What feature in your car could you not live without?

[Commodus]

46 minutes ago, svmlegacy said:

Same reason people like to have mechanical keyboards. Preferences.

 

I've driven both. Manual's are more engaging and fun for me.

 

Not to mention... my particular car is known to have weak automatics, but a robust manual.

Just be ready to move on at some point. It's guaranteed that you'll have to give up manual at some point, whether it's because of EVs, self-driving or just companies dropping them.

 

With that said: I can understand preferring a manual, especially with cars where the auto box is unreliable or just not very good.

[dalekphalm]

1 minute ago, Commodus said:

Just be ready to move on at some point. It's guaranteed that you'll have to give up manual at some point, whether it's because of EVs, self-driving or just companies dropping them.

 

With that said: I can understand preferring a manual, especially with cars where the auto box is unreliable or just not very good.

I do think that as long as ICE vehicles are still on the road, there will be niche manufacturers making manuals for them.

 

But otherwise I totally agree. Here in Canada (and to a slightly lesser degree in the US), manuals in new cars are almost not even a thing anymore. Most entry level models of popular cars have automatic transmissions.

 

Usually you actually pay extra to get an optional manual, if it's even an option (which for many cars now - it's not).

[Levent]

Manual gearbox. I drove few automatics including ones with ZF8HP and still I keep desiring for that third pedal. Second would be good sound system and an aux input of sorts. Last one is definitely seats, BMW makes by far the best seats IMO, even if you arent cornering at high speeds, it feels nice to be relaxed during cornering and not have to hold on to your seat.

[svmlegacy]

10 minutes ago, dalekphalm said:

I do think that as long as ICE vehicles are still on the road, there will be niche manufacturers making manuals for them.

 

But otherwise I totally agree. Here in Canada (and to a slightly lesser degree in the US), manuals in new cars are almost not even a thing anymore. Most entry level models of popular cars have automatic transmissions.

 

Usually you actually pay extra to get an optional manual, if it's even an option (which for many cars now - it's not).

I've been looking at new manual cars lately, my CL is getting up in age, and I'd like to not destroy it in the winter.
I haven't seen manual being extra, although in some cases the option is unlocked with a performance package. (Again, this is the case with my CL.)

 

19 minutes ago, Commodus said:

Just be ready to move on at some point. It's guaranteed that you'll have to give up manual at some point, whether it's because of EVs, self-driving or just companies dropping them.

 

It's a shame the manual Accord is getting killed this year, along with the 2-door Civic. Honda historically is one of the few manufacturers to offer a significan amount of manuals, now reduced to only the Civic. Acura hasn't made a manual in a while now either.

 

Most of the cars available in manual are compact base models, or enthusiast sports cars. So long as people buy manual Miata's/Mustangs, and internationally manuals are desirable, I think we'll still see them in small numbers for time to come.

 

Certainly, the end of the manual transmission car is nearing. I like it, though, and as long as I can practically drive one, I will.

 

There's interesting parrallels towards the desktop computer, as well. The world is turing towards laptops, the desktop has become more and more niche over the last 6 years or so.

[Commodus]

16 minutes ago, svmlegacy said:

It's a shame the manual Accord is getting killed this year, along with the 2-door Civic. Honda historically is one of the few manufacturers to offer a significan amount of manuals, now reduced to only the Civic. Acura hasn't made a manual in a while now either.

 

Most of the cars available in manual are compact base models, or enthusiast sports cars. So long as people buy manual Miata's/Mustangs, and internationally manuals are desirable, I think we'll still see them in small numbers for time to come.

 

Certainly, the end of the manual transmission car is nearing. I like it, though, and as long as I can practically drive one, I will.

 

There's interesting parrallels towards the desktop computer, as well. The world is turing towards laptops, the desktop has become more and more niche over the last 6 years or so.

That sounds like a well-grounded approach, and that's a valid parallel... although we'll probably still have desktop PCs for longer than we'll have manuals!

[IkeaGnome]

4 hours ago, mousesnob said:

Dont really understand why some people are so anal about it being manual or automatic.

Because you never know when you're going to need a 2025:1 low gear for getting out of a hole or over a moose.

