In talking to the average car enthusiast about transmission
preference, and most likely you’ll hear that manual shifting is the way to go.
The do-it-yourself gearbox has a long history in automotive design and
motorsports. Thanks to simple, yet robust design, it has stood the test
of time. There's a good chance you'll still find brand new showroom cars
without the automatic option at most dealerships. The manual transmission
was, theoretically, made obsolete decades ago when automatics were introduced
to production motor vehicles, as an upgrade. They are smoother and easier
to drive, and seem to have become more "standard" than standard
transmissions. Why then, would anyone still want to drive a stick, when
they could just put it in “drive” and go? And how long will it be till they are
completely absent from new cars? Anyhow, of course I am one of the odd
individuals that would much rather opt to drive a manual transmission. Why do you want a manual car when automatic is
much easier to drive is often asked when I tell people my preference.
Well, possibly the most convincing argument for driving a
stick is that it's just plain fun. It takes a special touch to handle a
manual transmission just right. The "practice makes perfect"
saying fits quite well here. There is a certain amount of pleasure that
comes from taming the clutch, thrashing the shifter, and getting every ounce of
your engine's power to the wheels. Essentially it’s an ego booster.
A sense of pride results from the mastery of manual gear changing. Simply
put, shifting through gears and downshifting when desired puts a huge grin on
my face. But unfortunately, the Mercedes I currently drive forces me to admit
to manual drivers that I let my car do the shifting for me. For me, at
least admitting my car is automatic reduces me to measly status. But it’s not
my fault my car is automatic though, I’ll explain more.
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| The 6-Speed Mercedes-Benz C300 |
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| The Automatic Mercedes-Benz C300 |
Unfortunately, my Mercedes (North American model) was only
produced with the automatic transmission. Honestly, this is the one drawback I
have with this car, the lack of a manual gearbox available. Although, my
automatic transmission is one with the tiptronic (an automatic transmission
that allows the driver to manually shift the gears without a clutch) feature, I
still love the feeling of having three pedals at my disposal. The automatic gives me a disconnected feeling
with the car, and sometimes make driving rather mundane. But what can I do?
Unfortunately it looks like there’s not much that I can do, besides opt for a
more enthusiast friendly car (BMW anyone?).
The North American models of Mercedes feature minuscule
numbers in manual transmissions, while the European model of Mercedes comes
with the manual standard. (Well, maybe I should just move there?) When we think
about the modern (North American) Mercedes brand, “offers stick shifts” isn’t
really something that springs to mind. In previous years, sales have plummeted
in the manual transmission, so the U.S.-market Benzes are likely to go all
automatic, all the time, in the near future. For now, I’ll stick with the
automatic, but I’ll be sure to locate a manual transmission Mercedes before
they are completely swept up by the other enthusiasts. Three pedals will again
be a part of my future driving plans.
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