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Manual (MT) or Auto (AT) Transmission/Gear Box

nitrosubaru

nitrosubaru

Member
Joined
Jul 28, 2005
Messages
36
Location
Newcastle, Australia
So I live in a medium size city (200,000 people) and do 50/50 hiway and city driving and cannot decide between auto or manual...

things in my mind are

- it is really hard to find manual cards to test drive, so that means most everyone buys autos, which would make a manual harder to resell.

- fuel costs (if there are any noticeable differences between MT and AT)

- at the end of a long day it's good to get in put your right foot down and go home

- on the weekend, its good to give the car a bit of a flogging! LOL. this is where something like tiptronic is handy I spose.

What are your thoughts
 
I could never own anything other than a manual. I personally wouldn't even buy a BMW with an SMG box, let alone any type of auto. There is something about a H pattern and a clutch that just makes the driving experience. Even in city traffic.

What kind of car are you looking at?

You'll be able to resell a manual. In fact, it's rarity will cause it to be of higher demand when time comes to resell. Especially if you are buying a Commodore or a Falcon. As a lot of younger blokes are the type to buy them and manuals are hard to find, it'll dissapear like a stien at Oktoberfest. When I was out trying to buy my first car, I couldn't find manual Commodores anywhere, and that was all I wanted to look at. In the end I bought a manual VL. On the fuel costs, an MT is lighter so it has the potential to be better. ATs are tuned so that you get maximum consumption, but with an MT you have full flexibility so consumption is all up to you.

If you think you like to enjoy driving, get the manual. No contest.
 
I have driven a 206 auto for about 4 months before i got my evo and yes its relaxing after work to just get in and go home but you will regret getting a auto if you like cars because everytime you want some power (Getting around a caravan) you are in the wrong gear and nothing happens it sooo not worth it, get a manual!
 
My 2 cents:

It only depends on the car. Take 530d or any 7 series: Auto all the way.
Mini or smaller or petrol BMWs: Manual for sure...
Merc: Only with Auto
.... and so on... But small cars and sporty ones should have manuals...

Buba
 
i shouldn't even think about an auto, but that's just me
but if you get a manual, and want to be able to cruise without much effort,
make sure your engine has enough torque, so you don't have to care about the rpm that much
 
The only reason I would consider an automatic gearbox is if I needed to pull a trailer.

Auto tranny are boooooooriiiiiiiig.

They don't perform as good with regards to fuel consumption.

Yes, depending on the car, sometimes resale is a little tougher. But are you buying to resell or are you thinking of the many years you want to enjoy getting in and driving it ? ;)

Auto transmissions ... :yawn:

Make sure you get cruise control anyway though.
Qu?bec to Orlando, Florida (26 hours drive) without it is tough. Done it three times and never will again.
 
Manual all the way - I'd only consider an auto if it was an especially good auto hooked up to a big torquey motor, but even then I reckon I'd get a manual.
 
Roman said:
Auto transmissions ... :yawn:
Click to expand...

Took the words right out of my mouth. This is my second manual (only 2nd car I've owned) and I've driven in bigger cities. No big deal. If you enjoy cars, you will enjoy a manual more than an auto.

I have one of those "rare" cars. You don't see a lot of Oldsmobiles with a manual transmission. This is why I bought this car over a Ford Focus.
 
I have owned 7 cars, 5 have been manual. My current car is a M6 in a VYII SS and wouldn't have it any other way for my own personal car.

I have, however, borrowed a few other cars (Calais, SS, etc) from work mates who need to do some KM for tax purposes (we all lease our cars & I end up with too many on mine) and have driven to places I have never been to before and an auto is great as you can just putt around and look at stuff without the need for any interaction. They suck arse on a highway though. Foot down...waiting... waiting...kick down... waiting...start to accelerate. In the SS, drop it back to 3rd at 100km/h...waiting (for the oportunity to pass)....foot down and gone!

