my dd will always be MT. my hobby cars though, might go electronic clutch next.

 

Here's my family that will keep M/T's going for another 2 generations. My 4 sons drive M/T's (all BMTroubleW's), so does the wife (her DD was an '07 FJ Cruiser 6-speed bought in '06 sold last year) and even my dogs!

Although my '08 is an auto the next will be a M/T 6-speed. I'd get another regular auto but have you guys driven the '14 Civic w/ CVT? Found it sluggish. Know A/T's are less responsive than sticks but IMO too much has been taken off by using the CVT. Guess one of Honda's priorities is to be on top with a high MPG rating. We'll find out in another year once the sales figures come out for the 2015 Fit.

 

We bought our m/t after test-driving an automatic. None of the dealers within a couple hundred miles had any m/ts in stock. We didn't like the way the auto downshifted at the drop of a hat when going up a grade on the highway with cruise control on. The trade off with the m/t is the high revs and noise at cruise. That sixth gear will be nice but I bet owners will have to choose between downshifting and lugging uphill on the interstates.

Since we live in the middle of nowhere shifting through rush hour traffic isn't an issue. If we move back to a city I think I'd get a different car and get an auto or a cvt. Our '90 Miata can provide the fun.

Cheers.

 

People make a big deal out of gridlock and M/T. It doesn't bother me that much. I just stay in 1st or second and lift up the clutch to inch forward. I'd only consider A/T if I had to sit through a one hour traffic jam every day.

 

The Manual Transmission will never die.

Too many markets want it. More manual hondas are sold then automatic hondas if you look worldwide.

Almost all the honda diesel cars are offered with majority manuals

 

I commuted one to two hours per day for almost thirty years depending on traffic over the St. Louis bridges. In 2002 I finally gave in and bought an automatic. Great for commuting in traffic. Otherwise it hardly matters to me. Right now, we keep one car with an automatic and the other two are M/T. I can't wait to test-drive a six-speed Fit if I can find one at a dealer. Don't think they sell many.

Cheers.

 

Everyone focuses on stop & go with a manual as being so horrible- Oh, the constant starting up, it's inhuman!

No one thinks that you're doing the same thing on your brakes with an automatic. I guess manuals are just hard, and having to shift hurts.

 

This is more annoying to me than operating the clutch. The Fit's clutch pedal is so light and forgiving anyway it's a non-issue.

 

Will always be a M/T driver. Practise my clutch foot everytime I drive my GD auto. Drive FIA Rally style - left foot brake, right foot gas!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

One thing that will help with that though is the extra ~10% horsepower that the 2015 DOHC direct injection engine will put out. My guess would be that cruising RPM's will be lower in 6th gear, but it will have the same or better pulling power.

The lack of pulling power in top gear is one thing that annoys me about my 2012 A/T. It seems like Honda should have made the final drive a little lower on the A/T, so that it would turn a few hundred more RPM's, but be able to pull up a little bit of a hill without having to downshift so quickly.

-Dustin

 

I respect the fervor from the M/T folks here. I don't know what the sales figures are, but my dealer hasn't stocked any M/Ts that I know of and we had to order ours and wait. I bet Honda would like to stick a CVT in all of the Fits and forget about it.

With an M/T you certainly feel a lot more connected to the car.

Cheers.

 

completely agree. and you can crawl slower in a MT in 1st gear than in a AT. i hate the constant braking on AT cars in bumper to bumper. it's so tiring.

 

I drive my 13 Fit Base daily. Going to / from work. To me, driving in traffic is the least enjoyable. That is the one place I miss the auto tranny in the old Weak Dawg Toyota truck (which I still have). But when I have a chance to just drive and the traffic is normal, that is when I really enjoy the 5 MT.

It's like there is a "sweet spot" thru the gears. Take off normally, then shift to 2nd and then it starts to get fun. Go up to around 3500 RPM and shift. Car sounds/feels like it's going faster than it is, as long as I stay around 3500 RPM. Once I'm going around 45-50 MPH, then go into 5th. Nice drive. I've taken it faster in all the gears, but there is a point where it's just not fun. It's at that point where you realize, gee, this poor little engine just doesn't have a lot of power.

When I'm on the freeway, I have noticed that I can slow down for traffic, and then get right back up to speed again without downshifting. It just picks right up. Have also noticed that on surface street - can be in 4th and it just picks up w/o going to 3rd.

Car has it good and bad points, but it is a nice little car, great in the city and does well at hiway speeds. Have yet to take it "up the hill", ie: going from Phoenix (1300') to Flagstaff (7,000'). I wanna see how it does on that drive. Bought the car Jan 17, still getting used to it. I get off work, go to the parking lot. Where's the truck? Oh, yeah, I'm a Fit Freak now......

 

Here in South Africa Majority of the lower end cars are MT, MT's are normally cheaper than Auto so they sell more, as an example the Jazz/Fit Comfort MT is US$18537 the auto is US$19896 that's a diff of $1358 If you want the local site with prices is here, I used the current exchange rate of ZAR10.60 to USD$1

 

I guess I'm in the indifferent camp. I have had MT cars and trucks over the years and have enjoyed them all. Track events are definitely fun, but not sure MT made it exponentially better. I've been the "3 pedals only" guy in the past, but that was when auto's really sucked. Driving my friend's 612 Scaglietti changed my perception of "automatics." Yeah, I know, not fair comparison, but still, even in GTI's, I think I prefer the DSG over the 6-sp. I still love my 5-sp GD, but next car may be clutchless.

 

In the Chicago market few dealers keep MT vehicles in stock except for maybe one or two. Our local dealer still has a new 2013 MT Fit Sport on the showroom floor, but were unwilling to deal. If you want MT you have to order it. The scarcity creates higher demand on the used market. I tried to find a MT Fit but they averaged $500 to $1000 more than automatics and are gone in a day or two.

 

yah, electronic clutch AT like your DSG is not the same as these slush box torque converter sloppy AT's on the fit's.
i drive manual because i enjoy driving. if im racing i would run electronic clutch AT for sure, just to beat the time consistently. the goals are different.

i also think exotic car manufactures dont wat some dumbarse novice mis-shifting allowing some regular car to beat them at a race event...makes the car brand look bad.

 

Too bad the new GTI is a dog, DSG or M/T

 

YOu and I both. What a relevant statement for us few who realize where driving all originated from.
Don't get me wrong, when I drive auto Tranny's, I still do it with left and right feet. Left for the brake and right for the gas.
Although Honda is not a mfg'r. that places the pedals in the preferred "heel & toe" positiions, have learned to adapt my small foot to contort in different angles to fullfill this almost forgotten art.
As posted previously, when my sons asked me to teach them driving, I said I would do so only if its a manual.
We have to keep this art going so start it at home. From there, make sure that in your family, the future generations don't forget this "art of driving".

 

Are you sure about that. I've been reading that 6th ratio is similar to 5th in the GE.