Vehicles that you wouldn't think could have a standard shift

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Stelcom66
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Vehicles that you wouldn't think could have a standard shift

Post by Stelcom66 »

https://www.caranddriver.com/features/t ... on-feature

I had a 1985 Dodge Caravan, normally aspirated 2.2L 4 with a 5 speed manual. The article omitted two vans I had with manual transmissions that typically would not - a 1988 Ford Aerostar 3.0V6 5 speed manual and a 1980 Ford Club Wagon, 4.9 I6 with a 4 speed manual on the floor.
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Re: Vehicles that you wouldn't think could have a standard shift

Post by ClutchFork »

Stelcom66 wrote: Sun Nov 18, 2018 12:30 pm https://www.caranddriver.com/features/t ... on-feature

I had a 1985 Dodge Caravan, normally aspirated 2.2L 4 with a 5 speed manual. The article omitted two vans I had with manual transmissions that typically would not - a 1988 Ford Aerostar 3.0V6 5 speed manual and a 1980 Ford Club Wagon, 4.9 I6 with a 4 speed manual on the floor.
In the 1990s I drove a co-worker's Dodge Caravan that had a manual and it definitely was not a turbo. Yeah, the Aerostar also came with a 4-banger back in its first couple of years. That would definitely need a stick.

Pains me to hear that the Mazda 5 could be had with a stick and my wife's is an automatic that never shifts right for me. But she does not want a stick. The Mazda 5 is halfway decent if it could be had with less complicated controls. We get about 27 mpg out of it with the 2.3L engine and a lot of highway trips of 15 miles at a shot.
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Re: Vehicles that you wouldn't think could have a standard shift

Post by tankinbeans »

Clutch, whatever happened to the Voyager? Did it shuffle off this mortal coil?
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Re: Vehicles that you wouldn't think could have a standard shift

Post by potownrob »

eye remember rye ding in a high school friend's manual caravan back in the day. seamed like a fun ride, butt it was olde even back then. eye thought they also made the caravan turbo with manual, but never road in won of doze. eye remember my dad wanting a manual aerostar, but settling for a manual dodge vista. didn't realize it then, but that thing was severely underpowered. also had tranny issue other manual mitsu-chrysler products were having, but the recall didn't make it to the vista, so dad had to dump the ride within a few years. left it at BOCES whiff a box full o' oranges in it for the kids to work on and try to fix. eye remember wee went back to empty it out and it reeked of rotten oranges and there were bees all over. this was back in like 90, mind you, so memory may be deluded sightly.
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Re: Vehicles that you wouldn't think could have a standard shift

Post by Rope-Pusher »

I'm so old that I fart dust and I remember when the STANDARD transmission that came with each-n-every vehicle was a manually-shifted transmission, typically a 3-speed. The slushbox, if it was available, was OPTIONAL - if you didn't check off the box and pay more money, you didn't get an automatic. There really isn't a vehicle that I can think of that I wouldn't think could have a Standard Shift.

Also, a 4-speed manual transmission was rarely a STANDARD transmission back then.

When 5-speed manual transmissions came along, they were typically not STANDARD transmissions either. In 1976, I paid the same price for an optional 5-speed manual transmission as I would have paid for a 3-Speed automatic transmission.
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Re: Vehicles that you wouldn't think could have a standard shift

Post by Stelcom66 »

ClutchFork wrote: Mon Nov 19, 2018 1:51 am
In the 1990s I drove a co-worker's Dodge Caravan that had a manual and it definitely was not a turbo. Yeah, the Aerostar also came with a 4-banger back in its first couple of years. That would definitely need a stick.

Pains me to hear that the Mazda 5 could be had with a stick and my wife's is an automatic that never shifts right for me. But she does not want a stick. The Mazda 5 is halfway decent if it could be had with less complicated controls. We get about 27 mpg out of it with the 2.3L engine and a lot of highway trips of 15 miles at a shot.
I sorta considered a few Mazda 5s that came up for sale with a manual. Didn't need that much room since I have a truck - but getting 27 mpg puts it right around compact sedan territory.
potownrob wrote: Mon Nov 19, 2018 8:47 am eye remember my dad wanting a manual aerostar, but settling for a manual dodge vista. didn't realize it then, but that thing was severely underpowered.
I liked the Dodge Vista - which was a Mitsubishi. I liked any tall wagon, which are pretty much obsolete now. Yesterday I was behind I'll guess a 1988 Honda Civic Wagon. Unusual looking but I think would be cool to have with a standard shift.

