Quote:
Originally Posted by abraxis
In the engineering world clutch pedal transmissions, SMTs and DCTs share a common family heritage and design language that is completely unlike automatic transmissions such as hydramatics that use planetary gear sets and torque converters, or even more recent CVTs. The first three were designed WITH the intent of the driver manually selecting gears; convenience features added later. The latter two designed to operate precisely WITHOUT driver input for the sake of either convenience or optimum efficiency and mileage. Think of a biological tree where automatics branches off from the stick shift and form two distinct species yet both continue to evolve independent of each other into more modern forms.
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I agree that in the engineering world there may be common ways engineers describe types of transmissions. But in the car enthusiast world there are cars with a stick and there are autos, and nothing gives many driving enthusiasts the same pleasure as physically operating three pedals and a shifter through the canons. Also, Acura offers a DCT with a torque converter for first gear because DCT's are notorious for having problems with getting up and going smoothly from a stop, something I can attest to in the Ferrari. That is why the family-tree-of-life analogy doesn't work because Acura evolved the two transmissions back together. And this article about Mazda's transmission development would also contradict your argument that traditional torque converter transmissions are all about convenience and not about speed of shifting, where they are showing that the traditional transmission could be better than a DCT:
http://www.businessinsider.com/mazda...instead-2011-8
Getting back to the Supra, I can imagine them making a traditional auto and a DCT. I think it is silly, as do many others, because we know many DCT's can work in full auto mode, just like many traditional transmissions offer paddle shifters like in the 86. Luxury brands seem to be going away from manual transmissions completely, offering it very rarely. Lexus is part of this trend, but this being a Toyota, I would be utterly shocked if it wasn't offered with a stick.