The modern usage of the automotive term manumatic denotes an

automatic transmission An automatic transmission (sometimes abbreviated to auto or AT) is a multi-speed transmission used in internal combustion engine-based motor vehicles that does not require any input from the driver to change forward gears under normal driving co ...

that allows the driver to select a specific gear, typically using paddle-shifters,

steering wheel A steering wheel (also called a driving wheel (UK), a hand wheel, or simply wheel) is a type of steering control in vehicles. Steering wheels are used in most modern land vehicles, including all mass-production automobiles, buses, light and ...

-mounted

push-button A push-button (also spelled pushbutton) or simply button is a simple switch mechanism to control some aspect of a machine or a process. Buttons are typically made out of hard material, usually plastic or metal. The surface is usually flat or sh ...

s, or "+" and "-" controls on the gear selector. In the 1950s, the ''

Automotive Products Automotive Products, commonly abbreviated to AP, was an automotive industry components company set up in 1920 by Edward Boughton, Willie Emmott and Denis Brock, to import and sell American-made components to service the fleet of ex-military tru ...

'' company in the United Kingdom produced an automated clutch system for automobiles called the ''Manumatic''. This system was installed in cars with a manual transmission, allowing them to be driven without needing to use a

clutch pedal Car controls are the components in automobiles and other powered road vehicles, such as trucks and buses, used for driving and parking. While controls like steering wheels and pedals have existed since the invention of cars, other controls have ...

Automatic transmissions

Since the popularization of the

hydraulic automatic transmission An automatic transmission (sometimes abbreviated to auto or AT) is a multi-speed transmission used in internal combustion engine-based motor vehicles that does not require any input from the driver to change forward gears under normal driving co ...

in the 1940s, many automatic transmissions have allowed indirect control of the gear selection, usually in the form of locking out higher gears. This was provided to allow engine braking on downhills or prevent the use of

overdrive Overdrive may refer to: Organizations * OverDrive, Inc., a digital distributor of entertainment media ** OverDrive Media Console, a media player developed by OverDrive, Inc. * Overdrive PC, a subsidiary of Velocity Micro Technology * Overdrive ...

gears when towing and was typically achieved using positions such as "3", "2", and "1" on the gear selector. An automatic transmission with a ''manumatic'' function provides a greater level of control by allowing the driver to request an upshift or downshift at a specific time. This is usually achieved using "+" and "-" positions on the gear selector or with paddle-shifters mounted beside the steering wheel. Manufacturers use a variety of tradenames for the manumatic function, as listed below. The driver often does not have full control of the gear selection, as most manumatic modes will deny a gear change request that would result in the engine stalling (from too few

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensi ...

) or over-revving. Some transmissions will hold the requested gear indefinitely, while others will return to automatic gear selection after a period of time.

Tradenames

Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. () is an Italian luxury car manufacturer and a subsidiary of Stellantis. The company was founded on 24 June 1910, in Milan, Italy. "Alfa" is an acronym of its founding name, "Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili." "A ...

: Sportronic, Q-System, Q-Tronic *

Alpina Alpina Burkard Bovensiepen GmbH & Co. KG is an automobile manufacturing company based in Buchloe, in the Ostallgäu district of Bavaria, Germany that develops and sells high-performance versions of BMW cars. Alpina works closely with BMW an ...

: Switchtronic *

Aston Martin Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings PLC is an English manufacturer of luxury sports cars and grand tourers. Its predecessor was founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford. Steered from 1947 by David Brown, it became associated wit ...

: Touchtronic * BMW: Steptronic * Chevrolet / Saturn: TAPshift *

Chrysler Stellantis North America (officially FCA US and formerly Chrysler ()) is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of the multinational automotiv ...

/ Dodge / Jeep / Ram:

AutoStick The name Autostick has been used for a Volkswagen semi-automatic transmission, which is a vacuum-operated automatic clutch system, coupled with a conventional 3-speed manual transmission. The "AutoStick" system designed by Chrysler allows for man ...

* Ford (Australia): Sequential Sports Shift * Ford (USA): SelectShift *

Holden Holden, formerly known as General Motors-Holden, was an Australian subsidiary company of General Motors. It was an Australian automobile manufacturer, importer, and exporter which sold cars under its own marque in Australia. In its last three ...

: Active Select * Honda /

Acura Acura is the luxury and performance division of Japanese automaker Honda, based primarily in North America. The brand was launched in the United States and Canada on March 27, 1986, marketing luxury and performance automobiles. It was introduced ...

