Cobwebs on the clutch

Then you might as well ask why and the answer will be ‘zier are not popular’. Now that kind of answer steers a feeling of disappointment to the tradition of passionate driving. In Author St. Antoine’s ‘Graveyard Shift’ from Motor Trend Magazine, he said, “drive a car with a third pedal and you’re immediately elevated […]

Then you might as well ask why and the answer will be ‘zier are not popular’. Now that kind of answer steers a feeling of disappointment to the tradition of passionate driving. In Author St. Antoine’s ‘Graveyard Shift’ from Motor Trend Magazine, he said, “drive a car with a third pedal and you’re immediately elevated above mere motorists. You are an aficionado.”
To make that much more clearer, he adds, “you care about interaction between man and machine”- which is what its all about in this modern age. When my sister bought her Suzuki Baleno auto-trans, she immediately went for driving lesson with a manual shifter which helped her interact with her car for any development or changes. It all improved her manner of driving in her own car till the point which she can tell when there is a fault on her which I believe is a wheel balancing problem. So all senses are in full use with the shifter. Moreover, the more you continue to improve on your skills in handling the shifter such as smooth takeoffs, heel-and-toe downshifts and maybe, even double clutching. How about more , be able to fish tail, drift and control power and engine torque through that third pedal for optimum delivery in whatever task you assigned the car to do?  Then you can brand yourself as a ‘driving artist’.
But today, manufacturers have begun dropping the manual shifter for an automated clutch. The manual transmission is fast fading while the paddle shifter with automated dual-clutch is now taking over. It is the same as the manual, rather this time your gear change is done at the flick of a paddle behind the steering wheel. The advantages of the manual become so grey one can hardly argue for the manual against the auto-clutch. In fact, to embark on such debate is like trying to convince your father on why he should give you your education to go into business because you thought having second class upper is no longer respected in Nigeria.
This new technology is faster, efficient and precise. The best drivers can’t match the output of paddle shifter and an added advantage is there is no foot work involved. These technology have been borrowed from the fastest cars in the world ie. the Formula 1, and delivery is magnificent. In Nigeria, you can find them in Porsche, Volkswagen, Skoda, BMW, Mercedes Benz and many more.
As a professional driver enthuasist, I am beginning to miss the reward of driving a manual shifter. In fact, I have deep respect for the old tradition and firmly believe like St. Antoine in acquiring and perfecting skills which makes it very important to me and others who have the same believe as I do. As for the introduction of the auto-clutch system, I am not disappointed because they have not taken away the interaction between man and machine but rather changed it a bit.