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Originally Posted by Cavpilot2k
I knew I would get some goats with the manual only comment.
And yes, I speak only for myself and a small contingent of diehards.
I like manuals because I feel genuinely more involved via mechanical linkage to the car. I like that I have greater control over the car because it will never upshift or downshift except when I want it to
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DCT transmissions stay in gear in manual mode. You can bounce it off the limiter all day in first gear if you want.
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Originally Posted by Cavpilot2k
and I have other control advantages via varying degrees of clutch engagement
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That's the only advantage I can see with the clutch pedal, but that also comes with disadvantages. Namely bumper to bumper traffic, where you have to engage and disengage the clutch pedal a million times in 100 yards. It's like your pedaling a bicycle.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cavpilot2k
All that should come with the context that I am a helicopter pilot and that direct mechanical linkage with all four appendages is a similar feel. It just makes me feel like a part of the machine in a way that the disconnected autos don't, but that is my personal preference (and that of a small percentage of enthusiasts).
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A car isn't a helicopter. F1 cars do not require that level of involvement and are the fastest track cars in the world. F1 drivers aren't complaining. And all 4 extremities can still be involved, I left foot brake.
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Originally Posted by Cavpilot2k
Do modern high-end autos and DCTs outperform manuals? In most cases yes.
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If everything else is equal they outperform the manuals in all cases.
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Originally Posted by Cavpilot2k
Why are the high-end cars (Lambos, Ferrarris, etc) going to them almost exclusively? Because they want to eke out every last possible fraction of a second for performance numbers, and because we are an increasingly push-button automated society. The nintendo/playstation generation wants simple, and there is nothing wrong with that. I just prefer to do it myself.
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How about more efficient, less cumbersome, and just plain better? Someone drove a Porsche 918 Hybrid and he couldn't imagine that car with a clutch pedal, and this guy was a die hard manual fan. He realized that all that clutch pedal mumbo jumbo takes away from the actual driving. Also, try to change gears mid-corner with a clutch pedal manual (like you would need to do in like say in a increasing or decreasing radius turn). The entire attitude of the chassis will get upset. A DCT can shift mid corner without any drama. Can you imagine an F1 car with a Clutch pedal and a column mounter shifter? lol!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cavpilot2k
So,
The RS3 is irrelevant for me and lots of others because it won't come in manual. That, and I have yet to drive any audi that had decent steering feel, especially compared to Bimmers.
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You and others aren't the future (Thank God). You are the past and you don't want to let go of Archaic technologies. Lambo, Ferrari knew better and decided to tell those "I have to have a Manual" folks to go take a walk. They basically told those folks "What the heck do you know?"
To each his own. But the clutch pedal manual is the past, not the future. It has been surpassed by less cumbersome, faster and more efficient automatics.