What's the big deal about...(insert car here)?

Hatchbacks. What is the point of a shitty compromise of everything.
 
It's not mileage these days; the new seven and eight-speed autos have not only eliminated the mileage gap, according to some reports, they've reversed it.

Price. Going by list prices, the auto for my Octavia would have been an 1800? option.
 
The Toyota Prius.

Oh wait, I'm on the wrong forum to ask that question :p


We are expecting answers? I thought this was meant to be rhetorical and stuff...
 
No worse than most of the Mustang guys or the rotards.

I have a Navy friend who has a new(er) Challanger and he used to make fun of my Miata like crazy, until we took a trip to Washington DC. He didn't want to take his beloved Challanger because it would of cost us 90 billion dollars in fuel. When we got there I was weaving in and out of traffic, going full speed up and down on ramps and doing very tight u-turns when we got lost. He later said he'd never make fun of the car again and that I was doing things he'd never even consider doing with his Yank Tank.

That's what I like about my car. It's a happy medium between the old-school V8 musclecar looks and straight-line grunt of the Challenger and the tossability and nimbleness of the Miata. Plus, I fit in it - which is always a plus in my book. :D

Yeah, some Mustang owners can be a pain. Interestingly, it's not the people in my club. A few of the old-timers may turn up their nose at the import guys, but our membership realizes that we're all car guys. Hell, one of the members owns a Camaro, for cryin' out loud!

I will recommend a Mustang to somebody in the market for a sports coupe, but that's because I believe people should at least test drive one before crossing it off their list automatically based on what Top Gear has said. Because face it - they haven't always been fair to the Mustang. (Racing a v6 convertible - the heaviest, slowest 'stang - against a horse; racing a GT against a Lotus Exige - a car with half the weight and ? of the power - of course it's going to lose!)

The Spie said:
Frankly, if you live in an urban area and willingly drive a manual, you're a moron.

Hi - also a moron, here. You bring up many good points (Except the eating and drinking part, but that's my personal opinion.). Automated manuals and automatic transmissions are much more efficient.

So why do I drive a manual? Because it's fun. I feel fully in control, a part of my car rather than apart from it. There is a certain amount of pleasure to be had in driving a car with a manual smoothly up and down through the gears. You call it masturbation, I call it fun. And I'm glad at my age that I'm still able to have fun behind the wheel of a car, and haven't been forced into an SUV or minivan.
 
Hatchbacks. What is the point of a shitty compromise of everything.

In my case, I'm not compromising anything. M'Fit has more cargo capacity than a Civic, it's lighter than a Civic, it has a smaller engine than a Civic so it gets better mileage, and it handles better than a Civic. Best of all, I'm not driving a Civic.

Price. Going by list prices, the auto for my Octavia would have been an 1800? option.

Again, conditions are different here. It used to be that way here a long time ago, but then automatics became the default instead of an optional extra. From looking at the reprobate sons and daughters of m'Fit, prices are pretty much the same for the manual and auto.

Hi, I live in Boston and drive a manual. I'm sure you thought I was a moron before though :p

Nah. We may have gone after each other in the past, but it's not out of hatred or belief that the other was a moron. It's more friendly arguments if anything. I don't necessarily think you're a moron for driving a manual in an urban area. However, the fact that you live in Boston...

I've commuted in heavy stop-and-go traffic for two hours each way for work before and I never once minded having to shift gears. It's not extra work for me, it's second nature.

Now this is where we differ. I spent three years in Frankfurt traffic every day driving a manual VW 9-pack. Believe me, that is the definition of "extra work". I was so happy to get back to the States, into my beloved Shadow, and not have to shift.

CAPT_Howdy said:
Automated manuals and automatic transmissions are much more efficient.

I'm very Germanic when it comes to efficiency. I don't want to have to do anything more than I absolutely have to.

So why do I drive a manual? Because it's fun. I feel fully in control, a part of my car rather than apart from it. There is a certain amount of pleasure to be had in driving a car with a manual smoothly up and down through the gears.

I don't deny that. I just don't think it's necessary. I also don't think that it's the be-all-and-end-all of the driving experience, like the Manual Transmission Snobs do. I'm sick and tired of seeing that shit here, not to mention its omniversal pervasion at Jalopnik. Every time they put an automatic in there as NPOCP, you're guaranteed at least three "no manual, therefore CP" responses. At least at Pissed-On-Heads, there's usually only one response like that if they make an auto SOTW.

You call it masturbation, I call it fun.

And since when has masturbation not been fun? I'm just saying that if you want to masturbate, actually masturbate. Don't simulate it with three thousand pounds of metal and plastic using a vertical rod that's not attached to you.

And I'm glad at my age that I'm still able to have fun behind the wheel of a car, and haven't been forced into an SUV or minivan.

I've already done the minivan thing. I survived. So can you.
 
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Again, conditions are different here. It used to be that way here a long time ago, but then automatics became the default instead of an optional extra. From looking at the reprobate sons and daughters of m'Fit, prices are pretty much the same for the manual and auto.

