Sticks to eventualy all be classics?
 

That's according to an article I read, but can't remember where. Said only 1% of cars made last year were sticks and they'll be gaining value. Some people are spending big money to convert auto supercars to sticks.


I had a brief flirtation with a paddle-shift Z-car, but decided against it. Downshifts were crisp and quick. Upshifts not so much. Love that big, strong motor, though, and car is surprisingly nimble for it's size and weight. In the end, though, it's still too big and heavy. This was a touring-sport model, which I didn't know they made with auto trans.


After a turbo Miata, the FRS felt huge. It would feel the same going to a Z. Go FI with the FRS and you have similar or better performance without the size and weight.

meh, as long as there's people complaining, there will be stick shifts.

Only 1% in the US maybe. Manual is alive and well in the rest of the world. The last I heard Europe was still up around 30% but that was a few years back and ATs have come a way since then.

With all electric vehicles, is there any "shifting" at all?

:iono:

I'm just waiting on delivery for my winter car: A (petrol) Corolla with a CVT that mimics 10 physical gears. It even has paddle shifters!

Who knows what wacky shit they'll think of next.


P.S.
That insane (and amazing) German guy who converted the GT86 to an all electric drive kept the manual trans.

I wouldn’t go as crazy to convert an automatic to manual (let alone a super car) but what I would bet a lot of money on is that enthusiast cars and great driver’s car’s with a manual transmission will be tremendously valuable in the future when the mainstream automobile is electric.

This is the problem I’m facing right now, making sure to buy the right manual driver’s car while I still have the chance to be a first and only owner. Unfortunately I failed thrice with the first Gen BRZ and ended up getting a GR Supra, but I know that this will not be as special given a normal electric car will be able to give me the same straight-line pull during acceleration. So I have to try again with the 2nd-Gen and get it right and keep it this time.

I really believe that we are in the last decade or (if we are lucky) two of the manual transmission. We won’t see cars like the 86/BRZ in the future. The sports car is going to give us a very different experience in the future. We’re going to transition from analog connected driving experience cars to little electric rockets with everything electronically adjustable (front-rear wheel bias, steering weight, suspension stiffness). It will be a different kind of fun but the driver-car connection will be inorganic and ultimately lost.

My stick is a classic. Getting older so .....

I doubt oem's are going to give us that much capability. do you have any idea how many hoops I have to jump through just to get fahrenheit temp readouts for the already existing sensors?

The big talk now is everything is going to move to a subscription model. Want heated seats? That's $5/month. Want the sport shift mode? That's $10/month...

At this point, I intend to keep what I have until it's so rotted out I can't maintain it. As another person called it, 'A Cuba Car'.

That’s totally doable. If I’m not mistaken in Teslas you can literally pay up at any time to unlock semi autonomous driving or unlock a software upgrade to increase the available power output of the car. So you’re right… manufacturers can bank big time if the offer “All-Weather Package” for $25/month or “Sport-Performance package for $75/mo.”

That would also mean that they wouldn’t need trim levels any more and basically just change out seat material and wheels. Very interesting but probable model.

But that’s why I think of the eventual, high desirability of the analog driving experience of sports cars of this day.

Once anything gets old enough, it's a classic.

Manual sports cars almost always sell for more than automatics when sold used, everything else being equal.

Manuals are more engaging because there is a certain amount of work and control to them, but 90%+ of new automatics are superior to manuals in both efficiency and performance, not to mention comfort. Eventually the manual will go bye bye. It's just gonna be a few years.

No. Age is only one part of being a classic. The definition of the word makes it clear that it also needs to be outstanding or superior in some way.
A 1964 Impala SS is a classic but a 1964 Biscayne 4 door sedan is just an old car.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/classic

i dunno, a 1988 plymouth duster is not mechanically or aesthetically superior, but it is classic in the sense now that the remaining examples are survivors of the malaise era despite the odds.

Eventually even a Ford Tempo will be considered a classic. Maybe you don't consider a 1964 Biscayne 4 door sedan a classic, but anything pre-war is considered such. A shitty car just has to get old enough. What would you say to a Chrysler/Desoto Airflow? People of the time said it was a turd.

Not for nothing, but I call into question whether or not you've actually ever been in or near a Tempo

:barf: