50 MPG EPA Sticker?

jblackburn said:

With that crazy 9-speed auto with a ridiculous number of gears to pick from, the auto will probably end up with the higher EPA sticker for city/combined. Somehow, despite the manual 2016 gasser having a taller 6th gear, the automatic gets the higher EPA rating.

In the real-world - it may end up being very close!

Click to expand...

Modern lock-up torque converters and overdrive gear(s) have taken away much of the fuel mileage advantage that manual transmissions once had... I have seen some applications where the TC locks just above idle and stays locked until you come to a stop again acting just like a clutch and eliminating much of the hydraulic pumping loss of the automatic transmissions of yesteryear that were basically "slipping" 100% of the time. My guess is that GM is offering the manual transmission diesel just to woo VW TDI prior owners, but the take rate will still be very low...

The year Ford dropped the manual transmission option from the F-150 I was at the launch press conference and their new was met with a literal gasp from the crowd of automotive journalists. But Ford told us that there were only something like 1000 or so manual transmission F-150s sold the previous year. With the modern automatic being such a good transmission there really is little to no need for a manual transmission anymore... and VERY few buyers want or purchase them...

I personally enjoy driving a manual, but when commuting or sitting in bumper to bumper traffic an automatic is certainly easier on the left leg, especially if you have a performance clutch... We currently do not have a manual trans vehicle in our household, but my last TDI was a manual and we will be swapping a 6-speed manual into my sons 2001 VW Jetta TDI soon. I still very much appreciate a manual, but I understand why the OEMs are dropping them.