For the street, torque is more important than horsepower. Torque rolls your eyeballs back. Horsepower gives you speed. This is why a push-rod V-8 is a cool motor. Just put your foot into it.
^ It's all personal preference. For acceleration, horsepower is king. Now if you're the kind of guy that likes to loaf around flooring it at 3000 rpm an engine built for low end torque is probably better for you.
New Ferraris are too powerful for manual transmissions. The 599 was too powerful for the last of manual offerings. Even the rumored Ferrari 6 cylinder will have about 650 hp, that is too much for stick. I love my 360 manual , I enjoy it better than my F430 with F1. I enjoy my 308, although Hyundai's of the world can beat me at a red light , there is something magic between the gated shifter and that Ferrari pixie dust feel.
This is the main reason no modern Ferrari remotely interests me. Notice a theme in my cars? Image Unavailable, Please Login Bonus points to anyone who can name them all...
^Same for me. Buuuut "no one buys them" https://www.thedrive.com/news/39478/70-of-porsche-911-gt3-buyers-in-the-us-bought-the-manual-transmission
Call me the oddball or dinosaur of this group, but I'll keep my manuals, thank you. It's all part of the driving "experience" and while under the guise of improving performance, the real reason for the "automatics/paddle shifts" is cost, in my humble opinion. I love my 328 as it is the last of the ANALOG Ferraris. Truth be told, I get just as much of a kick out of driving my Cobra which is raw in comparison to 328, or one of my Triumphs even if they are significantly slower. It's all about having fun and wringing out the last bit of power from the powerplant no matter its size. Having a car with a third pedal makes me feel more connected and in control of the machine as I must pay attention not to over-rev lest I damage the engine. With all of that said, I'm contemplating buying a Ford Model T. It also has three pedals but only one functions in a familiar manner.
great game! I should be great at this but top left is a mystery to me... feels Not European (?), others very easy: F355, 993, 992
Nice work! And actually, it is European... Does this help? ...yes, I am a nerd who just got a new camera...
90% of the folks will say they will buy a manual. When the sales report actually comes in; 90% purchase the DCT.
That is weird honestly. I would understand that years ago.. when DCT and even early "F1 shifting" before, were the "new thing" in town respectively. But today, with INFALTED prices in general , I would be happy to get a "3 pedal" of a certain model "if I have the option" at the moment, so I could -at least- try to justify to my self paying up the difference with this crazy inflation that has been very clear during the past few years... A little example: A Brand-New early 2000s Porsche "Turbo S" was around less than HALF +- the price of a Brand-New 2021 Turbo S today! What I am trying to say is, a "3 pedal" seems a good BUY considering the low production of them compared to the "DCT EVERYWHERE" thing, so that would be a bonus if you choose a "3 pedal" IMO (or that is what I like to think and convince my self with).
There is no logical explanation for me to get a new GT3 other than MANUAL! If PDK is the choice, take a Turbo S IMO. (BTW, I have nothing against PDK, and was surprised by the mesmerising power of this thing when I test drove a friend's new Turbo S lately). But a GT3 "manual" is the correct recipe in my dictionary now that they are offering it.
Basically they are different driving experiences. I have 3 F1’s and then the Manual 550. Twice a year when I return to the 550 in Italy my heart jumps with joy! But with the F1 there is also a wonderful experience.
15 years ago manuals didn't sell because paddles were latest and greatest. Now with there being 100% market saturation of paddles in exotic car segment you'd think at least one brand would think of making an offering. If Ferrari made a mid engined V12 manual their order books would be full forever
If there is no demand for a manual transmission then how does that explain people willing to pay a premium for gated cars. Remember the F1 versions of those cars cost more, yet are now worth less, so I would say the demand is there. Now maybe the demand is there because there are many people like myself who grew up dreaming of owning a Ferrari and grew up loving cars, working on them , building them etc, and a new Ferrari is just out of their price range. So given the choice the enthusiast will choose the manual transmission car. American muscle cars are no different.Those were originally sold as daily driver, some even family cars. The majority of cars were sold with an automatic transmission but today the most desirable and expensive versions all have manual transmissions. The only reasons I have heard of some older guys wanting to get away from their manual transmission cars is because they have bad knees. I think there are many F1 owners who could not drive a manual car.
The reason we chose 4 speed manuals in our muscle cars was because automatics from the late '60's early '70's were terrible. We called them slush boxes. Unless you had them rebuilt by a specialty shop like B&M Hydro they simple didn't work well for performance driving. Almost impossibly to 'burn rubber' with an stock automatic or get a good 1/4 mile time. I think a good part of the demand for the last of the gated Ferrari's is that they are perceived as a 'good' investment due to limited production numbers and being the last of their kind. BTW, I'm an older guy that has an F1 in my Scud and I'm sure I could out drive most in a manual having raced a 6 speed manual Porsche 993 for 11 yrs. with every downshift done with heal and toe under threshold braking, not to mention 1.25 g's of deacceleration and someone on your ass waiting for you to make a mistake. I have no problem with people wanting to shift manually. I think there fun too...just not for driving fast on the street or track.
Which begs the question: Why don't the manufacturers make manuals that auto blip the throttle for down shifts?
My Porsche 992 has that. As someone with two perfectly functional feet I find it annoying and stay out of that mode.
90% of Ferrarichat say they will buy a manual. It's probably true. But Ferrarichat-type enthusiasts probably DO only represent 10% of all buyers nowadays. Sports car manufacturers pivoted to appeal to fashionistas as global wealth blossomed over the last 15 years and culture evolved into a materialism arms-race. They gave the people what they want. Obnoxious, gaudy, loud, and expensive. The good thing for us is that there are literally a million great 911's floating around, many many thousands of great Ferrari, and hundreds of thousands of extremely engaging sports cars from BMW, Lamborghini, and many other more boutique brands across the various generations that span from the '60s-90s. To me, 2005 is the cutoff, with very few exceptions.
I noticed that my local BMW dealer has 2 M3/4s in stock that are manual transmissions. I've never seen them actually stock a manual in the last 10 years. They were always special order only before. As EVs have taken over from a pure performance standpoint, perhaps we'll start to see traditional carmakers pivot to a more engaging driver experience including 3 pedals!
Yes! I remember Vandezande saying it was way higher than he expected, especially when regular 911 are at 9-1 ratio. Maybe there's hope after all!