Blog

Short blog posts, journal entries, and random thoughts. Topics include a mix of personal and the world at large.

Row my own gears

In this blog I often write about how life is about tradeoffs. If you choose to have a kid, you must wave your single lifestyle goodbye. Trying to have both will only end in misery. To move out of my parents’ house, I had to sell my car, one that I still miss to this day. But it had to be done.

Speaking of cars, a typical mark of a car enthusiasts is the ability to drive the manual transmission. My first three cars all came with the row-yourself stick. On my fourth car (don’t waste your money on cars, kids), the manual was not an option. And since then, I’ve not had to select my own gears for the past six years.

And I really miss it! There’s an incredible joy to the stick shift. A perfectly executed heel-toe downshift is satisfying every single time. In order to experience this joy again, it would mean buying a manual transmission car. But that’s when the pros and cons start to factor in.

Ideally, I would buy a second car to supplement my current BMW M2 Competition (automatic). However that’s not a good use to money because I don’t even drive the M2 much as is. Having another car to simply sit around? I don’t have the kind of income level to support such luxury.

I can replace the M2, but then I would have to drive stick-shift all the time. Part of why I bought the BMW in automatic - manual was an option - is to avoid the pain of constant clutch use whilst stuck in traffic. There’s no doubt the automatic gearbox is superior in any situation that isn’t a spirited drive on windy mountain roads.

We truly cannot have it all, can we? We pick a path, and try to forget all the tradeoffs and might have beens. Sad to say, but I think I’m okay with never owning another manual transmission car again. The pleasure I got from my previous manual gearbox cars are memorable chapters in the book of me, and it’s fine for those chapters to close.

Ask any car enthusiast again

Another horror story I ran into on the r/cars subreddit is this story of a Subaru dealership messing with a customer’s WRX. Allegedly, a service tech took this guy’s WRX out to learn how to drive a manual transmission. As one would expect, some mechanically destructive stuff ensued. They even washed the WRX, after the customer specifically asked the dealership not to. It’s a complete violation of the trust between customer and business. Next to having your car stolen, this is another worst nightmare as car enthusiast.

This story brings up a good reminder: very few people know how to drive a stick-shift these days, especially the younger generation. Think about the age group of the minimum-wage dealership porters tasked with moving cars. Do you really expect some young thing in his 20s to know how to operate manual transmission? And I don’t even put the blame on him! Stick-shift cars are so relatively rare that the opportunities to learn are difficult to come by.

Owners of a cars with a manual gearbox have a conundrum, then: can you trust a dealership to have someone capable of moving it around properly? We’re not even talking about the actual servicing!

It depends on the brand, too. I have trust in a Porsche dealership, because manual Porsches are high-dollar sports cars. The dealers are used to shuffling around expensive metal. A Honda dealership I would be highly anxious about taking a Civic Type R in for servicing. Not only is it likely the only manual transmission car the service department sees all year, but the rare Type R stands out so specially that some young technician might be enticed to take it out for a joy ride.

Solution? I wouldn’t buy another stick-shift sports car in the future without the capability and space to service it myself. (My current BMW M2 is a dual-clutch automatic.)

No manual is just fine

Every Friday evening, I go over to my friend’s house to have dinner and visit his two kids. Free dinner for a bit of babysitting, what is there not to like? Naturally then I would first go home and put down my work things before heading off. And it is precisely during that time that I am glad I bought my BMW M2 with an automatic transmission.

After an eight hour work day, that last thing I wan to do is to continue wearing socks and shoes. The feet need an opportunity to breathe for the first time all day. So I wash them (an underrated method to relax, I have to say) at the bathroom sink, and then I leave for my friend’s house with only flip flops on. I don’t even bother with socks.

And this is where the automatic gearbox comes in: I can easily drive without having to wear shoes. Had I bought the M2 with the manual (would have been some $3,000 cheaper, by the way), shoes are somewhat mandatory to operate the three pedals. Barefoot is a possibility, but that’s utterly nasty to be stepping on pedals with who knows what sort of germs on it (think of all the places your shoes go on a daily basis). Especially after having just washed my feet.

