Auto or manual

[PDodson]

which do you prefer?

Auto or manual?

 

I choose Auto: because i am getting tired of shifting gears and sitting in traffic holding down the clutch pedal

[Shelby]

your age is showing

i vote'd auto two but for diff reasons , i'd rather rebuilt an auto every 4 yrs then replace a clutch/flywheel every 6 months

[SOTTY]

I like them both , but if i had to choose it be an automatic , once they get in thier "boost" stride they pull hard ! .

[IntercooledFlatty]

auto for obvious reasons

[Burton]

Ooooh, that's a tough one. I chose manual, becaus overall, I guess that's what I prefer most of the time. Especially in my "fun" cars. That being said, I like my daily driver type cars to be autos. So much easier for stop and go traffic when I'm in town.

[Killtodie]

Manual. I dont mind sitting in top and go traffic for 2 hours working the clutch.

 

I cant stand autos, I hate it how the car moves forward unless you have your foot on the brake, I hate how auto's shift, never redline, downshift slow, and a ton of other reasons.

 

autos are not fun to drive at all for me.

[JustPaus_88TSi]

Auto for everything beyond an actual circuit track car.

 

 

I cant stand autos, I hate it how the car moves forward unless you have your foot on the brake, I hate how auto's shift, never redline, downshift slow, and a ton of other reasons.

 

 

 

The heck kind of auto's are you driving?

 

Tiptronic+built internals+valve body mods=barking tires through 4th, holding any gear to redline, instant up and downshifting, launching with boost that makes most EVO/Subie owners wonder what happened.

[Shelby]

Manual. I dont mind sitting in top and go traffic for 2 hours working the clutch.

 

I cant stand autos, I hate it how the car moves forward unless you have your foot on the brake, I hate how auto's shift, never redline, downshift slow, and a ton of other reasons.

 

autos are not fun to drive at all for me.

 

guess you never notice'd that auto cars have no choices then park, neutral, and D

[JAinsworth]

Manual. I dont mind sitting in top and go traffic for 2 hours working the clutch.

 

I cant stand autos, I hate it how the car moves forward unless you have your foot on the brake, I hate how auto's shift, never redline, downshift slow, and a ton of other reasons.

 

autos are not fun to drive at all for me.

 

An auto will out-shift a manual. I don't know about the ones you've driven but mine has a gear selector lever that allows me to push it into N sitting at a redlight and when I want to redline, I use the forward gears one at a time and control when it shifts. You can also break-torque the auto and build boost sitting still...kinda hard to do with a manual tranny. So I vote auto.

Jimmy

[Killtodie]

I've driven like 4 auto cars. my dad's civic, my moms sentra, a crv and an ls

 

the sentra didnt have an rpm gauge so i had no idea what it was doing. it did however have wheelspin going into second

 

dad's civic never goes past 6.5k, redline is at 6.75

 

the crv too, doesnt touch redline, when you are at 60 and floor it if first revs up the engine, then it decided to downshift and upshifts before reaching redline.

 

the LS shifts all jerky, has awful starts and random downshifts.

 

every other car i've driven had been manual

 

 

aside the triptronic stuff, all regular 4 speed auto's are a joke.

Edited April 28, 2010 by Killtodie

[conquest707]

manual 100% for the stuff i like to do. my first quest was an auto. i was doing some spirited driving on some mountain roads and it unexpectedly (im sure you can get a feel for it if you drive a particular auto for long enough) downshifted right at an apex, i spun out with a friggin f650 comin my way. scared the bugeezus out me. ill hold my own gears thank you very much.

[DryBear]

I choose manual for my own cars. It insures that I'm the only one driving my car

 

I don't mind auto for the family hauler minivan, but every time I drive an auto my left foot is looking for a clutch pedal and I'm reaching down to shift

[dmyers151]

Manual for me. I just like having that extra control. Also, it keeps me focused more on the driving part and not other crap. While driving auto equipped cars my mind will sometimes wander.

