Corgidog1

JoesC5

There are several manufacturers that only have a DCT transmission available in their Sports cars", such as the AMG GT, Acura NSX and the Aston Martin.

I was reading an article earlier this morning on the new Toyota Supra. Appears that it is a front engine, rear wheel drive with a 591 HP inline 6 and a transaxle that most likely will be a DCT. I don't believe that Toyota has actually released the specs on the car though.

BMW is supposed to have a similar car built on the same platform being developed as they have a "working agreement" with Toyota.

It appears that not every manufacturer is sold on mid engine sports cars with manual transmissions.

Of course, we also know that Acura totally mis-read the market for a mid engine hybrid sports car. I'm sure that when they were developing the New NSX, that they never thought there was only a market for 5 or 6 a month in sales in the USA. Their original sales forecast was for approximately 2,000 cars annually, with 90% of the cars for the USA and 10% of them for Japan.

Corgidog1

JoesC5

I knew that the vantage had a ZF auto as their only transmission with a purposed manual transmission for release down the road, but I wasn't aware that you could walk into their showroom and buy one off the floor today. Are you sure you can?

Corgidog1

MitchAlsup

So, under this definition, if somebody had a 3 pedal manual, and hooked up some servo motors so that the clutch and transmission would shift all by themseelves, then that manual transmission would suddenly become an automatic !?!

{And yes I have known that slush boxes have internal clutch packs for at least 45 years; and that moden slush boxes have a lock up clutch.}

SBC_and_a_stick

Of course you CAN tune an all-electric car. But once you buy into the electric car much of the appeal of the sports car is gone. I don't think tuners realize this yet but the same thing that's killing the stick is what's going to kill their business. You have to want to row gears, to try 2 clutch plates of different pressure, and 5 clutch discs of various compounds. Sometimes it's nice to swap them in yourself. Then you're going to want to find similarly passionate folk that want to dable in a mix of parts choice, mechanic prowess, and drivers's skill.

You couldn't force me to enjoy tossing a Tesla on track, or rather it let it toss itself. It will be something one would try once, and if they want do maybe do it a second time at most, they'll just buy the newer model.

We're transitioning to a society that uses cars to go from A to B, or might not even use cars that much.

ender2664

no third pedal=automatic
there are many types of automatics

Dethsupp0rt

Nah. You show me a car, I'll show you someone who can make it faster. That will never change.

NY09C6

Yes. Sounds like BMWs SMG. Straight up auto.

Rapid Fred

Yep because, duh, it works AUTOMATICALLY. Just a different type of automatic.

ArmchairArchitect

Read the article again. The Supra race car is 591hp; the street car will only have around 335hp: https://www.roadandtrack.com/new-car...-what-we-know/

JoesC5

The particular article I read only mentioned the 591 HP and that is the basis for my post. No mention of any other engines were made.

I see in a later article, that there will be a 261 HP 2.0L 4 banger and a 335 HP 3.0L six. That article also states that the Supra will only have a ZF automatic, and the BMW version will have a manual transmission.

Will the 591 HP engine ONLY be available in a "race car" built by Toyota that is illegal to license for the street?

Hard to believe that Toyota would underpower a new sports car by so much. But then I see the 2019 Audi TT will have a 197 HP 2L and a 245 High Output version, and the TTS will have 306 HP. I doubt that those cars will be stealing any Corvette owners.

AORoads

I dunno. The Boxster and Cayman seem to have a strong pull with Corvette owners/buyers. And they've now got at least one version with a 4 cyl. On review, it could be the only engine they've got but it is 300 or so HP.

70RT440

Disclaimer: I haven't read some of the posts in this thread, so I apologize if I repeat something that has been said ad-nauseam

technically, we're talking about three transmissions...

There is the manual transmission we all know and love. Three pedals and a shifter

The Automatic transmission we like to call a "slushbox." That has a torque converter and a series of clutch packs.

And there is what's known as the DCT, SMG, SMT, etc.

That is a "manual" (meaning gears, synchros, and forks) transmission that uses an electronically actuated clutch (not all have dual clutches, btw) and, it will also shift automatically if you prefer.

Today's full automatics (the 8 speed in the Challenger Hellcat, for example) can shift lightning fast. Much faster, in fact, and even the best Manual. As a matter of fact, the time it takes to shift gears in the new automatics would give most DCTs a run for their money. A manual transmission Hellcat gives up something like .5 seconds to an automatic in the 1/4 mile. They can be paddle-shifted like DCTs and generally work just as well as DCTs.

And like DCTs...I loathe them.

Give me a clutch any day. I like feeling connected to the car I'm driving. Yeah...it can be a pain in the *** in heavy traffic, but to me, it's a small price to pay.

Unfortunately, I have a feeling that, in high end performance cars, at least, we are seeing the beginning of the end of the clutch pedal.

JoesC5

While the Cayman base has a 300 HP turbo 4 banger, the Cayman GTS has a 365 HP turbo 4 banger, but only weighs 3032 pounds with the manual transmission, and 3098 pounds with the PDK transmission(DCT).

SBC_and_a_stick

It will change. It will take you much longer to find a person who is into cars. Tuning is a big market now, if it dwindles down to 1% of what it is I call that as good as gone. I had to sign petitions to help prevent governing bodies from outlawing aftermarket parts. It matters how many sigs you get.

Tonylmiller

All the more reason to keep our old cars running. Manual transmissions, like internal combustion engines are going away. At least in new cars. I wonder if cars with internal combustion engines will still be available in 30 years?

SBC_and_a_stick

I'm guessing yes with special permit and off-public roads only. It will be a rich man sport. If electric prevails the government will want everyone to switch to it and there will be strong disincentives to burn fossil fuels.

ByByBMW

And the Cayman S has 350 HP. So three models instead of 2 to choose from.