Will there be a NEW manual transmission Ferrari model?

One of the Ferrari execs said something along the lines of, it might be nice to do a retro car once in a while, but it wouldn't be a regular thing.

 

In this part of the third world (!) a significant majority of cars that are neither cheap, nor high performance, are offered, and bought, with manual gearboxes.

 

I find that odd as in North America there isn't much to choose from if you want to buy a new manual car.

 

It's hard to text and shift at the same time. Most buyers want an automatic.

 

So few people in North America want manuals, so I guess overseas manufacturers don't bother to offer them there. Sales of manuals in the USA are sub 10%, but in Europe they are around 75%. Most Americans wouldn't know what to do with a manual shift, so it's not worth wasting time trying to sell them there.

 

That video captures the appeal perfectly. Ferrari, and for that matter, Alfa and Audi/Lamborghini should take note - It's cost them sales to many of us who have no reason to consider their cars any more.

 

They will be LUCKY if they can convince today's teens to even want an exotic car in the future --- and it won't be a manual for sure. Who is going to buy a manual Ferrari as their first manual experience?

No one.

We are a dying breed. Dinosaurs really. Its a new age of the auto: Computers, robotic gearboxes, lithium batteries and electric motors.

The manual box is "gone with the wind".

 

Self fullfilling prophecy.

Dealers don't order them because they believe people don't want them (which, by in large, is true). People who want them can't find them so they buy an auto.

BMW stopped it's last manual offering this last year. I tried to get one by ORDERING it. Every dealer said "not interested"-- "why don't you buy this nice one here instead? Its a beautiful color!"

Fiat made its 124 spider "retro"/ Miata 2 years ago. Only about 15% of the cheapest model version had a manual. 100% of their "Lusso" models were auto's.

Retro? I don't think so!

 

That's a USA thing - it's the other way around in Europe. I just checked Fiat's website: of the 4 versions of the 124 available here, 3 are manual only.

BMW offers a mind-boggling 32 versions of its regular 3-series saloon - of those, 22 are offered with either manual or automatic, 10 are automatic only (of which 8 are "M sport" models, with "sports automatic transmission" only).

 

I was shocked last year when I rented a car in Switzerland and it was a manual. Manual cars are virtually nonexistent in North American car rentals.

It was a fiat, and had some strange fuel saving feature where the engine would shut off at stoplights and automatically turn on again when the clutch was depressed, also, new to me.

 

My Mini S manual does this.

 

Most rental cars in Europe are manuals and you usually have to pay extra for an automatic of the same model, if available. Not that long ago you had to hunt around for an auto and pay double the price of a manual. They are becoming .more widely available now, but still in the minority. When I looked for a car to hire for a visit to Tuscany recently, 240 cars came up on a search engine, of which 180 were manual and 60 were autos.

 

Ya I figured that...difference between Europe and America/Canada.

 

So i guess the answer is that they will 'never' bring out a new MT Ferrari ,mainly because +/- 33% of their sales are in USA.

But what about the rest of the world Europe/UK etc, the other 67% ,would it sell?

I get it that virtually no one wanted a Cali/599 MT,but these were still high price cars,and the 430 only sold about 10% MT world wide.

Entry level, V6/V8 6 speed MT only.Stripped out basic car.I would take one in a heartbeat.

Ferrari could of course build one ,but why bother to under cut their existing line up of very exclusive $$$$$+++ line up?

 

I bought a 2015 BMW 228i as a daily driver and had to special order the 6-speed stick (a no cost option) because everybody wants an auto (paddle shift). The dealer required a nonrefundable deposit because he said that if I changed my mind they would have a hard time selling the car with a manual trans - which I doubt.

IMHO the stick shift is obsolete; but I'm d**mn glad that I grew up with it - taught my daughter to drive stick shift too.

 

The weakest point in today's cars is the driver. A manual transmission takes control away from the automated systems in the car. Auto companies, and insurance companies don't like this.

The manual transmission requires no computer to operate, thus there is no monitoring being recorded.

On the other side..its old and slow. And it depresses the performance of the car. Which really in most cases is far beyond the driving abilitis of most.

 

We go on vacation to Switzerland in July. Rental is a manual.. as in a 3 pedal stick! Can’t wait!

Americans tend to think of themselves as the center of the world. The world is changing. If areas of the world start demanding manual Ferrari’s things might change... but I doubt it. Too easy to make one platform that is flappy paddle.

 

No, surely not!

 

Yes, the weakest point in the moving vehicle is the driver, however, taking more and more load off the driver ends up enabling people who have no business behind the wheel to end up behind the wheel--making the situation worse rather than better.

A decade ago when I was HPDEing my F355, I would routinely pass 360F1s on r-compound tires twice in a 20 minute session on street tires (S03s) and M6 transmission (TWS 2.9 mile configuration). The 360 should have been 10+ seconds per lap faster, but was in fact significantly slower.

F1 might be 0.5-1.0 seconds per lap faster than M6s, but the F1 driver can be 20 seconds slower then the M6 driver, taking the advantage of F1 and throwing it away. In any realistic terms, you only need F1 once you are within 1 second of the lap record; for everybody else it is jewelry.

 

Very well said. I like a manual, because, well I like a manual.

BTW, I miss TWS. That was a really fun track. Diving down to T1 and swinging into T2 was a lot of fun.

 

When on a track regardess if the car is f1 or manual, it comes down to the person behined the wheel. If you put a pro driver behined the wheel of a Ford Tarus, that driver would more then likely dust the novice in a Ferrari.

That said. Put that same pro driver behined the wheel of say a a manual 355, and a separate pro driver in the seat of an f1 360, I'll bet the 360 would indeed dust the 355.

 

pretty soon some wont even want to drive.

 

To answer this the question of this thread - no. Of course, this is why I'll never buy a newer Ferrari. Frankly, a Miata would be a lot more fun.

 

Converting a 599 F1 to manual is "relatively easy" because it uses essentially the same gearbox.
I don't know if the dual clutch tranny would adapt of a whole new one would have to be engineered.
The other thing is that with these mega HP and torque engines shifts would have to be done with very little time between gear changes.
With my 450 HP / TQ Porsche GT2 shifting from 1 to 2nd comes in a blink. 2 to 3 blink and a quarter. Its kind of out of control.
Cant imagine shift times on a 790 HP 812 superfast with 7 speeds.
Would "enthusiasts" buy a Portofino with a manual ? No.
How about a 488 ? How much work to convert ?
What price premium to make it worthwhile ?
IMO buyers of new Ferraris are vastly different from used "car nut" Ferraris. They wont pay more for a slower car.

I say leave it alone.

 

The 599's all have the same gearbox I believe. I think the only difference between manual and F1 is a couple of plates on the housing. At least that's the situation with the 360 (I was thinking about a new transmission, and Jim told me this: an F1 will work fine with the plates and shifter parts from my car). It's easy to convert them because the chassis and transmission are set up to be either/or. No metal cutting or anything like that is required. The ECU changes are the BFD there, and the only electronic mod that's needed, as far as I know. Even the hard to find parts for the manual mechanism have been 3D scanned and can be fabricated. Same for the 612, 430, and 360. Probably the 575 and 550 as well, but I never looked into that. The odd car out from that era is the 456, as the four speed automatic is an entirely different unit.

I've been looking into this because I may decide to convert a 612, but cheap FF's may make that point moot. I saw one for under $120K last week, and only 13K miles.