 

[PlayStation 2]

27 minutes ago, svmlegacy said:

IIt's a shame the manual Accord is getting killed this year, along with the 2-door Civic. Honda historically is one of the few manufacturers to offer a significan amount of manuals, now reduced to only the Civic. Acura hasn't made a manual in a while now either.

At the same time, when's the last time you've seen a fairly recent manual Acura... or a recent manual Accord, for that matter? I know I've never seen 'em out in the wild. 

I can count quite a number of weird oddball cars enthusiasts say they want but never buy: manual Accords, Regal TourX, weird diesel Volkswagens, base model trucks, etc. I understand why people want these cars, but at the same time, waiting until they're used cars doesn't give the automaker any encouragement to continue making weird shit like that.

[svmlegacy]

3 minutes ago, handymanshandle said:

At the same time, when's the last time you've seen a fairly recent manual Acura... or a recent manual Accord, for that matter? I know I've never seen 'em out in the wild. 

I can count quite a number of weird oddball cars enthusiasts say they want but never buy: manual Accords, Regal TourX, weird diesel Volkswagens, base model trucks, etc. I understand why people want these cars, but at the same time, waiting until they're used cars doesn't give the automaker any encouragement to continue making weird shit like that.

You're speaking very regionally. In my area, base model trucks and diesel Volkswagens are fairly common. I don't exactly go around looking in people's Accords and Acura's to see if it's a manual, though.

It's difficult to find new manual cars in Ontario, but Quebec dealers stock them. Again, proof of the regionality.

The reason I think you'll see manual base models for some time to come? They're very desirable for countries outside of North America. If the engineering work is already done on that drivetrain, introducing it to other markets as a niche product is relatively cheap, less cars offset the cost.

[pd.]

A good nav system with offline maps. I even keep a paper backup map in my glove box.

[handymanshandle]

2 hours ago, svmlegacy said:

You're speaking very regionally. In my area, base model trucks and diesel Volkswagens are fairly common. I don't exactly go around looking in people's Accords and Acura's to see if it's a manual, though.

It's difficult to find new manual cars in Ontario, but Quebec dealers stock them. Again, proof of the regionality.

The reason I think you'll see manual base models for some time to come? They're very desirable for countries outside of North America. If the engineering work is already done on that drivetrain, introducing it to other markets as a niche product is relatively cheap, less cars offset the cost.

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a33336428/honda-accord-manual-transmission-discontinued/

"But Honda says the manual made up only around 1 to 2 percent of Accord sales"

[Bombastinator]

Just now, pinksnowbirdie said:

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a33336428/honda-accord-manual-transmission-discontinued/

"But Honda says the manual made up only around 1 to 2 percent of Accord sales"

This may be about snow.  Manuals can be better on snow because you can upshift and feather the clutch to produce less power and avoid spinning the wheels.

[Godlygamer23]

57 minutes ago, Bombastinator said:

This may be about snow.  Manuals can be better on snow because you can upshift and feather the clutch to produce less power and avoid spinning the wheels.

As far as shifting is concerned, autos do have manual modes. 

[wall03]

stereo speakers. The bass is better then my $30 computer speakers, which is a thumbs up

 

 

[dalekphalm]

2 minutes ago, Godlygamer23 said:

As far as shifting is concerned, autos do have manual modes. 

They do, but the counter argument is that without a manual clutch, you can't get that fine control.

 

But that can be negated by the fact that the computer in the car can control the clutch the same way a human driver would (better, possibly).

 

But in all honesty, I've lived in some pretty rough Canadian climates and I've literally never needed a manual w/ a clutch to avoid spinning the wheels. Especially with modern traction control systems, I think that's simply not a problem for your regular driver anymore.

[Bombastinator]

8 minutes ago, Godlygamer23 said:

As far as shifting is concerned, autos do have manual modes. 

Some do.  No clutch pedal though.   I had a CVT with a “manual mode”. It’s what destroyed the thing. 

[dalekphalm]

3 minutes ago, Bombastinator said:

Some do.  No clutch pedal though.   I had a CVT with a “manual mode”. It’s what destroyed the thing. 

What exactly is the point of a manual mode on a CVT though? It doesn't have gears. Or do you have one with fake gear shifts?

[Bombastinator]

1 minute ago, dalekphalm said:

What exactly is the point of a manual mode on a CVT though? It doesn't have gears. Or do you have one with fake gear shifts?

