CNN column: Opinion: The long overdue death of the stick shift car

This guy is a douchebag and frick him (My opinion is that his opinion SUCKS). He's also notably sexist against men and I'm ignoring his obvious love of EVs.

LINK


[quote]For old-school connoisseurs of the automobile — usually men — driving means operating a beloved vehicle by touch, with three pedals underfoot and a shift stick at hand.

In Europe, this clientele is responsible for a good deal of the moaning about manual transmission’s demise. And perhaps nowhere is it louder than in Germany, the home of Porsche, BMW, Volkswagen and Mercedes Benz.

He affectionately describes the stick shift’s smooth knob nestled in his palm. (Sigmund Freud would have had no trouble deducing the grounds for this allure.)

Well, Zen or not, the day of manual transmissions is speeding to an end — and this layman is shedding no tears.

It’s not just that I cringe at the grating screech of a botched downshift, that high-pitched sequel worse than fingernails across a chalkboard. The sound upbraids and shames me for having wronged the drivetrain. But this obviously never happens to alpha men, the kind who love their engines and coax them to purr.

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