Why are manual transmissions so popular in Europe (luxury, sedan, versus)

[yo vanilla]

Originally Posted by recycled

Let's take VW for example. The smallest VW sold in the US is the Rabbit, aka Golf. The smallest engine in the US model is a 2.5 liter 4 cylinder. It used to be a 2.0, but they decided to make it a bigger engine instead. Those would be considered large 4 cylinder engines in Europe.

transmissions to get up and running from a dead stop.

Class dismissed.

we get a 2.0 turbo in the golf, they just call it a gti (and it gets better gas mileage than the 2.5L turd, too. and dont forget the 1.9 TDI

[nineball]

Because they have not built a computer that can completely anticipate what you want to do. Thanks to the Europeans for keeping the manual gear box tradition, although I think eventually it will be extinct.

[Trasferirci_a_SD]

I am italian ...I drive auto since here in the US, I get bored and sleepy, and feeling like I dont have control of the car....I miss shifting gears and my left foot is useless

[Fleet]

Originally Posted by Trasferirci_a_SD

I am italian ...I drive auto since here in the US, I get bored and sleepy, and feeling like I dont have control of the car....I miss shifting gears and my left foot is useless

I use my left foot for braking.

[geos]

Pretty simple. A stick gets 5%-10% better mileage in most cases and better performance and costs $1k less. I lived in NYC my whole life and never had a problem in traffic. I picked up my first stick shift car and only stalled once on the way home. It's not that difficult.

[Crotonapark]

I also think a manual transimisson is easier in heavily congested traffic than an automatic transmisson, you can "creep" through the streets without having to use the gas and also I love to be able to "release" the car and just slide on the clutch.

[GTOlover]

Originally Posted by Fleet

I use my left foot for braking.

drving with two feet is not a good habit to pick up it not only can run your breaks down faster but it also is confusing to other drivers that are behind you

[harald]

Originally Posted by southernnaturelover

What do they know, they drive on the wrong side of the road. j/k

I do like a stick out on country roads where I can enjoy it, but in city traffic I prefer an automatic.

no we dont.why do everyone think europeans drive on the wrong side ? its only in uk they do that.

[harald]

Originally Posted by Fleet

I use my left foot for braking.

and if you dont lay off that habit,you be very surprised when you try to stop a manual auto sometime.

[Fleet]

Originally Posted by GTOlover

drving with two feet is not a good habit to pick up it not only can run your breaks down faster but it also is confusing to other drivers that are behind you

It's not a bad habit when done properly.

I don't keep my left foot on the brake pedal. I remember my former '66 Dodge Dart GT having new brakes installed in 1980 and they lasted until 1988. With an average of around 8,000 miles per year of driving.

Why would it be confusing to other drivers? As mentioned above, I don't keep my foot on the brake pedal. I keep it over it brake pedal in heavy traffic and on the floor to the left of the pedal in light traffic and on the freeway.