New Ferrari With Manual Transmission?

It was nearly 20 years ago now that I drove my 900hp stick shift Camaro all over on the street, tracks, road trip from Chicago to North Carolina (to run the Maxton mile). Not always but when needed would just flat foot the throttle, tap the clutch and grab gears. No problem at all.

That car was slow compared to what I've experienced since.

Are you correct in saying that it's significantly performance limiting? Yes if you mean a few tenths in a quarter mile.

Not so much on a road course even if drivers are equally capable.

This is especially true of Ferrari with exceptionally great gear ratios on the manual trans cars. Even compared to the newest 8 speed gears 1-6 and final drive are very close, advantage to the 8 speed would only be top speed and fuel economy.

To each their own, just my opinion

 

I have a 2024 EMIRA with the manual tranny which is a dream to drive. It shares space with my 2007 599 which was converted to manual and a sweet 296. The Lotus is the car that Ferrari should bring back. More modern than the older Ferrari, which of course has brutish power and a wonderful harmony.

 

I have been saying it for years.

Naturally aspirated. No more than 500hp. As light as possible... Maintain a smooth ride. Sexy styling and a manual.

They would seel into an oblivion

 

A manual is so much slower than the F1 gearboxes and I honestly couldn’t care less.

 

Every person that desires a manual knows the DCT's are much faster But for us it's about the experience

 

For some it could be about experience too! For me i connect Ferrari with racing, for me racecars never had manuals in them, they all had sequential or paddle shift cars, so for m the F1 and DCT comes closer to the racecar experience than a manual does...

 

How does the existence of a manual restrict you from getting your DCT

 

I never said that..... but people are always raving on manuals and their experience, and trying to **** on the F1's and DCT for lacking experience and what not. while for the younger crowd it could be the other way around was what i was trying to get across...

 

Essentially that's US people who worship the manual transmission, because they've had to cope with terrible slushboxes since the 1950s.
In Europe - where manual gearboxes have been the norm except for luxury limos until the arrival of hybrid cars - that's only an emerging fashion, which will probably become more popular among older people as the younger ones will not learn anymore to drive manual cars.
Either way it makes little sense when one considers Ferrari cars are about performance, but it becomes more relevant as Ferrari turns itself into a supplier of bragging rights.

 

You mean the "ordinary people" who can buy a $400,000 car every few years--right-gotcha.

 

Good points... But... EVs are going to smoke dct anything cars anyways.

So Ferrari had to make a choice. Be a luxury brand and offer experiences.

Or...

Build the fastest best road cars... And well they don't do that anymore anyways and with EVs they won't be able to compete either.

 

EVs win short races, but put both on a race track and have a good 1 hour run.
A fast gasoline car may take 5 minutes to fill up, but an EV will take 30 minimum.

 

Yes but almost no one drives these cars to track. The buyers of these new cars don't care. And even the enthusiast don't care about lap times that much anymore. They would rather a 6 speed manual over a pdk all day.

What you are saying is absolutely true it's just almost a no factor in people purchasing decisions.

 

For me it's always fast car slow vs. slow car fast. My personal opinion, cars with less than 400HP I like my manual BMW Z4s. More than 400HP I like my DCT Ferraris.

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To be honest, some of my most enjoyable drives lately have been in the two Miatas I bought my niece. These cars are slow, but fun to drive:

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Spot on!

 

Americans have had nearly the same manuals that Europeans had. VW's, BMW, Jeeps, Renault, Japanese cars, etc. I grew up driving a manual like most kids in Gen X learned on. Europeans are funny with their stereotypes.

 

Yeah, we never had VW's, BMW's, Renaults, Jeeps, Japanese cars etc. etc. . Oh wait, we did and we had more of them than any single country in Europe ever did.

 

?????

Maybe in the very early days manuals were just as available as in Europe, but manuals have been becoming rarer and rarer in US versions of cars for decades. There are relatively modern Jaguars and Mercedes cars that are available in manuals -- but good luck finding one in the US.

Rental cars in Europe have typically been manual in Europe -- at the same time you'd struggle to find a manual car in the US. Driving a rented car in Europe with manual (often diesels with about 100hp but 250 ft-lbs of torque at low RPM), is one of the sublime pleasures of traveling abroad.

I haven't checked very recently, but over the past few decades, the availability of manual in Europe has been orders of magnitude more than in the US.

 

I didn't own an automatic until 2005 and I still have a car in my fleet with a manual.

Europe is a continent. The US is a country. If you want to go continent for continent, then you'll need to add Mexico and Canada so its North America vs. Europe. Not a single country in Europe ever had more manuals than the US. Not one, ever. Our car market dwarfs any country in Europe.

We haven't even begun to talk about manuals and motorcycles, just cars. Manual in a motorcycle is no different than one in a car in how they function. Push the clutch in and shift the gear.

This whole idea that Americans had fewer manuals than all of the continent of Europe is specious.

 

2005? It's 2025.

A lot has happened with manual availability in the US since 2005, and starting long before that.

We (I'm assuming you) live in the US. It doesn't matter whether you compare the US to countries or continents, the US has had far fewer manual options for decades than Europe or European countries (all of them). Mexico and Canada probably have more manuals than the US, but not sure how that helps us at all when we live in the US (except on the rare occasion we visit Canada and Mexico). If it makes you feel better that North America's manual deficit, as a continent, sucks less than the US's deficit as a country -- that's great for you, but it doesn't help me at all living in the US.

You also seem to be counting "total number of cars" sold, instead of percentage of cars that have manual in any given market. Only the latter statistic is relevant.

There is a night and day difference in manual availability in Europe and the US and has been for decades. I'm not trying to be a jerk, but I'm shocked anybody would claim otherwise. I definitely wish you were right though!!!

 

Well, if definitions don't make a difference, then there are more manuals in Asia than in Germany, Netherlands, France etc. There are also more manuals in the US than there is in Germany, Netherlands, France etc. If we go to the state level, there are more manuals in California alone than there is in the Netherlands, Sweden, or Norway.

 

You are counting "total number of cars" sold, instead of percentage of cars that have manual in any given market. Only the latter statistic is relevant.

 

No, I'm not. I'm saying a Dutchman can't write there are more manuals in Europe than in the US. Its an apples vs. oranges comparison. The Dutchman should say, if he is claiming it, there are more manuals sold in Europe vs. N. America. Now, if the Dutchman wanted to write there are more manuals sold in the Netherlands than the US, that is a comparison that is logical, although wrong. Does that make sense?

 

No. Nothing has ever made less sense to me . I wish you were right, trust me.

https://www.team-bhp.com/news/manual-transmissions-losing-popularity-globally-says-study


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I'm still unclear you are getting it. However, I don't want to hijack the thread.