Why is the manual transmission being fazed out in favor of double clutch transmissions? Are the performance gains really much better? Or maybe people are too ambivalent/lazy/inept to learn how to drive stick?
In the mid 2000s, the internet & YouTube made track days more recognized than they were in the past. What are track days? Car enthusiasts congregate & rent race tracks to drive their sports cars together on. Groups eventually had instructors and divided participants based on experience. Track days became so competitive that some participants would build cars exclusively for track usage - I'm guilty.
Eventually, car companies realized they could capitalize on this new found obsession. How "good" a car was dependent on how fast it lapped the Nurburgring, how capable it would be on a smooth race track (resulting in jaw breaking suspensions when driven anywhere else), how you could use your GPS system to time yourself on a track, & the best - a button to restrict your street car to pit lane speeds (cough, GT3RS, cough). Brands had customers pay more for less equipment, all in the name of power to weight ratios.
Catering to armchair race car drivers, companies began flexing their statistical muscles. Overnight, the world became obsessed with statistics - not only in the car industry (ex. does a smartphone camera need more than 15 megapixels). Consumers became more concerned with how fast a car could THEORETICALLY lap the Nurburgring instead of how fast they could ACTUALLY lap the Nurburgring.
Once manufacturers saw customers caring about performance numbers more than having an engaging & enjoyable driving experience; that was the ultimate blow to the manual transmission. Technology was exponentially growing & brands no longer felt obliged to make cars engaging. It became a quest for the best stats. Transmissions became so fast and cars became tools for a lap time. As a track rat, I loved it.
My 991 was a PDK & on track, gear shifts were ridiculously fast. In most hard braking corners, I was able to downshift to 2nd gear, when I usually wouldn't have the time to downshift below 3rd gear in my manual cars - & I am a good manual driver. The PDK made everything faster and allowed me to focus more on driving, which resulted in faster lap times. But was it as much fun on the track?
What does fun mean? For me, a competitive person, fun is besting my previous best lap time. But fun with a car should be an engaging experience where you are in full control by rowing gears and need to do more than just use your hands.
I think consumers, not manufacturers, are also responsible for the death of the manual transmission. When I worked at one of the largest Porsche stores in America, 99% of my inventory of cars that could be equipped with a manual were always PDK.
I learned that when given the option, people choose the technologically advanced automatic transmission in the name of it being faster on a race track, but in reality was more convenient to drive in traffic. Which made no sense to me. How fun is it to drive a fast car slow?
What do you think? Do you think that the manual transmission is being fazed out because the car brands saw their consumers valuing performance numbers over engagement?
Or do you think that the consumer is responsible for the demise of the manual transmission by continually choosing convenience over engagement in cars that are capable of being equipped with a manual?
Or do you think it is a societal trend where people are so preoccupied with themselves that they only want to get from point a to point b in the most disconnected and non-engaging fashion?