Manual or Automatic

[nemo]

for a long time i've favored auto over manual. Today i'm thinking what a big mistake it was to get my car in auto.

when i was 13 my dad taught me manual and i've never driven since then, well a few weeks ago, i was driving a CR-V, Corrolla, Prado, and an E200 all manual. Aside from the E200 and the Prado, i've driven the CR-V and corrolla here a lot, but driving them in manual was amazing. i spent an entire week driving manual in Ethiopia and i've decided from now on, all my future cars will be manual.

for the poll choice... --> Stick shift in nearly all cases with rare exceptions

edit:

i'm a bit late to this thread, but i've noticed a few people discussing american car engines. I agree, they are ****. I figured that when the new Fusion came out that it's engine would be something close to what Toyota and Nissan have with equivalent gas mileage. far from it. My 2.5L 4cylinder easily beats my cousins 99 3L V6 intrepid and today, my uncles Chrysler 300, i can't beat him, but i'm def at his bumper.

a bit OT... but why were you in Ethiopia?

[kombolcha]

a bit OT... but why were you in Ethiopia?

That's where i'm from and i love being there.

[uberjon]

Manual mate + it feels cooler! I've never driven an Automatic. If I ever drove an Automatic, I'd probably try to shift gears...... & rip off the gear lever.......... or something. Anyway.

[Nose Nuggets]

i will always go manual if i have a choice. i have so much more controll of the car, brakes last longer, i can get power whenever i need it. plus, after a few months driving in traffic isent even that bad.

/manic sux

[Tech Star]

Automatic for daily driving, stick for weekends or sports cars

Thats the way I would like it, but I don't have a car. :p

[DreadBoat89]

i would do manual when i learn how to lol

[Joel]

Manual mate + it feels cooler! I've never driven an Automatic. If I ever drove an Automatic, I'd probably try to shift gears...... & rip off the gear lever.......... or something. Anyway.

Every so often I have to drive my wife's (automatic) car. and I'm always trying to depress the clutch to start it.:pp

[M1h4iL]

Manual mate + it feels cooler! I've never driven an Automatic. If I ever drove an Automatic, I'd probably try to shift gears...... & rip off the gear lever.......... or something. Anyway.

Its not tat bad, you just start feeling guilty because of how easy it is as you don't have to use a whole side of your body.

[samg]

My 4 cylinder makes over 300HP and 318+ tq. ;)

Thanks for adding to my point. Although you have a blower the size of a small child attached. :laugh:

[Master Ryu]

I've driven automatics all my life and for the most part, I treat cars like appliances. I use it strictly for function (school, work, stores). I don't drive fast unless I have to (merging on freeways, changing lanes to quickly exit highways). It seems that this mentality may continue with me; I'm not much of a car enthusiast, but then I've never owned any car that I should be enthusiastic about. This may change, however, as I'm in the market of a brand new car. So I would say automatic for now, but come time it may change.

A little off topic. But how long does it take one to learn manual? I'm under 25 and still don't know how to drive one. I tried to learn a couple of years back, but my friend decided that I was killing his clutch too much and stopped trying to teach me. heh.

[samg]

I've driven automatics all my life and for the most part, I treat cars like appliances. I use it strictly for function (school, work, stores). I don't drive fast unless I have to (merging on freeways, changing lanes to quickly exit highways). It seems that this mentality may continue with me; I'm not much of a car enthusiast, but then I've never owned any car that I should be enthusiastic about. This may change, however, as I'm in the market of a brand new car. So I would say automatic for now, but come time it may change.

A little off topic. But how long does it take one to learn manual? I'm under 25 and still don't know how to drive one. I tried to learn a couple of years back, but my friend decided that I was killing his clutch too much and stopped trying to teach me. heh.

I was driving about in a manual within a hour. But i did know how it worked etc before getting into the car. So it was just a case of putting it into practice. It'd take alot to kill a standard cars clutch!