Another van that came with a standard shift was the Chevy Astro if it had the base 4 cylinder engine. The 4.3V6 was by far in the majority of them, of course only with an automatic.
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Re: Vehicles that you wouldn't think could have a standard shift

Post by IMBoring25 »

Tall wagons aren't obsolete. They just call them crossovers now.
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Re: Vehicles that you wouldn't think could have a standard shift

Post by ClutchFork »

tankinbeans wrote: Mon Nov 19, 2018 8:22 am Clutch, whatever happened to the Voyager? Did it shuffle off this mortal coil?
Well, I stupidly backed it into a pole and smashed in the bumper, shattered out the back window, and sprung the back hatch. We had it repaired for about $750, but the door never shut as nicely anymore. Then we found the 2008 Mazda 5 for $3500 last October and decided to go for it. I sold the Voyager to someone for $800 as is. A few months before we sold it we were driving along when a burning plastic smell came out the vents. I found the blower resistor melted. I yanked it the easy way, which bent the tabs in the fire wall out so that I had to bend them back in for the new resistor to go back in.

Nice enough van and I kind of wish we still had it because it was simple compared to this Mazda 5. The voyage had a 3 speed auto that behaved, not like these fancy new ones that do all sorts of weird stuff to you. The Voyager also had a nice simple gear selector on the column and fairly small and out of the way. The Mazda has it on the floor and the other day i shoved it into neutral coming up my driveway, the same way I might shove my manual into neutral when there is no load on it without using the clutch. That is spooky because what if I yank that lever going down the highway when I want to pass someone?
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theholycow wrote:Why in the world would you even want to be as smooth as an automatic? Might as well just drive an automatic...
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Re: Vehicles that you wouldn't think could have a standard shift

Post by ClutchFork »

Rope-Pusher wrote: Mon Nov 19, 2018 9:28 pm I'm so old that I fart dust and I remember when the STANDARD transmission that came with each-n-every vehicle was a manually-shifted transmission, typically a 3-speed. The slushbox, if it was available, was OPTIONAL - if you didn't check off the box and pay more money, you didn't get an automatic. There really isn't a vehicle that I can think of that I wouldn't think could have a Standard Shift.
My first two manuals were 3 speed column shited: 1963 Chevy Biscayne (Grandfather hand-me-down) inline six and a 1977 F100 inline six.

Oddly, the grandfather who had the manual transmission was the farmer. The other grandfather was a mechanic and I got his pushbutton automatic 1964 Dart as my very first car. But yeah, I can envision a manual in any car. It would really make me much more interested in modern cars if they had manuals in all of them. Really, the automatic should still be an option. That way the feeble minded could believe they are paying for something special, when in reality they are being given a snow job (or should we say slush job, but nowadays, some of these new fangled automatics may not have much slush in them anymore).
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theholycow wrote:Why in the world would you even want to be as smooth as an automatic? Might as well just drive an automatic...
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Re: Vehicles that you wouldn't think could have a standard shift

Post by Stelcom66 »

ClutchFork wrote: Wed Nov 21, 2018 1:28 am
tankinbeans wrote: Mon Nov 19, 2018 8:22 am Clutch, whatever happened to the Voyager? Did it shuffle off this mortal coil?
Nice enough van and I kind of wish we still had it because it was simple compared to this Mazda 5. The voyage had a 3 speed auto that behaved, not like these fancy new ones that do all sorts of weird stuff to you. The Voyager also had a nice simple gear selector on the column and fairly small and out of the way.
Your Voyager must have been a 4 cylinder? I believe they only came with the 3 speed auto. The Caravan I had with the 2.2L and 5 speed manual averaged around 20 mpg around town. It didn't have a tach, (or even reclining seats) but it sounded like 5th was geared low. I'd guess the engine would be close to 3k rpm at 65mph. I think it was a drivetrain the same as the Dodge Aries/Plymouth Reliant except for the final drive ratio. With that combination the power in the van actually seemed adequate.

