Function & Cost Of Amt Vs Manual: Interesting...

[Lil4X]

I have several "stick" vehicles that I drive daily... I see it as a major theft deterrent!

Who needs an alarm when you can HEAR someone attempting to steal your car? If it doesn't deter them, at least you'll hear the thieves grinding your gears while attempting a getaway. Hey kids, that's what that left pedal's for!

For a real head-slapping moment, do what Edsel did in '57. My college roommate could leave his old Edsel unlocked with the windows down in the worst neighborhoods and his car was perfectly safe. Even if they could start the engine, nobody could figure how to get the AT into gear. They couldn't find the shifter . . . not like it wasn't obvious . . .

Maybe we just need a better class of car thieves.

 

[Coss]

That's a pretty high tech dash for it's day; love that speedometer.

 

[Lil4X]

That's a pretty high tech dash for it's day; love that speedometer.

The rotating dog dish looked "futuristic" in 1957, but it was difficult to modulate your speed with rotating numbers behind a stationary needle. Sorta like the Elgin "Steel Boobs", so named by our Zelio.

 

[LGilbert]

Ty --- The only hint I've seen is the reference to "Multimode Manual" Aisin. This is wording Toyota uses for their 5 speed AMT as used on Corolla, Yaris and other compacts and subcompacts.

The world is rapidly eliminating the manual transmission. It's obsolete and slow. I have one. My next car will have an AMT. Look at almost all AUDI cars (A3, S3, A4, etc) except their top luxury models and you will find the double clutch automated manual transmission as standard and the only transmission available. Look at any F1 race car or, for that matter, almost all professional race cars with the possible exception of NASCAR, but they don't shift much.

The Elio will probably have a single clutch automated manual transmission. It will shift faster and more efficiently than any manual. It will get better mileage than a manual. Probably, most Elios will be sold with an automatic, except to die-hard, ex-motorcycle owners. The market for Elios is aimed at the same demographics as every other company and specifically as a second car for commuting. Manuals are almost non-existent in new car sales percentage. Elio won't be any different.

 

[Hotscoots]

I've had sticks but mostly auto trannys . I prefer stick in most performance cars and auto during the daily grind . Since I am trying get my wife inside the Elio , it will have to be auto . My 25 year old son has never driven a stick . It is on my bucket list to teach him . Problem is that you can't rent them anywhere .

 

[John Higgins]

I am still debating AMT or Manual. The advantages of manual are less cost, less weight, less maintenance and you can push to start. The only reason for AMT is for our better half ' s who never learned on a manual or just being lazy. I am waiting for more reports from either proto types P6 -P30 or early owner deliveries.

 

[Coss]

The only reason for AMT is for our better half ' s who never learned on a manual or just being lazy.

I would love to have a stick; one problem though, I suffer from severe neuropathy in both feet/legs.
In my case it wasn't from diabetes but from degenerative arthritis through my entire back (nerve damage) and a time in my life that I was dealing with severe depression (liver damage), So having a clutch pedal to deal with is just not going to work in my case.
So for me it's AMT or MMT (the stick without a clutch pedal).
My wife does know how to drive stick, she grew up on a farm and nothing had AMT's

 

[Lone Browncoat]

Probably going to get my head chopped off, but as one who's old man [in the 70s] insisted I learn manual, then later, grown up, driving for a bus company, got stuck driving the old GMC manuals, with bloody carbs that would freeze up in winter, if not enough idle time [the women got to drive the Ford diesel Allison automatics] was given. I detest them, especially in city traffic,as you're always going 2-3,3-2 & motorcycles 2-3-4, 4-3-2.
Why not the simplicity of a CVT?
I've worked on a few, the 'rubber band' only breaks on high mileage vehicles, primary or secondary, [as in scooters] the hub comes off in seconds,if not, just a few minutes, pop a new one in, put the hub back, covers on and go!
As for brakes, get rid of power brakes all together! It works on motorcycles [though I've never driven any of the new ones with ABS] and you develop a better road feel. Old Paul should be striving for keeping the trike as simple as possible, while still providing heat, A/C and stereo.
CVT goes back to 1905-1906, like some of the earliest cars were front wheel drive, just have to get used to the idea.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lambert_friction_gearing_disk_drive_transmission
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_automobiles_with_continuously_variable_transmissions
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuously_variable_transmission

 

[Ekh]

Guys,
One of my points is that the AMT is both.
If you choose to use it as a pure "manual", you can bang those 5 gears up and down as hard as you want.
All it's missing is the clutch pedal. Do you really need the pedal?

Well, only if you were a fan of double-declutching and skipping straight from 2 to 4 or 3 to 5.
Back in my youth you were considered a good driver if you could shift your 4-speed into and out of all gears by coordinating smart use of the gas pedal with your shift hand ... except for starting from a stop or coming to one in first, you pretty much had to use the clutch for that (though not absolutely always -- as I learned when I had a clutch go bad one day a hundred miles from home). So the clutch could be fun. We didn't need no steenking synchros ...

Now, I don't want a clutch. too old.

 

[Ekh]

Some of those "safety" lockouts can really get you in trouble when being towed. In addition to having no power brakes or power steering, with the engine dead and the key off, the steering column locks. I did that recently when my daughter had to give me a tow for about three blocks when the fuel pump quit. Being frustrated after several attempted starts, I'd turned the key off. About the time the slack came out of the tow strap, I realized the steering wheel was locked. Ruh-roh . . . A little twisting the wheel and jiggling the key freed it before I ran into the ditch, but by then I'd forgotten all about the steering and brakes having checked out. Ever see a minivan drift?

I executed a nice 4-wheel drift into the driveway, wrestling the numb steering and and unresponsive brakes, dodging my daughter's truck and bringing it to a halt with two feet on the pedal - just before I ended up in the dining room.

Our technology has eliminated a lot of our "backup" procedures - I recall several times giving my '95 Civic a push start by opening the driver's door and paddling with one foot, then with the MT in second, dumping the clutch. Try that with your SUV!

I remember doing the one-legged push start on a number of ratty vehicles I've owned. Not safe, but hell, nothing could possibly go wrong unless you're a complete klutz, right?