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Ford patent reveals wild new automated manual

1596 Views 2 Replies 3 Participants Last post by  Bullittproof
Gear shift Car Vehicle Motor vehicle Automotive design

This is kinda crazy and either the best thing to happen to manuals, or maybe the most frustrating, I can't tell.
Muscle Cars & Trucks unearthed a really interesting Ford patent for an automated manual that appears to have a traditional shift lever, but no clutch pedal.

Yep, you read that right.

So you get to row your own, but a computer and electronic module to safely swap the gears. If it works, I guess that would be a smart way to keep a lot of the fun of a manual without the inefficiencies and unnecessary wear-and-tear from drivers who haven't mastered clutch application, but I know for sure purists will scream.

Personally, I'm a lousy heal-and-toe drive and pretty clumsy at double-clutching, but enjoy driving a manual in everyday use, so this might be a perfect solution for me, but I still expect it will be hugely controversial if they do implement it on the new Mustang (as MC&T speculates they will)

Read the full technical explanation here:
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Wow, it’s interesting, but I would hope it to be an option. I can’t see this working on a drag-strip, and maybe not a road-track. Still, I’d like to drive one, but I’d rather have conventional choices too. I think this would be a poor fit for my needs/wants.
To me driving a manual is all about the rev drop and rise with every shift. My impression of this clutch-less setup is that it will ‘sound’ like an automatic…
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