I've only ever driven a petrol manual and a petrol automatic. Both very similar cars other than the manual was a 1,200, and the automatic was a 1L. I wildly prefer driving the manual one, granted most of my driving is in the country where it's fun to throw it about the gears a bit and there isn't tedius clutch control in traffic. I just find it a lot more fun, especially when rev matching etc, it just feels more rewarding to drive.
However, if I was driving an electric car, I wouldn't want it emulating a petrol manual, I'd want to try embrace it for what it is, and have fun with the faster acceleration instead of the gears. My main issues with current electric cars is they all seem to have massive bloody screens. To me this is the ideal interior for a car, its not to everyones taste but it provides actual physical gauges for everything I want, a screen small enough that it's not distracting, but big enough that it's useful for android auto, and I can't believe I have to say this but actual buttons I can click without taking my eyes off the road, feeling that the button has been clicked.
Manuals will always be unmatched for driving pleasure, but electric and hybrid cars usually don't have automatic transmissions, they have CVTs, which are better than automatics IMHO.
They don't have gears to switch between, so you usually don't feel any shifting, just regular progression. If you input maximum acceleration they may reach the redline without changing the ratio and then drop down suddenly, in that case you feel sort of a shift, but that's rare if you drive normally.
Most EVs don't even have CVTs. They often don't even have multi-speed transmissions at all. The type of electric motor used produces maximum torque at 0 RPM, so it no longer needs a transmission to prevent stalling and its torque-RPM curve is so flat that a multi-speed transmission would reduce performance under most driving conditions.
I get really annoyed by car journalists obsession with manuals. I’ve driven and owned manual cars in my life, and they are cool, but also inconvenient, annoying to drive in traffic, and now objectively slower and less efficient than a modern automatic.
Fun on a backroad is not a huge factor in buying a car for the vast majority of people. And even a person like me, that enjoys a spirited drive, I don’t want to deal with a manual the other 85% of the time.
I just want them to recognize that and stop putting manuals on a pedestal.
Somewhat related: I'm leasing a 2023 Nissan Rogue, which has a CVT. But it also has paddle shifters! I've tried it a few times but it just feels weird.
I feel they are missing the point. Stickshift feels so good because you're mechanically connected to the car. Enthusiasts like cars not because numbers, because they have soul and personality. Combine the soul and personality with the direct analog connection with a car, it just feels right. Electric cars, while may be great for the day-to-day, I don't think will really sate enthusiasts. Adding in fake features just makes you even that much more disconnected with a car.
I always figured I'd have to give up my manual for an electric car at some point, even if it's fake I'd still prefer that to just driving an automatic. I don't really care about engine noise though
EVs don't have CVTs. They don't have a transmission at all. Even the reverse is just the engine spinning opposite. The engine is connected directly to the drive shaft.
I think the previous poster means that from a driver perspective they operate the same as a CVT. But it's not. It's just a battery, an engine, a drive shaft and wheels.
That feeling when you shift into second gear and just let it rip.... Especially round corners. Yeah manual gears feel good... or?
I have an electric now, and I thought I would miss it, but I don't. The constant torque is just that much better.
I have a dirt cheap second hand electric car, but by the time the car next to me gets in second gear I'm already over the next hill while he's nodding his head to the motions of the clutch.
Do yourself a favor and go try any electric just for the experience before you dismiss it.
Getting a fake transmission for an electric is like turning the saturation down on your TV just to watch it in black and white like it used to be.
This just sounds plain stupid. I drive a manual, and I'm pretty sure I'll be able to tell when a "shift" is fake. They should rather focus on making the power band and throttle feel more responsive and predictable instead of this crap.
I drove a manual for years, but my most recent vehicle has a CVT and paddle shifters if I want to drive "manual". The difference in the feel of shifting is very noticeable, and I don't like using the paddles since it feels so bad.
but i love my manual transmission car!
I think it's super weird that they would merge the two technologies, but I know plenty of Germans that feel way too uncomfortable driving a manual, so i could see this being a nice medium for at least a minute
I could just see some obnoxious guy pipe the sound of the fake engine into his ultraloud sound system to flood the neighborhood with the sound of his acceleration.
I grew up on a stickshift, and in the winters here, there's nothing better for not getting stuck or making it up that annoying hill I live on.
But, the reasons for that is because you can slip the clutch and vastly reduce the torque so you're not loosing traction on slippery hills or on plows. Spinning your wheels just gets you dug in more, so you want low, consistent torque when you don't have traction.
with an EV, you kind of have that built in. (and could even have driving profiles that accommodate this even more so.)
...Still the shifter knob is a place to rest my hand....
Add comment