I know I know, I’m not doing my part to save the manuals by opting for the automatic. By all accounts, the Getrag six-speed manual in BMW cars is not that good. The dual-clutch automatic on the other hand is world-class. The latter is objectively the better option for the M2. I don’t miss having something for the left foot and right hand to do. At least with this car.

If we’re saving manuals, it’s got to be one worth saving. Like the one in the Toyota GR86. So many Youtube automotive journalists have bought one with their own money (sure sure, business tax write-off, no doubt). Quite a confirmation on how great the GR86 is. If I didn’t already have this BMW…

Long live the roadster

Due to adverse circumstances of my brother, I am going to be taking stewardship of his Mazda MX-5 for awhile. It’s quite the fortuitous timing, because I’ve been pining drive a manual transmission car these days. I can now give up dreams of buying a Honda Civic Type R, and enjoy one of the purest sports car experiences money can buy.

And I’m reminded of just how sweet the Miata is. I am no stranger to the ND generation of the classic Mazda roadster, though it’s been more than five years since I sold mine. My brother’s MX-5 is the improved “ND2” version. The primary difference from my 2016 “ND1” is that It’s got a more powerful engine, with a higher 7,500 RPM redline. There’s a federally-mandated backup camera now, which in a car the tiny size of a Miata it’s rather superfluous.

The other bits of the car are largely the same, which is just fine. The manual gearbox is just as satisfying to row as I remembered. This rod-actuated AISIN six-speed unit is truly one of the best available on the market. The feel is solid, yet it snicks into each gear with precise ease. Ultimately, I don’t regret getting the M2 Competition with the dual-clutch automatic instead of the manual, but barring having my brother’s MX-5 around, I really want a manual car in my life.

Maybe the Type R dream isn’t dead after all.

What else? I was surprised at how little steering feel there is. The rack itself doesn't transmit much information, but because the MX-5 is so small and light, sensation from the suspension can be felt directly in the hands on the steering wheel. Therefore, I don’t bemoan the lack of actual steering feel. I’ve yet to drive an electric-assisted rack that can hold a candle to the hydraulic unit in my old Subaru WRX STI. And that includes a bloody Porsche 991 GT3.

If pure sports car is what you are after - no requirements for any utility factor - it’s hard to imagine why you’d spend any more money than an ND2 Mazda MX-5. I’m glad Mazda makes it, and I’m glad my brother has bought one. Long live the roadster.

Turo turned me on to automatic gearboxes

A few weeks back I helped my younger brother move in back to UC Santa Cruz. This year he’s living off-campus so there’s plenty more to bring, mainly the stuff that belongs in the kitchen. His MK7.5 Golf GTI hatchback can fit quite a bit of stuff, but in the end we also needed a second car to haul to all.

Unfortunately, my first ever car, the family’s 2006 Toyota Corolla, gave up the ghost the same weekend. The car’s utterly weak C59 manual transmission (third gear has had a grind since I can remember) shattered a few gear internally, and it was making the most horrible noises when driving, akin to a racing car gearbox with straight-cut gears. The lever refuses to go into third or fourth gear, and we simply weren’t confident it can make the 130 miles round-trip to Santa Cruz.

We needed another car quite quickly, so to the Turo app we went the night before. 50 bucks on the credit card later the following morning, and we had ourselves a 2017 Honda Civic to use. What lovely convenience it is to be able to rent a car in that swift a timeframe; the traditional route would’ve found us at the SFO airport rental car complex because it’s be the only spot open on a Sunday. Not to mention it’d cost considerably more.

The Civic had an automatic gearbox obviously, because why would any sane person lend their manual transmission car out to a stranger. I did the driving duties, and it was the first time in the longest time I’ve driven an automatic car for an extended period. Perhaps it is because I’m getting old, but as an avid advocate of the row-it-yourself gearbox, I found driving the auto Civic to be an absolute pleasure. Automatic transmissions are actually okay!?

