Ferrari Mailing List: Are you too heavy for my stick?

[Brian E. Buxton (BrianBuxton]

Dennis Liu wrote:

> <<Brian, you wrote, "the cars are too heavy for a manual".  Dave Craig and I 
> took that to mean you were saying that a manual transmission could not
> handle a car that heavy.  That is clearly not true, because (a) lots of manual 
> transmissions are available on heavier vehicles, even luxury ones,
> and (b) Mercedes itself offers a manual transmission on an equally heavy E-class 
> itself.>>
>
>  
Dennis,

> I get it now - you guys though I meant that they were literally too heavy for a manual, when what I didn't express as well as I should have was that the cars are too heavy and don't drive well with a manual.  BMW does well with the M5 because (as you pointed out) they do have a following.  But BMW has historically tried to be sportier and Mercedes more luxurious.  Which is why BMW usually has the younger following while MB has the older crowd.  So my point was not to argue that you were incorrect in stating that there was no market demand for the cars, but rather WHY there was no market demand for the cars.
>
> <<Ok, so now Brian doesn't mean that, or Dave and I misinterpreted his
> statement.  Rather, he meant to say something along the lines of, "heavy
> performance sedans perform better with automatic transmissions than with
> manual transmissions."  >>
>  

Exactly.

> <<Well, I don't agree with that either.>>
>
> What??
>
> <<But there is still a market for sports sedans that come with manual
> transmissions, and BMW is the king of that market.>>
>  

I feel that BMW's best manual is in the M3.  I have been in a couple of 
different M5's this year and am not at all impressed with the manual trans.

> <<So, why doesn't MB do it?>>
>
> Because they would not drive well!!!

=)

>  
>
> <<Around here, AMGs are driven by eurotrash girls hanging out on Newbury street, spending daddy's
> money while showing up to class at Boston University every once in awhile.
> (you know, the kind of girls that Lashdeep likes to date)  <grin>>>
>  

Hell, those are the girls I like to date!

Brian