It would still be nice to get a nation wide group of Ford truck enthusiasts
to get together on this issue and tell Ford what we think. Its taking the
choice away from people that bothers me.

 

Allow me to make one off topic post on this subject.....

I can understand your quote above as a die-hard Lions fan. Old man Ford doesn't care what product he puts on the field as long as special ed people like myself buy tickets and jerseys every year.

Maybe thats more on topic than I thought. Ford doesn't care what YOU want in a truck as long as people keep buying super duties

 

yep. Lions fan here too..(20 yr Detroit resident) WHY do we keep going to the games??

Sam

 

I don't really think this is true, but admit that I don't have any facts. Would love to see the percentage of fleet buyers versus personal and small business buyers. I still think the later would be the higher volume. If this wasn't true I think we would see fewer luxury options offered, and more utilitarian features. I think Ford cares a great deal about what we want, and tries to offer a product with appeal to as broad a market as economically possible. But 1-2% items are not going to make the cut in any business.

 

I looked at an 11 on Friday.. very nice.. the salesman was quick to point out you can run your office from the truck.. I would guess not many of those would give a hoot about stick.. Like the construction guys building this 10 miles of road near me.. over a 100 pickups on site.. tools in the back, blueprints on the hood..

Sam

Sam

 

27 years in Michigan and now I live 14 hours away and still drive to games..... damn WCF! Oh and..... Suh, sign!!!!!

 

You report fuel mileage ratings to the EPA when you manufacture these vehicles. A large part of the fuel mileage improvements on the 2011 is, in fact the new trans (2 overdrive gears). The manual trans today wont allow that kind of mileage rating. Which would mean a trip to the EPA for permission to put the stick shift in. Other option, produce a new trans, costing millions, and no way to recover their investment. CAFE (corporate average fuel economy) standards would hurt you, the more manual trans vehicles produced, the lesser the CAFE average would be.

 

umm... seriously?

 

yeh.. wife is a Detroit native, we moan thru every game..

Sam

 

Good info - also thanks for staying on topic.

 

Out of curiosity can you get a 2011 Super duty 4x4 gas with a manual? If so I'd just got that route. With the diesel the mandatory auto, DPF, DEF, super complex cooling system and the troublesome (on previous models) oil and EGR coolers are just too many negatives.

 

Nope. It is not offered in any Superduty - 6.2L gas or 6.7L diesel.

 

To The Top

 

I have all ready sent ford an e-mail on the subject and they are saying what everyone else is. The R&D department and corporate office both say it is not a cost effictive move for them at this time. Even when you tell them you are going to buy something else they say they are sorry and hope that you will see the difference and they are right. The new auto is awesome! It feels great and has enough to do whatever you want. If you want to shift gears and pull oh i dont know 90 ft double wides down the road buy a peterbuilt.

 

and you can bet they have reviewed their decision on the manual tranny with all their large volume customers, so if there was a problem they would have changed course already.. (we do that with all our corp customers on upcoming product releases, under non-disclosure of course)..

after this customer review, they may have changed the manual control feature to do things differently than an original design proposal.. but all that is WAY old now.. maybe a year ago..

Sam