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I don't see the point of a manual for me. When I drive with kids I really value the option of being able to use 1 hand for something else if need be. We live in a semi hilly area with lots of traffic and it's more convenient. I don't really care of there's a 00.3% more chance of an engine breaking or whether I spend 50 $ more in gas in a year.
I learned in Europe on a stick shift. Yes, it can be fun, but I don't miss it much.
Anyhow - to this day I vastly prefer them. For many reasons:
More power and performance. (More fun!)
Better control in adverse or hilly conditions.
Cheaper - better gas mileage, less brake wear, much cheaper to replace - my 1995 Nissan beater pick-up with almost 250,000 miles still has the original clutch.
Listen, I grew up on a standard (even though it was the 90s), I have always had a standard transmission car in my possession (I have three cars), and I have always had sports cars...and I have to respectfully disagree.
Power and performance? Not anymore. The computers are as good and often better.
Better control in hilly conditions? Are you serious? Unless it's a really sharp incline, I don't think so.
Cheaper...yes. I'll buy that. Except that if you look at a lot of the high end sports cars, the gas mileage is not different for manual and auto.
Is it more fun? More engaging? Yeah...it is. Unless you're in bumper to bumper traffic on your way home after being awake for 20 hours. Then it's just a GIANT PITA.
I'm one of the few people who hate driving automatics.
I can't stand the damn thing.
I love having control over my vehicle.
I have as much control over my 740iL as you do over your manual trans car. And as much as I do over my manual trans MGB.
I can rev the engine how loud I want.
So can I.
Downshift when ever I want and not wait for a stupid computer.
So can I. In my BMW, all I do is move the lever. Once it's in sport mode, all gears are manually selected, and it's a 12 year old car. on my old musclecars with a B&M shift kit ($50 at any good auto parts store) you could shift up or down simply byu moving the lever. Oh, and NONE of them had computers. At all. My V8 RX7 had a Ford 302 with an AOD (the pre computer overdrive automatic) with a b&M shift kit, high performance bands and clutch pack, and performance torque converter. A bit harsh when driving on teh street just putting around in D, but woudl bark the tires hard into every gear including overdrive, shifting up OR down, and shifted instantly when *I* wanted, up or down.
I hate and I mean hate the lag in the shifts.
On many cars, you can change that. There is none on my BMW, and definitely were none on any of my muscle cars.
I can't even power out in the corners.
Sounds like a personal problem. I've never had a problem with it myself, not even on the road course or autocross track.
Then there's the weight problem.
Most automatics are heavier and you can feel it.
...by 25 lbs at the most. Let me put it to you this way, on my V8 RX7, the 302 and AOD combo made the car weigh EXATLY the same as a stock RX7 Turbo II with a manual transmission: 2700 lbs. And I did nothing to lighten that car up. Most 5 speed manual transmissions weigh in at 100-125 lbs (though the old musclecar 4 sees were heavier), and most automatics come in at 125-150 lbs. Seriously how much do YOU weigh? I'll bet there's more variation there than with an automatic or manual.
There anoying to me.
and most of the reasons they are are apparently imaginary.
No engine breaking.
I'd hope your engine doesn't break. Oh, yeah, you meant engine BRAKING. See previous response to that stupidity.
Burnouts suck.
suck as in you hate to do them, or in automatics cant? This had an automatic:
Not to mention the fuel economy. I'm sorry but I'm use to driving my car in nuetral 4th/5h gear all around town. Grant it the newer model cars like the accord, maxima, civic and other various import vehicles have compansated for automatic fuel mileage over the years, but I don't own one.
My 4200 lb BMW with an automatic has 300 hp and gets 30 mpg highway. None of my automatic cars were ever bought for fuel economy (like the Range Rover, or the musclecars and race cars) But even then, if there was a difference, it'd be in the 1-2 mpg range. Not enough to even care about. Have one less beer that week and get the hell over it.
