manual with a GLI ONLY. I think 2025 was the last year for a stick in a GTI. :( GLI is 4dr sedan, GTI is hatch. The "R" is an AWD GTI (and slushbox only). Sadly, only one trim variant is available with GLI and that is the loaded Autobahn trim. :rolleyes: Of course, that is with all the electronic gadgetry. :(

VW used to be able to be counted on to have a stick and/or diesel available in just about every model including Passat (midsize) and Tiguan (small SUV). In the early '10s, they even had a (I'm going from memory but specs were up there) 500hp/500lbft torque V-10 diesel Toureg (large SUV) available. Since Dieselgate (which WAS a gov't shakedown 😠) VW has been putting out a lot of suck... :sick:
 
2030 - no manual trans
2035 - no ICE engine passenger cars
2040 - self-driving autonomous mode will be the default
2045 - no steering wheel or brake/accelerator pedals

Screenshot 2026-02-19 at 7.01.33 AM.png
 
Bongo Lewi said:
BMW says manual transmissions are on the way out.
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Ummm.... welcome to a decade ago (at least). They've been practically gone from the marketplace for many years now.

Manual transmissions are quite rare and have been for a LONG time. At least in the US, there have been only a handful of cars available with a manual transmission.

Personally, for a sports car, nothing beats the experience of driving a stick shift. It is "being one with the car."

Certain cars, like my previous Subaru STI, came ONLY with a stick shift. And that's the way it should be. There are rumors they're going to bring back the STI (discontinued in 2022 due to CAFE standards). If they bring it back with ANYTHING but a traditional stick shift, it will FLOP in sales.
 
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Racer88 said:
Ummm.... welcome to a decade ago (at least). They've been practically gone from the marketplace for many years now.

Manual transmissions are quite rare and have been for a LONG time. At least in the US, there have been only a handful of cars available with a manual transmission.

Personally, for a sports car, nothing beats the experience of driving a stick shift. It is "being one with the car."

Certain cars, like my previous Subaru STI, came ONLY with a stick shift. And that's the way it should be. There are rumors they're going to bring back the STI (discontinued in 2022 due to CAFE standards). If they bring it back with ANYTHING but a traditional stick shift, it will FLOP in sales.
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Approx 30% of all new cars sold in Europe are still stick. Used to be more. They love shifting. Same goes for India, LATAM, China, SE Asia.

For me, depends on the car. I liked my Z4. Six speed manual. My M3 with the V8 had paddles.
 
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NavyVette said:
2040 last surviving humans killed by autonomous cars
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2026 Harris poll reveals 98% of the human population under the age of 70 find no joy in driving an automobile.

2027 Uber stock price triples

2028 Not one teenager anywhere in the world got laid in the back seat of a car for the first time in 75 years

2029 Autonomous rideshare vehicles replace laundromats as a small business enterprise.
 
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Perspective:

When I was 15, I knew how many days, minutes and seconds it was to my 16th birthday. So I could get my drivers license. I bought a car before I was 16 in anticipation of that.

Fast forward to the 21st century. My nieces and nephews didn't get drivers licenses until they went to college and needed to have government ID. This is very common these days. Young people dont give a rats ass about cars. I asked one of my nieces why she takes Uber everywhere vs. owning a car. She looked at me like I was crazy. She said, Why would I want the expense and the hassle of driving when I can get a ride for a few bucks to go anywhere I need to go? The cost is not even close to owning a car. She's 20 years old.

I knew a lot of people in NYC and in DC who did not own a car. I was one of them. Not worth it. Maintenance, taxes, parking, fuel. And of course the cost of cars and the loan interest. It makes no sense financially for a lot of people. Especially if they live and work in a city.
 
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Bongo Lewi said:
Approx 30% of all new cars sold in Europe are still stick. Used to be more. They love shifting. Same goes for India, LATAM, China, SE Asia.

For me, depends on the car. I liked my Z4. Six speed manual. My M3 with the V8 had paddles.
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Yeah... I know Europeans like sticks far more than Americans. And I agree, it depends on the car. For a commuter, SUV, touring.... auto is just easier and more relaxed.

For a sports car, give me a stick shift. Not an "auto-manual" aka "paddles."

BTW, a lot of "paddles" are not manuals... just a gimmick on auto-transmissions with torque converter slush boxes.

Though there are also paddles with auto-manuals (that have computer-controlled clutches) on higher end sports cars. They're cool. They're faster than a human can shift with a foot-operated clutch. BUT... it takes away the connection with the car, IMO. It's not the same. Yes, it can rev-match downshift faster and more accurately than a human. But there's nothing like the satisfaction of doing it yourself, especially when you nail it. I was very good at heel-toe / rev-match downshifting.
 
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Racer88 said:
Yeah... I know Europeans like sticks far more than Americans. And I agree, it depends on the car. For a commuter, SUV, touring.... auto is just easier and more relaxed.

For a sports car, give me a stick shift. Not an "auto-manual" aka "paddles."

BTW, a lot of "paddles" are not manuals... just a gimmick on auto-transmissions with torque converter slush boxes.

