This Guy Is Convinced That the Manual Transmission Is Dead

Have you ever had your friends over for a Bears game — I’m from Chicago, if it wasn’t obvious — and one of them shouts out “GO PACKERS!” just to be annoying? That’s what I feel is going on here. An opportunity has been spotted to ruffle a few feathers, and one author has gone for it. What exactly am I going on about? Specifically, this Thrillist article, which states that your love for the manual transmission is completely invalidated by false bravado and “facts.”

Without going too much into name calling, I need to point out a few things he’s left out. For one, not all automatics are good. For another website, I recently did a review of the Subaru WRX equipped with a CVT automatic. It performed worse in both fuel economy and acceleration than its 6-speed manual counterpart. Additionally, most automatics aren’t as good as those assigned to high-dollar supercars. Sorry, but the automatic in your Malibu is not a match for the one in a Ferrari 458 Italia. The author correctly points out that some manuals are equipped with systems that assist with downshift rev-matching, but those systems can be turned off if you prefer to actually be involved with the driving process.

Lastly, he points out: “Anyone can shift a modern manual well. How many are truly mastering the newest automatics?” To which I say… What?!

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Via [Thrillist]