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Automatic supremacy
Once again, Autocar shows the most extraordinary and ridiculous bias involving the antiquated views regarding the outdated, outmoded manual gearbox. This is something that should have been ruled extinct decades ago, probably around the same time as drum brakes. It would be amusing if it wasn’t so ludicrous.
John Mahoney blathers on about the Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing (First drives, 30 March), saying: “It claws back an advantage with its 205mph-plus top speed and the fact that it offers something that none of its European rivals can: a good old-fashioned manual gearbox. The GM-Ford 10-speed automatic is also available, of course, but you could never be friends with anyone daft enough to choose the two-pedal version over the sublime six-speeder.”
What arrogance. Daft? Really? Yet he adds later, about the smaller CT4-V Blackwing: “Throw in precise steering, a quick-witted 10-speed automatic gearbox and mighty and fade-free brakes and it delivers levels of confidence and engagement that have it rocket to the top of the class.”