Had.  BMW thought it would make it more “sporty”. Caused nothing but problems. Big ones. That car is reason 1 of several why I want an electric car.  Electric cars don’t have power trains.

[RejZoR]

Ability to so effortlessly browse folders with MP3 as I can in my current car from 2010. And also have ability to shuffle only within selected folder. I've been sitting in a brand new car that cost basically twice as much as mine did when it was new, has fancy big ass "Infotainment" touch system and as soon as you press shuffle, it shuffles across entire USB drive. What moron thought of this?! And no, I couldn't find any way to limit it to current folder. Digging through folders also seems nightmarish task despite touch. On my archaic tiny blue display I can easily scroll through folders and songs using a knob and to select I push it in once correct item is on display. It's old and simple but so powerful.  It would drive me insane having modern expensive car that has no concept of such a feature.

 

I mean, you want trance music from folder X on shuffle? Done. It's playing. Want only 80's hits on shuffle? Done again! Or am I the only weird person who likes certain types of music neatly sorted in physical folders on massive USB drive and play it based on folders and not anything else and not just shuffling between totally different music? Living with it for 10 years now and it's the best damn feature I've ever seen or used in any car.

 

Back then, finding a car with USB without paying ridiculous amount of extra money for it was almost mission impossible. But this one had it. I guess when I'll be buying next car, this will be the requirement... coz I can't imagine owning one that can't do this.

[Donut417]

5 minutes ago, Bombastinator said:

Had.  BMW thought it would make it more “sporty”. Caused nothing but problems. Big ones. That car is reason 1 of several why I want an electric car.  Electric cars don’t have power trains.

Seems that all the major auto makers are putting their hats in on electric. Both a new Hummer and Mustang are electric. My only issue with electric is for charging. 1) The US electrical grid is crap and will probably fail at life. 2) Most. houses dont have electric car chargers currently. 

[dalekphalm]

4 minutes ago, RejZoR said:

Ability to so effortlessly browse folders with MP3 as I can in my current car from 2010. And also have ability to shuffle only within selected folder. I've been sitting in a brand new car that cost basically twice as much as mine did when it was new, has fancy big ass "Infotainment" touch system and as soon as you press shuffle, it shuffles across entire USB drive. What moron thought of this?! And no, I couldn't find any way to limit it to current folder. Digging through folders also seems nightmarish task despite touch. On my archaic tiny blue display I can easily scroll through folders and songs using a knob and to select I push it in once correct item is on display. It's old and simple but so powerful.  It would drive me insane having modern expensive car that has no concept of such a feature.

 

I mean, you want trance music from folder X on shuffle? Done. It's playing. Want only 80's hits on shuffle? Done again! Or am I the only weird person who likes certain types of music neatly sorted in physical folders on massive USB drive and play it based on folders and not anything else and not just shuffling between totally different music? Living with it for 10 years now and it's the best damn feature I've ever seen or used in any car.

 

Back then, finding a car with USB without paying ridiculous amount of extra money for it was almost mission impossible. But this one had it. I guess when I'll be buying next car, this will be the requirement... coz I can't imagine owning one that can't do this.

I'd wager that the vast majority of users simply don't use a USB drive to play music in their cars anymore.

 

Most people likely use a smartphone - and then they can use playlists to replicate what you'd do with folders (but more flexibility, because a song may work with more than one playlist, and there's no need to physically duplicate - and thus waste storage space - the song). Depending on the phone and music player, you can sometimes even just browse by genre.

[Velcade]

7 minutes ago, Donut417 said:

Most. houses dont have electric car chargers currently. 

Most houses don't have gas stations either. 

[dalekphalm]

10 minutes ago, Donut417 said:

Seems that all the major auto makers are putting their hats in on electric. Both a new Hummer and Mustang are electric. My only issue with electric is for charging. 1) The US electrical grid is crap and will probably fail at life. 2) Most. houses dont have electric car chargers currently. 

That second one is a bit of a misnomer.

 

Most new electric cars (all, perhaps?) will come with an included charger of some kind. Though usually this is just for 120V charging (Level 1), which while very slow, is enough if all the driver does is a few dozen km a day for a daily commute. If you drive more then a few dozen km, you need a level 2 charger (220-240V). Some come with 240V chargers (or one that does both 120V and 240V) - but if you don't have an outlet wired up, the 240V charger by itself isn't very useful.

