This is not quite right. Automatics and CVT's have a lot of gears and provide great efficiency through gearing, but they still have fluid pumps to accomplish actions like shifting and locking up. Pumps will always sap some power. CVT's are worse as the belt has to be kept under tension.

But with modern automatics, gas mileage and performance can be equal to or better than sticks because of their gearing advantages. They can run the engine at a "lugging" speed during cruising and when you hit the gas, they will allow torque converter slippage or downshift as needed whereas with a stick, the driver will usually be in a lower gear to allow for acceleration.

George

 

A modern day auto will school a manual all day everyday

 

Brokenleg, I wish I could keep the old blue one, but it's a matter of space. I just plain don't have the extra space for it right now. My wife and I are renting a multi-unit house and there's barely room in the driveway for the two vehicles that we do have. As it is, the old one is parked a block away in a public lot. Not a situation I'm happy with, and we are planning on buying a house with a garage in about a year or two; but for right now that's what I'm stuck with if I want a roof over my head. The picture in my avatar, where you see the blue truck parked in a small but private driveway with a garage behind it; I don't live there anymore. It's a long story that I'm not going to get into right now.

 

sorry to hear that. I know on the east coast is more expensive to live than where I am. (I live out in the country for the space).....

 

Thanks. I moved to Pittsburgh area about 9 years ago because I couldn't afford Northern Virginia's insane cost of living anymore. I'd like to be out in the country more but my wife doesn't, and besides that this is where the jobs are. For right now I'll settle for the suburbs. As long as I can have a garage with a decent sized yard when we do buy a house, I'll be happy. Gotta have room for the dog to run! Ain't had a dog since 2011 when my lab mix got old on me and I had to put her down

 

Larietpsd, I am finding that is true now with my 2012 with the 6R80E auto, I will miss the simple joy of driving a stick! The last automatic I had was a 1995 Ranger 3.0, and that was 10 years ago. I have not personally owned, and driven an automatic transmission everyday in over 10 years! It's a lot to learn and get used to now. This new transmission is a whole lot "smarter" than the 4R44E was in my old Ranger. For example, in the Ranger "Tow/Haul" mode simply locked out Overdrive. In my 2012 F-150, Tow/Haul mode changes all the shift points, and uses engine braking more to slow the truck as well as the brakes themselves; by downshifting with a tap of the brake pedal.

 

Why is that better than a manual? With a manual you don't have to go into tow/haul mode because the shift points are whatever you want them to be, along with the downshifting.

 

A manual is much less complicated to troubleshoot and also less expensive to repair.

 

They cost more to manufacture. Less then 5 percent of sales were manuals. It makes no economic sense to build them anymore.

 

I don't understand how a manual transmission can be more expensive to manufacture even if you consider the low volumes. The automatics, especially the current ones, are composed of many more parts some are which very expensive and are technically more complicated.
I don't think anyone of us, unless they work for Ford, could work on one of these transmissions simply on the basis of the special tools and diagnostic equipment needed for them.

 

It's a simple fact of volume manufacturing and inventory. When the number of units goes down, the cost to produce goes up. It's why counter-depth refrigerators cost more than regular-depth refrigerators, even though they are smaller and take less materials to make. They don't make anywhere near as many of them, and they cost more.

I will also say that rowing a 10-speed manual transmission would not be fun.

 

Although an automatic is more complicated as a unit, it is easier and quicker to install. It does not require the extra steps of installing a clutch, clutch pedal assembly and all the required linkages. Plus, there is the additional expanse of crash testing truck with manual transmissions.

If the demand was there, Ford would build it. That probably has more to do with it than anything.

Ram is the last hold out. It's only available on the 3/4 ton and up models. I believe there is no discount for ordering it that way, so a manual costs the same as an auto.

 

I know they dropped the manual because of lower take rate, but they also were only offering it if you got the V6 and it wasn't and option on the V8 for a few years, and since most people took the V8 then it would only work out that the take rate of the manual was lower. Just as many compact cars, they claim the take rate was higher for automatics but then they were only offering automatics in many of them. You can't buy what isn't offered.

The number one reason was to help comply with EPA emissions regulations.

If you look at the new Jeep Cherokee and Renegade, you can only get the manual if you get the lowest 4 cylinder engine, and that only comes with the lowest option package. So unless everyone that buys one of those wants a bare bones vehicle, then most will be sold with an automatic and the statistics will say the take rate for manuals on those vehicles is super low, but it is actually skewed low because people will consider others options more important even if they wanted a manual and opt for the automatic instead.

If Ford only offered the manual now in the XL version(or whatever the equivalent is now) with a non ecoboost V6, then only a few people would be taking the manual, but if you offered it in the Platinum edition as the only option(no auto)then the manual would become more popular because many people would learn to drive the manual just to get the creature comforts. Offer the automatic only in an XL with no air conditioning and almost nobody would have an automatic today.

 

I think I'll just stick to buying pre-owned trucks. When comes time to replace my current '94, I'll probably look for something even older that's still in good shape. The electronics are a PITA on these trucks. There's just too much that goes buggy when the truck sits for too long. I don't use it much. It's not my DD since it's just my hauling vehicle or for when we get snow that a normal car can't get through. Another thing why I don't like automatics is that if they sit for a long time, they leak. Maybe the new ones aren't like that.

 

I know when I bought my 2006 truck, I had to get the V6 engine, which also required 2-wheel drive and the standard cab. And even then many dealers simply were not stocking manuals. Some wouldn't even order one or locate one for me if I requested it. Because they were afraid that if I backed out, then they'd be stuck with a truck they couldn't sell. This is when I lived in northern Virginia, by the way. I still had to go to a dealer that was over an hour away from my house, out in farm country, that would even talk to me about a 5-speed F-150. They had just sold the only one they had, so they located mine and brought it in from out of state for me. I couldn't have been happier, it was everything I wanted; even the body and interior colors. When Ford discontinued the 4.2 motor after 2008, then the manual trans was gone.
In the last 10 years I have only known of about 6 or 7 other manuals in the '04-08 body style. That number includes two others found on FTE. You could get the XLT with the manual, but I don't think there were many of them made. Most 5-speed trucks of that era came in the more base XL model like mine.
Most people that bought those trucks new were looking for amenities and were not interested in something so plain. Even if they did want a manual with a V8 and 4wd, most were not going to give up the V8 4x4 just to get a 5-speed.