Midsize truck with manual transmission

phsycle

phsycle

Adventurer
Shovel said:
Lately I've been eyeing getting a manual fuel sipper, not because the manual would net better mpg (as it wouldn't) but purely as a personal preference. Just happen to like it better - a fact that made itself clear to me when I bought a hybrid fuel sipper and had to get used to the rate of delivery inherent to the ECVT. Want to merge into a lane of traffic going faster than the one you're in? Better plan ahead.. you'll want to take note of the velocity of every object within 20 seconds of where you are at that moment so you can predict where all of them will be by the time the hybrid's powertrain figures out you've demanded acceleration and begins ramping up delivery. Sure it does eventually have plenty of thrust but if it's not there when you have an opportunity to use it, then it's not much good. On ice (and presumably mud, though I have not had the displeasure yet) it wants to just stand still, which has resulted in me getting honked at while my foot was depressing the accelerator.

Fundamentally I love the idea of hybrids and of the ECVT, there's a reason those taxi Escapes and Prius' are living 700k miles on original engines and transmissions. Still I think I'm going to ditch mine for a base model 3 pedal econo car.
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One of my favorite cars to-date was a 2007 Honda Fit Sport 5-speed. Little 1.5L engine but man was it fun to drive. And I could fit 4 bikes in the back!
 
dman93

dman93

Adventurer
nickw said:
Something else I personally consider is my ability to drive if I injure myself riding MTB's or moto, much easier with an Auto. I broke my collarbone pretty bad a few years back and would have been screwed if I had a manual and didn't have somebody to drive me home....
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When my wife and I got married (30+ years ago) she had an MT 2WD pickup and I had an AT 4 WD truck. Soon afterwards we bought a VW van (MT) and agreed we didn’t need two pickups and a van. But which one to sell? I wanted to keep my truck, so I used the injury argument to justify keeping the automatic. Never had to use it ... until 25 years later and I went OTB on my bike and broke my right collarbone. Our fleet was different by then, but still one AT and one MT (her’s) and to be honest, even driving the AT one-armed was difficult. But since it was my right side, I suppose shifting would have been almost impossible. Today, we have different vehicles, but her daily driver is still a manual, and I sure enjoy it. Our daughter also drives a stick shift car.
 
Regcabguy

Regcabguy

Oil eater.
phsycle said:
And that was only in HD and diesel, correct? I believe the last gas Ram w manual was back in 07 or 08.
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You're right on the gasser. I drove a manual and it was a rocket. The wide rpm range compared to my manual Ram 5.9 was a pleasure. I special ordered one of the last G-56 5.9's from Dave Smith. Not a manual in the entire southwest in Oct. '06. The manuals don't get hot in Baja climbing steep hills at 10 mph in 100* heat. I have to concede though it's a pleasure to drive my friend's '05 Ram 5.9 with a Goerend billet/triple converter auto. But for $6300 I'll take my G-56.
 
N

(none)

Adventurer
Gotta admit. I bought my '17 Frontier due to it being a manual. I had a few manual JK rubicons prior. Sold my last one to step up to a 5th gen 4Runner. Great truck, but never loved the transmission. Only small truck options at the time were Taco and Frontier, and a leftover Frontier in early 2018 was nearly $10k cheaper than the Taco. Easy decision i don't regret at all.
 
D

Deleted member 9101

Guest
nickw said:
I still look for full size pickup from time to time on CL, I'd like a mid 90's Chevy, std. cab with NV4500 and big block....don't need one, but doesn't mean I don't really want one...
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Yeah...they are either clapped out...or really pricey...haha.
 
Martinjmpr

Martinjmpr

Wiffleball Batter
In the US and Canada, the manual is almost dead.

Question for those outside the (particularly in the developing world): Have autos started to increase in numbers? Even in Europe in the 1980's auto transmission cars were as rare as hen's teeth.

When my MP company deployed to Hungary in 1997, we spent a day with the Hungarian police who were in our area (Kaposvar.) They were fascinated by our HMMWVs, not just because of the size and the look but because they had automatic transmissions. Most of the Hungarian cops had never seen (much less driven) an auto transmission before.

I don't think the Manual trans is 100% dead, just because modern automatic transmissions are so expensive and complex that in the developing world, manual transmissions are still king (since they can be repaired by any Joe/Apu/Achmed in a road side garage, whereas a malfuctioning auto transmission basically has to be swapped for a new one.)

