Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Morgan Three Wheeler & Super 3 The unthinkable....

The concept of mating an automatic gearbox to a motorcycle engine is not new and a few bike manufacturers have already produced models with that setup in the past. The M3W is already powered by a 2-litre V-Twin engine not too different to that of a stock Harley-Davidson.

How about the idea of fitting a different torque converter and flywheel to that fitted in the MX5? That could smooth over the "lumpiness" of that engine?

Paddle shift is really no different from the traditional floor shift manual: Instead of reaching down to the gear lever, let your fingers do it instead without lifting your hands from the steering wheel.

The previous generation of automated manual boxes have this dreadful lag between gear changes and is especially noticeable when changing up from 1st to 2nd (though it gets better changing in the higher gears). Jeremy Clarkson found this when he was testing the Aston DB9 on Top Gear.

But the current generation of these boxes is a delight to use - the 6-speed ZF box in the Max is such a variation; and going up and down the box is practically seamless even when I'm changing gears in sequential (manual) mode.. In a nutshell, I found it physically impossible to change gears as fast as the ZF box. (Any Aero owner with this box fitted to his car can vouch for that.)

As appealing as a London taxi..

Of course you are entitled to your own views. But as new Ferrari's and Lambo's are only available with paddle shift, are these (in your own words) as appealing as a London taxi? I think not...

Argument still stands, 'cos you can't take all your luggage in a Lambo, so ya boo sucks..

I must be a mega-luddite, because if I was desperate, I still wouldn't want paddles, an auto with a stick in the usual place would suffice. Then I could pretend it was manual.

Are but it is congestion charge free..£10 per day saving for the next 50 years or so alowing for inflation..still wont get you a Ferrari

Or an M3W for the same reason. At least the Lambo has a luggage space - albeit a very small one!

That would be an acceptable alternative, I suppose, to having paddles (or a manual box for that matter!). You can use the auto box as a manual on the motorway or a fast "A" road and full auto in the city....

So that bring us back full circle to my first entry in this thread: choice of gearboxes available for the M3W..

That's right; but it makes the M3W a little more user-friendly to drive in today's traffic condition...

30+ years ago, I would have agreed with you whole-heartedly since the norm for a sports - or any - car is a manual box. It left the (then) standard auto box for dust and most learners in the UK would have preferred it anyway since they have taken their driving tests in a car with a manual gear change!

But times has moved on and so has road- and driving conditions in the UK and elsewhere.

Automotive technology has also come on in leaps and bounds since then; and now, with auto boxes offering 5, 6 or more gears, that has surpassed the manual transmission which had reigned supreme for many years. Add to that, the automated manual (paddle shift) transmission has already entered its 4th generation, pushing the traditional manual box further down the line!

But the paddle shift is not confined solely to high-performance sports cars; and certainly, has already started to be fitted to 4x4's like the Mitsubishi Pajero/Shogun. So where does that leave the manual box?

Speaking for myself, I've moved ahead with the times and with the technological advances on offer. The manual gearbox is probably best left to the die-hards who won't settle for anything else!