MINI OPENS STICK DRIVING SCHOOL - Autoline Daily
Vinyl records are making a comeback, so why not manual transmissions? If you ever wanted to learn how to drive a stick shift, Mini has you covered. It just opened a driving school in California to teach people how to operate a clutch and move a shift lever. The school is open to all drivers and you don’t have to be a Mini owner to sign up. At the end of the curriculum, participants will be tested on a timed course to test their knowledge. The school opens in the first quarter of next year but we don’t know what they’re going to charge yet.
The unintended consequence of electric vehicles: More demand for manual transmissions
The car community has been decrying the death of the manual transmission for nearly two decades, said Henry Catchpole, a longtime automotive journalist who now hosts videos for Hagerty. As more automakers allocate resources to building electric vehicles, drivers are choosing engagement over pure performance, he argued.
"People are reassessing what they want and are going back to analog cars. It's a big story in the industry," he told ABC News. "There's a shift in terms of how we look at performance cars. We don't wax lyrical about paddle shifters as we do about manual gearboxes. Drivers are enjoying the manual again."
No More Manual Trans in 2024 Subaru Crosstrek, But EyeSight Is Standard
EyeSight driver-assist technology is now standard across the line, thanks to Subaru's decision to eliminate the Crosstrek's manual transmission option. The automaker's corporate safety goals require using EyeSight in every car, and that safety technology doesn't work with a stick-shift.
That durn clutch pedal is the thorn in their sides. They can't disconnect the driveline to let the software play waltzes on the individual brakes at each corner.
Remote start is another feature that doesn't like to play with the Amish. It would want the trans to be in Neutral and the Parking Brake to be applied, but that's not how we Amish park our vehicles. It's Belt AND Suspenders for me when I park!
Similar for the systems that park the car for those that are spatially challenged AND Amish. They would want to be able to operate shift, clutch, and the foundation brakes 9or parking brakes) while maneuvering the vehicle into a parking space. Those are all easy things to do with electronic slushboxes these daze (assuming the vehicle also has Electronic Park Brake or Antilock Brakes capable of self-applying)
'08 Jeep Liberty 6-Speed MT - "Last of the Mohicans"
The advertised EyeSight features that would be potentially relevant are adaptive cruise and automatic emergency braking. Other manufacturers put both those features on Amish vehicles and one would hope there's not a lot of overlap between those who would spec a third pedal and those who would be prone to zone out so badly as to not take appropriate actions when adaptive cruise or AEB slows enough to require a clutch disengagement or gear change. I would be tempted by the 7-speed Bronco if we didn't need three rows in our family car, and as I'd spec it out, it would have both (not because I care about those features, but because they're either standard or come with other features I do care about).
They do leave the remote start off the 7-speeds, and I would occasionally miss it, but it's not worth getting the wrong transmission.
We coincidentally just got our first vehicle with park assist (an automatic, boo-hiss). I haven't managed to experiment with it yet but I have read up on it and this implementation only works the steering and provides on-screen prompts for what to do with the pedals and gear shift anyway. It warns you it's still your responsibility if it hits anything and lists a few scenarios in which it may not work correctly.
TOYOTA TACOMA GETS HYBRID - Autoline Daily
"Now let’s move to the powertrain. Under the hood is a 2.4L turbocharged 4-cylinder engine. In non-hybrid form, the standard output is 228 horsepower, but there’s also a version that makes 278 horsepower. These can be paired to an 8-speed automatic transmission, but the higher output version also has a 6-speed manual option that makes 9 less horsepower. The hybrid integrates an electric motor into the 8-speed auto that boosts output to 326 horsepower and 465 lb-ft of torque. Power can be sent to the rear wheels or all four. Rear drive models feature a limited-slip diff and 4-wheel drive tacks on a two-speed transfer case. There’s also a full-time 4WD system with a center locking diff available as well. And more off-road focused models switch out the auto locking diff for an electronic one. The Tacoma is capable of towing up to 6,500 pounds and max payload now comes in at 1,709 pounds."
2024 Subaru WRX TR will be the first application of Subaru's EyeSight ADAS technology in a manual transmission WRX.
This system includes Adaptive Cruise Control, Pre-Collision Braking, and Lane Departure warnings.
