Driver72

Too an extent I agree.
I currrently have a manual, and love that control.
But I've had nearly 40 cars over 21-22 years. And even 5-6 years ago, autos were pretty craptastic.
Then in 2006 the VW GTI came out with the DSG auto-manual.
The thing was brilliant. I ran one up and down through the canyons of Malibu and thought, "this is the best of both worlds."
Faster than a manual, fun as heck to bang the gears with a paddle, but not a pain in bumper to bumper traffic.
I never bought one, but later that year the 335i's came out and man I wish they had Dual Clutches, but they didn't. I tried a conventional auto in that car, it was pretty darn good, not the crap of years before. The drawback was two fold: It would shift for you at redline, and you couldn't skip shift gears (like going from 5th to 3rd directly).
But man even with it, it didn't matter.
No one in a manual could outrun me in it, and I'd go to meets and drives with M3, M5, GT-R's, Vipers, etc.
We'd blast the canyons and I had just as much fun driving it with them as I could with all my other manual cars.
There is A LOT more to the fun of driving than just using your left leg to engage and disengage a clutch.

I wish Ford put a Dual Clutch in the Mustang, but clearly that won't happen for probably 5-6 years, as I'm sure it will go into their GT500 or another car first.
I wish it did, but if I get the 2011 GT I was going to consider the auto IF it was a good one and met the 3 points I made in the post above.
But without the Brembo option, nor the lower gearing option (and I'm going to guess no paddle shifters) I'd pass on the auto.

Driving manuals surely are still very fun, but any real enthusiast and driving lover knows there is more to the fun of driving than just using your left leg for clutch duty.
Plus with Dual Clutches, or even really good autos that have paddle shifters, your hands just have more fun and it takes more skill to drive hard around corners while steering and flipping the paddles at the same time.

foolio2k4

Yup. DSG or Dual Clutch gearboxes are the only automatics i will buy. Using paddle shifts are amazingly fun. More concentration on the driving and not the shifting so much.

pascal

Or STFU and come back with smarter comments.

sicride

the only thing automatic about them is that they control clutch engagement. The whole point of those transmissions is to give the driver complete gear selection control without having to use the clutch and maintain a smooth ride like an automatic should have.

I'm not pretending or even suggesting it is not an automatic transmission. It's just the best.

I'll buy an automatic sports car the day that you have a clutch pedal and you can choose whether or not you want to use it.

Driver72

Well again, they control a bit more than the clutch engagement, they also do the gear shifting for you, the paddles, just like an automatic just allow you to choose which gear you want the transmission to shift to for you. It's an automatic, and it's what many professional race car drivers use. So comments by some to others of "be a man" and drive a real manual is a bit laughable these days. Many of us who those have said that too, have driven and owned many, many more manuals in their life than those making the "be a man" comments.

Actually you did. When I stated that professional drivers and race car drivers use automatics, you countered with they don't they use manuals and dual clutches which you stated were not autos.
They are more sophisticated autos but unless you are engaging and disengaging the clutch yourself and manually selecting and engaging which gear you are in yourself, it's an auto as it's doing those two critical things automatically for you.
On top of that, these days old school autos have gotten quite good. Some will even bang of of redline for you without shifting. The new 8 speed ZF tranny BMW and other makers will surely be using shifts NEARLY as fast as ZF's own Dual Clutch. It weighs less than 7 speed Dual clutches, and offers a full locking torque converter for solid power to the ground.

Many argue dual clutches are a bit more pansy anyway, as they offer "launch control" so they take even the skill of launching a car out of the equation. They've gotten to the point of only requiring you to mash the gas and go. At least with traditional autos you still need to manage wheel spin at launch, just like you do in a most traditional manuals (though now the 2010 Corvette even offers launch control on their manuals).

That would be an interesting transmission, but I would never say never if I were you.
Get behind the wheel of a good dual clutch auto (VW's DSG, Porsche's PDK, or BMW's DCT) and run through the canyons with it. If you didn't have as much fun as you do in a traditional manual, and found it just as, if not more challenging to grab the paddles while steering out of corners, I'd be surprised. They are a blast to blast around it, and super refreshing to be able to drive in auto mode when stuck in traffic.

05gtdriver

Driver72, don't get me wrong, I can totally see what you're after. You want the best of both worlds and the benefits of each, and that's what progress is all about, I'm sure our fore-fathers called latter day drivers "pampered" when key ignitions, hydraulic brakes & steel topped cars became the norm. Sounds like you are involved in some form of competitive driving and you've sampled highly sophisticated machines and that has you not wanting to settle for something less, and that is what this country is all about, having choices. Although the technology you desire seems a bit out of touch(at the moment) to the general Mustang buying consumer IMO. A loaded 2011 GT is probably gonna top out around $42-43K(in coupe form) and adding another $4-5K in technology is asking a bit too much(I feel) at this time for consumers to absorb. I'm sure that what Ford has done with the Taurus SHO might likely trickle down and perhaps the next all new Mustang would have such advancements. Hopefully Ford is listening............

pascal

I think the Fox body 5.0 caused a surge in manual trannies in this Country.
Americans have learned to freaking shift!!
Now, if they could only learn how to drive...

MrSandman

http://www.mustangheaven.com/info/20...erGuide-US.pdf



It looks like it's offered on all GTs except the Cali Special package.

MrSandman

Nevermind... page 8 says manuals only.

Driver72

You are probably right on all accounts.
Yeah, having a paddle shifted or dual clutch tranny in a Mustang would seem a bit weird to the average Mustang buyer.
Two other things, since you are hoping Ford is listening:
Ford, for the love of true driving enthusiasts, get the speedo and tachometer front and center in the gauge cluster. They are too far apart and get partially blocked by the steering wheel.
Forget throwback at this point, get the tach and speed close together, and more centered in view between the steering wheel opening.
And while on Steering wheel, get a new one. The big airbag center circle is too large and looks weird, and the spokes that come out from them and attach to the actual wheel itself have no thumb indents.
You are making a more dedicated "driver's" car, so for the love of Pete, make the thing that drivers use to drive (the steering wheel) comfortable and functional to maximize driving pleasure (see BMW's steering wheels, specifically the M Sport steering wheel).
You can give that steering wheel a bit of the "throw back" look if you want. Thanks.