: S-matic, MultiMatic, SportShift *

Hyundai Hyundai is a South Korean industrial conglomerate (" chaebol"), which was restructured into the following groups: * Hyundai Group, parts of the former conglomerate which have not been divested ** Hyundai Mobis, Korean car parts company ** Hyundai A ...

Shiftronic Shiftronic is Hyundai Motor Company's version of the manumatic automatic transmission. A ''Shiftronic'' transmission can operate just like a conventional automatic transmission, but it also allows the driver to override the computer's ''automatic'' ...

, HIVEC H-Matic * Infiniti: Manual Shift Mode * Jaguar: Bosch Mechatronic *

Kia Kia Corporation, commonly known as Kia (, ; formerly known as Kyungsung Precision Industry and Kia Motors Corporation), is a South Korean multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. It is South Korea's second la ...

: Sportmatic *

Lancia Lancia () is an Italian car manufacturer and a subsidiary of FCA Italy S.p.A., which is currently a Stellantis division. The present legal entity of Lancia was formed in January 2007 when its corporate parent reorganised its businesses, but it ...

: Comfortronic * Land Rover: CommandShift * Lexus: E-Shift * Lincoln: SelectShift *

Mazda , commonly referred to as simply Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Fuchū, Hiroshima, Japan. In 2015, Mazda produced 1.5 million vehicles for global sales, the majority of which (nearly one mi ...

: ActiveMatic, SportMatic (North America) * Mercedes-Benz: TouchShift, G-Tronic *

MG-Rover MG Rover Group was the last domestically owned mass-production car manufacturer in the British motor industry. The company was formed when BMW sold the car-making and engine manufacturing assets of the original Rover Group to the Phoenix Conso ...

: Steptronic * Mitsubishi: INVECS, INVECS-II, Sportronic, Tiptronic * Nissan: Xtronic (also used in ''Xtronic CVT''), DualMatic M-ATx *

Opel Opel Automobile GmbH (), usually shortened to Opel, is a German automobile manufacturer which has been a subsidiary of Stellantis since 16 January 2021. It was owned by the American automaker General Motors from 1929 until 2017 and the PSA Grou ...

/ Vauxhall: ActiveSelect, Tiptronic *

Peugeot Peugeot (, , ) is a French brand of automobiles owned by Stellantis. The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was founded in 1810, with a steel foundry that soon started making hand tools and kitchen equipment, and then ...

: Tiptronic *

Pontiac Pontiac may refer to: *Pontiac (automobile), a car brand *Pontiac (Ottawa leader) ( – 1769), a Native American war chief Places and jurisdictions Canada *Pontiac, Quebec, a municipality ** Apostolic Vicariate of Pontiac, now the Roman Catholic D ...

: TACshift (''Touch Activated Control''), TAPshift (''Touch Activated Power''), Driver Shift Control (''DSC'') * Proton: PROTRONIC *

Subaru ( or ; ) is the automobile manufacturing division of Japanese transportation conglomerate Subaru Corporation (formerly known as Fuji Heavy Industries), the twenty-first largest automaker by production worldwide in 2017. Subaru cars are k ...

: Sportshift * Toyota: ECT * Volkswagen /

Audi Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. As a subsidiary of its parent company, the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide. The o ...

/ SEAT / Škoda / Porsche: Tiptronic *

Volvo Cars Volvo Cars ( sv, Volvo personvagnar, styled VOLVO in the company's logo) is a Sweden, Swedish multinational manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Torslanda, Gothenburg. The company manufactures SUVs, station wagons, and sedans. The co ...

Geartronic Geartronic is Volvo Cars' name for its manumatic automatic transmission, similar to Porsche's ''Tiptronic''. It is available in 4-, 5-, 6-, and 8-speed models, and is controlled by a microprocessor. The microprocessor automatically shifts to the n ...

1950s automated clutch system

The Automotive Products company in the United Kingdom produced an automated clutch system for automobiles in the 1950s called the ''Manumatic''. This system is largely unrelated to later use of the term relating to automatic transmissions. The ''Manumatic'' was installed in cars with a manual transmission, allowing them to be driven without needing to use a clutch pedal. According to the modern use of the term it would be classified as an

automated manual transmission The automated manual transmission (AMT) is a type of transmission (mechanics), transmission for motor vehicles. It is essentially a conventional manual transmission but uses automatic actuation to operate the clutch and/or shift between Gear tra ...

and not as a manumatic transmission.

References

{{Powertrain Automotive transmission technologies

Automatic transmissions

Tradenames

1950s automated clutch system

See also

References