Quote:
Originally Posted by Wheelwright
Those companies are making short-sighted, greed-driven decisions to kill off manuals, and then hypocritically bemoan the inevitable outcome.
A few examples off the top of my head: BMW G80 Competition is just a few grand more than the base manual version. For that you're getting a vastly more powerful engine and a fast-shifting slushbox. In other words: a bargain.
Also: why not install crisper, more direct manual gearboxes in all BMW M cars ? The current M gearboxes are quite rubbery and lifeless, as if they belonged in a luxury car, not sporty one. Overall, not too bad, but the competition trounces them, and I find it hard to believe that BMW has no technical know-how to match the competition. They simply don't care to attract more manual gearbox enthusiasts.
Porsche 911 S: you don't get any discount when you opt for the manual transmission versus Porsche's best-in-business DCT. They both cost the same, which makes even a hardcore manual fan second-guess his/her decision. It feels like wasting one's money. Why not change this policy and simply pay more for the extra-complexity and utility of the DCT ?
|
There's a caveat to that. They do not cost the same comparably equipped. The manual comes with the Sport Chrono package for free. If you opt for DCT, you have to pay +/- $3k for the Sport Chrono package. So, in essence, the manual equipped car is cheaper than the DCT equipped car if comparably equipped (…
and the majority of 911 owners opt for Sport Chrono).