Is the manual dying? The Corvette has dropped it.

Tuesday, 23 July 2019

Sales of manual transmissions have been falling for decades as autos have simply got better and better.

General Motors revealed the redesigned Corvette recently with eye-popping new features like an engine situated under the vehicle's midsection, instead of under the hood, to maximise speed.

What it doesn't have: a manual transmission. The 2020 Corvette Stingray will get an eight-speed dual-clutch transmission that 'provides lightning-fast shifts and excellent power transfer,' Chevrolet said in a statement.

New Corvette, no manual. How will the purists cope?

It's paired with an 'electronic transmission range selector,' which eliminates the mechanical connection between the shift stick and the transmission. It also incorporates paddle shifters for drivers who want to choose their own gear.

But a dual-clutch transmission is ultimately a manual. You don't need to fumble for the clutch and use your hands to switch gears to drive the car.

No manual shifter in the new Corvette's interior, but there does seem to be a conspicuous spot for one.

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Indeed, the old-school stick shift that defined the early years of modern cars is gone with the C8 'Vette. This was long rumoured, but that won't make it easy for stick-shift loyalists.

But the loyalists are a 'loud minority' at this point, said Karl Brauer, executive publisher of car information and buying sites Kelley Blue Book and Autotrader. The enthusiasts will 'make all sorts of screams and noises' about this change, but ultimately 'it's just getting harder and harder to justify a manual transmission' given the low volume, Brauer said.

Plus, in a lot of vehicles, the automatic transmission offers better fuel economy and performance these days, due to technological advancements.

Other automakers have taken similar steps. In 2018, Volkswagen Group luxury automotive brand Audi announced that it would no longer offer any manual-transmission vehicles in the U.S. beginning with the 2019 model year. The final Audi models offered with a stick-shift variant were the 2018 A4 sedan and A5 coupe.

After a range of technological advancements in recent years, automatic transmissions now come in various high-tech forms, such as dual-clutch versions like the Corvette's that mimic a manual's gear-changing function. Bottom line: they do all the work for you.

Sales of manual transmissions have been falling for decades, but their drop-off has accelerated in recent years. Perhaps the main reason why the manual transmission is an anachronism is because of the automatic transmission's vast improvements.

'The best manual drivers cannot match the shift speeds of our latest automatics,' said Mark Kielczewski, assistant chief engineer for General Motors' new 10-speed automatic transmissions. 'The transmission detects if the vehicle is going up or down a hill, if the driver is on a curvy road and is driving aggressively or just driving smoothly, it makes the proper adjustments to keep the transmission in the right gear, at the right time, all the time.'

But while the manual transmission may be on its way out, the automatic transmission shouldn't get too comfortable. In fact, its days could be numbered, too.

That's because electric vehicles, which some believe could eventually overtake gasoline powered cars, don't have transmissions at all.