Sadly we are the ones who are phasing out the manual transmission, not the manufacturers. They could do much to keep them around, but if we do not insist on keeping them they WILL be gone. I was told by the owner of a Porsche dealer that they are dropping manuals completely by 2017.

I think Honda will retain them a bit longer, but I doubt they will forever.

When I worked for a car dealer we ONLY ordered the basest of base models with manuals, i.e. crank windows and no A/C. Unsurprisingly these cars took forever to sell (but allowed us to advertise some great starting prices!). Few people were willing to wait 8-12 weeks to order a new car just to get a M/T, even the ones who would prefer it. I died a little inside every time someone traded in their M/T for an auto. I remember selling a woman an FJ cruiser, she was trading in a BMW 3 series wagon with a stick. She wanted a stick FJ, but we could not dealer locate anything but autos and she decided to pull the trigger on the auto instead of ordering or flying out of the region to buy a manual from a dealer that actually had one.

I am a die-hard manual transmission driver and will NEVER purchase from a company that drops their manuals. Ferrari and Lambo have lost my future business completely. When the GTR arrived I was itching to buy one. I even accepted all the nonsense about the dual clutch and flappy paddles being superior, until I drove it. I hated it, every second of it, minus the few seconds I was completely wide open throttle on a country road. Taking away my ability to really drive the car, even if I am being replaced by a system that is undoubtedly better at changing gears than I am, completely ruins the experience for me.

If you really love manuals and want to keep them around, don't settle for an auto when you can't get manual right away. I could not get a Fit sport with a manual here in Tampa Bay (a few base were available) and there were none in the state for dealer trade in silver, black, or that gray color (forget what it's called). I heard that production of the next fit was moving to Mexico and that the car was likely going to be dumbed down in terms of driving pleasure, so I did not want to miss out on the opportunity to buy the last new Honda that drives like the old Honda so many of us love.

I didn't accept defeat and buy the auto, I called up the dealer I used to work for in Ohio, had them locate one, dealer trade, and I flew up to get it. The only thing that would make me happier is an Si version with >200hp, limited slip, and some HIDs in projectors or LED headlights so I can actually see the road at night like in my other cars.

The Fit reminds me of my old 1989 Prelude 2.0SI 4WS and 1993 Civic EX sedan. Free-revving, fun to drive, reliable, economical, and little of the extra garbage that has become so common today (like that stupid "power" screen in the newer Si). I don't need my car to read me text messages or tell me how many HP I am using, I want to enjoy rowing through the gears, rev-matching, taking turns too fast, etc. I bought this thing to be a beater car and my weekend car was a 2013 Mustang GT premium with about 500hp. When I bought the Fit in 12/2012 I had 6,000 miles on my Mustang GT. I sold the Mustang a couple months ago with less than 10k on it and the Fit now has 51k. It is a blast to drive, but only with the manual.

I have logged far too many miles with that awful slush box in the auto (and yes, the sport with paddle shifters). The car is maybe 1/3 the fun to me with the auto, and getting left at lights by just about everything on the road is embarrassing since I have a pretty aggressive driving style. Here I am weaving through cars to get to the front of the line, only to get left behind away from every light.

Rant complete.

 

Hey look another MD! I thought I was the only one driving a Fit not a luxury car

Anywho, I would be surprised if it is not a lower ratio 6th gear than our current 5th because that is the biggest (only?) complaint I consistently hear about the GE 5MT.

 

Getting an automatic is like hiring a retarded butler. Paddle shifters just let you keep your hands around his neck at all times to make him do what he's supposed to do in a bit more of a timely fashion.

 

fuck that

there are people in this world I barely trust to breathe and blink at the same time


Let the automatic survive for those people.

Let the manual be driven by people who will actually get the use and technique out of it

 

It's right there on Honda's website. They are the same.

Here's the old GE: (I saved a copy of the spec page before it disappeared)
Gear Ratios: 1st: 3.308, 2nd: 1.870, 3rd: 1.303, 4th: 0.949, 5th: 0.727, Reverse: 3.308, Final Drive: 4.62

Here's the new GK:
Gear Ratios: 1st: 3.462, 2nd: 1.870, 3rd: 1.235, 4th: 0.949, 5th: 0.810, 6th:0.727, Reverse: 3.307, Final Drive Ratio: 4.62

 

Sig'd.

10char

 

WOW, so what is the point of the new 6 speed? I don't find the GE gears to be tall at all, quite well suited really. 1-5 could be a little closer then a taller 6th to drop rpms. I always figured that's what they would do.

I wonder of this has something to do with the aero of the car vs the power the engine makes at highway rpms. It might not be that efficient at lower rpms. Perhaps it doesn't get better mpg or is too sluggish at higher lower rpms. Since they didn't drop the final there is hopefully a good reason.

I was always waiting for the new lower 6th gear to get reviewed and have all the reviewers who complained about high rpms in the 5MT to complain about lack of passing power and how you have to downshift to pass with a 6MT. Funny.

