Transmissions go through big shift

Doesn't it seem like fewer and fewer people know how to operate a car with a manual transmission?

Not that long ago, learning was imperative for the job of road testing cars and, if you were into sports cars, a manual was the only way to fly.

Had I been born a generation later, things might have been entirely different.

I'm beginning to wonder what the point was: The stick shift seems to be going the way of the compact audio disc, where computers and touch screens and data connections now run our music instead of something in our hands we can operate.

Fewer vehicles show up with manual transmissions every year and I can say with a small pain in my side, they appear to be on their way out.

Even many of the "manual" transmissions aren't so manual anymore. They still have a clutch (or even two), but there's no pedal as the transmission takes care of that chore when you tap the gear selector, often referred to as a paddle, to make a shift. The benefit would seem to be shifts that are more precise, quicker, smoother with less inefficient hang time between gears. The new breed of manual transmission, often referred to as manumatic, even has an automatic mode. It would seem to be the best of both worlds. In the meantime, many automakers now offer several transmission choices in their lines: a traditional manual with a clutch pedal; an automatic transmission with manual-shift mode; and manual trans with no clutch pedal (the manumatic). There's also the continuously variable transmission that infinitely varies its internal ratios to keep the engine in its effective power range.

Yes, we're a long way from "three-on-the-tree" manual transmissions from three or more decades ago. And just by looking in the rearview mirror and then taking a look at what we have now for technology today, I fearlessly predict that the manual transmission as we know it will be gone from new vehicles within 10 years.

But the question is why. Simply put, fuel economy. Automakers are being put to the test to dramatically increase the average fuel economy of all the vehicles they produce. They'll need to pull out every trick in the book, from weight savings and new methods of propulsion and increased use of more efficient mechanicals. And that includes a transmission that knows at all times what gear to be in for optimum efficiency. The conventional manual just doesn't fit that new model.

Examples are popping up all over and one of the best known is the Direct Shift Gearbox developed by Volkswagen, a transmission that's showing up in the automakers' sportier models. Crisp, smooth, lightning-quick shifts make me wonder why most people would cling to a conventional manual, but there are die-hards out there who have written in to vent about an apparent lack of manual-equipped new vehicles out there. Mitsubishi uses a similarly operated transmission as does the latest Ford Focus.

Our situation contrasts that of most European countries where the vehicles are predominantly equipped with conventional manual transmissions. There, a shift away from manual transmissions will be a much greater feat than here in North America where a much larger percentage of the vehicles on the road have automatic transmissions in the first place.

And what about the future of the automatic? For years we've believed that manual-transmission-equipped vehicles get better fuel economy and they have. With more gears being added (up to eight speeds) to the automatic and improvements in design, the gap is closing or has even closed in some cases, despite the energy/power the torque converter typically saps out of the equation. And with many automatics coming with manual-shift control, that bodes ill for the future of the conventional manual.

Yes, there's a shift in the works and the manual transmission might just be a memory in the not-so-distant future, just like the three on the tree.

Among her numerous accomplishments, Courtney Hansen is the author of her own book, the host of Spike TV's "Power Block," the former host of TLC's "Overhaulin'" and a writer with Wheelbase Media. You can email her by logging on to www.shiftweekly.com and using the contact form.