Reports are around that VW group will phase out manual gearboxes

 

Seems first will be new version of Tiguan from 2023

 

Link to example

 

https://www.electrive.com/2021/08/31/vw-plans-to-drop-manual-gears-in-the-shift-to-e-mobility/
 

Oh dear...   Looks like I'll have to change marques or suck it up then as I've tried a dsg and didn't really like it.

Edited 1 September, 20214 yr by skomaz

1 hour ago, skomaz said:

Oh dear...   Looks like I'll have to change marques or suck it up nthen as I've tried a day and didn't really like it.

It's like everything else - just needs getting used to. There are lots of benefits to having an auto car.

5 hours ago, john999boy said:

It's like everything else - just needs getting used to. There are lots of benefits to having an auto car.

 

Yep fully aware that some like them and that there are benefits - my parents have had autos for the last 30 years and I've driven them all regularly...   I still prefer a manual though as I find it gives more control and I actually like driving and the skill of coordinating hands and feet smoothly...   But I know I'm in a minority.

Edited 1 September, 20214 yr by skomaz

5 hours ago, john999boy said:

It's like everything else - just needs getting used to. There are lots of benefits to having an auto car.

Depends on what you want the car for I guess.

 

Like Skomaz, I prefer a manual box for the control and just enjoyment of going up and down through the gears.

This does not cover being sat in tourist motorway traffic, at which point give me the auto every day 😄

It is pretty simple as in the VW Group were caught out with the WLTP & RDE2 and have not managed to have efficient and low emission ICE vehicles.

So they need the Mild Hybrids & Plug In's until the total demise of their ICE vehicle productions.

 

The 1.5TSI needed so much messing about that they are having issues, even in the Kushaq in India that they have just released.

*You can not keep saying driver error, it stalls / cuts out because they do not know how to drive and must adapt to the car.*

 

They need Auto's & Mild Hybrids & they need to get people buying their EV's.  They need to get building them quicker as well. 

 

They are always coming up with new tech, years too late though or not enough R&D is done before launch.

 

 

Edited 1 September, 20214 yr by e-Roottoot

1 hour ago, cheezemonkhai said:

Depends on what you want the car for I guess.

 

 

I am also in the minority that wants to drive my car, and to drive it to the best of my abilities, what is being produced these days is aimed at those who want something to drive them around while they engage with their social media or be entertained by infotainment.

 

More fool me though because many people seem to be lapping it up and will put up with no end of incoveniences in the hope that one day these flaky "driver assistance" systems might actually do what they are supposed to.

As much as I like the control of a manual when I'm in the mood for it, I love the comfort and convenience of the auto in my Superb in day-to-day driving.

My 108hp TDi I had remapped to allegedly 184hp, in truth I think that its the stock VAG 170hp map, it has transformed it in the areas that it was lacking, - towing seriously heavy loads with large wind frontage (dont know the words in English for "prise d'air" and mid range overtakes, those are the only times that the extra power gets used.

 

However as good as I believe I am to be at modulating the control inputs for smooth driving, when I have to nip out of a junction a little bit quick it is difficult to combine swift and smooth power delivery, it only needs practice but its not a practice if you pardon the pun that I engage in for pleasure.

 

Out walking in my UK village home today and being nearly run over several times by impatient yummy mummy types driving huge 4x4's on the pedestrian crossing areas of the traffic calming, which seems to have the opposite effect on them! I noticed that they all seem to launch their weapons like they are staging for a 1/4 mile run and they were all DSG type automatics.

 

I doubt that any of them would be able to drive those vehicles with manual transmissions or in anything but dry grippy conditions without all the 3 letter acronyms keeping them and their victims safe, they certainly would not be able to haul them around at the speeds and accelerations that they do without their intervention that they are probably totally unaware of.

 

So I will concede that if I still drove like I used to, like the roads were my personal racetrack, I would probably prefer my current vehicle to have a DSG gearbox, not least so it would not smell today like someone has puked in it after all my manouevring with the removal trailer around selfish parkers, the same female 4x4 owners, to get on my driveway.

Edited 1 September, 20214 yr by J.R.

I know what you mean @J.R. the DSG and some Autos seem to have led to a type of driver that is 'all or nothing' and flat out on either throttle or brake.

 

It seems to be the same with some of the middle aged blokes trying to regain their youth in certain vehicles as well...   

1 hour ago, J.R. said:

Out walking in my UK village home today and being nearly run over several times by impatient yummy mummy types driving huge 4x4's on the pedestrian crossing areas of the traffic calming, which seems to have the opposite effect on them! I noticed that they all seem to launch their weapons like they are staging for a 1/4 mile run and they were all DSG type automatics.

Funnily, I find the fact that the DSG is handling gearchanging and clutch control for me useful in freeing up concentration to keep an eye on those sorts of drivers around town. I've also found that it doesn't like to be hurried from a standstill, it's happier being given half a second to raise the clutch and start rolling before I lean into the accelerator.

2 hours ago, skomaz said:

the DSG and some Autos seem to have led to a type of driver that is 'all or nothing' and flat out on either throttle or brake.

Actually, I think that's partly the fault of the "hazard perception" test, which actually penalises anticipation when approaching hazards.

I'm also in the minority.

I find that the more stuff gets automated, the lazier drivers become, myself included. It's the first step to fully eliminating the human from the equation.

The Auto gearbox or Automated gearbox discussion has gone on for years.  The difference is that in the evolution of humans the left foot might become redundant and the muscles in the leg might wither.  If you want to use your right or left hand depending on left or right hand drive to move the Auto boxes shifter while driving you can.    If all passenger cars become auto then expect drivers around the world to be nearer the average weight of North Americans.    Do away with manual boxes and wider seats will be necessary. 

2 hours ago, Ttaskmaster said:

I'm also in the minority.

I find that the more stuff gets automated, the lazier drivers become, myself included. It's the first step to fully eliminating the human from the equation.

 

Probably one of the top gear lot who said it, but there is some truth to the line that if you replaced the airbag with a giant spike of death, people would generally drive a lot more carefully.

https://www.cityam.com/learning-how-to-change-gears-a-thing-of-the-past-as-electric-vehicles-take-over-says-aa-president/

 

More people are not bothering to learn to drive manual cars or get a licence other than for an Automatic.

 

There must be more Instructors then with EV's or ones teaching using Autos'.   

I know there are Driving Instructors on here that teach using automatics.