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Old 04-07-2010, 09:04 AM
 
Location: Maine
898 posts, read 1,394,754 times
Reputation: 566

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Does anyone even offer a stick shift on a heavy duty pickup truck these days?

It seems that the stick shift is being relegated to either small, compact cars, light duty trucks, or cars that the average Joe cannot afford.

Personally, I hate it. I've never liked automatic transmissions. Hate every boring minute of driving one, hate them in the hilly country, and especially when pulling any sort of a load. They always feel gutless and never seem to be in the right gear.

They break down more often, and cost a boatload more to repair and maintain than manual transmissions as well. Perhaps why many of the car companies are no longer offering you the choice. After all, they make money on those repairs!
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Old 04-07-2010, 09:08 AM
 
Location: Columbia, California
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Auto manufactures are forced to increase fuel mileage at any and all costs. A automatic can get better performance and mileage now than a stick.
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Old 04-07-2010, 09:09 AM
 
10,494 posts, read 27,120,394 times
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I know the full size Dodges trucks offer manual transmissions.
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Old 04-07-2010, 09:17 AM
 
Location: U.S.A.
3,306 posts, read 12,152,761 times
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I have a Ram 2500 4x4 with 12v Cummins and NV4500 5spd. 17 in the city, mid 20's on the highway and she runs on pure veggie oil (when desired). This summer, once I get my gauges I'll be doing a little tweaking with the mechanical injection pump, for a few hundred bucks you can get an easy 200hp+ gain... the most expensive part is the gauges. Everything on the powertrain is mechanically operated and controlled, thats how it should be IMO.

Think I'll be set for a million miles or so.
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Old 04-07-2010, 09:21 AM
 
Location: Maine
898 posts, read 1,394,754 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ferretkona View Post
Auto manufactures are forced to increase fuel mileage at any and all costs. A automatic can get better performance and mileage now than a stick.
A claim that I still find hard to swallow. I see the numbers, and the majority of vehicle out there are still better with the stick than the automatic.

Automatics are heavier, and use a torque converter as opposed to a clutch. The very design wastes more energy.

Put me in any car, standard or automatic, and I would bet money that I'll get at least 10% better than the EPA highway mileage. But I'd also bet money that my fuel economy will be better in the stick than the automatic versions of the same car, despite the EPA numbers.
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Old 04-07-2010, 09:32 AM
 
14,780 posts, read 43,477,989 times
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A good driver with a stick will always beat an automatic...the problem is finding good drivers. The current generation automatics are capable of getting real close to the MPG of the manual and they are able to do it consistently.

As for full size trucks, outside of commercial grade trucks, I think Dodge is the only one that offers a manual option. Pretty much all of them now use automatics.
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Old 04-07-2010, 08:09 PM
 
Location: Indiana
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Yeah I think Dodge is the only one left. Ford did but this was the last year for it, it won't be offered with the 6.7. GM dumped them a while back.
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Old 04-07-2010, 09:00 PM
 
Location: H-town, TX.
3,503 posts, read 7,451,218 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by melinuxfool View Post
A claim that I still find hard to swallow. I see the numbers, and the majority of vehicle out there are still better with the stick than the automatic.

Automatics are heavier, and use a torque converter as opposed to a clutch. The very design wastes more energy.

Put me in any car, standard or automatic, and I would bet money that I'll get at least 10% better than the EPA highway mileage. But I'd also bet money that my fuel economy will be better in the stick than the automatic versions of the same car, despite the EPA numbers.
I doubt that an electronically operated auto trans wastes that much more energy when compared to the unknowing stickshifter who thinks that shifting below 2000 RPMs at every shift is better for an engine.

I've gotten as high as 23.8 MPGs with my v6 2003 F150 SuperCab. I doubt a stick would do any better.

I was a hardcore manual trans buff once upon a time. Like carburetors, their time is up.

You can keep vehicles in check with regards to emissions a lot easier with an auto trans, too.
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Old 04-08-2010, 05:55 AM
 
Location: Maine
898 posts, read 1,394,754 times
Reputation: 566
Quote:
Originally Posted by AlfredB1979 View Post
I doubt that an electronically operated auto trans wastes that much more energy when compared to the unknowing stickshifter who thinks that shifting below 2000 RPMs at every shift is better for an engine.

I've gotten as high as 23.8 MPGs with my v6 2003 F150 SuperCab. I doubt a stick would do any better.

I was a hardcore manual trans buff once upon a time. Like carburetors, their time is up.

You can keep vehicles in check with regards to emissions a lot easier with an auto trans, too.
Entirely possible. The highway sticker mileage on a 2003 Ford F150 with a V6 and automatic is 19 mpg if it has 4x4 and 20 if it is a two-wheel drive. It doesn't take much more than sensible driving to beat those numbers. The EPA claims the same numbers for the manual, but I'd be surprised if I couldn't do better than 24 with a stick.

My old truck was rated at 20 mpg highway, and I'd pull as high as 26 mpg out of it. And I consistently got better than 22 mpg. But my truck could be bump-started if the starter went, and didn't require me to spend $100 every 30,000 miles to service the transmission (about $8 in gear oil was all it required at the same interval).

Getting 23.8 mpg out of your truck, is that something you've done often, or just a one time thing?

As far as shifting gears, it all depends on the engine and terrain. If you're aiming for fuel economy with your shifting, then you want to get into 5th gear as soon as possible, without lugging the engine. If the ground was flat, I'd use fifth as low as 35 mph in my truck, but that truck was also geared low, so it'd be turning about 1,600 RPM at 35 in 5th, hardly lugging it. Obviously you're going to use a lower gear going uphill.

Shifting as early as 2,000 RPM would be too early for some 4 cylinders, but there are some 6 or 8 cylinders that could handle it quite nicely. My parents drive a 4-speed automatic V6 Dodge Caravan, and it usually shifts right around 2,000 RPM at normal driving. Many larger engines have enough low end torque that they are quire comfortable hanging around at less than 2,000 RPMs. Of course, larger engines weren't bought for fuel economy, so rev it up!
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Old 04-08-2010, 12:13 PM
 
1,890 posts, read 2,643,548 times
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2011 Superduties won't come with a manual tranny, period.

If autos are so good, why aren't the rest of the countries switching over?
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