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I did look at the Si... but the boy racer styling was kind of alienating. I am a grown up, not speed racer. I just want a manual gearbox.
Wow! 39 years! If you have photos please share!
Old school. Double de-clutching down on a non-synchro box on a steep hill in traffic can be a challenge… on the other hand, the manual accelerator was a brave stab at early cruise control, and no problem searching for the keys - she starts fine with a screwdriver.
Hey now. Nothing wrong with being a grown up boy speed racer. Grown doesn’t have to be boring. The WRX fits two car seats in the back just fine and kids love turbos. Maybe one day I’ll get more classy and try to find an early 2000s Cadillac CTS-V with a stick.
I did look at the Si... but the boy racer styling was kind of alienating. I am a grown up, not speed racer. I just want a manual gearbox.
I was every interested in an air-cooled Porsche but I waited too long and then everyone wanted one. Too much for me.
The early 00’s was another time it seems, not that long ago for many of us, but the car/watch market was much different. And it’s not as though “things were just cheaper then”- we aren’t taking about the 50’s, they were actually cheaper in relation to incomes- used goods depreciated as they should and salaries were on the rise. So the system was in balance.
You could buy a used GMT for $2k and a’ very nice 80’s 911SC for $15k… and we knew that was a good deal for those then. It was just a different landscape for used luxury goods- who knew. If only I had a crystal ball….
After driving lumber and dump trucks in and around Wash DC for quite a few years, if I never have another stick shift it will still be way too soon.
My 1976 CJ5, but only driven off paved roads since 1980. After about two excursions I found the short wheelbase was not for civilization nor my or my dad's skeleton.
Bought a dovetail to haul it. Original paint. Levi pkg/original seat covers.
My only manual, now.
I’ve always loved manuals and had an E46 330ci manual for a long time but in a lot of ways that E46 was a pretty bad experience. Around the late 1990s BMW among others moved to dual mass flywheels that are internally failed after about 40,000kms, self adjusting clutches, clutch delay valves to prevent dumping of the clutch and force it to release slowly. Then in 2000 they went fly by wire throttle for the first time, and that throttle has lag or latency.
So in the 330ci manual, when you’re on the hill about to take off the throttle you apply will come at some point within a 200-300ms window, and the clutch will actually bite within about a 400ms window, irrespective of your actual inputs on the pedals, and even when it does bite, because the springs in the DMF are gone it might do nothing then bite again hard. The more recent BMW manuals removed the throttle issue and made the dual mass flywheel more robust but they still use clutch delay valves which you can bypass, but then you’re also voiding your warranty on many drivetrain issues as they’ll blame rough clutch engagement.
Then while Porsche still have manuals in all their sports cars, its not a real H-pattern manual unless you get the 6-speed on the GT3/Speedster, all the 7/8 speed manuals are a dual clutch automatic that has been converted to be a manual with a block of linkages translating your inputs from one selector shaft to dual selector shafts. As a result it’s an odd feeling, inconsistent and sloppy linkage that never feels quite right. But then the GT3/Speedster are impossibility expensive just for the better transmission.
There’s still a semi-retired E34 525i in storage at my parents place and that was the car I learned in many moons ago, and still the nicest feeling clutch and linkage I’ve ever used in a German car, which isn’t saying much because I’ve been disappointed by most German manuals compared to even a Mazda or a Honda.
If I could get a BMW or a Porsche with a Honda S2000 feeling manual that would be perfect, they just don’t quite make that,
The clutch delay valve sucks- it’s in my mini and I plan to have it removed on my next fluid service (car is out of warranty). I have never missed a shift into second in any car except this one (has happened several times) and it’s becuase of that valve-luckily it can be removed fairly easily.
Around the late 1990s BMW among others moved to dual mass flywheels that are internally failed after about 40,000kms, self adjusting clutches, clutch delay valves to prevent dumping of the clutch and force it to release slowly. Then in 2000 they went fly by wire throttle for the first time, and that throttle has lag or latency.
20 years ago, on one BMW forum I was on, modifying the clutch delay valve was a common mod people were doing. I never did it, but I also never had any issues with it on the Z4 or Z4M, or any subsequent car.
The throttle by wire I’m not a fan of, and the first thing I would always do is start the car, then press the sport button. Throttle response was greatly improved, in particular on my first Z4.
Hey now. Nothing wrong with being a grown up boy speed racer. Grown doesn’t have to be boring. The WRX fits two car seats in the back just fine and kids love turbos. Maybe one day I’ll get more classy and try to find an early 2000s Cadillac CTS-V with a stick.
Hey now. Nothing wrong with being a grown up boy speed racer. Grown doesn’t have to be boring. The WRX fits two car seats in the back just fine and kids love turbos. Maybe one day I’ll get more classy and try to find an early 2000s Cadillac CTS-V with a stick.