But I wonder about Europe. I've heard that autos are becoming more common there but I haven't been to Europe in over a decade so I don't know.
 
givemethewillys

givemethewillys

Jonathan Chouinard
Grassland

Grassland

Well-known member
gnel said:
Down here in Mexico you can still get manual trannies. VW Amarok, Ford Ranger, Toyota Hilux and Mitsubishi L200 that I know of. They have either 5 or 6 speeds and turbo diesels:) if wanted.
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Was a few years since I was in Mexico, but I recall seeing lots of neat looking crossovers with manuals down there.


I'm dating myself here, but I grew up with 3 and 4 speed slush boxes in GM 60° V6 cars, and the equivalent 4 bangers with a manual always seemed more spirited.
Even in my l36 cars manual trans J bodies with LD9s had the advantage.

Nowadays with electronic 6+ geared autos, not much point in a 5 or 6 speed stick other than nostalgia
 
Martinjmpr

Martinjmpr

Wiffleball Batter
luthj said:
Its like someone distilled 1993 into physical form. For some reason I can't hate it...
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Grassland said:
Was a few years since I was in Mexico, but I recall seeing lots of neat looking crossovers with manuals down there.


I'm dating myself here, but I grew up with 3 and 4 speed slush boxes in GM 60° V6 cars, and the equivalent 4 bangers with a manual always seemed more spirited.
Even in my l36 cars manual trans J bodies with LD9s had the advantage.

Nowadays with electronic 6+ geared autos, not much point in a 5 or 6 speed stick other than nostalgia
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I'll certainly agree that the modern auto transmissions are head and shoulders above the "slushboxes" of the old days. In 2009 I went from a Tacoma with a 5 speed manual to a 4runner with the A340 auto and the difference was pretty stark - both vehicles had the exact same engine (the 3.4 V6) but the 4runner was a slug compared to the Tacoma and MPG was horrible (I was lucky to get 15mpg in the 4runner while the Tacoma could get nearly 20 in the city and 22 - 24 on the highway pretty easily. When you only have an 18.5 gallon tank that's a big difference.)

However I don't agree that the only reason to prefer a manual is out of nostalgia. To me, at least, the manual offers two huge advantages over an auto:

First of all, a manual transmission will almost never fail without giving some significant warning that it is in trouble (clutch slipping, gears grinding, etc.)

By contrast, a modern auto can literally fail in seconds with ZERO warning. Ask me how I know that.

suburbanbrokedown2.jpg

The second reason is that modern automatic transmissions are crazy expensive to replace. A manual transmission rarely needs to be replaced since they can usually be repaired (and normally the clutch is the failure point anyway.)

I understand that manuals are going the way of the dodo in North America but I would still argue that the manual has some significant advantages even over the modern crop of multi-speed autos. In parts of the world where high-tech auto repair shops are few and far between I think manuals will still be the norm. Eventually electric vehicles will replace them but until then manuals will be what most people use.
 
phsycle

phsycle

Adventurer
Third reason: maintenance is a cinch. Replacing MT fluid is cake. Auto is a bit more involved.

Fourth: bump start! Saved me a couple of times. Although battery packs nowadays work great for cheap.

@Martinjmpr Your 4Runner must have had something wrong. I always got ~20mpg on the highway—same as my Tacoma’s. 5-sp did feel faster though. But that was also in a lighter truck (vs SUV), so take that into consideration.
 
T

tennesseewj

Observer
Martinjmpr said:
I'll certainly agree that the modern auto transmissions are head and shoulders above the "slushboxes" of the old days. In 2009 I went from a Tacoma with a 5 speed manual to a 4runner with the A340 auto and the difference was pretty stark - both vehicles had the exact same engine (the 3.4 V6) but the 4runner was a slug compared to the Tacoma and MPG was horrible (I was lucky to get 15mpg in the 4runner while the Tacoma could get nearly 20 in the city and 22 - 24 on the highway pretty easily. When you only have an 18.5 gallon tank that's a big difference.)

However I don't agree that the only reason to prefer a manual is out of nostalgia. To me, at least, the manual offers two huge advantages over an auto:

First of all, a manual transmission will almost never fail without giving some significant warning that it is in trouble (clutch slipping, gears grinding, etc.)

By contrast, a modern auto can literally fail in seconds with ZERO warning. Ask me how I know that.

View attachment 580641

The second reason is that modern automatic transmissions are crazy expensive to replace. A manual transmission rarely needs to be replaced since they can usually be repaired (and normally the clutch is the failure point anyway.)

I understand that manuals are going the way of the dodo in North America but I would still argue that the manual has some significant advantages even over the modern crop of multi-speed autos. In parts of the world where high-tech auto repair shops are few and far between I think manuals will still be the norm. Eventually electric vehicles will replace them but until then manuals will be what most people use.
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The "Happy Camper" shirt really puts this picture over the top

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