Automatic or Manual, what do you drive?

[Vitamin J]

I drive a Honduh stick-in-a-bag-of-sugar manual. But I've fallen for the auto in my truck. It's perfect for the snow.

[TomCat]

My current car is an automatic. But I've personally owned three manual cars and plan on getting a stick in my next purchase. Makes the drive more fun.

[Hidden_Hunter]

I have a 5-speed manual. Proper manuals are a bit of dying breed here in the states. Damn near everyone I know drives auto - and I guess I can't blame them in Philadelphia traffic. Stop and go gets a bit laborious. I remember seeing a statistic that Europe has predominantly manual cars while Japan and America are predominantly and increasingly automatics.
what you don't think they have traffic in Europe?

[jayjaya29]

Slushbox for me. I hope to own a true manual car at least once in my life.

[llpc60]

manual because I dont know how to drive auto

and miatas have the best gearbox EVER

[top_gear_fan]

you cant get a proper manual in a q7. it is also a 6 speed tiptronic box so it has flappy paddles so its kinda half ad half

[Ford Prefect]

well I drive a manual, couldn´t really imagine having an automatic, especially not in a MINI... but automatics are becoming much more common in germany, mainly since auto-gearbox technology has progressed quite a lot, and some really aren´t that bad... we do actually also have automatic-licenses, but I´ve never met or heard of anyone that has it... pretty much everyone around here knows how to drive manual, cause everyone did their driving exam with a manual box....

My moms 330 has an automatic, which is perfectly fine for her, since she doesn´t drive fast, and just wants her car to be comfortable. But the box actually works really well on the autobahn, put your foot down and it won´t take you much longer to reach 200 than it would with a manual... works on the country road as well, doesn´t change gears in corners, and once you´ve gotten used to it you usually end up being in the right gear when the corner is over... the only real downside is that you miss out on the fun of changing gears, because the pseudo-tiptronic really doesnt work at all...

where I really like autos is on diesel cars, because theres no point in taking them all the way to the rev limiter anyway if you want to go fast... in a powerful diesel like my dads 330d I dont enjoy changing gears at all, and with the automatic you don´t even worry about what the engine is doing... you press one pedal to go faster, the other one to go slower, and concentrate on keeping the car on the road...

[mmap]

Originally Posted by Vitamin J

...But I've fallen for the auto in my truck. It's perfect for the snow.

The one place where an automatic has a CLEAR disadvantage IS the snow. You have so much less controll over the traction than what you do with a manual...

[Vambeer]

6 (hurray!!!) speed manual gearbox...! I trully hate autos though i admit they are better in some conditions (aka snow and ice).

[TechZ]

Auto, its quite good too.

[kaBOOMn]

I converted my day to day car from a Auto to a manual....which I admit was a mistake in traffic, still its great fun when I need it to be.....

My gearbox is a close ratio unit (A Hybrid of a Nissan R32 GTS-T 5 Speed and a Nissan S14 Turbo 5speed), with a large torquey inline 6 makes for some great driveing, but alas I kinda think a good automatic would suit the car better.

The Alfa Romeo is a manual.....you wouldn't trust a Italian to build a Automatic box would you?

[Roman]

Originally Posted by ruuman

Automatic or Manual, what do you drive?

_I_ drive therefore manual. 8)

[jayhawk]

manual. I refuse to compromise my passions and own a vehicle with an automatic.

[epp_b]

Roman, I like your sig!

[Blind_Io]

5 speed manual here, and I would not have it any other way.

The FJ I want has a 6 speed manual! Woot! 6 gears!

[sephiroth99]

when I drove mom's minivan, it was auto.

but now i have my car (which is my daily driver) and it is a proper standard gearbox (rock on!)

[SL65]

Originally Posted by Ford Prefect

well I drive a manual, couldn´t really imagine having an automatic, especially not in a MINI... but automatics are becoming much more common in germany, mainly since auto-gearbox technology has progressed quite a lot, and some really aren´t that bad... we do actually also have automatic-licenses, but I´ve never met or heard of anyone that has it... pretty much everyone around here knows how to drive manual, cause everyone did their driving exam with a manual box....

My moms 330 has an automatic, which is perfectly fine for her, since she doesn´t drive fast, and just wants her car to be comfortable. But the box actually works really well on the autobahn, put your foot down and it won´t take you much longer to reach 200 than it would with a manual... works on the country road as well, doesn´t change gears in corners, and once you´ve gotten used to it you usually end up being in the right gear when the corner is over... the only real downside is that you miss out on the fun of changing gears, because the pseudo-tiptronic really doesnt work at all...

where I really like autos is on diesel cars, because theres no point in taking them all the way to the rev limiter anyway if you want to go fast... in a powerful diesel like my dads 330d I dont enjoy changing gears at all, and with the automatic you don´t even worry about what the engine is doing... you press one pedal to go faster, the other one to go slower, and concentrate on keeping the car on the road...

Cool, your mum owns a 330i and dad owns a 330d! Parents have different tastes ehh

But your right that these auto-boxes are developing so fast and getting really good. I was on the highway two days ago with my parents Merc auto-box and overtaking was a breeze. Those auto-boxes are so intelligent now.

[Ford Prefect]

well my mom isnt the one that picks the cars, all she cared about was: automatic, black, and a top that comes down at the press of a button... my dad and me took care of the rest

don´t get me wrong though, I still wouldn´t ever wanna own a car that changes gears for me, and every once in a while the auto gear boxes on my parents cars still annoy me... but once you get used to them they´re not that bad... I mainly use their cars for long distance driving, because they´re bigger and just get you there quicker (on a highway with no speed limits at least)...

[Firecat]

Flappy paddles for me. Although it's kinda giving me some trouble, every now and then it won't change gears when I hit the paddle.

[Hidden_Hunter]

Originally Posted by SL65

Cool, your mum owns a 330i and dad owns a 330d! Parents have different tastes ehh

But your right that these auto-boxes are developing so fast and getting really good. I was on the highway two days ago with my parents Merc auto-box and overtaking was a breeze. Those auto-boxes are so intelligent now.

auto-boxes haven't really been that bad for quite along time, your bog standard 10 year old auto commodore will still manage to overtake just fine without any real effort.