Plus you can custom blend your caramel mocha with your skinny decaf hazelnut latte. Automatically.

Leaving both hands free to shift, no matter what form of transmission you may have.
(bringing back on topic...)

 

getting a 1% half/caff snickers (caramel/hazelnut) mocha with latte foam

 

Why doesn't a car company release a car with both manual shifting capability AND flappy shifting capability. You know, like cruise control?

Why not make the clutch pedal, rather than a physical link to the clutch pedal, drive by wire, like the throttle, and have it give back resistive force (Like the clutch does now, but without the physical "Spring".

When you don't want to clutch in and out anymore or use the gear select lever, you swap it to Auto, or S-Auto, or even M-Auto, and let the computer auto-clutch for you. Then when you want to shift again, start using your e-clutch.

I know it can be done, there are racing consoles out there that use the technology I'm talking about. All that's left is the software integration so that everything flows together.

To me this is a good compromise between those that want a stick for the "Fun-Factor" and those that want a stick because it's faster than a slush-box tranny.

 

two words for you nick E60 M5

 

Last I checked the e60 M5 doesn't have a clutch pedal or a shifter with gates...

 

Nick brought up an interesting question that I've always had. What exactly is a 'clutchless manual'??? All of these trannys seem to have similar names but I know that they are all different somehow.

 

Carbon-dating myself, here, but I seem to remember driving a Mercedes sedan in the early '70s (it wasn't new) that had an electric clutch (no clutch pedal). As soon as you lightly pulled the stick (on the column) toward you, the clutch disengaged and you could shift gears.
Of course, being a child of the sixties, there are large sections of the seventies that may or may not have contributed to whatever memories I have. Anyone familiar with that particular car?

 

Clutchless manuals refer to transmissions that have no physical clutch pedal but still function on the same premise as a manual gearbox (No slush box torque converter). Most clutchless manuals (With the exception of BMW's SMG Gearbox) have two clutches, that engage and disengage automatically.

DCT = Dual Clutch Tranny (BMW) - Twin Clutch
SMG = Sequential Manual Gearbox (BMW M5/M6, old M3) Single Clutch
DSG = Direct Shift Gearbox (VWAG) - Twin Clutch
Ferrari F1 = Twin Clutch (Ferrari)
E-Gear = Single Clutch Sequential Manual (Lamborghini)

There are a few more I'm sure. Not aware of every one.

 

My question stands. Why hasn't a company come out with a car that can be shifted like a manual transmission (With a clutch, and a gated shifter) and switched into "Auto" mode?

 

i stopped by a Mitsubishi dealership the other day and poked around...looking at the Evo X...i opened the door on the new MR version and to my horror....flappy paddles and NO CLUTCH PEDAL! it even had a automatic R-D-N stick...it even had the pedal set up for an automatic....no no no...sorry but if im gonna have a gearbox with paddles you had better give me the ability to work the clutch...took the MR for a test drive and it just felt wrong....didnt feel like i was even driving it

 

To date I'm not aware of ANY car that has the capability to automatically shift a manual transmission (one with a clutch pedal, and gated shifter).

The MR shouldn't come as a surprise, the magazines have been raving about it's flappy gearbox for months now.

 

they can rave all they want...i test drove it and did not like it at all...it just felt weird that a car with a history as an evo would go to a system like that...at least give people the option too have either or

 

They do... you can get a 5-speed manual on the GSR model or a twin clutch tranny for the MR.

 

On a dual-clutch tranny with paddles, the clutch pedal would be like a buggy whip on a Model-A, IMHO. The gated shifter could have some merit... (direct access to the gear you want, and the computer decides if it can "directly" go there, or if it needs to quickly use an intermediate gear to get there safely). In either case, let the computer do the clutchin'... it can do that part more efficiently than mere mortals... you just tell it what gear and when...

 

the problem is with the twin clutch squential transmissions it pretty much takes out things like rev matching and many other techniques that manual drivers adopt when they have fun with their cars (racing or other wise)

rusty:my thought was to look at a Evo that had everything (MR edition) but its kinda hard to do that when i cant even have a choice on my transmission setup

 

I think some of the computer-controlled trannies rev match...

I'm not claiming that folks who love to heel and toe are gonna give that up without a fight... there will always be antique cars around where you can practice your lost art.

But, at some point in the not-too-distant future, when the majority of the raceday winners don't have a clutch pedal, this is gonna change a lot of people's thinking...

 

Well if the car has a standard manual shifter with a clutch pedal how could it be put into an auto mode? The stick would have to shift itself, which would be freaky to watch, or there would have to be an auto tranny as well. So the car would almost have to have 2 trannys to do that, right? I hope I am understanding what you're saying.

 

I think Nick's suggesting something similar to what I talked about earlier as an aftermarket... electronic "simulated" clutch and gated shifter... "feel" like you're controlling the car, but you're just providing more specific input to the computer to tell it when and how to shift. Not actually tugging on cables that actuate shifts, etc. So one computer controlled tranny does it all.

 

So kind of like a gated box with no actual clutch or cables. You still 'shift' the stick but the trans is doing the work... that would be something.

 

Exactly. Think force feedback pedals and joysticks for video games...

 

The problem is that dual clutch gear boxes are kinda like ceramic brakes... Very expensive and only really better (considering the price) on a track. Daily driving is best done with an H-pattern and three pedals. But there is no doubt that the fastest robo-manual (whether one or two clutches) is what you want on a track. Regular autos are good for people who a) can't drive, b) don't have a hands-free or BT, or c) going to the Starbucks drive-thru.

 

I like coffee.

 

I really like the DSG equipped cars I have driven.

The two pedals seem to match the number of feet I have too, which is handy........

 

+1

 

Yeah... but you probably wouldn't want to have one foot on the brake and one on the gas at the same time in an auto.

3 pedals is the way to go, heel toe!