[romalerig]

http://jalopnik.com/manual-transmissions-are-hideously-expensive-because-of-1294864532

Buy manual boys & girls !!!!!!!!!!! It's a matter of wildelife preservation !!!!

 

[JTE]

And twenty years ago manual transmissions were more expensive to build than Auto's because of machining & assembly costs.

 

[AutoTechnician]

And twenty years ago manual transmissions were more expensive to build than Auto's because of machining & assembly costs.

I wonder if that still holds true today? The old 3-speed autos were generally pretty simple inside, and actually had very few parts compared to modern automatics.

 

[trumpet1234]

Yeah, everytime I look at the the guts of those 8 speeds vs a 3 speed... I almost pee myself by the sheer in your face level of complication that is evident.

I drive a Geo Prizm at the moment, (Corolla rebadge) and the 3 speed transmission is simple and I kind of like that its mechanical and could be freely swapped (with the right level of physical labor) with a 5 speed if it ever dies. It seemed pretty much all around from GM, to Chrysler to Toyota, that all the 3 speeds were pretty well respected for their longevity. Its not my favorite transmission, but if it lasts to 300k (already at 160k with no negative signs) I'll be more than impressed with older simple tech to keep costs down. Its not bad on gas, so I'd take the poorer mileage if it survives longer without expensive work.

 

[Moparian]

how is this Mopar news and rumors?

 

[bumonbox]

That was a good read. Not that surprising to me. After a number of Lesson's with Bob Sheaves you quickly realize there is no such thing as "simply". Of course I was surprised to see it on Jalopnik. That said, looking at the comments section, people there were substantially less accepting or his explanation than even half the people here are of Bob's explanations. So apparently it is as out of place as it looks, as his explanation is clearly way too much for the readership there to handle.

 

[dana44]

I don't understand the complexity being put forth. You can still take a manual transmission and drop it into an automatic, use the computers and all that, and not have computer problems. How does that fit into the manual complexity scenario? Technically, one should not be able to do that according to the article.