Teach her to drive bloody manual.

Confession: my wife taught me to drive stick, but every car I've owned has been a manual. We own an auto vehicle -- hers -- but only 'cause Honda doesn't sell the Odyssey in manual. If they did, she'd buy one immediately.

 

100%... the S2K was my first manual car and after learning how to drive on this car and getting use to it, when I try to drive other manuals I am just thinking to myself that the trans feels like crap. Have you ever tried an M3 with a UUC short shifter? They seem to make a big difference with that car, but I was definitely disappointed with the stock tranny in that car.

 

I can see the paddle being a serious issue with racers. When you are taking some sharp corner with hand over hand steering not Brushing up against the Paddle is going to be tough. Mistaken up shifts will cost you. This also would be the death of heel and toe.

Although it sounds great for Daily driving.

 

I prefer a stick and clutch. Don't like those paddle shifter. I test drove the Lexus 250 is. Even in paddle shift mode, the trans. shift anyway pass a certain rpm. I talking around 4000 rpm it shifted. It wasn't even close to redline yet. That sucks.

 

The IS250 does not have a true DSG but instead an automatic with a manual shifting option. A true DSG does not have a torque converter and acts just like a manual while shifting except a computer is controlling the clutch (actually clutches) instead of your foot. The DSG will even rev match when you do down shifts so ther is no need for that fancy heel and toe shifting. Granted all of this technology takes some of the fun out of driving, buy if your ultimate goal is to be the fastest guy on the track then it is hard to beat a good DSG.

Kevin

 

This is an excellent point. A sequential transmission won't let you damage the engine by downshifting to too high an RPM...

Also, for guys like me who really don't heel-toe very well, I would love to be able to get rev matched downshifts near the S2000's redline as I approach a turn...

All that said, I really do enjoy the manual shifting experience. Even given the availability of a sequential on the S2000, I'd still want the manual.

 

Not So Random Factoid: ~11% of the driving population can drive manual. I remember hearing this a couple times a few years back, so it has some validity.

 

I have always had manual tranny cars ever since I got my driver's license in the mid 60's and have used heel/toe rev matching for downshifts for over 40 years now. I do think the S2k is one of the finest shifting transmissions I have ever worked with and now think it is the standard to judge other systems by.

I taught my wife to drive with manual transmissions about 25 years ago and am delighted to say that when I wanted to buy her a new car last year (an X3 as it turns out), her primary demand was that it be a stick shift. I had to order one from Germany to get that option since they no longer supply those to the US unless by special order. Sadly that is the case for most vehicles anymore, so those of us who prefer the rowing experience will find a dimished set of choices through time as we replace our cars.

I do have to admit that when you watch the in car videos from GT series Porsches and the likes at ALMS races, no manual transmission skills on the planet would be sufficient to compete in those races against the sequential systems those drivers use. At the same time, I am not driving a race car in timed events and never will, so I will just keep on smiling and rowing away in my daily driver cars

 

[QUOTE=dyhppy,Apr 26 2006, 01:45 AM]edmunds writes an article about how DSG and F1 transmissions can be faster than true manuals, but that drivers suffer from being disconnected from the car.

 

Yes. Compared to the rest of the world, America is weird. We either want automatics or we want stick/clutch manuals. The computerized sequential boxes are seen as too complicated by most Americans and too automated by the enthusiasts.

I think it is an elitism thing. In Europe most people can drive manuals, so the enthusiasts don't derive a feeling of superiority from doing so. They are happy to accept the faster and better computerized sequential boxes. But in America, being able to drive a manual is pretty much the badge of membership for the enthusiasts, so they don't want it taken away.