The End of The Manual Gear Box?

I don’t change cars very often.  They seem to last a long time with me.  But for the last few months I’ve been considering buying a new car.  My Golf 4motion is getting a bit old.  I never really had much time to do any research to see what’s around.  I used to be a car fanatic in my teens and early 20′s, but now I’m really out of date when it comes to cars.

I got really excited when I heard that VW are revealing a replacement for the Golf R32!  The Golf R, a 260 hp hatchback monster, cool!  So I went to the showroom yesterday and had a look at some photos and to get some basic price info. I was saddened to hear that VW no longer offer a manual gear box!

I was almost heartbroken.  Since I got my driver’s license in 1990 the majority of cars I’ve owned were manual.  I really don’t enjoy driving automatic cars.  The sales guy mentioned that they all have a “new” type of gear box (DSG I think) which has dual clutch something something…

Apparently, you don’t feel like you’re driving an automatic, and it feels almost exactly like a manual.  And it seems that’s the direction most car companies are going in.  Looks like the manual gear box will be a thing of the past in the next few years, just like hard-copy books!

Oh well… can’t stop progress I guess.  I’ll sure miss the active driving.

I’ll let you know if I get the car in the end…

Talk soon.