Touche my friend, and proves my point even more I should have said "More plebian models such as GT2 GT3 and 4C Giulia QF (Europe Only) or Vette. Very telling that even a company such as Porsche that prides itself as the lone crusader for manuals in supercars decided to forgo in their GT2RS Appreciate the correction.
Search the classifieds above and you will immediately notice the premium attached to manual transmission used cars. The more sporty younger buyer often wants a manual for several reasons. If exotics were again offered with a manual it would be no different. All the old men would line up and choose the slush box automatic. The only reason for additional manual transmission sales would be due to the 'assumption' another 599 situation would unfold. Lightning can strike twice in the same location. The manual car would be purchased for speculative purposes. Sure, I can order the car and drive it occasionally and be paid to drive the car for free.
Go back to a gated manual from a F1. Why sure. At the same time we'll all go back to typewriters and slide rules. GTS Bruce
The sales of manual would be less the 10% of total at best. People vote with their wallets regardless of what they post on the internet. There are a lot of so called "hard core enthusiasts" demanding manual only but when the push comes to shove they are no where to be found. Case in point, there was a lot of pressure on BMW from car mags and these so called enthusiasts and other internet warriors to bring the M5 with manual. They did, cars were sitting on dealer lots and no one was willing to buy them.
Ferrari could offer a manual box as a no charge option in the 488 just to test the market. If sales are within the 20% range or higher, then I suppose they could investigate added a new car to the line up. However something tells me they already did this with the California and the 599, who the were the last models offered with it. I think the market has already spoken.
WHAAAAAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You can't drive a stickshift and you own THE most exciting marque of car in the world,please bend over and smack yourself on the botty.
Yup. The average supercar owner would go through clutches pretty quickly compared to a computer doing it. That would take out the enjoyment of ownership and the idea of a repeat customer would be thrown out of the window. 500hp is more than enough for the streets at long as the car isn't made of lead.
Yep. Neither I nor anyone in my family ever owned a car whilst I was growing up. ☹️ Never learned. I will, however, check with the wife on your "smack on the botty" idea. Sounds like it could be fun! T
I think the debate over manual cars is for nostalgia, rather than practicality. On the older cars, manual was always the way to go to experience the very best of your Ferrari, it offered much more control and was more likely the fastest way to drive the car for a competent driver, automatic was a little lazy, and offered less excitement behind the wheel. F1 boxes used properly got better and better, offering better changes and for the driver that took advantage of its abilities, I always found them faster than the manual options. As software has become more and more integrated across the gearbox, suspension, and other control functions, the newest cars would be held back if a manual gearbox were in situ, the overall performance is so linked to that little manettino on the wheel and perfect computer control of handling and power, that a manual option would be counterproductive. Yes, I agree the aluminium open gate looks stunning in the cars, but as a practical driving solution, it holds the car back ever more drastically, and while I love the older cars, when buying a newer Ferrari, I couldn’t ever consider a ‘down grade’ to a slower gearbox option, regardless of price depreciation or appreciation that may be affected.
It's just a matter of preference. Some people still like manually winding watches and others want something like an Apple watch to tell them how many steps they walked that day and sync with their phones. Different strokes for different folks. Some people don't even want to bother driving a car let alone owning one and having to decide what kind of transmission.
To me the change to paddle shifting from a manual stick shift is the saddest moments in the history of the automobile. Using the 'but it shifts faster' blaa, blaa, blaaa is just an excuse for lack of driving skills and so is 'they have too much horsepower these days'! Money talks and I see who the primary buyers of new Ferrari's are and they usually aren't the types that owned fast cars growing up and were always working on them to make them faster etc. What I see living in one of the wealthiest cities in the world is old guys that want to look good and young Chinese kids that couldn't parallel park it if their life depended on it.
There’s also us guys that actually take the cars to the track and enjoy trying to find out how fast it will go around a corner without crashing, and driving like we stole it on the road when it’s clear and safe
They would maybe lose most of the Portofino clientele and some of the Lusso if that one was not offered with an autobox. They would def sell all of the 812/488 they made Paddle shifter are no longer new tech that it's a must have for the crowd who wants the latest. You get DCT on any BMW or even KIAs so that bragging right is dead.
I met the Chief Engineer for Corvette (Tadge Juechter) who vowed that he would preserve the manual (let's see if he keeps that promise on the C8), so at least he has the courage to keep providing a 3-pedal, in spite of the fact that the take-rate is <20%. I have a 7-speed manual Z06 as well as a 458, and I love both.
It's great to have both options. I love 458s and may buy one. That doesn't mean that I'd rather drive a paddle shifting car over a stick though.
If you want a stick, which is a classic way of driving, buy a classic Ferrari or other sports car. Let the modern cars to their modern ways or just tune out. These modern cars with modern requirements are designed to do what they do using the best technology of today. Putting a manual on a 488 is like taking a 4K OLED TV and hooking up rabbit ears.
Or.. it's like taking the best Porsche GT3 car with a PDK and sticking a manual transmission in it. Makes it even better.