About 15 years ago I saw an extremely rare example of a minivan - a light blue late 80s Plymouth Grand Voyager (just like we had in the 90s) but noticed there was no V6 emblem on the side. That's when the 2.5 4 was still standard. Rare enough to see a Grand Voyager with a 4, but I looked inside and it was a 5 speed manual.
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Re: Vehicles that you wouldn't think could have a standard shift

Post by Rope-Pusher »

Stelcom66 wrote: Thu Nov 22, 2018 10:50 am
About 15 years ago I saw an extremely rare example of a minivan - a light blue late 80s Plymouth Grand Voyager (just like we had in the 90s) but noticed there was no V6 emblem on the side. That's when the 2.5 4 was still standard. Rare enough to see a Grand Voyager with a 4, but I looked inside and it was a 5 speed manual.
As the years go by, the memory of seeing that minivan with an Amish transmission will take on a sense of awe like this:
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bQzkdK2ha0[/youtube]
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Re: Vehicles that you wouldn't think could have a standard shift

Post by bk7794 »

I'm shocked crossovers like the CRV, Mazda CX-5, Ford Escape etc. all had the manuel option.

Here was a huge shocker for me. a 2016 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport..

https://newhaven.craigslist.org/ctd/d/2 ... 13964.html
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Re: Vehicles that you wouldn't think could have a standard shift

Post by Stelcom66 »

bk7794 wrote: Fri Nov 23, 2018 12:58 am I'm shocked crossovers like the CRV, Mazda CX-5, Ford Escape etc. all had the manuel option.

Here was a huge shocker for me. a 2016 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport..

https://newhaven.craigslist.org/ctd/d/2 ... 13964.html
When I was looking at SUVs I saw an AWD Outlander with a CVT, the price was very reasonable. It had about 118k on it. Did some research, it had the Jatco CVT used in Nissans and the Jeep Patriot that had a reputation for failing around 120k miles.

I thought Subaru would be a holdout with the Forester, I see the 2019 only comes with a CVT. I think the Honda HRV offered a 5 speed manual on the FWD model when it was first introduced, but not now. I see the 2019 Outlander Sport still does on the base FWD model. The others with AWC (All Wheel Control as they call it) only can be had with a CVT of course.
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Re: Vehicles that you wouldn't think could have a standard shift

Post by ClutchFork »

Stelcom66 wrote: Thu Nov 22, 2018 10:50 am Your Voyager must have been a 4 cylinder? I believe they only came with the 3 speed auto. The Caravan I had with the 2.2L and 5 speed manual averaged around 20 mpg around town. It didn't have a tach, (or even reclining seats) but it sounded like 5th was geared low. I'd guess the engine would be close to 3k rpm at 65mph. I think it was a drivetrain the same as the Dodge Aries/Plymouth Reliant except for the final drive ratio. With that combination the power in the van actually seemed adequate.

About 15 years ago I saw an extremely rare example of a minivan - a light blue late 80s Plymouth Grand Voyager (just like we had in the 90s) but noticed there was no V6 emblem on the side. That's when the 2.5 4 was still standard. Rare enough to see a Grand Voyager with a 4, but I looked inside and it was a 5 speed manual.
Yep, it was a 4 cylinder (I think 2.4L) and it was nice because it had enough power, even with the slushbox, got 22 mpg, was very roomy inside, and had a lot of spare space under the hood to get at stuff.
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theholycow wrote:Why in the world would you even want to be as smooth as an automatic? Might as well just drive an automatic...
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Re: Vehicles that you wouldn't think could have a standard shift

Post by potownrob »

stelcom66 wrote:
potownrob wrote: Mon Nov 19, 2018 8:47 am eye remember my dad wanting a manual aerostar, but settling for a manual dodge vista. didn't realize it then, but that thing was severely underpowered.
I liked the Dodge Vista - which was a Mitsubishi. I liked any tall wagon, which are pretty much obsolete now. Yesterday I was behind I'll guess a 1988 Honda Civic Wagon. Unusual looking but I think would be cool to have with a standard shift.

Another van that came with a standard shift was the Chevy Astro if it had the base 4 cylinder engine. The 4.3V6 was by far in the majority of them, of course only with an automatic.
AWD civic wagon of that vintage had a 6 speed manual with a granny 1st gear. sehr cool. almost went to look at one of those back in the early to mid 2000s. a lot of those 4 banger manual poverty spec trucks i'm not sure i'd want to attempt driving in modern day traffic. vista had a weak 2 litre 4. i never knew til decades later that it was so weak and slow. dad said it was a turtle, even before the tranny problems. :shock:
ClutchFork wrote:...So I started carrying a stick of firewood with me and that became my parking brake.
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