are manuals becoming irrelevant?

[tontod]

What about the Volvo S40 R-Design AWD? That comes with a manual. I was thinking about getting that car.

 

[StageLeft]

Yep Volvos do have it. Availability appears egregious, though, at least in this area. I'm not sure what cost of ownership is on them.

 

[yh125d]

"R-Design" I believe is just a trim package now (wheels, prolly different leather/interior/exterior trim, not a real R version like the S60 Rs are)


But if you're still concerned about rear seat space an S40 would be a no-go. S60s are already not-all-that-spacious

 

[senseamp]

Manuals are hard to beat for driver involvement. I think they are becoming more niche to appeal to a certain personality of a driver as opposed to appealing to more economic reasons for owning one. Maybe one day someone will come up with a fly by wire stick transmission where you still have a clutch and stick shifter, but they are just input devices that feed a computer controlling an automatic transmission. Then you can have realistic stick shift or full auto mode based on your mood.

 

[lurk3r]

I'm gonna use this thread for my rant instead of making another


Ford geared the 5sp in I4 Fusions like idiots. 3400rpm/3000rpm at 80/70? When 2700rpm would be plenty for 80mph? They're killing my gas mileage.


Needs a 6th gear. Glad the 2010 mans are 6sp

My Altima's at least 500-600 higher in everything from 3rd-5th than I'd like too, I'd even take 1k off in 5th.

As an aside I've been looking almost daily for a replacement for my 06 Altima, and there really isn't anything worth spending the money on, 3 series BMW's are too small, 5's are either beaten to death or $30k used, the G35 is AWD or manual, never both, Audi's are ... well audi's. I was really looking foreward to trying out the A5, but it dosent take much research to see its maybe the worst electrical system Audi's ever made, and that saying alot!

My current fav is the Volvo S60R, its not 'real' AWD but I do love the 3 mode suspension that seems to change your fuel map with the modes, comfort mode and sport mode, the best of both worlds.

The new Buick looks interesting, I'm just scared GM will ruin it with horribad Mexican sensors like it has the Caddys.

 

[Tristicus]

Then you can have realistic stick shift or full auto mode based on your mood.

I wouldn't mind that at all. I love driving my manual, but it would be nice in this stop and go to have an automatic sometimes.

 

[StageLeft]

My Altima's at least 500-600 higher in everything from 3rd-5th than I'd like too, I'd even take 1k off in 5th.

As an aside I've been looking almost daily for a replacement for my 06 Altima, and there really isn't anything worth spending the money on, 3 series BMW's are too small, 5's are either beaten to death or $30k used, the G35 is AWD or manual, never both, Audi's are ... well audi's. I was really looking foreward to trying out the A5, but it dosent take much research to see its maybe the worst electrical system Audi's ever made, and that saying alot!

My current fav is the Volvo S60R, its not 'real' AWD but I do love the 3 mode suspension that seems to change your fuel map with the modes, comfort mode and sport mode, the best of both worlds.

The new Buick looks interesting, I'm just scared GM will ruin it with horribad Mexican sensors like it has the Caddys.

It's really an incredible shame there is no AWD manual G or better yet an AWD altima with manual

The s60r is nice. They seem a little pricier than a G35X of the same vintage and mileage. I assume they'd be more expensive to keep on the road.

 

[yh125d]

S60 Rs are real AWD when you need it, but putting around town they're mostly FWD, which you never really notice. When you're on it though it splits evenly. You'd never notice the difference between it and a full time 50/50 AWD


I really don't know what you guys are referring to thinking it would be more expensive to keep on the road than an infiniti or BMW... Mine was never a pain except premium gas

And yeah the variable suspension is great. Comfort mode is jut that, very comfortable, Sport is usable for every day if you want a crisp feeling ride, and advanced for when you find a particularly twisty highway

And the improved throttle response turns on in advanced, or you can enable just it alone with the S button by the shifter

 

[StageLeft]

I really don't know what you guys are referring to thinking it would be more expensive to keep on the road than an infiniti or BMW... Mine was never a pain except premium gas

Infiniti in this price range is cheaper than BMW, so I'm comparing it to that. It's only an assumption; I don't know for sure. It's not a high volume vehicle, though, and I do recall hearing something iffy about the transmission on these AWD volvos but that may be no longer relevant.

 

[yh125d]

The only thing I had to deal with transmission wise in two years was a software update which was unnecessary (didn't seem to have any odd behaviors before or afterhand) and since it was an auto, torque was limited to ~260 in first and second, but that's autos only

 

[lurk3r]

The only thing I had to deal with transmission wise in two years was a software update which was unnecessary (didn't seem to have any odd behaviors before or afterhand) and since it was an auto, torque was limited to ~260 in first and second, but that's autos only

The autos did have major reliability issues, they were putting it into neutral whenever the brake was pressed to save some gas, stopping this seems to have fixed the issue, but beware if you're shopping older than 06 S60R's with autos, if they drove for very long aggressively before the software update the trans will probably grenade like it was an accord.