Quote:
Originally Posted by duder13
How much lighter? 10lbs, 100lbs? It's not worth it to me, even if it was 100lbs. Plus, I think they're looking for excuses. According to the chief engineer, “[A manual] was considered early on in the project but we shelved it pretty quickly because okay, there’s a hardcore client out there who will always want a manual gearbox even though I can prove the dual-clutch is more efficient. But the percentage of those people is very, very small, and the business case is overwhelmingly for DCT transmissions. We’re very happy with the result and we think 95 per cent of our customers will be too.”
Here's my take. It's one thing to only have a DCT/Auto in world beating cars, when ultimate speed is the primary goal, but cars like the 1M, M2, 718, A110, 4C, and even the 911, etc., are as much about fun and feel as outright speed, and I'd never buy a car like that without a manual. I'd pay thousands extra for a manual, if need be.
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hey i agree with you about manual...
BUT having been a massive fan of the Alpine marque for years, have studied the history of the marque, and have been following the development very closely as well as pre-development; it needs to be understood that Alpine, as a brand, was historically always about focused engineering of race/rally cars and of sports cars. 100 lbs is huge when you're talking about a 2350 lb sports car.
The reality is that as a NEW car that is relaunching the marque of Alpine this 'new' A110 had to be of its own time and we can certainly agree that in the broad, general view of the automotive industry and of sports cars; the DCT gearbox is the current standard gearbox of performance cars.
Do i agree with that? not for me. But as a whole for the industry it's absolutely true. The relaunch of Alpine had to be a success for them....and to appeal to the widest audience they had to do it this way. I do believe the weight savings though...