New Cars

[cheesegrater]

Okay, this is a stupid question, but is the gearbox on new cars electronically controlled or something? I test drove a few, and there is no resistance in the clutch, and no resistance in the shifter. Is it because the transmission is not broken in yet, or is it sending an electrical signal, and telling the transmission what to do rather than manually changing gears? The gas pedals are already electronic, so I thought the clutch, and the gearbox might be too. These wern't luxury cars either, Honda Civic, and Mazda 3. The people working at the dealerships are morons, and they don't even know.

[Craig.]

hydrolic clutches mate.
The first time my dad let me drive his toyota i almost put my foot through the floor not realising how soft the clutch was. I asked him why and thats what he came up with.

[Chris_F]

Nope.  Clutches are still hydraulic and shift linkages are still either solid or cable.  No changes there.  There are gear boxes with electonically controlled clutches and stuff but they don't have clutch pedals or shift knobs.  They're functionally (from a user's perspective) just like automatics.

[Mushroom_Farmer]

Tractor/Trailer rigs have had electronically shifted transmissions for a while, and they can also still be shifted manually through the gearshift lever. Hydraulic clutches come in 2 types: Hydraulic assisted or hydraulic throw-out bearing. Both use a master cylinder & slave cylinder. A mechanical linkage runs from the clutch pedal to the master cylinder in both types. In the hydraulic assist a linkage also connects the slave cylinder to the throw-out bearing.
The easy shifting question in cheesegrater's original post is most likely due to advancements in synchronizers, bearings, and lubricants.

[Chris_F]

The easy shifting question in cheesegrater's original post is most likely due to advancements in synchronizers, bearings, and lubricants.

It could also be context.  My old (1995) Honda Civic had the smoothest, easiest clutch ever.  My wife's Mazda3 is pretty close to that old car.  But my Subaru Forester has a monster of a clutch and I've driven some cars that'll take your left leg clean off.  So if the original poster has only driven heavy clutched cars then the transition to something like a Civic or Mazda3 would be very dramatic.  Not because the technology changed but because these are cars with well designed clutches that don't need to hold back large amounts of torque.