Originally Posted by Brent
Originally Posted by DesertFox
I was trying to find this info, too, but I haven't come across a clear source. What I do know is that mileage dropped to 15/23 for the 2008 xFire manual, and you don't just lose MPG for no reason......
The EPA revised their mpg testing to more accurately reflect how cars are actually driven. All cars had their ratings dropped.
Good to know. I know that before, the Scions used different rear end ratios (I believe it was the xB).
Originally Posted by Brent
The predominance of automatic transmissions here (read that only 10% of all cars sold here have manual trannys) have led to an interesting development. Many car today that are equivalent to the stripped down models of yesteryear are not offered with a manual transmission or are not bought with one. However, many higher end cars are offered with a manual and are bought with such. Maybe we are reversing our preferences and one day a manual will be considered the upscale transmission.
To be honest, I kinda thought that Hollywood usually glorified the manual transmission, until recently. Then again, I was raised with a bit of a manual tranny, so I've always seen it as both the cheap solution as well as the performance solution. I thought that most people saw it the same way, but they just didn't care enough to lose the convenience of an automatic.