Are manual transmissions really that unpopular?

That clutch actuation system and squeaky throwout bearing though...

 

That's what really confuses me. It's like Toyota and Aisin forgot how to build manual transmission trucks after building really good ones for 50 years.

 

^That may actually be true. Remember the movie Space Cowboys? Old-school manual transmissions may be a foreign concept to the current crop of automotive engineers.

 

The truth is the continued push towards higher efficiency will eventually kill the manual transmission. It’s flat out cheaper for manufacturers to carry one option for the transmission and computers with locking torque converters plus 8+ gears will beat any manual transmission design in EPA testing. Toyota knows they have a core of owners who would rather castrate themselves than give up stick shifts. They’ll keep making them until the bitter end. That being said, the bitter end will come in the name of a better mpg number on the sticker on the side of the truck and a greater return for the pockets of some Japanese zaibatsu.

 

More fun is subjective, I have plenty of fun not shifting gears driving my truck as well, one less thing to worry about. And plenty of people can easily steal a manual transmission vehicle! That notion needs to die. The ZF5 manual transmission in my 7.3 Powerstroke actually costs more to replace than the E4OD automatic, so in some cases, they can be more money.

I dunno, I just don't see much of a future for manuals. Like I said, probably in another 10 years or less they'll be gone completely from all the new car lineups. Less than 5% of new vehicles sold yearly come with manuals, that's not a good sign for future development if you ask me! I'm surprised the 3rd gen Tacoma kept the option, I expected it to be converted to auto only like what happened to the 2nd gen Tundra, 4Runner, etc.

 

This is interesting since the 4Runner is built on the Prado platform and the Tundra shares parts with the 200 series Land Cruiser, both of which in most other countries get a stick shift as standard. Pushing automatics simplifies configurations for Toyota North America. It's a trivial detail overlooked by a couple of generations (mine is Gen X, and we're as FUBAR as any millennial) of overstimulated perpetual adolescents who are more than happy being coddled and not have to make decisions or accept responsibility. It ends up that we're getting fewer real choices and the vehicles we do get are built like crap yet jammed to the pillars with distracting trinkets with the wildest of justifications. But that's just one adolescent's view.

 

I'll put it this way.

I have a 2012. AT
I have a 2007. MT

Both Tacomas.

The 2007, is the beater. The wheeler.

I told myself I would never DD MT tires again.

And here I am, picking to DD a Manual Trans with Mud Tires over a 2012 that rides smooth as butter.

The Manual is fun. Traffic is NOT an issue, I stay back, a lot, and try to keep rolling. 2nd gear/15 mph and a big ass gap between you and person if front of you is good for shifting...and traffic. I roll with ease and rock out to metal in heavy traffic. Everyone else plays "slam on the brakes every 3 seconds" I do not understand why everyone plays this "up your ass" game in traffic. I see so many bumper humper collisions. And yet, no one learns.

 

Yes, I fully understand your description of how you drive in traffic. I do the same and find it fun. Recently, I was in stop & go traffic on the interstate. There was an older MT, BMW driven by a young man in the lane next to me. We were both driving in the style you described above. It was hard to tell who was having more fun, he or I.

 

The only time I find an M/T annoying is when I'm behind an A/T being driven by someone with random/irregular (shitty) acceleration habits. The type of people who casually drive as if they are intentionally trying to upset the flow of traffic around them. This includes, but is not limited to, everyone with California plates.

Just kidding. But seriously. Every time I find myself clutching and lurching because some jackass is jumping from 0-30, engine braking, then taking back off or switching from riding ass to following 200ft behind, it's those damned plates.

 

I'm with you Ryan. I drove tractor trailers for 40+ years with RoadRanger 9, 10, 13 & 15 spd manuals along with a few Mack Duplex 2 stick transmissions. After all that I still prefer MTs. Every car I've ever owned with 2 exceptions, one being inherited, has had the 3rd pedal. It's driving as opposed to guiding.

