Manual or Automatic?

[marklynn70]

Originally Posted by brentil

The current manual transmission offers cruise control if you get the Convinience Package.

I was unaware off the availibility of the cruise control with manual transmission. Now I have no reasno to go back to automatic.

[DuSpinnst]

Originally Posted by marklynn70

I was unaware off the availibility of the cruise control with manual transmission. Now I have no reasno to go back to automatic.

It's an old feature I know of a 1998 Neon Manual that has Cruise.

[marklynn70]

I just hope that Saturn make it availible. (Maybe they are reading.)

[SkyMan 08]

Originally Posted by marklynn70

I was unaware off the availibility of the cruise control with manual transmission. Now I have no reasno to go back to automatic.

Well my son's 2004 ION 5 speed has Cruise so I am sure the Sky will....

[DuSpinnst]

Originally Posted by marklynn70

I just hope that Saturn make it availible. (Maybe they are reading.)

I don't see why they wouldn't. A car without cruise (at least as an option) in this price range would be ridiculous!

[marklynn70]

Good news, Thanks for the information updates.

[swatthefly]

Originally Posted by DuSpinnst

It's an old feature I know of a 1998 Neon Manual that has Cruise.

1989 s10 manual with cruise

[sky_line]

2006 manual ION w/ cruise here!

[SkyMan 08]

Originally Posted by birdliver

I had a '69 VW beetle with an automatic stickshift. I loved it. Never a problem.

BINGO you got it correct...

[SkyMan 08]

If you look on the Saturn website under specifications you will see that Cruise is standard on the Sky...

[101jinx101]

Originally Posted by swatthefly

1989 s10 manual with cruise

ha ha, yup, 1989 honda accord with cruise control

[skyster]

up until i went to germany for 4 years i had driven nothing but automatics. let me tell you guys a little secret. in europe, if you got an auto, it was usually in a BMW or a Merc and that was considered an old peron accessory. americans in general have no clue how to drive stick cuz we all want auto cuz we dont have the time or just dont wanna learn the stick. personally after having started the other way around, auto first then stick, all my future cars will be stick shift. it gives you something to do and plus reguardless of the current auto or manumatics they wont react like a manual does. (unless you pay for the expensive lambos' or ferraris with the paddle shifting. if you can afford one of those rides then your at the wrong site) thats me though.

[Lost Sol]

Sequential would be nice, because my wife wants an automatic ... and there is no way that I would buy a roadster with an automatic.

[GMinTheDriveway]

Most manumatics suck butt. I like to actually control what the car is doing. I know when the car is going to shift and if I don't want it to shift it won't, unlike most manumatics which automatically gear-up even if you don't push a button or pull a lever when you get up towards redline.

For the guy who was replacing clutches every 30K miles I haven't been that hard on a clutch since I first learned how to drive one in 1984. I haven't driven a 4-cylinder automatic on purpose- ever.

Automatics should be available for everyone lacking the coordination to walk unassisted on two feet, but don't look this way to sell one.

I'm going to make my wife learn clutch if she wants to drive my SKY, otherwise we'll have to buy her one of her own

[skyster]

"I'm going to make my wife learn clutch if she wants to drive my SKY, otherwise we'll have to buy her one of her own"

hahahaha... thats funny. good one man. im glad my wifes german, she knew stick before auto and she will have no probs with it. i even set ground rules already for her to drive MY car. if she drives teh sky, when she is done... she has to pull the seat all the way back when shes done. its a pet peave of mine when i try to get in my car and the seats kissing teh steering wheel.

[SkyCaptain]

So how come the industry can come up with a manumatic, but not an automanual????

That would be the shizzle. A real manual transmission that you could push a button and have the computer shift it for you...

[KappaMan]

Originally Posted by SkyCaptain

So how come the industry can come up with a manumatic, but not an automanual????

That would be the shizzle. A real manual transmission that you could push a button and have the computer shift it for you...

Driven one. Pretty AND a bit strange.

I belive TRW demonstrated it (or maybe it was some German manufacturer). Gently pull on the gearshift out of gear, it would declutch and putting it into the next gear would clutch the motor and engage the gear. If you know how to drive a manual, it was no big deal.

Starting in first was kinda strange at the beginning, but you quickly got used to it. Just push it into first, it would disengage the motor, let the shifter go into first, then almost immediately begin to "let the clutch out". If you had your foot on the brake, you'd stall, just like as if you were doing it.

Little klunky for speed shifting.