 

To be honest, I think it would be very beneficial to have government mandate some standards for new home construction. Maybe not force them to actually install a charger, but force them to install the 240V circuit and outlet that the charger will use (although you can wire the charger right into your breaker panel, rather than via an outlet, if you so choose).

 

The US really needs to invest in fixing their grid if that's a problem. Ontario did that 17 years ago in the aftermath of the 2003 Blackout (which affected vast swaths of Canada and the US on the east side I believe). Our grid was overbuilt to the degree that we have literally double the installed capacity compared to what we use. Ontario could flip tonight to all EV's and likely not even break a sweat.

 

Granted, that cost a lot of investment - but it was worth it to ensure such a massive blackout could never affect us again (even if one happened to a neighbouring grid, like in New York or Michigan, we'd still be okay). The fact that it allows us to switch to EV's so easily is simply an unintended byproduct.

[Bombastinator]

4 minutes ago, Donut417 said:

Seems that all the major auto makers are putting their hats in on electric. Both a new Hummer and Mustang are electric. My only issue with electric is for charging. 1) The US electrical grid is crap and will probably fail at life. 2) Most. houses dont have electric car chargers currently. 

I looked into car chargers as it’s kind of key.  You really need some kind of 240v outlet but those are pretty easy to arrange for.  Even old old neighborhoods have 2 “phase” (there’s a long argument about the definition of phase I’m just going to avoid) power.  240v@40amp is more or less an electric range or electric dryer outlet and is more than enough for electric car charging. 240v@20amp is the lowest end of “level2” or whatever they call it.  Not fast charge really, but fast enough.  As for the US electrical grid it’s aging and in trouble.  Varies a bit by state, but none of them are in good shape.

[Donut417]

1 minute ago, Velcade said:

Most houses don't have gas stations either. 

Yeah but most gas stations dont have electric car chargers either. At least on in Michigan. I dont think I have ever seen a public electric car charger. Also, the electrical grid in the good old US of A is very old and prone to failure. 

1 minute ago, dalekphalm said:

hough usually this is just for 120V charging (Level 1), which while very slow, is enough if all the driver does is a few dozen km a day for a daily commute. If you drive more then a few dozen km, you need a level 2 charger (220-240V).

Its never going to catch on unless it works like gas. It takes me like a whole 10 min to fill up at a gas pump. If electric isn't going to be like that then people are not going to want them. Also, 220v while used in US homes, its not a common outlet to have an extra of. I know for a fact our electrical panel in our home would require replacement to put any more circuits in it, we only have 100 amps. To do that kind of electrical work would costs a forturne. Most people are not going to buy a car and then have to spend a metric shit ton on electrical work. 

[crazzyman]

4 minutes ago, dalekphalm said:

That second one is a bit of a misnomer.

 

Most new electric cars (all, perhaps?) will come with an included charger of some kind. Though usually this is just for 120V charging (Level 1), which while very slow, is enough if all the driver does is a few dozen km a day for a daily commute. If you drive more then a few dozen km, you need a level 2 charger (220-240V). Some come with 240V chargers (or one that does both 120V and 240V) - but if you don't have an outlet wired up, the 240V charger by itself isn't very useful.

 

To be honest, I think it would be very beneficial to have government mandate some standards for new home construction. Maybe not force them to actually install a charger, but force them to install the 240V circuit and outlet that the charger will use (although you can wire the charger right into your breaker panel, rather than via an outlet, if you so choose).

 

The US really needs to invest in fixing their grid if that's a problem. Ontario did that 17 years ago in the aftermath of the 2003 Blackout (which affected vast swaths of Canada and the US on the east side I believe). Our grid was overbuilt to the degree that we have literally double the installed capacity compared to what we use. Ontario could flip tonight to all EV's and likely not even break a sweat.

 

Granted, that cost a lot of investment - but it was worth it to ensure such a massive blackout could never affect us again (even if one happened to a neighbouring grid, like in New York or Michigan, we'd still be okay). The fact that it allows us to switch to EV's so easily is simply an unintended byproduct.

why on ether should the government mandate homes be have a 240v or a grid upgrade when most people don't even own a electric car?