 

My new truck has an auto though, first I've ever owned, it's not so bad.

[JustPaus_88TSi]

I've driven like 4 auto cars. my dad's civic, my moms sentra, a crv and an ls

 

the sentra didnt have an rpm gauge so i had no idea what it was doing. it did however have wheelspin going into second

 

dad's civic never goes past 6.5k, redline is at 6.75

 

the crv too, doesnt touch redline, when you are at 60 and floor it if first revs up the engine, then it decided to downshift and upshifts before reaching redline.

 

the LS shifts all jerky, has awful starts and random downshifts.

 

every other car i've driven had been manual

 

 

aside the triptronic stuff, all regular 4 speed auto's are a joke.

 

 

So, all 4spd auto's are a joke because of the four whole cars you've driven? LOL

 

Put it this way, I haven't driven an auto that you couldn't hang onto every gear until redline. This includes civics, accords, sentras, jettas, starquests, maximas, 300z's, Supra's, Grand Nationals, 240's, anything with a TH350/TH400/700R4, 727/904. They all do what you want, when you want it to. If it downshifts when you stab the gas, then you could've shifted down to that gear to begin with. Right? Yes.

 

I get the whole thing about people liking manuals, but be realistic about autos.

[Killtodie]

 

I don't mind auto for the family hauler minivan, but every time I drive an auto my left foot is looking for a clutch pedal and I'm reaching down to shift

 

 

every single test drive i've done with my dad when he bought his civic, first light or stop sign my left foot goes for the clutch and i end up slamming the brakes.

[Alsandr]

I choose manual for my own cars. It insures that I'm the only one driving my car

 

I don't mind auto for the family hauler minivan, but every time I drive an auto my left foot is looking for a clutch pedal and I'm reaching down to shift

I do the same thing...

 

Manual for me. I just like having that extra control. Also, it keeps me focused more on the driving part and not other crap. While driving auto equipped cars my mind will sometimes wander.

 

My new truck has an auto though, first I've ever owned, it's not so bad.

+1 for more control/more attention.

 

All the cars I've owned have been manuals. I've driven autos, but am not a big fan. I like the tiptronic at times, but most of my experience with it was in a Pacifica; not exactly a car you can do anything fun in...

[BrazilBoy]

I choose manual I like to keep my left employed....Also I am a mtn blaster curvy roads are my thing also it allows me to be more involved in the driving experience instead of being just a gas pedal operator...

[strang3majik]

I like autos for the fact they're faster, they often cause me to be tame, and nothing like barking second gear everytime it shifts

My truck shifts in the redline (factory hi po computer) at full throttle and will nearly break your neck at every gear, and thats in Drive. I can better control everything shifting it manually, but, its pretty much right on in Drive. But, when being a normal person with it, it'll shift at low RPMs and won't shift nearly as hard and is much better for my wallet.

 

My problem with the 5 speed is, I usually run the gears out a little bit. I just do it, I won't shift until 3500 rpms, nearly everytime. Its just some addiction I have. I do it with an auto to, but, with a stick, that temptation is just there...lol

So, for me...economy wise, and auto is better then a manual...lol

 

But, manuals are fun, give me something to do since driving can be boring, and, I feel like I have complete control of the car.

 

Even though with my truck, I can pretty much shift it with my right foot depending on where my foot is. I can make it shift up/down when I want it to just with my right foot.

[boostdquest89]

Definitaly "Manual" for me! Just more fun, in my opinion......

Chad-

[logikfive]

I'll sit in rush hour traffic stop and go all day long with a manual and not be bothered a bit!