We just purchased an 05 AH Astra CDX for the wife and as it lives 90% of the time in the city, it is fine for just putting around. It does die in the arse big time when you need to accelerate quickly, it'll kick down a gear or two and then start to take off...losing valuable seconds in the process. Same with starting off. With a manual you can dial up the revs you want and drop the clutch where you want. The autos all start from idle and most cars just don't have the low down grunt to move a heavy arse car along until they get up a bit in revs.

If you enjoy driving at all, GO THE MANUAL and have a smile on your face!
 
I don't know how bad traffic jams are in the city you live in, but I drove a manual transmission car in Hong Kong (Mitsubishi Lancer EVO5 in case you're interested), and it was a pain in the left leg! I couldn't believe my left leg was sore after getting through stop-and-go traffic for an hour! If that never happens in the city you live in then definitely go for a manual if you can get one.
 
^^ HEHEH, according to nitro's location info, he lives in Newcastle. Believe me, Newcastle is really just a big country town. The traffic isn't even close to Hong Kong...
 
Well, for Australia, it's a medium sized city considering that our biggest, Sydney, has about 4mill and Melbourne has about 3.5mill...
 
I have an automatic :roll: and.....well, I'd say, if you can drive a manual, go for a manual. Manuals are faster, more economic and more fun to drive (you choose the revs). However, auto's are definetly easier to drive. I get bored in my Volvo only using the right leg. They are very, very easy to drive. Now...depends on what car you want to buy, for example...a BMW, Audi or Mercedes automatic wont be as bad as one from Chevrolet or Ford. My Volvo is going pretty decent for an auto. In Sport mode, the engine changes gears at 5000 rpms (foot down, of course). Even in Economic mode, it goes 'till 4000 rpms (again, with foot welded to the floor.) Hoewver, on a hill, my gearbox is terrible. In Sport mode, it cant go past 1500 rpms (due to longer gear changing ratios I guess) and in Economic, it barely goes over 2500 rpms (shorter gear ratios). Same thing on a downhill. The only way to stop is by braking. Mind you, my car has a nice Wet/Winter mode which changes down automatically if you press the brake pedal too hard. That helps a lot on poor weather conditions.
I guess I said it pretty clear, if you can drive a manual, go for it (I still have to learn how to drive one, I hate the clutch pedal). :lol:

Edit: although I never tried one, I heard that semi-automatics arent good at all. :think:
 
^ I driven two cars with CVT's and I wasn't terribly impressed - though I think some of that was to do with getting used to how they drive in full CVT mode

A DSG car, now that's what I want to try
 
mautzel said:
Age 18 - 40: manual
Age 41 - whatever: auto
(Only my very own opinion on this subject, of course :) )
Click to expand...

My 58 year old parents recently bought a manual Mazda 6 and they're loving it

And hey, 41's not that old... :)
 
fbc said:
mautzel said:
Age 18 - 40: manual
Age 41 - whatever: auto
(Only my very own opinion on this subject, of course :) )
Click to expand...

My 58 year old parents recently bought a manual Mazda 6 and they're loving it

And hey, 41's not that old... :)
Click to expand...

I just have the feeling that older people tend to prefer auto's and younger people tend to prefer manuals - I know that there are plenty of exceptions (my grandpa is over 80 years old and never ever would consider an automatic car). The attitude towards that subject may be different between Europe and Australia as well, don't forget that over here there are by far more manuals than automatics on the road and that the cars usually fitted with an automatic gearbox are usually rather big and expensive ones and therefore usually driven by people of age 40+. (Yeah, I know that there are exceptions again, but I wouldn't be seen dead in a Smart City Coupe :D )
 
There are far more autos on the road than manuals here. The biggest selling cars are large family saloon cars known as the Commodore and the Falcon (Holden and Ford respectively) and they are almost all autos. All have the manual either as standard or an option, but almost all are sold with autos. It is very hard to find a V6 manual on the second hand market. The smaller cars tend to be sold in manual form a little more, cars such as the Focus and the Astra seem to be in more abundance as manuals. But overall, the population seems heavily tilted on the auto side.
 
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