[chconline Veteran]

Well, it took me around 3 hours to hit the regular roads. :)

Started off in a parking lot. I remember stalling twice at a stop sign and darn the people behind got pretty pee'd off. Then I drove around the neighborhood, then practiced some slopes (Yes, including my driveway). After a while I got used to it and hit the city roads and highways. The hardest part is starting off, otherwise it call comes naturally.

[Mouldy Punk]

--snip-- It'd take alot to kill a standard cars clutch!

Well, not necessarily, keep riding the clutch and it'll wear out pretty quickly :p

A little off topic. But how long does it take one to learn manual? I'm under 25 and still don't know how to drive one. I tried to learn a couple of years back, but my friend decided that I was killing his clutch too much and stopped trying to teach me. heh

Considering most people here in the UK drive manual, and most of us learn at the age of 17 without any previous driving know-how...it's really not difficult to grasp the basics and get from A to B without stalling. Learning which gears are best for which situations, when's the best time to change up for fuel efficiency or for performance, changing up or down multiple gears at a time (eg, 4th to 2nd, or even 2nd to 4th [*]) will obviously take time and will only come with practise. But it's easy enough. Sooner or later it'll become 2nd nature.

*bit pointless as you'd need to drive in high revs in 2nd to be able to get into 4th without going to slowly for the gear. But it's a good shortcut if you're feeling lazy x)

[mikebiacsi]

Manual FTW

[ZeusII]

Manual forever.

It's the only way to really enjoy roads like this:

On city and traffic congestion it's also not that bad, actually it's less boring xD

[pto]

I drive a v6 Toyota Tacoma with manual and I love it, it's the best of the manual trucks. But at times, especially in traffic and roadtrips I definitely prefer my mom's LS400, 7 speed I think.

Situational for sure though, it gets on my nerves only at times like when i have it worked on and the jackass leaves it in first, i don't know how that's an established standard.. why wouldn't you park it in neutral.. someone explain to me please.

[ZeusII]

Situational for sure though, it gets on my nerves only at times like when i have it worked on and the jackass leaves it in first, i don't know how that's an established standard.. why wouldn't you park it in neutral.. someone explain to me please.

well, actually park in first (or in reverse depending on which way you're facing) is recommended when parking on a hill.

anyway, there's people who left first always in when parking (my mom does xD)

[chconline Veteran]

Because the gear locks your car in place, just in case the handbrake fails somehow. Double protection (Y)

[qdave]

i w ish i would know how to drive a car with manual transmition. for now i am stuck with auto :(

[sn00pie]

Auto for me, I'd buy manual if I had a sports car though. :)

Suv's FTW :D

[halcyoncmdr]

Manual!!! FTW!!!

With an automatic you just don't have the control, and you don't really feel the vehicle. Not to mention they are worse on gas mileage, and more expensive to buy usually...

Only exception might be those automatics where you can switch it into a sem-manual, telling it when to shift, just because those are coolies. B)

[Bawx]

I drive a v6 Toyota Tacoma with manual and I love it, it's the best of the manual trucks. But at times, especially in traffic and roadtrips I definitely prefer my mom's LS400, 7 speed I think.

Situational for sure though, it gets on my nerves only at times like when i have it worked on and the jackass leaves it in first, i don't know how that's an established standard.. why wouldn't you park it in neutral.. someone explain to me please.

My mom taught you can either leave it in 1st or nuetral + E-brake. I put it in nuetral and pull the e-brake. What's so bad about leaving it in first?

[halcyoncmdr]

My mom taught you can either leave it in 1st or nuetral + E-brake. I put it in nuetral and pull the e-brake. What's so bad about leaving it in first?

If the car is off, it does not matter what gear the car is in, the gears aren't doing anything anyways... For example, on a hill I lleave my car in gear and pull the e-brake. If for some reason the brake fails, the gear is there to prevent it from rolling away. It takes just as much energy for you to put it into gear when you turn it off, or leave it in gear, that it does to throw it into neutral.

[BlueFlame]

Stick shift always :)

[peacemf]

auto

manual is just cheaper! :p

As for more control, rubbish! traction control etc can do most of the work for you!

there is little that you can do in a manual that you cant do in an auto!

messing around with an x5! :)