Will Ferrari ever make another manual transmission?

I think as F1 is showing us TT allows pretty decent HP from much less weight and
much less weight is what we're going for.

 

Try getting a manual BMW M5 anywhere other than the USA!

And here's what the UK's AUTOCAR magazine thought about it: http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-review/bmw/m5/first-drives/first-drive-review-bmw-m5-manual


Their conclusion was:

"Should I buy one?

You can’t, unless you live in the US, or fancy importing a southpaw back to the UK.

And you probably shouldn’t. The fundamental problem is that even though the manual gearbox adds a slightly analogue feel to an otherwise digital car, the engine is mated so perfectly to the seven-speed auto that it is an ever so slight letdown.

Couple that to the loss of launch control and the marginally slower 0-62mph time and it's clear, if any evidence were needed, that automatic supercars are here to stay."

 

HiFi stereos are the perfect analogy.

Starting in the late 60s/early70s tubes were replaced by solid state and everyone thought it was great. Progress! Technology! Tubes had all but died out by the 80s and there was a gap where few people cared about them. No one was making new vacuum tubes for the amps so it looked like the end. Some die hards kept running them and musicians liked them for guitar amps, but that was about it. Then someone figured out somewhere in the early 90s that old tube amps sounded better. Now tubes are back in force with multiple new manufactures (and old one like my McIntosh) making new tube amps and they are considered the best amps made. Sure, you are going to be hard pressed to get 1200 watts per channel with tubes, but the spirit is there. Oh, and a lot of people think records are better than digital.

I think at some point ferrari comes back and makes another manual as a limited edition or something. If people buy it, maybe it will be like tubes. The only thing that has stopped me from pulling the trigger on a 612 is that I know I must have three pedals and have yet to locate one that suits my needs (not red or yellow, dark interior, 05-07, market price). Until then, my lotus with basically no technology will have to do.

 

If the turbo's are sized properly the engine can still be just as responsive as a N/A engine but with twice the hp.

 

In a word, You Like to "D-R-I-V-E."


As do I.


But today, most Don't and Can't.

It is just another case of moving toward the lowest common denominator to move product. Can't blame them, but you can certainly fault them.

 

It appears that mandatory fuel mileage requirements will put an end to high performance (low mileage) engines with manual gearboxes. Back in the old days of two and three speed automatics, the manual cars, even if they were just three speeds, got better gas mileage. This is not the case anymore thanks to electronic engine management and six and seven speed automatics. Manual gear boxes can be less expensive to manufacture so you will still find them on low horsepower small engines where there is little or no fuel economy penalty. Manufacturers will make the high performance cars as efficient as possible. The new LT1 in the C7 Corvette will be smaller, but more efficient, than the current 6.2 liter. You will pay more in the future for cars that hurt the corporate average fuel economy value mandated by congress and the bean counters in the auto manufacturers won't want to build them. We are nearing the end of the golden age in horsepower.

I am torn as to which Ferrari to buy. I have been looking for a while. I am currently thinking 355 (love the sound), Testarossa (had the poster on my wall when I was young), 360 (modern and love the looks), 430 (quite a car from what I have read – prices drifting down below 100k). I would probably go for a manual in the 355 and F1 in the 360 or 430.

 

Understood. Turbocharging has come a long way from the lag of the 70s/80s cars. The last turbo race car I drove was a 97 Mercedes/Reynard single turbo. The right i.e.modern engine management system makes a difference.

 

3 pedals are fun. I enjoy working the clutch and have a couple of manual trans vehicles in the garage along with an F1. F1/PDK better suited for the current F and P cars. The fact that someone buys a F1 or PDK doesn't mean they aren't a "purist" or don't know how to drive. Fernando Alonso doesn't drive a semiautomatic because he doesn't know how to drive a 3 pedal.

The unskilled driver will still have their hands full driving a F1. At Laguna Seca I've seen them both turn slow lap times and also some spectacular spinouts.

 

True dat!!

 

So, what you are saying is that Ferrari is making me buy something other than a Ferrari! What kind of business sense does that make?

 

First let me just say I get it. The paddles are better in almost every way. They are faster, more fuel efficient, standardize production, and we could go on. And I still far prefer 3 pedal cars and just think its sad there is not a single Ferrari built in 2013 with a gated shifter. Because I remain in the economic preowned Ferarri market, it is a tragedy without a penalty for me I suppose.

I agree with others who have suggested that Ferrari consider a simple "boxster" like offering. I'm sure it would still be a $125+ car but it could be a great idea if it were only available with a manual.

