Quote:
Originally Posted by dominican
Also, I am not against these automatics as most other people are on this forum, but I can understand where they are coming from. Us MT guys are a dying breed, and we don't like our sports cars having auto slushboxes, it's a slap to our faces.
The thing auto guys don't seem to understand is that having the third pedal is about involvement. Everytime you get in the car is an event, something you have to use all of your limbs for. With respect to the people that have missing limbs, being an intricate part of the car is something that requires more attention than just mashing the gas pedal. Now I can understand that sometimes you just want to go in and drive somewhere without feeling like it's an event, but I can tell you, everytime I get in my car I enjoy it, and I know the same feeling is not present when the car is an automatic.
My girlfriend's dad had a G37S, with the slushbox, and I can report, it was good, very good. The shifts were crisp and quick, the paddle was responsive, the upshifts blipped the gas, it was outrageously good. However, I remember getting in to drive hime around a number of times, and the excitement just wasn't there, I just put it in auto and went about my business. Not having the third pedal to worry about was something that made the car less enjoyable.
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I have to agree and disagree. While more and more people are buying automatics, the percentage of manual drivers is surely decreasing...but that doesn't mean manufacturers are going to stop making performance cars with MTs. So what if there are fewer MT drivers as long as the MT cars are still there for
me to buy?
Another thing I don't get is why we [MT drivers] give a crap about what Joe Schmoe driver is doing with his left foot. If I buy a Corvette and I'm driving around town loving my car and I see another Corvette, I'm not going to start wondering...hm I wonder if that ahole has an automatic or a manual. Truth is, I just don't give a crap what someone else has/drives. Their $, their choice.
There's no argument, an MT is more engaging than any other sort of automated transmission, but so what? It's not like I'm switching from first person to third person in a video game. I'm still in the car, shifting my gears with a paddle, turning my wheels with a steering wheel. Instead of 100% engaged, I'm 99.5% engaged? I can probably accept that. (I've only driven friends paddle shifted cars on short drives.) If I'm really that concerned with being one with my car, I might as well cut out the power steering and power everything else. I should have to feel those gears turning when I roll up my window. Or does that not count?
G37S are boring cars. My uncle has a 87 Grand National with an automatic transmission and every time we take it out we're freaking drunk with excitement. Don't blame the type of transmission a car has, because the car as a whole is boring. Even an MT G37S is boring, more engaging? Yes, but still boring.
To each his/her own. As far as the FRS is concerned, if I get one, it'll be MT only because they've said there won't be any high tech automatic option. So it really leaves just the MT. :happy0180: