WSJ: More news of the apocalypse

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WSJ: More news of the apocalypse

Post by JusCruzin »

http://online.wsj.com/video/ford-powers ... 7870F.html

Couldn't get the embed code to work for some reason.
Last edited by JusCruzin on Wed Sep 07, 2011 12:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Shadow
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Re: WSJ: More news of the apocalypse

Post by Shadow »

The link doesn't go to the article, unless you're talking about the Judge Judy thing...
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Re: WSJ: More news of the apocalypse

Post by JusCruzin »

Link fixed. Weird, when I first used the WSJ.com's "get link" function, it apparently gave me the Judge Judy video link which was not my intention. Although I do think daytime time TV is also a sign of apocalypse.
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Re: WSJ: More news of the apocalypse

Post by Shadow »

Yeah, that's a damn shame...although I do agree that the manual transmission is on its way to extinction.

The guy mentions the shop that used to make money from replacing clutches in the beginning of the video. These new transmissions still use a clutch, right? I wonder if an automated clutch will be expected to last the life of the car or if it will be a wear item that needs to be replaced at some point.
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Re: WSJ: More news of the apocalypse

Post by Tups »

For what I've heard, at least early DSGs tend to explode every now and then. I'd guess that in the long run manual transmission is still the cheapest alternative. On the other hand if the lifetime of the cars is reduced, then it might not be an issue...
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Re: WSJ: More news of the apocalypse

Post by Rope-Pusher »

The reporter didn't seem to consider that Europe might be the last bastion of Amish culture, but they still sell millions per year there and there doesn't seem to be strong atheist movement afoot there, either. Also, his choice of nomenclature didn't impress me that he was a practicing member of the faith - he referred to the car as not having a clutch, when in fact it just didn't have a clutch release pedal. I'm tending to think his editor asked "Who knows how to drive a stick?" before assigning the piece and he was the only one in the office that IM'd back.
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Re: WSJ: More news of the apocalypse

Post by Shadow »

From what I understand, even Europe is losing momentum on the stick shift front. And even if they weren't, it doesn't exactly make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside knowing that I'd be able to buy a new stick shift car if I just moved to Europe.
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Re: WSJ: More news of the apocalypse

Post by Rope-Pusher »

Shadow wrote:it doesn't exactly make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside knowing that I'd be able to buy a new stick shift car if I just moved to Europe.
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Re: WSJ: More news of the apocalypse

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Shadow wrote:From what I understand, even Europe is losing momentum on the stick shift front. And even if they weren't, it doesn't exactly make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside knowing that I'd be able to buy a new stick shift car if I just moved to Europe.
As long as you have to pay premium for dual-clutch gearbox, stick-shift will stay alive. Cars are very expensive around here.
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Re: WSJ: More news of the apocalypse

Post by Squint »

We are a bunch of lazy Americans (generalization)... Yes, sometimes I can see the advantage in situations of an automatic transmission, but I do not wish manuals to disappear because of some advantages here and there.
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Re: WSJ: More news of the apocalypse

Post by Shadow »

Tups wrote:
Shadow wrote:From what I understand, even Europe is losing momentum on the stick shift front. And even if they weren't, it doesn't exactly make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside knowing that I'd be able to buy a new stick shift car if I just moved to Europe.
As long as you have to pay premium for dual-clutch gearbox, stick-shift will stay alive. Cars are very expensive around here.
Two things-- First, conventional automatics are far more common that dual-clutch automatic transmissions. And the day of buying a manual transmission because it is always cheaper than an automatic transmission is quickly fading away. Now there are cars where the manual transmission is optional and may cost extra. Secondly, Europeans used to save money on fuel when the chose manual transmission vehicles. Today, it's not uncommon to see automatic transmission vehicles that get better fuel economy than their manual transmission counterparts. So that's why I think manual transmissions will eventually disappear everywhere. But here in the U.S., they'll probably disappear before any other country.
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Re: WSJ: More news of the apocalypse

Post by Bill B »

This has been tried before. Volkswagen introduced their Automatic/Stickshift in 1968. It was not that great. It seems like Honda had a version of this too, but I could be mistaken. People either want to drive a real stick shift with a clutch pedal or a fully automatic vehicle.

Here is a link to a WSJ message board regarding driving a stick shift.

http://online.wsj.com/community/groups/ ... id=3028457
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Re: WSJ: More news of the apocalypse

Post by theholycow »

Volkswagen tried again in 2003 and they seem to be having plenty of success with their DSG. The technology has improved and the drivers have changed.
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Re: WSJ: More news of the apocalypse

Post by Shadow »

Bill B wrote: People either want to drive a real stick shift with a clutch pedal or a fully automatic vehicle.
I wish that were true. Unfortunately, plenty of people seem to prefer some form of an automated dual-clutch transmission these days...

This is a technology that seems to be here to stay.
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Re: WSJ: More news of the apocalypse

Post by Rope-Pusher »

^ LOUSY WANNABES!
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