[Achmedisdead]

Quote:

Now thats how out of the game I am. I was idling along assuming that 6 or 7 speed standard trannys were still available on all high perf vehicles.

They've  become scarce...the dual-clutch "flappy-paddle gearbox" (as the Top Gear hosts call them) are pretty much de rigueur  these days, for better or worse.

 

[Hutnicks]

Quote:

They've  become scarce...the dual-clutch "flappy-paddle gearbox" (as the Top Gear hosts call them) are pretty much de rigueur  these days, for better or worse.

Guess everybody wants to be an F1 pilote

 

[gikigill]

No, just technology developing. The paddle shifters are way faster than any manual and provide better performance. Why would a company position it's cars as slower than it's rivals just to fit a manual transmission.

 

[Hutnicks]

Quote:

No, just technology developing. The paddle shifters are way faster than any manual and provide better performance. Why would a company position it's cars as slower than it's rivals just to fit a manual transmission.

 
Simplicity, for the oil smeared, dirty fingernailed bon vivant driver who likes to work up a sweat hauling a vehicle through its paces. (See Lotus 7 reference)

 

[gikigill]

But Lotus is a niche market in a niche market. No one buys a Lotus to be the quickest off the block nor does Lotus compete with the big boys.

 

[Hutnicks]

Quote:

But Lotus is a niche market in a niche market. No one buys a Lotus to be the quickest off the block nor does Lotus compete with the big boys.

You do not buy a 7, you build it.

 

[ssrock64]

Quote:

You do not buy a 7, you build it.

I don't know about that; I believe Caterham's biggest market is in pre-built Sevens.

 

[Hutnicks]

Quote:

I don't know about that; I believe Caterham's biggest market is in pre-built Sevens.

If your serious about squeezing as much bang for the buck out of it, you build it from scratch.

 

[Achmedisdead]

The apocalypse is nigh.....Justin Bieber has a leopard-print Audi R8 

Seen about 38 seconds in....
 

 
Surely now everyone with an R8 will try to sell them off...lol. 

 

[Magick Man]

No, just technology developing. The paddle shifters are way faster than any manual and provide better performance. Why would a company position it's cars as slower than it's rivals just to fit a manual transmission.

Speed's relative, or course. I suppose I'm just left wondering, "who am I racing?" A real MT keeps me engaged, there's a real art to H/T braking while working the clutch and stick and when it all goes smoothly I feel like I'm connected to the machine. With paddle shifters I simply feel like a passenger. To me, they're destroying the modern sports car.

Guess everybody wants to be an F1 pilote

< Welsh accent > I got me one of those flappy gearboxes like Michael Schuuuumacher. < /Welsh >

They've  become scarce...the dual-clutch "flappy-paddle gearbox" (as the Top Gear hosts call them) are pretty much de rigueur  these days, for better or worse.

They have, so few are left it's like an endangered species. That's why I decided awhile back that, with few exceptions, I'm won't buy a car unless it has a real manual transmission. It's one of the requirements for the car collection. That said, my wife and I were talking about the need for a people carrier, something that isn't an SUV but can easily seat 5 adults. So we bought a `12 Cayenne Turbo. Hold on, hold on, it's actually a really nice car. The ride is amazing, it handles like a sports car, is very comfortable, gets 22MPG, and goes like stink.

Do they narrow the 962? trackside that beast topped 80 inches in width which would make for some interesting manouvering in town.

The Mosler always reminds me of the Group44 Jag XJR5 before they uglified it into the XJR6. Beautiful lines.

I get the Carrera GT as a collectible but do not really see the appeal otherwise. Can you clue me in a little. As an aside I love the Zuffenhausen brigades racing efforts but the road cars never really did it for me, so I'm no Porschephile.

You have the Ford GT and are worried about bing overrrun in the Macca? Thank god you didn't shoot the bolt for the GT40 then:wink_face:

I don't drive the GT a lot, at least not in town, because of the width and height. I've been looking for a good Mosler for a while but they're pretty rare. The one I'm checking out is mostly complete but needs a transmission and differential. Right now it has a 5.7L small block Chevy and we're talking about swapping heads and pistons and adding a pair of middling Garretts, setting it up for E85. 700+ bhp should be relatively easy.

Only one thing justifies the appeal of the CGT. Its amazing, bewitching, entoxicating V10 engine sound.

And also the fact that it is one of Porsche's last made for serious drivers supercar before the electronics took over. It has a manual you know. 

Yeah, it's the last of the manual Porsche supercars, and it's NA. Fact is, it's still incredibly quick, even by today's standards. Also there's the sound, geez, what a noise.


[VIDEO]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vE_WqdKbTvY[/VIDEO]


I think it's gorgeous, too.

 

[billybob_jcv]

I like the Carrera GT - mostly because it is different - while still being a Porsche.

 

[billybob_jcv]

Wait - what happened to the Range Rover??

 

[Magick Man]

Surely now everyone with an R8 will try to sell them off...lol. 

Nope, nope. I really like mine, it's one of my favorite DDs.

 

[Magick Man]

Wait - what happened to the Range Rover??

It's a little big and it handles like mud. It's great for bad weather, off-road, and pulling the trailer, though, and that's its main uses.

 

[Hutnicks]

Quote:

Speed's relative, or course. I suppose I'm just left wondering, "who am I racing?" A real MT keeps me engaged, there's a real art to H/T braking while working the clutch and stick and when it all goes smoothly I feel like I'm connected to the machine. With paddle shifters I simply feel like a passenger. To me, they're destroying the modern sports car.

< Welsh accent > I got me one of those flappy gearboxes like Michael Schuuuumacher. < /Welsh >

They have, so few are left it's like an endangered species. That's why I decided awhile back that, with few exceptions, I'm won't buy a car unless it has a real manual transmission. It's one of the requirements for the car collection. That said, my wife and I were talking about the need for a people carrier, something that isn't an SUV but can easily seat 5 adults. So we bought a `12 Cayenne Turbo. Hold on, hold on, it's actually a really nice car. The ride is amazing, it handles like a sports car, is very comfortable, gets 22MPG, and goes like stink.


I don't drive the GT a lot, at least not in town, because of the width and height. I've been looking for a good Mosler for a while but they're pretty rare. The one I'm checking out is mostly complete but needs a transmission and differential. Right now it has a 5.7L small block Chevy and we're talking about swapping heads and pistons and adding a pair of middling Garretts, setting it up for E85. 700+ bhp should be relatively easy.
Yeah, it's the last of the manual Porsche supercars, and it's NA. Fact is, it's still incredibly quick, even by today's standards. Also there's the sound, geez, what a noise.

I think it's gorgeous, too.

It's not so much the speed as the acceleration. THAT you can use just about anywhere and with a torquey powerplant heel and toe coordination becomes paramount. Unless of course you have the bionic tranny which figures it all out for you. BUT there is absolutely no feeling like H/T ing around shifting a manual without the clutch. I new a former F2 jockey who had a Landcruiser and I never say him use the clutch from anything than the standstill, remarkable display of coordination and feel for the vehicle. He could do that with everything he sat in execept the Lotus Eclat. That was only because the drivers position was slightly less diabolical than a TVR Tamsin. I swear both those cars were built for a species who's knees bent the other way.
 
The Mosler with the TT small block ought to be fun. I assume you will be putting lots of rubber on each corner there to get that power down.
 
As for sound. Matra v12. No engine ever has come even close to that wail at full pop. If you ever heard George Harrisons "Faster" the sound at the end of the track that is usually mistaken for a siren is in fact an F1 Matra wound out.