I don't mind having to settle for a more base model in order to have the MT as electric windows/door locks and some of the other electronic doo-dads are not a big deal. I have a long enough wing span to reach the passenger side door from the drivers seat. MY '14 Taco is 2.7L, 5spd. 2WD RC. Simplicity!

 

Welcome to TW.

 

I'm sorta jealous. I rarely find anyone who is willing to hang back and just roll. I just don't understand the flat out "F U, I own these roads!" attitude, from every driver. No one gives space, no one lets anyone merge, no one SHARES the damn road with anyone else. I'm trying to get on the highway and I have a semi run me off the road because he just can't be bothered to slow down just a little bit to let me get up to speed and merge. It's fucking insane. US highways have become the AutoBan but oh no, a little bit of flashing lights and we gotta fuck up traffic for miles to rubberneck.

Civilized driving no longer exists for the most part in 'Murica. Fucking sad.

 

In drivers’ ed I was taught to hang to the right of your merge lane when entering a highway to assist with merging with those already on the highway. I drove that way for many years. Not now if there is another vehicle behind me; because, more often than not, the vehicle behind would try to pass me on the ramp !

 

Pardon my generalization, but I think this can be attributed to two things:
As a culture, Americans often choose the easy route.
Modern society would have to put down their phones to drive a manual...unlikely.

 

This thread is worthless without pics of said MR2.

 

Fellas...I mentioned this a couple of pages back. But I have a friend who is a product engineer for Toyota. The manual transmission has effectively died do to lack of demand...not from some devious plan to cut cost as the only reason for it's demise.

If there was a demand they would be produced, rest assured. But alas, the simple reality is, in North America, we just don't like to shift gears anymore. Doesn't matter if there are a few people who do. It's very expensive to have a very low volume option on a mass produced vehicle with something as large and costly as a transmission.

For now, Toyota will continue to offer MTs on some vehicles....the A86, Tacoma (certain configurations), the iM, iA, Yaris, Corolla. But those too will probably go the way of the Dodo bird at some point...the A86 being the one model that has the best chance of retaining a MT the longest.

My engineer friend's exact quote: "No one wants them anymore"

 

I agree with others that have said the demand for manuals has dropped, and with those who have mentioned how much better automatics are today than several years ago.

I'm a traditional MT guy; my three favorite 4x4 trucks over the years were all MT. Those bygone days, a manual was usually a stronger transmission than an automatic, you could abuse them more and pull heavier loads. Then AT's started getting much better, and MT's started losing ground in sales, because guys who used their trucks for heavy work started seeing trannys like the Allison; easier to drive, less to think about, as strong/stronger than the old MT's they'd been used to. Even the heavy truck industry is going automatic.

When I was shopping for my Taco, I found one I really liked, a low miles 2015 TRD OR DCSB, had a nice Leer cap and rack... with a 6-speed. I drove it and liked it a lot, but kept looking to see what else I could find for a bit less money. When I test drove it, it had been sitting on the lot for about 3 months; (I passed the dealer every day). I asked the salesman why it had been there so long, since it was a very nice truck. He didn't say a word, but pointed to the stick shift. I wish I'd bought it, but a week later it was finally gone. The truck I finally bought has much of what I was looking for, but is automatic; I can't say I'm sorry, though, I really like not having to shift any more,

 

All of the cars I've owned before my Tacoma have been manual, by choice. The only people that voluntarily drive manual stateside are either car enthusiasts or people that bought a manual car because of availability.

I bought an automatic Tacoma because I didn't want to have to deal with burning the clutch while in mud.

 

Automatic transmissions with user shiftable options made the manual obsolete.
Driving off-road with a manual sucks. Needing 3 feet and 3 hands makes it that way.
Saying auto manufactures are lying so we stop buying manuals is like saying they are lying about fuel injection over carbs or electric starters over hand cranks.

 

Yeah, first wet rock hill climb you do with an automatic makes you forget manuals awefully fast.