Blasphemy!

antman22 · 03-31-2010, 10:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pharmacist

actually the performance difference is not that great. a good driver with a manual gearbox shouldn't lag behind an automated gearbox by more than 1 second per lap or even less. unless you are a race car driver fighting for the championship, a fraction of a second per lap will not be significant.

i agree, for the avg joe, the difference isn't that significant, but these cars start on the track first. in the track, hundredths & tenths, not seconds make the difference.

the technology that comes from the track trickles down to the [rich] avg joe in the italia458's, gallardos, etc. For ferrari or lambo or any other exotic company to continue to make manuals & autos instead of streamlining their efforts into a single system means more cash spent on something that doesn't make them faster on the track.

will the elimination frustrate the public consumer market? sure, for awhile. will that cause them to stop buying them? nope. i'm sure it wasn't an easy decision for each company, but ultimately, they have to pay attention to the dollars and cents of the company and what will be good for them in the future in terms of their racing heritage. technology plays such a huge role in automotives now, so it was just a matter of time before they made the manual inferior.

it could be really amusing if tuning shops start figuring out ways to retrofit future sports cars with a proper shifter and clutch....just some food for thought.