i was looking up a couple of cars for fun recently and i've come across a few that have sequential manual gear shifting... and i was wondering what that was like.. im not too much interested in the mechanics as much as i am in how you will drive it... i googled tons of interior pics on the M5 which has it and its still a bit confusing... if i dont want to have to worry about manually switching gears while driving and want to drive it like an automatic, is that possible with an smg? where the sequential shifting is a mode i would manually have to shift to if i want to drive like that? it seems a bit silly that some porsche's and especially a sports sedan like an M5 would have something like this ONLY....

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Can you ask your question a bit more clearly? I'm not really sure what you're asking.

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“I want what’s coming to me: the world, and everything in it.”
– Tony Montana, Scarface

“Punishment is not for the benefit of the sinner but for the salvation of his comrades.”
– George Patton

“I’ve never fucked over anyone who I thought was for me.”
– Scott Rudin, film producer

“Maybe next month all of this will be over, but this month I’m takin’ every moving target out.”
– Tupac Shakur

an smg can be driven like an automatic. the only difference is you have to put the car in neutral when you are parked and you gotta put the ebrake up or else the car will roll. just like a stickshift. the car will shift itself. its the same thing except the car is controlling the clutch. so it will roll back and everything on a hill until you hit the gas. you can also drive the car manually as in you use the paddle shift. its the same thing as a manual otherwise, only you dont shift through a h pattern shifter and have no control over the clutch

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basically outlaw answered it, but the main thing i was getting at was could i drive an smg like an automatic, where i dont have to worry about my actually having my hand on the gear shifter, switching gears manually... i looked at the interior pictures and the gear knob just looked looked weird and i couldnt see how i would be able to drive it like an automatic... but i guess i could.. cool.. now i just need 150K to drop on my lap...

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^ I believe you can, it still has fully automatic modes. Out of curiosity, are you talking about BMW's SMG transmissions specifically (since some people generalize all sequential manual transmissions as "SMGs," much like how a lot of people call all dual-clutch transmissions "DSGs") or just the general type of transmission?

Anyway, it's been a while since I've driven one (a 2004 M3 with the SMG-II transmission in February 2007), but they're good. With all of the good transmissions that have come out in the past decade and all of them continuously one-upping each other, it's hard to go wrong, frankly. Even some of the fully automatic slushbox transmissions are actually decent in performance variants of cars these days.

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“I want what’s coming to me: the world, and everything in it.”
– Tony Montana, Scarface

“Punishment is not for the benefit of the sinner but for the salvation of his comrades.”
– George Patton

“I’ve never fucked over anyone who I thought was for me.”
– Scott Rudin, film producer

“Maybe next month all of this will be over, but this month I’m takin’ every moving target out.”
– Tupac Shakur

You can drive em in automatic but the changes aren't as smooth as you would find in a regular automatic. And when you drive it in "manual" you don't touch the gear shifter you use the paddles so it looking weird doesn't really have anything to do with it.

I think manuals are slowly getting put out so to say. Look at the GT-R. Soon it will probably just be a nostalgia thing. Most men do look at another man funny if they can't drive stick but still, shit is changing, technology is taking over. With automatics and SMG type transmissions being able to recreate or outperform what a manual transmission can do it was just a matter of time.

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My Country Is The World And My Religion Is To Do Good

^ Maybe in higher-end models, but manual will still be the choice for the serious enthusiast crowd (and they will never die out, though some will always convert) for cars that cost right around $100k and below. Above, they'll get more and more paddle-shifting transmissions, but in the lower-priced end of the spectrum, it'll be good old-fashioned stick shift due to their less complex nature and lower production cost. Even most Porsches will be manual for a while.

__________________
“I want what’s coming to me: the world, and everything in it.”
– Tony Montana, Scarface

“Punishment is not for the benefit of the sinner but for the salvation of his comrades.”
– George Patton

“I’ve never fucked over anyone who I thought was for me.”
– Scott Rudin, film producer

“Maybe next month all of this will be over, but this month I’m takin’ every moving target out.”
– Tupac Shakur

deez, i was talking about the beemers, more specifically the m5...

also, i can drive stick, i just see at as too much of a hassle.. i could make an argument, though, for stick making driving more fun and also less fun.... i just would rather stick to auto.. paddle shifters are fine too, i guess.. if the switching isnt as smooth as an auto, then.... i guess i'd have to test drive it to see what itw as like

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^ "Too much of a hassle"? Honestly, driving stick doesn't require too much thought, I don't see how anyone who really knows how to drive stick views it as a hassle, unless you're doing other stuff that you're not supposed to be doing while driving (shaving, talking on the phone, etc.).

__________________
“I want what’s coming to me: the world, and everything in it.”
– Tony Montana, Scarface

“Punishment is not for the benefit of the sinner but for the salvation of his comrades.”
– George Patton

“I’ve never fucked over anyone who I thought was for me.”
– Scott Rudin, film producer

“Maybe next month all of this will be over, but this month I’m takin’ every moving target out.”
– Tupac Shakur

thinking.. i think alot while i drive... i dont want to be bothered to shift everytime i slow down at a stop light...

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