true sports cars are manuals?
 

I thought this was common knowledge, but after talking with someone apparently it's not.

In my opinion, true consumer sports cars are manuals. I don't care how smart a computer is, it does not see the road, it does not know you want to stay in the a lower gear for that instant power out of the next turn. The manual-matics are nice and they're getting better, and I know some sports cars are already coming with manual-matics only and dropping the manual option, but paddle shifters are not the same as rowing your own gears.

but IMHO a true sports car needs to have a manual. Only exception is hybrids, since the computer needs to control using gas or electric motors, it needs control over the transmission too, but we're a few years off from every vehicle being a hybrid or all electric.

What say you? Do true (non-hybrid) sports cars need to have a manual transmission?

http://i39.tinypic.com/2jh64p.jpg

Try driving a current Turbo car with a manual and a PDK on a twisty back road; there is absolutely no comparison, the PDK makes it an experience, the manual transmission makes it much harder to enjoy or even keep up. This is why many Porsche factory drivers love the PDK, and why the PDK is the only transmission option in the GT3 cars. Say what you want, but these transmissions are the future....................

I agree with the premise that true sports cars are manual. My reasons are simple.

Sport to me means that that drivers have massive input into racing from preparing the car to driving it. And driving it means the manual changing of steering angle, throttle position, amount of braking and gear. All these latter activities should depend heavily on the hand eye coordination of the driver. Otherwise, lets just put robots in the cars and see who has the best technology and computer algorithms.

And truly competitive car owners and drivers also know when a superior technology rears its head giving those with it an advantage over those without it.

I used to subscribe to the I would never own a sports car without a manual mantra. That was until I did an exotic car tour. You really should experience a Nissan GTR at full throttle shifting with the paddles without lifting off the gas or a Audi R8 blipping the throttle on every downshift. I changed my mind!

I have driven the PDK on the street and on the track and you can take my stick shift when you pry it from my dead right hand. :D Its not about the technology or which is faster, its about the driving experience.

There is a difference between a race car and a sport car.
I wouldn't want plastic windows or a five point harness in my sports car, nor would you want a radio and air conditioning in a race car.
Manuals, while they may be harder to drive and the PDK has certainly caught up to manuals in performance numbers, I think most gear heads go for a stick.

My thoughts exactly.

Automatic transmission for people movers
Rowing gears for sports cars
Paddle shifters for race cars

And yea, nothing beats letting the throttle full blast on a GTR.

yes this is suppose to be a poll for sports cars, not race cars. Like you said race cars would be stripped of windows and seats and everything, very different from a sports car

Not only that, but there's a difference between having a technology like PDK that creates and error free and less tiring environment for a a car, and the manual which might be more old fashioned, but higher on the "fun" factor.
There's also a large generation of new drivers that have very little experience or nostalgia with manuals, so they probably look at this differently.

A proper sports car needs to have a manual crank start, no sissy electric start motor, manual spark advance, a huge wheel with no nanny power steering, externally oiled valve train so a mechanic needs to always ride shotgun to keep the motor from seizing, fully manual trans with no nanny synchros, no sissy seatbelts, airbags or other safety devices. Get real! ;)

http://ivanpwheaton.smugmug.com/Cars...neThomas-M.jpg

This is Barney Oldfield after the 1916 Indy 500

Progress marches on, PDK all the way! :D

Simple and 100% correct.

this is what the new generation of drivers think when they see a stick:
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog....-shifting1.jpg

Fast & Furious

http://fastandfuriousfanpage.com/ima...2Furious_9.jpg

:dance: :D :dance: :D :dance: :rolleyes:

Most turtle and tortoise societies recommend against box turtles as pets for small children. Box turtles are easily stressed by over-handling and require more care than is generally thought.

http://i875.photobucket.com/albums/a...C3C68286D2.jpg

What manual guys imagine they look like when driving...
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/04/30/e4a4utyr.jpg

What PDK guys imagine they look like when driving..
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/04/30/pa9yqymu.jpg

What PDK guys really look like when driving...

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_9VB_V_v41A...der_driver.jpg

:D ;)

:dance:

Bunch o wankers! :)

+1

If PDK becomes the only option, then that's when I'll stop looking to buy one.

I absolutely prefer driving H-pattern manual gearboxes with clutch pedals any day over auto or sequential transmissions.

However many race cars these days use sequential boxes. To suggest that a GT3 RSR is not a "sports car" despite being designed entirely for competition (competition = sport) doesn't make sense.

I've tracked cars with horrible sequential boxes and some decent ones. I really liked the box on on the Lamborghini Gallardo, although the rest of the car was pretty lousy on track. While the flappy paddle not as fun as a manual, it certainly doesn't ruin the experience by any means.

What you think you bought with PDK:

http://i1114.photobucket.com/albums/...ps08782e5e.jpg



What you really bought with PDK:

http://i1114.photobucket.com/albums/...ps885a3143.jpg