The unintended consequence of electric vehicles: More demand for manual transmissions

Uh, yah, sorry, this is TW after all.

One hope that we can grasp to is Toyota (the Japanese side of the company) is extremely nostalgic and loves to hold onto tradition despite the cost. So maybe manuals won't go away and die. Good example is the limited production run of 1980 land cruisers toyota did a few years ago. Who does that? Manufacture brand new 1980 SUV in it's original glory 30 years later?

I'd literally kill for a brand new 1987 long bed 4x4 manual pick up.

 

Toyota's manual transmissions are super hit or miss though. Ever driven a turbo Supra? No not THAT supra, the mk3. Its a truck transmission.

I think the reverse gear in the Taco was inspired by thoroughbreds just in the opposite direction.

Much to the chagrin of everyone in my city. The president of the company I used to work at drives like a maniac. He thought that his tesla had self-driving automatically rolled out to it without paying for it because it "automatically brakes." He proved it with the VP in the car with him, coming up to a red light going about 50 miles an hour refusing to brake until the anti-collision kicked in.

Sounds like you have a very intentional definition of fun. I enjoy my 11 minute commute to work or just driving to the store. I don't need to do any spirited mountain driving in my SC to have fun (though I admit I do enjoy that).

Additionally, have you seen the off-roading communities? Again, different definitions of fun, and manual's can have their place there. So can automatics, and that's fine, too.

 

On my recent purchase I wasn’t going to buy anything but a MT in an access cab. Found it in Lunar Rock and that was that.

 

On my hour to hour and a half commute, I would rather have had a kerosene enema than drive it in anything. There is no way to make bumper to bumper stop and go between dead stop and 80 mph fun for weeks on end. For sure some people enjoy them, but not that many if the 4% number was correct.

 

I would have loved to get a manual Tacoma but they only offered it in the TRD, which I couldn't afford... I was bummed. So if they had them in the SR5, I would have gotten one in a second.

 

Haha what?

 

I’ve had mazda 1990
b2200 and 2007 b4000 (ranger) R was tall just like in my taco. Easily fixed with 2WD LOW mod.

 

I'm sure that's true.

But I shouldn't have to sing, dance, and touch my toes in order to reverse up a driveway.

 

It’s literally a press of 1 button and then selecting 4low, done.

 

Not to be pedantic, and the steps may be out of order cause it's been a while, but...

1. Press the 2low button
2. Change from 2 HI to 4 HI
3. Wait and/or drive a little to get the transfer case to actually engage 4 HI
4. Shift the transmission to neutral
5. Move the selector from 4 HI to 4 LO
6. Shift the transmission to reverse

And then do all of that in reverse to get back into 2 HI.

All to have a reverse drive close to what it should have been in the first place.

 

Same I was going to get the SR but had to go to 4 dealers to find a manual. When I did the dealer had a Black OR and a Grey Sport. I went Sport because I didn't want all the chrome.

 

Your tranny is already in neutral. Switch from 4hi to 4low is instant on my truck. This whole process takes like 30 seconds, not even hah.

Would it be nice if it came from factory like that? Sure. Nothing in life is perfect though, these are such simple fixes that really make this truck a lot more capable. Only takes 2 beers to install.

Ive used it multiple times and it’s one of my favourite mods hands down.

 

The fact that it's one of your favorite mods kind of emphasizes the gear was a problem in the first place, though.

I haven't done any of the mods to my transmission... yet... So I'm obviously not too torn up about it, but I can at least see the flaws for what they are.

 

Oh I agree that reverse is too tall. Was the same on my other 2 pick ups. It’s a gear storage issue i believe.

 

It makes me happy. That is what it does better than a automatic. I like the way it feels. I do not like the way a automatic feels completely disconnected. So that is why I bought one.

 

I saw that.

It's a system that gives you more or less torque based on where you put the lever and an alternate pedal that cuts power with no regen braking. I wonder how true to the spirit of a manual it will be. i.e. you could have easily accelerated around a potential fender bender, but because you had the lever in the wrong "gear" the system limited power out so couldn't get out of the way fast enough.

But what possibilities with audio system generated engine sounds. Do you feel like a low revving diesel today or an open exhaust V8?

 

X2

I wouldve been in 4.0L frontier if 3rd gen didn’t offer a manual.

 

I stopped rowing gears when I was old enough to commute in traffic.

These days I would buy a manual if I needed a truck and nothing else was available, but that’s never going to happen.

Although I like creature comforts like heated seats, I hate the safety sense shit. Scares the crap out of me. Or rather, I scare the crap out of it.

 

That makes sense. I figured it would either be that, or putting the gear they wanted to in Hi would've rendered it useless in Lo, though I feel like just using the same ratio as 1st would be nearly perfect.