I’ve been singing the praises of the traditional H-Shifter manual gearbox for many years. I love the level of driver involvement it gives. I love the mechanical feel of slotting the lever from one gear to the next. There is a genuine satisfaction that comes from nailing a really smooth change, or rev-matching on a downshift. Driving a car with a great manual gearbox is a truly rewarding experience.
To that extent, I have always maintained that all great sportscars should have manual ‘boxes. It just seems such a shame to give up such a huge part of the driving experience to a machine. As happens with time and experience – I am now older and wiser. I think it’s high time I revisit my position on transmissions as recently, I find myself very conflicted.
not easy for me to admit
In the last year or so, I’ve had the opportunity to drive some truly spectacular cars. Cars with all manner of different gearboxes. Some have been great, some less so, but ultimately, I had to conclude that not all sportscars HAVE to be manual. This was not easy for me to admit, even to myself, but in some cars, a flappy paddle gearbox, just makes sense. And in fact, in some cars, it’s fantastic.
In my mind, transmissions come in 4 main flavours. Traditional 3-pedal manuals, Torque Convertor Automatics, Single clutch- and dual clutch- flappy paddles. There are obviously oddballs and exceptions to these rules, and some are better than others. But generally, these four are your lot. Each has merits and if you haven’t driven all of them, you, like the old me, could rush to judgement and miss out on a lot of cool driving experiences.
I am still a die-hard fan of the traditional, 3-pedal, H-shifting manual. I relish the challenge of nailing the perfect launch. The mechanical dance of feet and hand movements, coordinating the perfect, almost imperceptible gearchange is addictive. Then reversing the process, adding a blip of throttle with your heel to rev-match for down changes. Simply driving down a straight road can be incredible fun in a car with a great manual gearbox.
that could be catastrophic
However, I have now seen that manuals are reaching the limits of what they can cope with. Power outputs and torque levels of modern supercars are off the scale! Getting a shift slightly wrong in a car with 200-300 horsepower and 350NM of torque results in a little upset. Perhaps a little kangaroo action, or a brief buck and a jolt. When you get a shift slightly wrong in a car with close to a thousand horses and more torque than can be measured at the rotational axis of the planet – that could be catastrophic.
Automatic boxes have come a very long way since the days of the 3-matic slushy machines in your dad’s Ford. The modern ZF 8-speed is an absolutely incredible piece of engineering. With a well set up piece of software to control it, changes are always perfectly timed. The car is always in the correct gear for any situation. Changes are quick and so smooth you can hardly tell when they happen. In sportscars, such as the Jaguar F-Type, the ZF-box also offers manual over-ride via paddles or the shifter itself. Gone also, are the inefficient power losses traditionally associated with slush-matics.
automatics are more efficient, and faster than manuals
Modern Automatics use lock-up clutches and various hydraulic systems, coupled with their well-matched ratios to consistently beat manuals. They are now both more efficient in terms of fuel consumption, and quicker than their manual counterparts. Unfortunately, they still lack a little in terms of driver involvement. This is perfect in a daily driver or something that’s just meant to be a comfortable cruiser, but personally I would like to have a bit more drama in my sports car.
Enter the Single Clutch Automated Manual. Often the butt of every joke, the Single clutch ‘box has often been blamed for being the ruination of otherwise great cars. Now in the case of Aston Martin, and BMW’s early SMG efforts, this is absolutely true. Those cars were completely ruined by a terrible, unsubtle and jarring gear change. Often slow to respond to inputs, those gearboxes would first launch the occupants forward, then slam them back in their seats with EVERY gearchange. Something that becomes extremely tiresome when you are just trying to pop down to the shops for some milk.
However, this same system in cars like Ferraris equipped with the F1 box, or early first-generation Audi R8’s (reviewed here), is absolutely brilliant. When done correctly obviously. These gearboxes have an automatic mode, but it should best be ignored. The changes can be made much smoother and enjoyable if driven exclusively in manual mode. There is a definite skill to driving a single clutch car. Firstly, you need to drive with mechanical sympathy to preserve the life of the clutch. Secondly though, there is a very slight and subtle way to modulate the throttle in order to make each gear change silky smooth. This brings back an element of driver involvement. A new skill for the driver to learn. A new challenge.
smooth, quick and very durable gearbox
Personally I have found the Ferrari F1 box to be one of my absolute favourites to learn how to use properly. I also love proving all the critics wrong who said that these boxes gave horrible, uncomfortable gear changes and burnt their clutches in no time. Driven properly, these gearboxes are fantastically smooth, quick and very durable. Clutch life expectancy is pretty much on par with the manual equivalent, and in some cases even better depending on how the cars are driven.
The final evolution is the Dual Clutch Automated Manual. My first experience of this transmission type was my own VW Golf 5 GTI. It was awful. My DSG Golf was my second GTI, so I knew the car was great, but with the DSG gearbox it simply bored me to tears. Not only this, but in auto mode the gearbox was a little clunky at times. Often being a little too aggressive with clutch engagement or gear changes.
Dual clutch gearboxes have gotten a lot better and today’s Porsche PDK and Ferrari Dual Clutch gearboxes are incredible. What they lack in driver involvement, they make up for in smoothness. With a dual clutch transmission, there is NO break in power delivery during a gear change. The engine’s torque is simply redirected from one clutch to another holding the next gear.
you are so busy driving the car
The reason this gearbox bored me in my GTI, was because the GTI is simply not fast enough to NEED a dual clutch gearbox. Modern supercars are frankly ridiculous and offer enough involvement and excitement, without needing a challenging gearbox. For example, in the Ferrari F12, with it’s unbelievable V12 engine, you are so busy driving the car, you will be thankful that the dual clutch is taking care of the gears. At this level of performance vehicle, dare I say, anything less than a dual clutch gearbox, would probably make the car worse to drive. In some cases, even a nightmare to live with.
I will add that I have developed a definite preference for certain paddles. I much prefer column mounted paddles that stay where you left them when you turn the wheel. The fingers on the paddles should be long enough that you can reach them even when turning the wheel. However, when paddles are mounted to the wheel, often I get confused mid corner as to which paddle is the one I’m actually looking for if the wheel is inverted for example.
other gearbox options aren’t completely crap
So there you have it – I, Mr Q, King of the Manuals, founder of the #SaveTheManuals movement and committed member of the 3-pedal-club, was wrong. Yes manuals are absolutely brilliant and we should definitely do what we can to keep them around. However, other gearbox options aren’t completely crap as it turns out. Put your prejudices to the side, and take the time to experience a well-sorted single clutch. Try on a dual clutch with serious horsepower. You may find that with an open mind, new experiences are actually quite enjoyable!