I got the impression that if they integrated the controls part of the powertrain, they could have gotten pretty much smooth shifts all across the board, by forcing the engine to EXACTLY match revs before engaging the gear.

Dunno whatever happened to the idea.

[loyal_SL2]

Manumatics are still an automatic transmission just like in every other car with an electronic auto (ie, every saturn car) and operate fundamentally differently from a true manual transmission. This goes more than just how you operate it (clutch pedal vs pushing a stick up/down). Manual transmissions do not have torque converters, which suck horsepower out of an engine and turn it into heat. The way you shift a manual is to physically disconnect the engine and the gears by way of two plates which push against each other (a clutch) while changing gears. When you let go of the clutch pedal, the engine is completely connected to the gears, which is why it will stall if you let go of a clutch at a dead stop. Automatic transmissions are always connected, because the engine is never in complete physical contact with the gears. Instead, it transfers power through a device called a torque converter (look this up on howstuffworks.com) which is basically a turbine which flings fluid around. This is why when you are at a dead stop in an auto car, the car doesn't stall- the engine is still in gear, but it can still rotate (idle) because it never fully connects to the gears, it connects through fluid instead.

...There are exceptions, ie modern autos can do something called "torque converter lock up" which bypasses the torque converter once the engine and gear speeds are near-matching at cruising speeds. However, any time you're accelerating, the engine will always be spinning faster than the drive gears, losing power to friction. This is why manual cars get better gas mileage. Also, with a manumatic, you can't launch- get the engine up to speed before you connect it to the gears.

I could go into much more depth but the info is already on howstuffworks.com . Go check it out if you're curious.

[loyal_SL2]

I wish the sky had a clutchless manual like this (the Toyota MR2 does this) but I think it'd be too expensive for the target 24k pricetag.

Originally Posted by kappaman

Driven one. Pretty AND a bit strange.

I belive TRW demonstrated it (or maybe it was some German manufacturer). Gently pull on the gearshift out of gear, it would declutch and putting it into the next gear would clutch the motor and engage the gear. If you know how to drive a manual, it was no big deal.

Starting in first was kinda strange at the beginning, but you quickly got used to it. Just push it into first, it would disengage the motor, let the shifter go into first, then almost immediately begin to "let the clutch out". If you had your foot on the brake, you'd stall, just like as if you were doing it.

Little klunky for speed shifting.

I got the impression that if they integrated the controls part of the powertrain, they could have gotten pretty much smooth shifts all across the board, by forcing the engine to EXACTLY match revs before engaging the gear.

Dunno whatever happened to the idea.

[skyster]

you can just pretend to have the MR2 setup by rtrying to rev match when you up or down shift. sounds really nice when you get it done rite. still thats why manuals have syncros. so you aint gotta rev match. there is nothing to say you cant mind you, it just doesnt need to be done.

[DuSpinnst]

Originally Posted by loyal_SL2

Manumatics are still an automatic transmission just like in every other car with an electronic auto (ie, every saturn car) and operate fundamentally differently from a true manual transmission. This goes more than just how you operate it (clutch pedal vs pushing a stick up/down). Manual transmissions do not have torque converters, which suck horsepower out of an engine and turn it into heat. The way you shift a manual is to physically disconnect the engine and the gears by way of two plates which push against each other (a clutch) while changing gears. When you let go of the clutch pedal, the engine is completely connected to the gears, which is why it will stall if you let go of a clutch at a dead stop. Automatic transmissions are always connected, because the engine is never in complete physical contact with the gears. Instead, it transfers power through a device called a torque converter (look this up on howstuffworks.com) which is basically a turbine which flings fluid around. This is why when you are at a dead stop in an auto car, the car doesn't stall- the engine is still in gear, but it can still rotate (idle) because it never fully connects to the gears, it connects through fluid instead.

...There are exceptions, ie modern autos can do something called "torque converter lock up" which bypasses the torque converter once the engine and gear speeds are near-matching at cruising speeds. However, any time you're accelerating, the engine will always be spinning faster than the drive gears, losing power to friction. This is why manual cars get better gas mileage. Also, with a manumatic, you can't launch- get the engine up to speed before you connect it to the gears.

I could go into much more depth but the info is already on howstuffworks.com . Go check it out if you're curious.

This is also why Automatics can take a LOT more Torque than Manual tnasmissions since the Drivetrain and the Engine are never physically connected.

The easiest definition I have for a Torque converter is the two fans demo, take two fans have them face each other, turn one fan on. If they are exactly facing the other fan (which is not on) will start to spin. Easy explination of a Torque converter.