The last point I would offer is that folks like Kim Kardasian and Paris Hilton did not drive Ferraris in the 80's because they couldn't. That would be worth it alone....

 

Paddle or stick...those two...still CAN'T DRIVE!!!....Mark

 

I have no issue with those who want to make such a tradeoff, making it. I can even get excited about a light, dual charged, KERS-assited, 2.0 liter sports car that's so well thought out that it redefines handling, power expectations, mpg in a given context, etc.

But not everyone either wants or can make that tradeoff.

I have no problem with the power of government being used to force the paradigm shifting changes we're seeing in the automobile industry and elsewhere, IF it can be shown how the item/trend/tech that's legislated against actually harms people, here and now -- not in some future doomsday scenario, not through some hypothesis gone "fact" because it reflects the New Age ethics that dominate out intellectual and ruling circles, but because there's a causal, irrefutable argument for it.

As far as I know, untold billions of dollars worth of research have yet to make such a connection. About all we have is a pile of barely makable correlations, a ton of economy slowing legislation, and yet another excuse for more and more government intervention in the lives of citizens.

I don't mean to either offend anyone or push the forum's rules, but I find these developments both unacceptable and ominous.

 

With all due respect, texasmr2, I'm calling on this one.

What are we basing this on?

Spool time is still spool time no matter how much the tech improves, dual charging and electric assist turbos are anathema to both the overall goal of reducing fuel consumption and already soaring manufacturing and R&D costs.

And if we're going to be fair we'll need to assume similar progress on the NA side, with advances in fuel systems, camless tech, sensors, ECU speed and software factored in.

 

TERS which captures energy that otherwise is wasted through the aptly named wastegate also keeps the turbos fully spooled at all times creating zero lag and does increase fuel mileage.

 

IMHO I think a company like Ferrari who has built their reputation on exotic hand built Italian cars should at least offer a manual gearbox. It's what sets them apart from Corvette, Porsche, Viper.....the ability to have it ordered to customer specs.

 

They will. People will get sick of whizz bang technology and will want to get back to basics. And a sports car with a manual transmission fills that need nicely. I give it 5 years and there will be a choice once again.

Unless people completely forget how to even operate a 3 pedal car, or they are just to lazy to even want to bother.

 

I've owned 4 cars in my life, 3 of them have been manuals.

Jeep Wrangler (stick), C5 Corvette (stick), Porsche Cayenne S (auto), Porsche 997.2 (stick)

To me, a stick shift is just more fun to drive. I don't care if an f1/PDK/whatever is faster. Tooling around in my Cayenne was incredibly boring to me... I'm way too obsessive-compulsive to not be rowing through gears and working a clutch pedal while I'm driving.

My father had a 360 Spider in a stick shift also that was great fun to drive also.

We're not race-car drivers. Going out and enjoying a drive in a sports car isn't about recording a lap time.

 

I thought that once, but the kids or teens growing up now playing the video games, are the ones who'll be buying the cars in the future, and if they aren't wired and have paddle shifters, they won't buy them. As it is, interest in even getting their drivers licences has dropped tremendously. They'll no more go for a manual than we'll go back to horses.
Don't get me wrong, I like the manuals myself. At least Corvettes and Porsches still offer them, but they are mass production. And now with Corvettes really looking the part, and performance wise as well, at least you have a choice. Doesn't make sense for Ferrari.

 

I don't know about all that. I think kids that grow up playing race-car video games would surprise you here... They're the ones that will want the most involvement with the car. More-so that the lazy old guys that don't want to deal with a manual in traffic anymore.

 

This is almost a certainty. I think it will follow the thinking of the F40 at first - an expensive back to basics supercar. Then there'll be a simpler version of the same, done with cheaper materials, at the bottom of the range. But the spin on it will be in the power unit. They'll incorporate some sort of eco/hybrid/electric tech. You heard it here first

 

Agreed...like bell bottom jeans (or "flared" as the kids called them)...what goes around comes around.

I didn't realize that Ferrari's line for 2013 had no manual shifting vehicles...BUMMER! I absolutely love the way my 308 shifts...too bad, but I will say I enjoyed the flappy paddles in the 430 I drove, but otherwise, I'll stick to 3 pedals!!!

 

This is quite possibly the best way I've ever seen this argument presented.

 

I wasn't able to find out much about TERS, either of Google or the slightly more technically focussed, Ask.com. I'll wait until more trickles down from the cutting edge to enthusiasts like me before commenting.