Though there are also paddles with auto-manuals (that have computer-controlled clutches) on higher end sports cars. They're cool. They're faster than a human can shift with a foot-operated clutch. BUT... it takes away the connection with the car, IMO. It's not the same. Yes, it can rev-match downshift faster and more accurately than a human. But there's nothing like the satisfaction of doing it yourself, especially when you nail it. I was very good at heel-toe / rev-match downshifting.
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The M3 double clutch system was pretty sophisticated. I never fully understood how it worked. It was described as being sequential vs automatic. The shifting could be done from the paddles or the stick. When you put it in manual, it acted pretty much like a stick shift car. Other than there was no shift linkage or clutch pedal. It was all hydraulically operated.

That was easily the fastest car I ever owned. It was governed to not exceed 155 mph. It had more to give. It was stable and handled well at 120-130 mph. 0-60 in under 4 seconds. When you punched it the exhaust made a wonderful growl.

This is it in the showroom the day I bought it. Red leather seats.
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Bongo Lewi said:
The M3 double clutch system was pretty sophisticated. I never fully understood how it worked. It was described as being sequential vs automatic. The shifting could be done from the paddles or the stick. When you put it in manual, it acted pretty much like a stick shift car. Other than there was no shift linkage for clutch pedal. It was all hydraulically operated.

That was easily the fastest car I ever owned. It was governed to not exceed 155 mph. It had more to give. It was stable and handled well at 120-130 mph. 0-60 in under 4 seconds. When you punched it the exhaust made a wonderful growl.

This is it in the showroom the day I bought it. Red leather seats.
View attachment 38319
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Yes. I'm quite familiar with that type of transmission. It's a manual transmission with a computer actuated clutch. It used to be called an "auto-sequential" manual transmission.

BMW, Porsche, Ferrari, Lambo, McLaren, Audi... all have variations with their own "brand" names... "PDK"... "S-Tronic," and so on. And I've driven examples of each.

I've driven them multiple times. And it's cool tech that trickled down from Formula 1. But I still prefer a traditional manual with a human-actuated clutch. It's really quite the art to perfectly execute a heel-toe / rev-match downshift. I learned how to do that at Skip Barber Racing School (not to be confused with their Driving School). And then I used that technique not just on the track in my own car, but also routinely for downshifts on public roads. It was so automatic for me, that I couldn't do a downshift without heel-toeing it.

I actually had an instructional video on how to heel-toe on YouTube with over a million views. Once YT decided to take down my gun building videos, AND the fact that I never got a cent for my heel-toe driving video... I took the video down. Fuck them.
 
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I think you all are talking about a DSG-type "Direct-Shift-Gearbox" transmission. Think of it as two gearsets and clutches, 1-3-5 and 2-4-6. As the trans pre-selects the next gear, one clutch releases and immediately the other engages far quicker than any human ever could.

Earlier types used wet clutches not unlike a motorcycle clutch. Later dual clutch transmissions went to dry clutches probably to keep friction material out of the fluid as the clutches wear and to increase service intervals which many motorists failed to follow leading to prematurely ruined trannies at $5000+ a pop. :eek: I think the fluid changes were supposed to happen every 45,000mi. The moral to this story is Don't Blow Your Tranny! ;)

dsgoperation.JPG
 

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Bobster said:
I think you all are talking about a DSG-type "Direct-Shift-Gearbox" transmission. Think of it as two gearsets and clutches, 1-3-5 and 2-4-6. As the trans pre-selects the next gear, one clutch releases and immediately the other engages far quicker than any human ever could.

Earlier types used wet clutches not unlike a motorcycle clutch. Later dual clutch transmissions went to dry clutches probably to keep friction material out of the fluid as the clutches wear and to increase service intervals which many motorists failed to follow leading to prematurely ruined trannies at $5000+ a pop. :eek: I think the fluid changes were supposed to happen every 45,000mi. The moral to this story is Don't Blow Your Tranny! ;)

View attachment 38332
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I learned to heel-toe / rev-match at "Skippy School" in Formula Dodge cars with "dog box" sequential transmissions (no synchro-mesh). If you didn't perfectly match the revs on downshifts, all you got was horrible grinding gear sounds! The upshifts were awesome... no clutch needed, just breathe out of the throttle a little. Very linear acceleration.

skippy2004_1215bf_blur.jpg
 
Racer88 said:
I learned to heel-toe / rev-match at "Skippy School" in Formula Dodge cars with "dog box" sequential transmissions (no synchro-mesh). If you didn't perfectly match the revs on downshifts, all you got was horrible grinding gear sounds! The upshifts were awesome... no clutch needed, just breathe out of the throttle a little. Very linear acceleration.
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Related but un-related, :D I drove an older Ford F800? 10-wheel dump truck with Detroit 6-71 and 7-speed, single-speed rear. First gear was a creeper gear. Drove it for a buddy of mine schlepping asphalt and gravel. Summer job while in college. In teaching me to drive it he's like "The clutch is only for getting moving. You shift without the clutch." I'm like "huh". 5min later I was driving it like a pro. :cool:

A lot of rev-matching like you describe. Upshifting was easy, downshifting wasn't bad but you didn't want to miss a downshift because then you would have to rely on the brakes which could overheat and not work adequately if at all. :eek: There was this one steep uphill coming back from the quarry with a full load I'd have to hit as fast as I could and would have to downshift 3-4 times to keep the power and speed up. One time when first learning I missed a shift and had to come to a stop and creep up in the granny gear until I was over the hill. Traffic behind was unappreciative of my plight... :D

The video is the sound of upshifting. Downshifting was more of a "wa-waaaaaaaaaaaaaah" of getting the revs up so the lower gear would engage. ;)


View: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/LAH4HF9oYQY
 
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