Soof

My thought, if you can't rev match why bother driving a stick??????
http://www.autoblog.com/2015/10/09/r...ion-dying-art/

gerry100

driving is a dying art

zeroptzero

manuals are a dying breed. I never mastered the art of heel-toe, tried it a few times and I actually don't even enjoy it, it just doesn't feel right to me. Rev-matching is imperative IMO, everyone who drives stick should be taught it, but I doubt the majority of people ever learn it.

cosmomiller

I am not sure it is a dying breed but the advent of electric and CVTs may spell a real decline. 3 of my vehicles (TL, S, Tacoma) are manual. Everytime I rent in Europe its a manual. Perhaps the emissions requirements will dictate if manuals are allowed.

I too have a hard time with heel-toe. Always thought I should practice more just sitting in the garage but I can come off the brake, blip and let out the clutch all pretty quick if I need to.

zeroptzero

Yeah I can brake and blip the throttle without any issue so heel-toe has never been much of a benefit, maybe if I was a hardcore track junky but on the street I don't see any real need for my situation.

andrewhake

Every time another car comes out that isn't manual people that never learned to drive them properly say they are a dying breed...

There are fantastic manual cars being released every single year.

ron1999

that is correct.
and coming from an E30, S2K rev matching is sooooooo fun, this is probably the most rev happy engine i've ever drive

Reckon

As technology progresses, things change. I'm sure they had this same conversation back when double clutching was being replaced by the use of synchros. Rev matching can be done better and quicker by computers these days so the need for a 'true' manual is not really there. The 'tronic' type of transmissions are really incredible and lightning quick. I hate to say it, but the 7 speed DCT in my S4 is faster shifting up, down and rev matching than I ever could be. For day to day driving, its the way to go. For track driving, there are still amazing manuals out there with some still being tuned and developed.

Mugen_is_best

Rev matching: do it

S2K Al

I'd disagree, and would argue that if you want to consider driving an art, then it is in fact an art that is rapidly evolving and one that is becoming much more accessible to many more people. Not everyone who enjoys driving enjoys the act of rowing gears, but it is likely that they all enjoy the experience of accelerating, cornering, and braking quickly. Whatever allows them to do those things better advances their enjoyment of driving, and often times that is these automated manuals.

Think about painting, sculpture, dance, music recording, almost any art and how it is evolved from its inception. All have benefited from technology and all will have practitioners who lament the loss of the "old ways" of doing things.