 

I waited for months for my GD Sport w/ a manual. After it was totalled in a H&R accident, I again waited for a manual Sport. Ended up w/ a dealer swap from N.C. There is NO WAY I would drive any small car w/ an auto. I tried the auto/paddle, and found them to be a "toy", as it was just simpler to leave it in Drive. A clutch gives me FULL involvement; also, since mine is manual, I don't have the "gear hunting" when using my cruise control.
'12 VBP Sport 5MT w/minor appearance & comfort mods

 

100% agree. I could not get white, silver, or the dark gray Fit Sport with a manual in Florida. I went to Ohio to get one instead, flew up and drove it back. The dealer picked me up from the airport at 10pm (flight got delayed). Thayer Homda in Bowling Green. I never understood people who say they bought an auto bc they could not get a manual nearby. For the price savings of the manual you could ship one from anywhere in the US and still be cheaper than an auto. If you really want manual, you'll buy one, as auto is not an alternative. I would have not purchased before I would have purchased auto.

 

Is the manual dead? I hope not! I just bought a '15 Fit M/T, my first manual trans. I waited two months to find one in the state, and when I found one I drove 2 hours each way to the dealer to buy it. I was talking to 4 dealers at the time trying to find the M/T and they all kept saying they would make me a deal on the CVT. I said no way and kept waiting. Absolutely NO regrets. I came from an A/T Mustang and have so much more fun driving the Fit. I was out until 1am last night just joy riding on back roads (computer said freaking 47mpg after 20 minutes of cruising at 55mph). I never wanted to go joy riding in the Mustang, it was just no fun. A lot of noise and at 100k, the auto started getting sluggish and mis-shifting.

I feel like I was reborn as a driver. Control, technique, learning the finer points of rev matching and down shifting... I'm smiling thinking about how far I've come and how much farther I have to go to master it. It's just how a car should be operated.

When I drive an Auto now, my left foot just sits there sad. Hopefully I'll be in the Fit for the next 5-10 years and after that, if I have the option, I will only get an M/T.

Also to make along post longer, on one of these pages somebody said Porsche will drop all M/Ts by 2017. WHY ON EARTH? Between that and Panamera, I think they are trying to become the car that trophy wives drive...

 

That was me.

Congratulations on the new Fit man!!! Post some pics for us to admire. I bought the car as a DD and had a 2013 Mustang GT premium as a weekend car. I found myself driving the Fit ALL the time, sold the Mustang a couple months ago.

I just picked up a 2015 Boxster S. I didn't really want black but I actually got a really good deal on it and I think I can sell the car for more than what I paid since availability is scarce. It is a manual trans with sport chrono package, when I downshift the car rev matches for me it is pretty amazing!! With the sport exhaust and sport chrono package the perfect rev matched downshifts sound GREAT.



Already looks dirty...

 

This is the kind of dedication people need to have towards manuals in order to keep them around. Most people fold and buy auto when they can't get manual

 

That thing is gorgeous my friend, dirty or not. Drive it in good health and with good luck. I bet driving it is just too much fun, especially if every down shift is perfect. Sounds like a speeding ticket just waiting to happen! No judgement there; I managed to get one in the Fit already (first one and last one in my life)!

I may have liked the 'Stang more if it wasn't an auto. It was only a V6 also, so with the auto trans to boot it hardly even felt like you were driving a Mustang. Just a loud, inefficient, commuter car with a small interior and a tendency to slide on wet roads. I still hope it has a good life ahead of it, but I'm glad it will be in somebody else's driveway. When I switched to the Fit, I doubled my fuel economy, quadrupled my interior volume, and made a massive leap forward in in-car tech (looking at you, Bluetooth Pandora Streaming).

I really love it. In fact, after my last post, I went for a little drive around the office

 

I'm fairly certain this is accurate and i've been saying this for years.

 

Because most people don't actually like to drive. But they heard that it's cool, so they pretend. If they "settle" for an auto, they're actually secretly relieved.

Of the 10 cars my wife and I have owned, two have been autos- one of them was what she owned when we met, and the other is the minivan that doesn't have a choice. Of the two new cars we've bought, both were manuals.

 

So what I get from you is people who buy autos dont like driving.

That is a pretty foolish statement, and an ignorant one at that.

There is nothing you can really say to back up your statement of "people who buy automatics dont like to drive"

 

They don't.

And if they say they do...they mean they like sitting in an air conditioned box going places while:

-Listening to radio
-Eating
-Drinking
-Talking/texting on phone
-Doing make-up
-Etc.



Evidence:

I've met people who drive automatic vehicles.

 

Tell that shit to my old squad leader who has a turbo EG hatch manual, an automatic fit, a 6 speed 8th gen SI civic, an allmotor RSX build, manual of course, an automatic classic Apache truck with a stupid fast 383 ripping the roads up with an automatic. And doing 11 second quarter miles with power steering and AC

 

Real driver's can do this in a manual too.

 

People want a living room couch that takes them places. That's what most of the cars on the road are.

"Driving" is an active verb. It requires that you do something. "Driving" involves changing speed and direction. Loving lound noises and high speeds doesn't count as loving driving. Most people on the road don't qualify as "drivers." Many barely rate the title "vehicle operator." Lots of them are merely the "responsible party."

Look- I got mad driving skillz!


Citing a 1/4 time and calling it driving... now that's ignorant. That's just going one time through the gears quickly.