Mr. Gibson's (elfstones) blog

The manual transmission is terminal and will be dead in a matter of a few short years. This is an easy argument to make. First, car companies and customers have always valued manuals in performance cars. Now Chevy and Ford are now abandoning the manual even on their fastest most powerful cars. The 8th generation mid engine Chevy Corvette will be 10 speed dual clutch automatic transmission. The Ford's GT500 power house Mustang will only come in a 10 speed dual clutch automatic transmission. Chevy and Ford claim that no human with a manual transmission can match a dual clutch automatic transmission, and they are correct. Secondly, high performance automatic 10 speed transmissions is not the only reason manuals are dying. The general population no longer wants them. In 1992, 25% of cars sold were manual. In 2012, 6.8% of cars sold were manuals. And in 2018, 3.5% of cars sold were manuals
[Source Donut Media]
Some sources say lower for 2018. Edmunds says manual transmissions …

Every year I do a half season report, but this year is different. Different Stats: Best Cubs stolen base leaders (>=3 SB) Name S% SB CS Heyward 83% 5 1 Bote 80% 4 1 Rizzo 60% 3 2 Baez 50% 5 5 NL Central best stolen base leaders Name Team SB CS Yelich MIL 19 2 Wong STL 14 0 Marte PIT 13 2 Puig CIN 13 3 Cain MIL 10 4 Ozuna STL 8 1 Senzel CIN 8 3 That is a huge gap between the Cubs and other NLC teams. Cubs Most Hits Name AB H XBH AVG Baez 356 103 48 .289 Bryant 317 94 46 .297 Rizzo 316 86 38 .272 Heyward 289 77 24 .266 Contreras 259 74 33 .286 Error Leaders: Baez 10 Bote 10 Contreras 10 Bryant 9 Schwarber 5 Over all these Cubs are very weak in comparison to the leaders on other teams.

Most ridiculous issue in my mind is $10,000 option for stripes on the 2020 Ford Mustang GT500. There is NO OTHER manufacture that charges this price. Not even the exotic 500k cars manufactures...This is Ford saying we don't want to put factory stripes on this car. Have it done yourself for a faction of the price, but if you really want us to do it, hand over another 10k!

Most most overblown non-issue with this vehicle is the 10-speed duel clutch automatic transmission. My take on this is Ford promised their fastest production car ever. You can not achieve this with a manual transmission. No human can outperform this transmission. Yes, people like the control that you feel with a manual, but once again, Ford promised the *fastest* production ford car in their history. They have promised certain numbers that will not be achievable with the manual.

Ford is still getting beat at the line with all-wheel performance sports cars with less HP. I feel Ford still is missing this ma…

At nearly half way through the season (morning of 6/26/2019), here are your National League sluggers sorted by home run rankings:
RK Player Team Pos G AB R H 2B 3B HR 1 Yelich, C MIL RF 71 266 63 91 16 2 29 2 Alonso, P NYM 1B 79 287 52 80 17 2 27 3 Bellinger, C LAD RF 77 275 62 97 17 2 25 4 Renfroe, H SD LF 72 233 35 58 12 1 23 5 Moustakas, M MIL 2B 71 271 49 76 16 0 22 6 Freeman, F ATL 1B 79 312 59 97 21 2 21 7 Bell, J PIT 1B 76 293 57 91 28 3 20 7 Marte, K ARI 2B 76 311 53 97 17 4 20 7 Ozuna, M STL LF 75 285 52 73 13 0 20 7 Pederson, J LAD LF 71 220 45 51 4 3 20 7 Reyes, F SD RF 75 238 31 58 7 0 20 12 Acuna Jr., R ATL LF 79 318 55 92 10 1 19 12 Arenado, N COL 3B 77 298 57 97 17 2 19 12 Baez, J CHC SS 77 310 52 89 19 3 19…

In case you haven't heard, just released on Twitter, the Shelby GT500 Mustang will have 760 horse power! The vehicle will sport a 5.2L super charged V8 and will produce a maximum of 760 horsepower and 625 lb-ft of torque. Ford says this is its fastest-ever street-legal Mustang.


Now the world waits for the price. Source: Ford - pictured [Engine for the 2020 Mustang Shelby GT500.]

2019 Car Shows/Meets
Event: Mustang Club of America "Stampede to the Heartland"
When: Jul 18 2019 / 8 AM
When: Jul 21 2019 / 5 PM
Type: Public Event
Hosted by: Heartland Motorsports Park and Mustang Club of America
Where: Heartland Motorsports Park
   7530 SW Topeka Blvd, Topeka, Kansas 66619

Event: Antique Auto Exhibit
When: Aug 4 2019 / 9 am- 3pm
Type: Public Event
Where: David Davis Mansion

About: Beautiful, historic cars in a beautiful, historic setting – that’s the promise of 22nd Annual Antique Car Exhibition. More than 75 cars from the 1900s through the 1980s will be displayed on the mansion grounds. This year, we will also be featuring the 33rd Regimental Band in a special Civil War era concert on the lawn. There will also be picnic foods and beverages for sale and free, self-guided tours of the mansion will be offered!

Event: Cruise-In
When: August 11 / 4 pm- 9 pm
Where: Uptown Normal

About: A full-scale cruise-in sponsored by the Car Community Automobile Club in …