It's not that I'm a fanatic, it's just that I grew up before shoes had velcro and watching people play video games was a sport.

I also enjoy driving more than I enjoy passenging from behind the wheel.

 

I wouldn't own an automatic in any car, it just doesn't feel right to me. Might have to do with being in control of the total car, though it might just be me.

 

sadly you are slowly losing control the car year after year..

I really dislike that all cars now come with so much junk that people rely on or government thinks we need to rely on that people just don't drive very well anymore. they don't think, just expect the car to tell them what they need.

 

> sadly you are slowly losing control the car year after year . . . government...


Ya, let's bring back the manual choke.

 

well...with in reason

 

This is sadly true, but at least in this car they give you the option to turn off stability and traction control.

 

And I'm telling this to people I only know over the internet.

Sigh.

 

Alas, in the very near future, where the self driving car is a reality, just wanting to drive your own car will soon brand you and me as "dangerous to society."

 

when i drive it normally, I don't wish I had at AT.

rowing through the gears is quite fun. but when I take long trips, I wish i had a AT... because the 6th year is so short, at 80mph cruise speed, the tach is hoovering around 3900rpm and to me... it does get loud... and CVT should be making very minimal noise at 80mph.

 

Each of my kids was a little afraid on their first day of art class when they hit kindergarten. I had warned them that art was dangerous, and when they asked why, the only explanation I gave them was that it could make people think- and thinking is the most dangerous thing someone can do.

 

It's not only 'aficionados', stick shift is the the facto standard in lots of countries, and automatics a rare option.
This is changing due to the recent development of the DCT transmissions, where power loss and gear change speeds equals or surpasses manuals.

America always had power to spare so transmissions like the Hydramatic were feasible, try to use that sort of transmission in a 35HP Beetle or a 600cc-900cc Fiat or Citöen the rest of the world were driving in the sixties and seventies, it wouldn't work, even now it wouldn't work in a 1Lt 69Hp Peugeot 107 (My wife's car today).

So people continued learning to drive manuals and everybody finds it the norm, as far as I know, you cannot take your Driver's license exam in an Auto here, not an option (unless you're handiccaped, of course).

I would say that only about 50% of the car models on sale here in Uruguay are offered with an Auto option, manual being the standard, almost all Taxis and Rental cars are manuals.

 

Just curious: if you go to a Honda dealer in Uruguay and they have maybe 12 Fits, how many of those are CVT vs. 6MT? When I was Fit shopping here in suburban Chicago, I'd say the ratio was 8:4 or 9:3 ... and frankly I was surprised there were that many 6MTs.

 

Honda is almost non existant here in Uruguay, the Uruguayan market is very small (only 3 millon people in the whole country), and Honda is a niche brand here.

In 2014 36,000 new cars (SUV/Pickups excluded) were sold in Uruguay, Honda sold only 216 (yes, two hundred and sixteen), compared to Chevrolet 5,337, Suzuki 4,684, Volkswagen 2,944 or even Mercedes Benz 467.

Do you fancy Suzuki selling 20 times more cars than Honda in the US?
That different is the reality here.

You wont find a single Fit in a dealer, you have to pay $5000 in advance and then wait two or three months to get the car.
I really don't know how many CVTs or manuals they are selling, sorry.

PS: an EX CVT without sunroof, without VSA and with the LX radio costs USD28,850 here
PS2: Considering Chevrolet and Suzuki, I would say more than 90% of the cars they sold were manuals, and I think I'm being conservative.

 

When I was desperately looking (and settled for the CVT), of the only two Honda dealers within 100 miles that I knew of, one had 1 red mt lx (I'm not buying a red car) and several autos, the other dealer only had autos.

 

Yow! Makes me wonder if us 6MT fans are part Uruguayan maybe ...

 

Ha, ha, funny. Might be, my mother is 81 and drives a m/t Suzuki Swift, she has never owned an auto.

 

That's funny 2 dealers by me had about 20 between the two of them

 

You wrote, "Just had ceramic tint installed (15% in front and 30% in rear), and a heat/glare reduction sheet installed on the windsheild (really does help with head off front glass)."

I'm sorry to be of no help with your original question (I have the CVT myself).

But, would you be so kind - do you have a link to a heat/glare reduction sheet? Is this something that needs to be professionally installed? I never heard of this but it sounds awesome! Pricey??

Thank you!
And best of luck in your quest. I do miss my previous car's manual transmission, though I like the cvt too.

 

I only bought because the 6 spd was available in the EX. CVT's suck. I might reconsider if a DSG type was available.

 

An I also dislike the CVT. I tried to like it. I drove several of them including a Honda Accord hybrid and could not get over the sewing machine transmission. Nope. The MT rules!