Article why we are stuck with a computer to shift exotic cars

I think the bigger issue here is we are heading towards self-driving cars.

The DCT is great for professional drivers to improve their track times - problem is, it is also great for those who can't drive. It used to be that only skilled drivers would mess with super cars; that is no longer the case, thanks to this new technology.

I miss the old cars that "talked" to you, instead of systems that simply ignore the driver and take care of everything. I understand the need for drivers who are too old, impaired, or distracted; but, we still need cars for those who want the connected experience.

So, the DCT is just another step towards a car that will ultimately drive itself. What is the enjoyment in that?

 

Sad, really.

Most drivers of really high HP cars would have just as much fun in an MGB going {no make that sliding} around a turn over the limits of tire adhesion (0.6Gs) than loafing around in a super car through the same turn at the same speed.

And as plenty of videos demonstrate, super cars are a lot easier to buy than to drive, still, especially when one is showing off, which is exactly why one who wants to do so should not own one.

 

Which one of the above is more enjoyable than it's replacement?

None, which is why it's not a comparison.

If street car design takes on components that reduce fun and enjoyment for the sake of ultimate speed, I just can't call that progress.

Apply this thinking to the entire car and not just the transmission and you have a race car.

 

Actually I am old enough to remember when nearly everyone agreed carbs sounded better and better captured the 'soul' of a Ferrari engine compared to FI. It was only relatively recently FI Ferrari's started sounding sonorous from factory.

 

Funny thing, once you really get to know a car and a track, you discover the nanies hold it back. Not to say that nanies couldnt improve a laptime if so programmed, but nanies are programed for the street and idots.

If your car has 1000 hp or 500 and nanies, then the nanies are going to hold it back to the nany programed level of grip, the hp and extra hp does nothign for you.

As to sticks, a well enginered stick, like a linear throttle or great steering are all part of the tactile feedback look that seperates a great sportscar from a really fast Gt car. Ferrari makes really fast Gt cars.

Paddles are faster on a track I am sure, and more convenient in traffic. I wonder if anyone here is really capable of taking full adavtge of all a pddle has to offer on track. In fact I wonder how many new ferraris have been anywhere near a track.

Its all marketing Bs about paddles being faster(technicaly they are), they are easier to pass though eissions, and sell because its easier for boobs to drive and they work great in traffic which is where 99% of boobs drive.

That a manual allegedly doesent sell at ferrari of lamborghini speaks volumes about who buys these cars.

Meanwhile over at porche they have discovered this goldmine of hardcore buyers to whom porche sold out the GT4 and 911R, while still making twin turbo pdk stuff for those who wouldnt but like owning a car that could.

 

This is not a fair comparison - the items, listed above, have little to do with driver control over the car; they are genuine performance & safety improvements.

The issue here is about the losing the connected experience and having the car drive for you.

 

How many people here, bemoaning those "new fangled" paddle shifters, have ever actually driven one enough to get to know it?

Yes, I still enjoy blipping the throttle on h/t downshifts in my 328.

But I traded a EVO VIII with a 5 speed manual for a EVO X with a 6 speed Getrag twin clutch.
-- With some trepidation, I might add, as I hadn't owned a "two pedal" car since the early '70s.

The X is several hundred pounds heavier than the VIII, and has less than 15 more BHP. But it's a half second quicker to 60 -- and that's pretty much all in time saved shifting.
Granted, the hydraulically damped clutch on the VIII is (as Clarkson described) "hopeless" for quick shifts (to protect the gearbox from side-steppers).

But I run the Getrag in manual mode, and I still have the sense that *I* control the shifts, not the computer.
It just does the mechanical work for me.
And it does it blazingly fast.

F1 cars didn't go to twin clutch transmissions because the drivers didn't know how to shift.
They changed because the TC is faster.

Which is the same reason Enzo finally caved in and switched from drum to disk brakes.

Do you complain that the ignition advances the spark timing for you, instead of having a timing control on the wheel, as in ye olde days?
That's more of a loss of direct control than the switch from a manual clutch to one the computer operates -- at your command.

Yes, I probably wouldn't have bought a first generation "F1" box.
But the Getrag TCs are an amazing bit of kit.
My only complaint about the one in the EVO is that there isn't a manual control to put it in neutral. The computer picks when to shift from 1 to N or back. (Which is a bit awkward for tight parking.)
I'd have preferred a box with an "N" button or shifts to N when you pull both paddles.
But every other shift happens when I tell it.
Yes, there's an "auto" mode. I've even used it once or twice, just to compare.
It's there more because it was easy to add, not because you have to use it.


But, by all means, keep the retro premiums alive.
By the time I get old and frail, I might be able to swap my 328 for a TC California even.
(Provided manually driven cars aren't banned by then. )

 

Ferrari’s chief technology officer, Michael Hugo Leiters, ruled out even that remote possibility of a new gated shifter car in the future.


The Ferrari Gated Manual Is Officially Dead And Ain't Never Coming Back

 

Ease of manufacturing with only one line of transmissions.

Exactly. If Ferrari did even a few hundred manuals a year as novelty special editions I bet they would enjoy the same appreciation as the 911R.

For a sense of it, watch some of these two POV videos, one paddle 488 and the other a manual 599.

[ame]www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2oNHgjRvlE[/ame]

[ame]www.youtube.com/watch?v=lH3YcQ5wegQ[/ame]

 

me gusta el video,yo prefiero manual
grazi

 

Don't worry they will have self driving Ferrari's for you one day. You will be able to program your location and just sit back and enjoy the ride. Enjoy your progress!

 

There is a lot to be said for a self-driving car, but they are not a new invention. In fact they go back to the very beginning of automotive history. They belong to people who can afford a chauffeur!

 

IMO it is not about progress/regress, it is all about the purpose of the car and personal preferences.. I cannot imagine to have my Touareg with MT, because I use it for long trips and towing, so MT does not belong here .. Same with 996 Carrera I owned before, I cannot imagine enjoying so much fun without MT here. And finally, I cannot imagine the supersport car like the F430 without F1 and paddles, because it simply MUST be here .. And for the nanies, you can always switch them off

 

As to people claiming paddle shifters are faster at the race track::

In my F355 (M6, stock on street tires--not even r-compounds) I routinely chase down and pass 360s with F1 transmissions and r-compound tires that should be 8-10 seconds per lap faster than my car. Many of these cars, I pass twice in a 20 minute session on a 2:00 min/lap track.

 

Then you're a better driver. Same driver, same day, even an IMSA champion will find a DCT faster than an H pattern. For a less skilled driver, the gap grows. The more shifts per lap, the bigger the difference. At places like Lime Rock, it would be a close match. At COTA or VIR, a bit more.

You do raise a fair point in that how well you drive is always more important then what you're driving