Who's hoping for a Manual Transmission?

fbbob96

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When I was looking a couple years ago for a new Jeep Wrangler, none of the dealers had a manual. Had to special order it,. If the Bronco has the option for a manual, I'll probably trade for one. If not, I'll probably keep my Jeep. Gotta be a 2 door and soft top also.
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FirstOnRaceDay

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When I was looking a couple years ago for a new Jeep Wrangler, none of the dealers had a manual. Had to special order it,. If the Bronco has the option for a manual, I'll probably trade for one. If not, I'll probably keep my Jeep. Gotta be a 2 door and soft top also.
Just did a quick look at inventory. 20,000 wrangler for sale in USA less than 1,200 are manual. I live 10 miles from the plant. Yet 100 miles from house theres only 30! Out of the 1300 total. And all of them are base sports and loaded rubicons.

so if you want a bronco with a manual it will likely be XL or Raptor. And you might have to go for a drive for it

Also NO CHANCE the sport gets a manual. Demand isn’t there. (Also VIN numbers say no dice) and the dial shifter killed it
 

Excape

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Same here. Why make a so-called "exciting vehicle" and take away one of the great pleasures of driving engagement.
I suppose everyone would rather be checking their Facebook likes on the giant center screen than actually driving.
 

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I'd speculate that a manual would be a poor choice for the Dragon 1.5L
But would think it just ok for the 2.0L
The problem would be the Turbo performance.
You'd most likely have to get by with a six speed or a five.
I think both these smaller engines perform better In part because of this wonderful 8 speed Tranny.
You'd need to be a pretty fast 'Shifter', think Cart or F-1 to keep the Turbo on point.

Just my Opinion :p
I'd not want one with any engine.
 


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I'd speculate that a manual would be a poor choice for the Dragon 1.5L
But would think it just ok for the 2.0L
The problem would be the Turbo performance.
You'd most likely have to get by with a six speed or a five.
I think both these smaller engines perform better In part because of this wonderful 8 speed Tranny.
You'd need to be a pretty fast 'Shifter', think Cart or F-1 to keep the Turbo on point.

Just my Opinion :p
I'd not want one with any engine.
They are doing it here with a manual, albeit is appears tuned to 197HP and in a lighter vehicle:
https://www.motor1.com/news/445501/2021-ford-puma-st-revealed/
 

MKohlman

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As manual owner and enthusiast (my daily ride is a Fiesta ST and given Ford's abandonment of hot hatchbacks in the U.S., I'll be keeping it for a long time), honestly I didn't have an interest in a manual for the Bronco Sport. For what I intend to use it for an automatic is a better choice.

It would be nice of Ford to offer one for those that would one like one, but I imagine that the cost justification wasn't there.
 

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As manual owner and enthusiast (my daily ride is a Fiesta ST and given Ford's abandonment of hot hatchbacks in the U.S., I'll be keeping it for a long time), honestly I didn't have an interest in a manual for the Bronco Sport. For what I intend to use it for an automatic is a better choice.

It would be nice of Ford to offer one for those that would one like one, but I imagine that the cost justification wasn't there.
I know that many don't think an SUV or crossover is an appropriate choice for a manual, but having had both a manual CX-5 and a manual Escape, they are fun to drive if you have the right environment. I could see sitting in traffic gridlock on an interstate would be miserable.
But, what if you had a commute that included 35 miles of hilly, twisty two lane roads that were actually fun to drive? I guess I'm in a minority, but while most of the world reportedly yearns for self-driving vehicles, I actually love the engagement of driving. And not necessary in a weekend toy.
 

Zander1ni

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I have zero desire for a manual ever again with the exception of a weekend car.

the bronco sport is not suited at all to a manual and it is not a particularly fun vehicle to drive. MPG would plummet and automatic cruise functions and safety systems wouldn’t work.

on top of this I live in Southern California where a manual is not “fun” 99% of the time. I am an enthusiast and owned 4 manual cars and 4 manual cars. In the case of my TDI cars I liked the dsg better.

then there is the case of why would a manufacturer develop a manual for a vehicle that would have less than a .5% take rate? Car companies are businesses afterall
 

magicbus

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Most of my off road driving is in sand. Having had both manual and auto I find that I prefer the auto for sand driving.
 


RonSwanson

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As manual owner and enthusiast (my daily ride is a Fiesta ST and given Ford's abandonment of hot hatchbacks in the U.S., I'll be keeping it for a long time), honestly I didn't have an interest in a manual for the Bronco Sport. For what I intend to use it for an automatic is a better choice.

It would be nice of Ford to offer one for those that would one like one, but I imagine that the cost justification wasn't there.
My daily driver before the BS was also a Fiesta ST and I couldn't agree more with your sentiments above. No plans to get rid of it and don't see the need for a manual in the BS.
 

tRex

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we can hope all we want. But it ain’t gonna happen. new report shows just over 1% of new vehicles sold in 2019 had a manual. Vs 1.4% were EVs.

but a big engine would be nice. 1.5T is weak sauce. 2.0 is ok. Not sporty tho. A 2.3 would be perfect!
The 3707 lbs. Badlands is testing at 0-60 in something like 5.7-6.0 seconds, at 250 hp and 280 torque -- what more do you need? I'm not even sure I'd feel safe going any faster without some wheel, tire, and suspension changes to lower and stiffen it up -- but then why did I buy it in the first place? Now what I might like is similar overall performance and economy, etc. without TURBO but, you're going to get more weight and lower economy that way. And still the Direct Injection problems long term unless Port Injection is added to that.
 

tRex

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Manual for the mass market consumer/commuter is dead -- poor performance and economy, EPA and other regulations, profit/cost for the mfr all play their parts, but modern auto trans are really very good too. You can't beat a good DSG trans with paddle shifters -- I imagine racers are having "fun" with that too. Manual can be fun and satisfying, but sometimes it wears you out, too. And as some others have said, the engine/braking/4WD/etc. controls are designed for an auto.
 

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we can hope all we want. But it ain’t gonna happen. new report shows just over 1% of new vehicles sold in 2019 had a manual. Vs 1.4% were EVs.

but a big engine would be nice. 1.5T is weak sauce. 2.0 is ok. Not sporty tho. A 2.3 would be perfect!
1.5L is economical and adequate, 2.0 more than enough, 2.3 would be perfect I agree.

I like my 1.5L and It's MPG's I see no need for anything more.
 

Kachadurian

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I certainly would. One of the reasons I moved away from Ford was they dropped the manual (I've owned a manual Ranger, Explorer, F-150, and Escape). I replaced the Escape with two manual vehicles, a 2016 CX-5 and a 2018 Colorado. I would like to have one vehicle to consolidate to. At least the Compass is still available in a manual.
I bought my Subaru Crosstrek primarily because it had a manual transmission. I just sold it and I was never happier to see a manual transmission go in my life. It was the worst manual I've ever owned and I've owned a lot of them.

I really love a great 6-speed manual. But they're just not putting any effort into manual transmissions anymore.
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