A transmission manly enough

[RJM62]

Having driven the Kenworth, I honestly don't understand why they don't employ splitters in more cars. I guess because most people have a hard enough time discerning the difference between "Reverse" and "Drive."

A car dealer I've used in the past called me the other day about a car he'd asked me to check out. I'd done so, and immediately decided I wasn't interested when I found out they didn't make a manual-transmission model. Very people people (and even fewer young people) know how to drive manual transmission these days, so fewer cars are available with it.

A split shift would confuse even most drivers who do know how to drive stick. They were pretty common on rental trucks when I first started driving, and I drove many of them when I had a CDL; but really, how many people who haven't driven big rigs even know they exist nowadays? Not enough to tool up a factory to build them, in my opinion.

I get roped into doing charity runs a few times a year because the charity in question owns an old GMC truck with a split-gear manual-transmission. It's a very peculiar arrangement. I have a feeling someone replaced the engine and transmission somewhere along the line.

The charity actually has quite a few volunteer drivers, most of them farmers or people whose families were farmers. But once in a while they're all busy, so they call me. The truck comes in under 26,000 lbs and has hydraulic brakes, so I can drive it even though I downgraded my CDL years ago when they hiked the fees.

Rich

 

[ElPaso Pilot]

I can always tell when I've got one of those picky drivers working for me because the fuel economy of the truck I put him in will suck compared to my better drivers and compared to my other 'picky' drivers that I've forced to drive automatics.

I would hazard a guess that maximizing fuel economy is not the primary motivation for a picky driver’s gear selection.

 

[Hank S]

I can always tell when I've got one of those picky drivers working for me because the fuel economy of the truck I put him in will suck compared to my better drivers and compared to my other 'picky' drivers that I've forced to drive automatics.

As noted by @ElPaso Pilot , maximizing fuel economy is not always (ever?) my goal. Usually it's to get where I'm going; sometimes it's to have fun on a crooked road; sometimes it's to go fast, or haul a heavy load, or not lose 20mph going up a steep hill or pull a trailer or . . . But purely caring about gas mileage o BBC er everything else? No, or I'd be on my 3rd Prius by now.

 

[Juliet Hotel]

I would hazard a guess that maximizing fuel economy is not the primary motivation for a picky driver’s gear selection.

Which is fine when the driver is the one paying the fuel bill. That's not the case with the drivers I hire. My comment was more directed at the notion that automatics don't always pick the 'right' gear. That notion is bunk. Its been my experience that when I'm talking to a driver who doesn't like an automatic because it doesn't pick the right gear, I'm talking to a driver that has no idea how to drive a manual the way it was designed to be driven.

 

[ElPaso Pilot]

Which is fine when the driver is the one paying the fuel bill. That's not the case with the drivers I hire. My comment was more directed at the notion that automatics don't always pick the 'right' gear. That notion is bunk. Its been my experience that when I'm talking to a driver who doesn't like an automatic because it doesn't pick the right gear, I'm talking to a driver that has no idea how to drive a manual the way it was designed to be driven.

Fleet and personal are two different ballgames.

If choosing the "right gear" means the desired outcome is best economy and/or lowest emissions, these days an automatic normally wins hands down.

In anything I drive, my desired outcome is neither best economy or lowest emissions.

Also, driving with an automatic is like driving blind. The transmission has no anticipation of the next hill, bend, hazard, or straight and often puts itself in the wrong gear to do what I want next.

Add to that transmissons like Jeep / Chrysler’s ZF 9 speed that mixes up friction and dog clutches, so that 4-5 / 5-4 shift takes significantly longer than the shifts on either side of that, and has to involve a software assist to momentarily kill the throttle to make it work.

This leads to the odd delays, but only sometimes, when you punch the gas and the transmission decides it needs to go sit in the corner and think for awhile before it does anything useful.


Nice geeky article here: https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2...-transmission-puts-dog-clutches-on-the-leash/