Looking at honda.com, the auto still is a pricey option on a Fit.
 
Looking at honda.com, the auto still is a pricey option on a Fit.

And sticker prices at my dealer say something different. I can get a good view of the sticker prices for the manual since there are so many of them compared to the automatics.
 
In my case, I'm not compromising anything. M'Fit has more cargo capacity than a Civic, it's lighter than a Civic, it has a smaller engine than a Civic so it gets better mileage, and it handles better than a Civic. Best of all, I'm not driving a Civic.

I'm much more against the Civic type of hatchbacks. The Jazz is much more practical (but I still wouldn't have one as here at least they're solely bought by old people).

Sometimes the compromises aren't entirely shitty. :evil:

If you're counting the 9000 as a hatchback (and yes I know it technically is); I don't. Saab's are great and huge :lol:
 
Paging LCG for a Saab/RX8/Miata Boston-area get-together... Perhaps we should move to the MA meetup thread

I want in :(

We are expecting answers? I thought this was meant to be rhetorical and stuff...

Who knows. Maybe someone would've made a case for it over on Priuschat or something.
 
Speedtouch, the original Golf GTi would like a word. :p
 
Manuals in cities are pointless.

I see where you're coming from but I have to agree with LeVeL. A few months back I drove a colleague's VW Golf auto around Brighton and tbh it was bliss. I've got a couple of options lined up for when I eventually replace the MX5 and I was starting to think about getting the slushbox versions but then the other day I left a meeting in town to head back to the office at a time when the roads were relatively quiet and it was warm and sunny enough to drop the roof and in moments like that when I am getting the most out of my car the idea of an auto is complete anathema to me.
 
I drive my manual all the time in a city (you wouldn't call Hamburg a town ;) ) since I'm a service technician. With my own cars with manual transmissions I had less critical situations than with the company car with automatic I drove for a year or so. If I don't have something to do constantly I'm lacking concentration. I'm surely not the best driver in the world, but when I drive a manual I anticipate much more critical situations before they even occur. For example if someone stands in a side street and wants to turn into the main road I can predict when he's gonna drive - when I drove the automatic I was less concentrated on the traffic and much more distracted by something else so I didn't anticipate some situations. I had more (almost) critical situations in that one year than in the 5 years I drove a manual.

I can see why other people might favor automatics (or even need one - a colleague of mine had an accident and couldn't press the clutch pedal down with his left foot, but is allowed to drive an automatic), but I for myself will always drive manuals until there aren't cars with manuals anymore or I physically can't drive one.
 
Driving my car to work in traffic is horrendous, constant stop-start-stop-start, quite often on hills. It's knackering. Then driving the van, which is an auto, around a tight, congested and very hilly city makes me think "well clearly this is the way forward". But then I get back in my car to go home when the roads are quiet and I remember why I love a manual gearbox; throwing it though the gears as quick as possible, changing down just at the right moment and accelerating hard though a corner just because I can, leaving it in gear a little bit longer to hear it sing. If I lived in a city 24/7 and never ventured outside it then maybe I'd have an auto. But I don't, so I don't.

As for the original question: the Lamborghini Diablo. I just don't like it, never have. :dunno:
 
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I'm lazy, I just leave my car in the wrong gear to save changing. Turns out the car doesn't like doing 20MPH in 4th.
 
VAG, MB and BMW has a reputation for quality and reliability, and they've managed to get so much of it totally for free. It's astonishing, really.

And yes, I do drive a VAG product myself. Unlike some people, this doesn't make me delusional. :lol:


I always like to bring up French cars in discussions like this. There are millions of satisfied and loyal Peugeot, Citro?n and Renault owners out there, but there's still a huge group of (largely drivers of German and Swedish cars) that are convinced everything to ever come out of France is held together with spit and Kleenex. And if someone tries a Peugeot and ends up having problems with it, they swear not to buy anything made in France ever again. Usually they also become a Toyota owner in the process.

You never get this kind of behavior from owners of German cars when they have terminal rust problems, gearbox issues, valvetrain issues, oil consumption problems or electrical gremlins.
 
This whole "manual in the city is pointless" is a bit odd to me. Having learned on a manual(as you should), and mostly driving a manual I never even think about it while driving. It's second nature. Even if automatic is easier and more comfortable. I can't see how this can be a big issue.
 
This whole "manual in the city is pointless" is a bit odd to me. Having learned on a manual(as you should), and mostly driving a manual I never even think about it while driving. It's second nature. Even if automatic is easier and more comfortable. I can't see how this can be a big issue.

Yes but you're Finnish. Which means you came out of the womb sideways with a fistful of opposite lock.
 
^ Yes but I would say the same. I would never consider an automatic because its an auto. I only ever occasionally get an aching ankle in stop-start traffic on motorways (but never in town) in the Kangoo which has an incredibly heavy clutch. Should have got Public to try it out at Ringmeet since he claims the Saab clutches are heavy and I think mine was nice and light.

Either way I don't get why manual gearboxes are such a pain when if you are doing it right it isn't a real 'feature' in normal driving but second nature.
 
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