With increasing CAFE requirements vehicle manufacturers are forced to meet these corporate fuel economy standards, but at what costs? Technology has afforded automatic transmissions to be more efficient than their manual counterparts and that in concert with the declining volumes of cars purchased with the option ticked for a manual transmission has led to the demise of the true sporting nature that Audi (as well as many other European mfgs) has cultured and grown over the past decades while building their brands in America.

Surely there is still a population of driving enthusiasts that prefer changing gears themselves and although those numbers may be waning, there must be consideration from the manufacturer to maintain those brand loyalists. Clearly there is an expense at which the manufacturer must evaluate keeping certain options over others; and with the "standardization" of powerplants across models and even marques (the 2.0T, 3.0T and 4.0T) these costs can be minimized--but the option should be REVIVED. I know manufacturers have to do R&D on all different powertrain setups, but I don't believe that extends across model lines.

For example, if the new S4/S5 get a new turbocharged engine design then only one manual would need to be fitted across both lines to handle the legal requirements. Please consider the enthusiasts that preach your "NEVER FOLLOW" mantra and LEAD by reviving a manual transmission option, at least on your S (and possibly RS) models going forward!

If you are able to support my cause, please send any donations (via PayPal to manualoption@gmail.com. Thank you.