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Europe is behind the US in terms of the ratio, but even they are headed in this direction. 10 years ago in France, you couldn't rent anything but a manual trans

Europe is behind the US in terms of the ratio, but even they are headed in this direction. 10 years ago in France, you couldn't rent anything but a manual transmission, now renting an automatic is not unusual.

bane 1y ago
I can drive a manual fine, and we don't rent fancy cars, so if it saves a few bucks we'll get the manual option when we visit Europe. The last few times we visited Europe, the car rental places basically defaulted to either electric or automatics, but all three options were virtually the same price, or the manual is only a few Euros cheaper. This last time we went to Spain, picked a manual, got to pickup where they told us they didn't have a manual and would we mind a free upgrade. Sure! They offered us an electric. We needed to do a lot of driving so we asked if they had something else, we ended up with a Toyota crossover Hybrid (CR-Z maybe) which was a CVT. Merp. I don't know the stats but it seems even Europe is starting to shed manuals. I don't know if its the popularity of electrics that has finally busted through or some other cause. Another anecdote, we sometimes ended up a taking taxis while in Spain and Portugal, not a manual in sight, which was notable enough that I remembered it.
- arlort 1y ago
  Manual wasn't a religious choice. They were cheaper, used to have better fuel economy and quality of the drive was better New automatic gearboxes are pretty much better in any way other than raw cost and with things like hybrids and cruise control etc I imagine it'd actually end up costing more to adapt a manual to all that than just using an automatic
  - rstuart4133 1y ago
    > New automatic gearboxes are pretty much better in any way other than raw cost And reaction time. I drive a manual. When I get into an automatic, the thing that annoys me most is it's in the wrong gear and takes a while to react to the press on the accelerator. I generally know what gear I need in a couple of seconds time, so when I'm driving a manual it's already in that gear when the time arrives. I'm amazed at how often I thinking "oh for pete's sake, do catch up" to an automatic gear box. That said, that's an ICE problem. Their low torque at low revs is means you have to be in the right gear to accelerate quickly. In EV's the effect isn't noticeable.
    - arlort 1y ago
      Have you tried putting it in sports mode?
dzhiurgis 1y ago
Yeah it's bizarre. My partner (European) only got license to drive auto. Whenever we travel Europe it's either me who is going to drive or spend tons more to get auto. I'm convinced the only reason manual is still made is so that rental companies could gauge for auto's. No sane person should buy manual (or ICE car to begin with).

bane 1y ago

I can drive a manual fine, and we don't rent fancy cars, so if it saves a few bucks we'll get the manual option when we visit Europe. The last few times we visited Europe, the car rental places basically defaulted to either electric or automatics, but all three options were virtually the same price, or the manual is only a few Euros cheaper. This last time we went to Spain, picked a manual, got to pickup where they told us they didn't have a manual and would we mind a free upgrade. Sure! They offered us an electric. We needed to do a lot of driving so we asked if they had something else, we ended up with a Toyota crossover Hybrid (CR-Z maybe) which was a CVT. Merp. I don't know the stats but it seems even Europe is starting to shed manuals. I don't know if its the popularity of electrics that has finally busted through or some other cause. Another anecdote, we sometimes ended up a taking taxis while in Spain and Portugal, not a manual in sight, which was notable enough that I remembered it.

arlort 1y ago
Manual wasn't a religious choice. They were cheaper, used to have better fuel economy and quality of the drive was better New automatic gearboxes are pretty much better in any way other than raw cost and with things like hybrids and cruise control etc I imagine it'd actually end up costing more to adapt a manual to all that than just using an automatic
- rstuart4133 1y ago
  > New automatic gearboxes are pretty much better in any way other than raw cost And reaction time. I drive a manual. When I get into an automatic, the thing that annoys me most is it's in the wrong gear and takes a while to react to the press on the accelerator. I generally know what gear I need in a couple of seconds time, so when I'm driving a manual it's already in that gear when the time arrives. I'm amazed at how often I thinking "oh for pete's sake, do catch up" to an automatic gear box. That said, that's an ICE problem. Their low torque at low revs is means you have to be in the right gear to accelerate quickly. In EV's the effect isn't noticeable.
  - arlort 1y ago
    Have you tried putting it in sports mode?

dzhiurgis 1y ago

Yeah it's bizarre. My partner (European) only got license to drive auto. Whenever we travel Europe it's either me who is going to drive or spend tons more to get auto. I'm convinced the only reason manual is still made is so that rental companies could gauge for auto's. No sane person should buy manual (or ICE car to begin with).