Fewer than 3% of cars sold in the U.S. have manual transmissions

Re:Fewer than 3% of cars sold in the U.S. have manual transm... by Steuard on Thursday November 17, 2016 @08:16AM (#12977137)

Every automatic car I've ever seen has had the ability to downshift to engage engine braking. (Even the CVT in cars like the Prius has an engine braking mode.) I've seen advocates of manual transmissions cite a lack of engine braking as a reason to switch in multiple conversations, so I've gotten the impression that a lot of people just aren't taught how to drive an automatic properly. (Do they not talk about this in driver's ed? I don't even remember anymore.)

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Re:Fewer than 3% of cars sold in the U.S. have manual transm... by snuxoll on Thursday November 17, 2016 @12:05PM (#12979198)

> Even the CVT in cars like the Prius has an engine braking mode

Well, of course a hybrid has engine braking - that's kind of pivotal to the whole hybrid design. It freaked my wife out the first time we went down a 7% grade in ours in 'B(raking)' - once the battery charged holding down the brake pedal caused the second MG to disengage from the transaxle and spin at max RPM's to bleed off the excess energy.

But yes, every automatic car I've ever been in has had engine braking as well - going down the same grade by mother will shift her Chevy Impala into '3' and can easily coast down the same hill only applying the brake to turn corners.

Would be nice if our Prius didn't require holding down the brake pedal, but in a way I think it plays into the natural instincts of a driver to do so - but it's a habit that can get you killed driving a manual or standard automatic transmission by overheating the brakes, so hopefully my wife doesn't go down any grades in a car other than our own without me.

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Re:Fewer than 3% of cars sold in the U.S. have manual transm... by mikepurvis on Thursday November 17, 2016 @09:55AM (#12977916)

The e-brake in my automatic Volvo is shot, so my wife and I were practicing how to engine brake down from 50 km/h to a crawl. She was surprised that she was never made to learn this in driver's ed.

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Re:Fewer than 3% of cars sold in the U.S. have manual transm... by smileysteve on Thursday November 17, 2016 @08:23AM (#12977183)

Very few drivers in the U.S. know when to turn overdrive off or use a selective gear.

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Re:Fewer than 3% of cars sold in the U.S. have manual transm... by pix64 on Thursday November 17, 2016 @09:35AM (#12977731)

I would argue even being able to drive a manual doesn't make you know what is best either

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