I get it now: in normal everyday driving, not having to do the clutch and gearstick dance at every intersection is a godsend for comfort. In a car with an auto ‘box you just push the gas and go. Manual transmission fanatics sticking to their dogma of daily-driving a stick-shift car being no more difficult than a car with an automatic gearbox are fooling themselves; I use to be that guy, but having driven to Santa Cruz and back in that Honda Civic, my position have changed completely.

Bay Area traffic isn’t going to get any better, mind.

I don’t think I’ll buy another manual gearbox car as a daily driver ever again. The bliss and ease in letting the car shift itself, particularly in traffic, is worth the “car enthusiast credibility” sacrifice. Don’t get me wrong: on an empty winding mountain road in a proper sports car, a stick with a clutch is still the choice for pure driving enjoyment.

Or you buy a 911 with PDK and get the best compromise of both worlds.

Look at the stars, look how they shine for… you.

I won't be saving the manuals?

There’s a solid chance my next car will not have a manual transmission.

A few years ago I would’ve call that an unimaginably frightening prospect. All the cars I’ve owned thus far have had a stick, and I wasn’t planning on deviating from that for the next one. However, the price level of sports cars I can now afford have changed, and along with that the gearbox situation as well.

First I must say I continue to adore the manual gearbox: it provides an analog and tactile connection to the driving dynamics that’s utterly lacking in an automatic, no matter how good of a dual-clutch transmission it may be. The beautiful euphoria and sense of accomplishment in executing a perfectly timed heel-toe downshift is incomparable and irreplaceable.

As all car enthusiasts know, the manual gearbox is being left behind by manufacturers. People aren’t buying stick-shift cars therefore automakers aren’t incentivized to continue development. Often in high-power sports cars the manual transmission - if offered at all - seems to be an after-thought and not nearly as good as the automatic version. In the C7 Corvette for example it’s painfully obvious much of development money is spent on the slushbox. Chevy engineers have actually told journalists the Corvette with the auto is the spec to buy.

Worse, once you start looking at sports cars into the six-figures, the landscape is almost barren for the manual transmission.

Putting the lack of demand side, from a technical perspective it makes zero sense for manufacturers to engineer a stick-shift ‘box: modern automatics have gotten tremendously good. A proper dual-clutch unit can shift faster than any human ever and never miss a rev-match downshift.

But what I most appreciate is the improved gearing: in chasing fuel-economy and top-speed figures, automakers have spaced gear ratios in cars super wide, making life difficult for the standard six-cog manuals. The latest automatics have higher gear counts so the engine’s power-band is better utilized - it's always in the sweet-spot. Driving the latest Golf GTI with a manual was very frustrating because by the end of second-gear the car’s already traveling beyond 70mph. Sacrilege it may be but I'd tick the option box for the 7-speed DSG.

Due to these factors and the fact I will be looking at used sports cars in the low $100,000s, the manual transmission will likely be eluding me for the forseeable future.

Heel-toe downshift

Learning how to drive a car with manual transmission isn’t all that difficult. A few hours in an empty parking lot, assuming you already know how to drive, is all it takes to master the art of shifting gears on your own. That’s precisely how I learned it way back when.

However, the advance stick-shift technique of heel-toe downshifting is proving to be more troublesome. I’d thought myself so uncoordinated that for the first almost decade of driving a manual, I didn’t even bother learning the technique. It wasn’t until I bought the Mazda MX-5 two years ago that I determined to learn the skill once and for life, to complete the repertoire.

13,000 driven miles later, my heel-toe downshifts are still highly inconsistent.

Perhaps I was over optimistic at the amount of time necessary to learn it well. Also I tend to switch up shoes everyday - with differing sole thickness - which surely throws my foot’s muscle memory for a loop. It certainly isn’t fault of the car, because the pedal set-up, clutch effort, and gearbox feel in the ND Miata is absolutely sublime. There’s hardly a better car on the market to learn heel-toe with, except a rental car with a stick.

The challenge continues, then. I don’t care what sort of extra pain/early death I’m inflicting on the clutch, the goal remains to be able to get into the car wearing any shoe and heel-toe downshift with the same consistency as normal rev-matching without braking.

Wish me luck.