SLegacy99

Haha, it's a Lexus forum. These are the people that want luxury with the least amount of exertion while driving. Hence the dearth of Lexus models equipped with a standard gear box.

Blackraven

Stick => their place in premium and flagship automobiles is diminishing every year.

Ferrari has stopped offering sticks, Porsche is now selling more PDK than stick shift.

And wow, I've noticed this as well. When was the last time I've ever seen an AMG vehicle with a stick

In motorsport and racing, do they still use stick shift nowadays? I don't remember or recall F1 or even rally cars use manual stick shifts.

And hang on, I've heard that the stick version for the previous M5 (E60) was severely limited.

In fact, I heard that the US is/was the only market where the M5 had a stick.....and because performance was somewhat limited (compared to the auto/SMG gearbox), sales were not as high as expected.

You know, offering a stick shift version (for a limited market that will only generate limited potential sales) is just a waste of resources iMHO.

Besides, for me, if ever I wanted a premium automobile, then I'd avoid the stick because IMHO, there is nothing "premium" about it. Such a transmission option may be alright for conventional or "run-of-the-mill" cars but for premium and flagship (and now high-end sport/performance) automobiles, I would never wish to drive a manual gearbox anymore.

I believe that the existence of stick shift is diminishing throughout time. It is happened before, is happening right now and will happen until the future.

It's the sign of the times indeed



P.S.
Lol I predict that even Lexus will stop selling manual cars sometime soon. I tell you, if the next IS will have no stick shift, then that means the final nail in the coffin of the "Lexus stick shift" has been laid

SLegacy99

And yet Buick offered a stick shift for the first time in more than 20 years and apparently people have bought them...what a world.

ggravant

I did not know that, and that IS a big surprise. I might have to check one out

Blackraven

Truth be told........even in Europe (which is generally a stick shift continent), there seems to be some sort of a rise in automatic/SMG/DSG/CVT/etc.

Most new diesel cars for instance are now having these newer gearbox options (where in the past, stick shift was the only option). Also, more and more of the newer automated gearboxes are becoming more-and-more fuel efficient and even give better performance than the stick shift (i.e. Honda Fit/Jazz, Lancer Evo X, etc.)

In short, the trend will continue. Heck, I might even think that by year 2100 (or earlier), manual transmission vehicles will mostly end up as antiques or museum collection items.

Times are changing. It's either one adapts or be shunned and outcast.

SLegacy99

That's true, but there are lots of cars in which the manual is more efficient than the auto. Camry, Cruze, A4/S4, Regal, Corvette, CTS-V, Sonata and so on.