Do you think SMG is going to stick around and replace manual's ?

[Alan]

This is a topic I know we all spoke about years ago when SMG looked like it was going to replace the manual ... Autoweek even stated that BMW was looking for it to replace the manual but since SMG has been around for a while it doesn't look like it is as successful and popular ... what do you think now ?


Maybe it is a very desired option ... I really don't know but I don't see SMG as an option on the E90 though it is still offered on the 5 series ...

I drove an SMG once and it was pretty cool but for some reason I don't feel the desire to get one ...

[blee]

If anything, I would rather see the automatic transmission replaced with CVT or DSG setups. Both offer smooth, fluid acceleration without driver intervention, just like a conventional automatic. I don't know about the CVT, but I would have to guess that a DSG offers the fuel economy and power transfer benefits of a manual -- about the only thing that a current auto-preferring car owner would care about.

As for manual transmission disappearing, I think the current market would not allow that to happen completely. It seems that stick drivers make up a small but fierce and significant part of the market, and that they are not all so eager to jump into SMGs. If anything, I can see SMG refining itself to the point where it can take the place of a Steptronic-type transmission.

[John V]

Originally Posted by AF

I drove an SMG once and it was pretty cool but for some reason I don't feel the desire to get one ...

. Neat technology, poor implementation on BMW's part. And still no replacement for a good stick shift.

[Plaz]

SMG's not replacing anything.

And despite everyone saying that manuals are on the way out, it seems to me there are more cars offered with stickshift now than there were a decade ago... especially when you look at the big 3's offerings.

The clutch pedal doesn't appear to be an endangered species at all, IMO.

[dan]

the regular SMG was awful. I'm sure that's why it didn't sell and why they stopped offering it.

I would hope that advanced SMG/DSG transmissions would replace automatics and leave manuals as the other option, although from what people have said you really need to know how to drive a manual in order to fully understand and exploit the advanced SMG systems

[bren]

Originally Posted by bonoboy

....although from what people have said you really need to know how to drive a manual in order to fully understand and exploit the advanced SMG systems

I haven't driven DSG, but SMG needs a good bit more fine tuning before it's replacing anything. Most people are too impatient or inept to take the time to learn how to adapt their driving to suit the peculiarities of it.

[JST]

Originally Posted by bren

I haven't driven DSG, but SMG needs a good bit more fine tuning before it's replacing anything. Most people are too impatient or inept to take the time to learn how to adapt their driving to suit the peculiarities of it.

DSG is better in every way than SMG, at least as far as I can tell. SMG feels like a crappy, kludged together solution, though I take the word of those who own them that you can adapt to driving them. DSG requires no adaptation.

That said, I don't really see the point of DSG. It's much, much smooter than SMG, but it's still not as smooth as a normal, torque converter automatic, and in my opinion, it's nowhere near as fun to drive as a normal stick.

I've been pilloried for saying this, but I'd rather have a plain old Steptronic over either SMG or DSG, esp. since Jaguar and Aston have figured out the programming necessary to ship slushies with paddles that react just as quickly as DSG or SMG does.

[Sharp11]

Originally Posted by Plaz

SMG's not replacing anything.

And despite everyone saying that manuals are on the way out, it seems to me there are more cars offered with stickshift now than there were a decade ago... especially when you look at the big 3's offerings.

The clutch pedal doesn't appear to be an endangered species at all, IMO.

I don't know about that, the trend with automakers is to reduce the variable of the driver. Stability control systems are becoming more intrusive and in the new models from Lexus, can't be turned off at all.

If BMW can find a way to gain complete control of the drivetrain from the user, would they opt to do it? My guess is yes, they would, much the way a road designer sees the perfect road as a "safe" slab with little grade, a crown and as few curves as possible. We hate roads like that, but the "fun" ones are disappaering fast.

Germans seem more prone to controlling the "driving experience" than most and I predict, sadly, the more expensive the car, the less fun and techno-laden it will be.

Heck, we're already there in many respects.

Ed

[lemming]

hey, if manufacturers force SMG or DSG gearboxes down our throats, then finally there would be something to deter me from being a serial car buyer.

[Rob]

They aren't replacing anything. They aren't as much fun to drive as manuals and didn't get a very big market share at all. If manuals dissappear, most SMG/DSG transmissions will as well.

I would rather drive a good automatic.