T8
Super Moderator
- Joined
- 29 Jun 2010
- Messages
- 21,393
I've just got back from a 4 day break in Jersey during which time I did 155 miles in a brand new Vauxhall Corsa. The 3 cylinder 1 litre Turbo is all you need in an island where 30 mph is the norm and the national speed limit is 40 so I had no issues with lack of power.
The biggest thing for me was the fact that it had a manual gearbox. It all functioned very well and I was very pleased that I didn't stall or find myself in the wrong gear once but it only took me a couple of hours to start asking the question ...... Why, in the 21st Century, would anybody choose to buy a manual car for everyday use?
NB: I'm not attempting to reignite any Manual v Tiptronic/PDK debate so I'm not referring to sporty type cars I'm querying why so many 'ordinary' car drivers choose to buy a three pedal car.
Once upon a time small-engined automatic cars were rare and the ones that did exist were horrid to drive. Nowadays however most cars are available with a 2 pedal option and almost all perform well enough for the lack of 'ccs' not to be an issue. Despite this, every day, I witness people (especially oldies and women) crunching their changes, rolling back on slopes and struggling to manoeuvre when parking and they really can't enjoy 'stop-starting' in traffic.
It's 12 years now since I last owned a manual car although I have still driven them occasionally but it was only this week that I really got to thinking how, for 90% of people, it just doesn't make sense.
It got me wondering as to why UK car owners have never cottoned on to automatics for regular use.
Thoughts :?:
The biggest thing for me was the fact that it had a manual gearbox. It all functioned very well and I was very pleased that I didn't stall or find myself in the wrong gear once but it only took me a couple of hours to start asking the question ...... Why, in the 21st Century, would anybody choose to buy a manual car for everyday use?
NB: I'm not attempting to reignite any Manual v Tiptronic/PDK debate so I'm not referring to sporty type cars I'm querying why so many 'ordinary' car drivers choose to buy a three pedal car.
Once upon a time small-engined automatic cars were rare and the ones that did exist were horrid to drive. Nowadays however most cars are available with a 2 pedal option and almost all perform well enough for the lack of 'ccs' not to be an issue. Despite this, every day, I witness people (especially oldies and women) crunching their changes, rolling back on slopes and struggling to manoeuvre when parking and they really can't enjoy 'stop-starting' in traffic.
It's 12 years now since I last owned a manual car although I have still driven them occasionally but it was only this week that I really got to thinking how, for 90% of people, it just doesn't make sense.
It got me wondering as to why UK car owners have never cottoned on to automatics for regular use.
Thoughts :?: