Manual Transmission - A dying automotive art

We embrace new technologies. They make our lives better, adding colour to the usual humdrum affairs, and a tad of spice to our routine orders. There are others that ease our burdens by making things simpler.

Let's say you are craving for a burger at the middle of the night - a few swipes at your smart phone can make someone deliver piping hot food to your doorstep. No more letting your legs do the work.

Not too long ago, a close friend of mine fantasised about his car self-driving to the destination, so that he can play with his mobile device, which ironically, allows him to drive in the virtual world. So why ditch the real driving for something you can't touch or feel? Because racing a Lamborghini beats getting stuck in an hour's jam in a Toyota anytime.

In the automotive fairy land, there are more tech gadgets than one can think of. There are a myriad of assists to keep the driver (and passengers) safe. They will even come into play and intervene when there is enough evidence that the driver isn't acting himself.

Others are derived to make your journey worthy of the moniker it's bearing - boasting your ego while in the works. Think of Rolls-Royce's new suspension system which pre-amps itself for upcoming terrain based on satellite navigation. Cool huh?

Enter the world of digital wizardry, we say. Because there's simply no reason not to do so.

So has technological advancements made automatic a worthy substitute for the age-old manuals? 

They are faster. And unless you've achieved significant proficiency in racing cars, there is a high chance that you wouldn’t be able to outperform automatic gearboxes, more so the recent double-clutch ones. Some, like the PDK we have sampled on the 991 Carrera S, are simply mind boggling fast. 

We, as motoring journalists, have went to great depth to talk about driving dynamics. And there's one type of gearbox which literally kills driving fun - CVT a.k.a Continuously Variable Transmission. Very seldom do we come across someone who advocates CVT, because it is dull, spiritless, boring, routine, dreary. The list could go on.

But our photog does. And the father-of-two sitting at the next desk probably thinks it's better - because the smoothness will most likely not stir tears (which is often accompanied by fearful groans) from his baby at the back seat, sleeping. His wife? No more complains of spilled milk (from the cow that is) when you decide to take on the car next lane, and happy wife equates to happy life.

And if you ask us, the war has already been won. 

We can go on for a thousand words or two just to support manual gearboxes, telling tales of how it was never about how fast you can coordinate your arms and legs, but the whole experience in all. And it doesn't matter if you're lightning quick on our traffic aplenty streets. 

But a sore left foot does.

Yes, there are still a handful of 'hardcore' driving machines. But when was the last time you heard car junkies ditching a manual ride for an automatic so that "his wife can drive it"? We hear that a lot. And with enthusiasts' choices such as Porsche's track icon - 911 GT3 - and the supermini Clio RS adopting dual-clutch gearboxes, it spells doom for proper manual boxes.

All the scenarios seem to suggest that stick shifts are at their wits' end. And it'd be foolish of us to think that manuals will carry on in time to come.

Or does it?

As the Buggles joyfully sang "Video killed the radio star" in the late 70s, they probably thought FM would be extinct by now. But it isn't. Because some old things are worth preserving.