V8 quattro's, automatics and 5-speeds

[four.rings@mcione.com]

Somebody wrote a while ago:

Can I take that as confirmation that the 4.2 was indeed sold in
Europe
with the 5 Spd?
(I know that virtually that the auto-to-stick ratio very
different there than it is here in the U.S. but there could
always be exceptions...)

to which Phil replied:

We don't like slushboxes here.  It starts in the driving school:
"Do
you want to take a manual test, or an automatic test?"

(The latter clause spoken with a slight sneer.)

In the UK, if you take your practical driving test in a slushbox
you
are not allowed by law to drive a manual shift without taking
another
practical test.  Thus, _ALL_ people even remotely capable of
grasping
the concept of a clutch do the manual test.  After this, of
course,
you drive a manual just to demonstrate to the world that you're
not one
of the 0.3% who can't manage the co-ordination required for a
manual
shift ...
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

It has been a pleasure to read this, Phil. 
I wanted to chime in but then figured that Phil would definitely
respond.
BTW, even here in the US people en masse are raising off their
lazy butts and are stepping into manual transmissions.
When I came here 9 years ago the statistics sed that only 10% of
the car park was manual. For Europe it was 90%.
Today I believe it is 20% here in the States. In CA (the Bay
area) it's even more, perhaps 50% at least to my untrained eye
(the highest level of education per capita in the nation - what
else could they be driving, dumb automatics?!).

Yesterday I leafed through one of the mainstream car rags @
Barnes & Noble and stumbled upon a Lincoln advert: "Jump in with
both feet" with a pic of three(!) pedals in a soon-to-be-releases
high performance sedan. A Lincoln! Nothing is sacred.... :-)

Here in the States Audi sells 60% with a manual tranny in the A4
1.8T range. Bimmer and SAAB are doing the same. Even Volvo sends
us manuals with turbo now.
Only Benz and Jag stubbornly refuse to sell stick-shifts here. I
wonder for how much longer. Methinks, not all that much.

************************************************************
Igor Kessel
'89 200TQ -- 18psi (TAP)
'98 A4TQ -- mostly stock
Philadelphia, PA
USA
http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Garage/8949/homepage.html
************************************************************