[A51BOARDER]

I choose manual for my own cars. It insures that I'm the only one driving my car

 

I don't mind auto for the family hauler minivan, but every time I drive an auto my left foot is looking for a clutch pedal and I'm reaching down to shift

 

 

 

haha that always happens to me

[FijiPhil]

Manual all day long for me. Much more fun. I dont really care about being just a little bit faster, id rather have more fun while driving

[JAinsworth]

When I had both a manual and an auto I drove differently. The manual I ran hard, the auto I cruised in and rarely ran it hard. When I bought Shelby's MMax w/auto it was hard to not get into it and it responds very well. I'd be afraid of tearing up clutches with the power of the MPI on it. The tranny needs a rebuild now but I think I'll get more life out of the modified auto than I would the manual. Nevermind the launch with the auto and 12" wide tires is awesome.

Jimmy

[Starfighterpilot]

Personally, I feel that each trans type has it's use.

 

My Starion, 5-speed, I wouldn't have her any other way, altho 40% of her mileage is stop and go city driving and the rest is freeway driving.

 

In my '76 440 ci, 4 barrel, Dodge PU it depended what I was doing with her:

 

Towing a 3 1/2 TON 28 foot boat & trailer and pulling the boat out of the water at a launch ramp or towing the race car - hands down the Torqueflite 727 auto trans and a Dana 60 Sure Grip diff with 4.11 ring & pinion gearing with a temp controlled auxiliary tranny ATF cooler was the way to go.

 

In the desert or mountains off roading, the truck had a '74 MOPAR A-833 four speed with a granny first & OD 4th gear (I think that's the only year that MOPAR came out with that A-833 tranny gearing for the "light trucks") along with a Dana 60 Sure Grip diff with 4.56 ring & pinion gearing. Much better traction control.

 

For long distance hauling or just around town, I had the 727 auto tranny Dana 60 Sure Grip diff with a 3.26 gear ratio in the truck. Wife number 1 refused to drive it with a racing clutch in it, Her leg would tire out after 4 or 5 stop lights. So, FOR A PRICE FROM HER , out went the 4 speed and in went the Torqueflight. I didn't want to get "cut off."

 

My '66 Dodge Charger has had a heavily modified Torqueflite 727 auto trans and an A-833 4 speed in her at various times. Right now she has the OEM A-833 4 speed & the Sure Grip with a 3.26 gear ratio which was the OEM drive train when I bought her new. I like this drive train setup best for everyday cruisin' in her.

 

Our restored '70 Dodge 440, 6 pak, 4 speed, sure grip Challenger R/T SE came from the factory like that and I wasn't about to screw around with her. She was for Show; BUT SOMETIMES GGGGGOOOOOO!!!!

 

Those '60's & '70's MOPAR Direct Connection Racing clutches were HARD on the left leg in stop & go traffic - but at that time (early to mid '70's Southern CA traffic wasn't too bad - unless you went to Los Angeles and it took you 6 - 8 hours to get through LA on I-5 or I-405 cuz of stop & go traffic. BTW - My family lived in San Diego then.

 

Our restored '66 427 ci, 425 HP, close ratio 4 speed (that was & still is the trick set up), 4.11 posi, Sting Ray 'Vette coupe came from the factory like that and I wasn't about to screw around with her OEM drive train either. She was also for Show. Altho there were a few times...........

 

Overall I prefer the manual trans though. A lot more fun to drive and you are the master of your own destiny.

 

For What It's Worth.

 

KEN

Edited April 29, 2010 by Starfighterpilot

[JAinsworth]

Another point to ponder is that you can't get a 4wd truck with a manual tranny any longer. Why? It is more efficient and is less likely to break traction at shifts. If you have ever driven a good auto down the strip, you'd never go back to a 5 speed.

 

Around town, either one is okay for me.

 

In the curves, the 5 spd. offers more comfort of controlling gears if you aren't comfortable manually changing gears with the auto. If you are proficient with the manual control of the auto you'd appreciate and like the performance and ease of driving.

 

The auto is less likely to break traction at shifts also. It barks gears, doesn't break them loose like 1st and 2nd on the manuals....or 3rd and 4th for some.

 

If nothing else, the auto is geared higher and gets better gas mileage for us poor folks.

 

Jimmy