I prefer a good manual transmission to anything else. The 3 cars I've bought new have had manual transmissions by choice (well, one of them only came that way). As I said, I'm taking extra effort and cost to install a manual trans behind an engine that was never available with one in a car that had an automatic, stock. When I replace the Range Rover it'll be with a Mini Cooper S with a 6 speed manual, by choice. But I also have rebuilt automatics, I've modified automatics, and I daily drive an automatic that has none of the issues you mention, even in stock form. out of 30 years of owning and driveing both manuals and automatics back to back on the same commute and same race track, I have no problemwith a good automatic, either. And certain cars are actually better off with them, from high torque autocross cars to drag cars to luxury cars.
And it kind of saddens me that you can arbitrarilywrite off cars like that V8 RX7 or this daily driver because you have a stick up your ass about the method of shifting it:
Unless you're in bumper to bumper traffic on your way home after being awake for 20 hours. Then it's just a GIANT PITA.
I've never really understood this point, I've owned nothing but manuals and traffic doesn't bother me, usually just leave it in second and use that, works fine in most cars, if not, you might have to go 1st, 2nd and possible 3rd, doesn't take any time and it happens without thinking about it it anyway.
I've never really understood this point, I've owned nothing but manuals and traffic doesn't bother me, usually just leave it in second and use that, works fine in most cars, if not, you might have to go 1st, 2nd and possible 3rd, doesn't take any time and it happens without thinking about it it anyway.
I burned out a clutch on my 911 in bumper to bumper traffic going up the 5 mile long hill out of southern Seattle on I5. And no, you cannot just leave it in 2nd.
It doens't "bother" me to sit on a hard wooden bench. Is that what I'd want to live with for furniture in my house?
Or a better example, the loud exhaust on my car does't bother me. Why dont YOU have a loud exhaust? If I can't stand it, so can you, right? Other people shouldn't have to make decisions based on what bothers you or I.
I prefer manuals, but I am slowly coming to the realization that they are becoming extinct. I think I have come to terms that my next car will be equipped with a DCT.
I prefer manuals, but I am slowly coming to the realization that they are becoming extinct. I think I have come to terms that my next car will be equipped with a DCT.
I prefer manuals, but I am slowly coming to the realization that they are becoming extinct. I think I have come to terms that my next car will be equipped with a DCT.
There are always used cars.
I couldn't care less. I don't hand crank my cars, I don't manually adjust the choke or timing as I'm driving anymore. I have ABS and traction control. But control of a car, to me, is not centered around occasionally moving your left foot. It's the entire package of maing a car go from one place to another when you want to, as fast as you want to, and on the path you choose. Whether that's from your home to the office, from a campground to the next scenic spot, or from the start line to the finish line.
I mean, if wiggling your left foot occasionally did mean all the control and fun of driving, then you could install a clutch pedal and shifter on your office chair (or easy chair at home) and get what many people here say is all the fun and control of driving a car. if it doesn't give you that there, then it it lays bare the falshood of it doing so anywhere.
A clutch pedal and manual trans can ADD some fun (and occasionally add frustration), and add something you CAN control, but it is NOT the difference between having fun and having NO fun, or the difference between having control and having no control. I love a perfectly executed heel and toe downshift when balancing on teh razor's edge in a corner in a proper sports car. But I really ahve zero need of that in my daily commute or with passengers in the car, and I got over the "look at me I shifted. Oh, look, I did it again" phase decades ago, so while I still want it in some cars, a manual trans is not a requirement for everything anymore.
driving manual is a skill unlike the auto. an automatic can be driven by 8 yr old kids. it is akin to driving a golf cart. There have been instances of kids driving an automatic all alone.
your manual car is less likely to be stolen. there have been instances of car robbery gone wrong because the car robber can't drive a manual. lol. how funny and embarassing is that!!! the furious robber with a gun comes over to take over your car and bingo, he has to run away empty handed.
If you are at a hill stop, you can threaten the car behind not to come too close to you by rolling back (whenever the car comes close to you). They immediately leave a safe distance.
I drove manuals for years and basically prefer a autopmatic now days. It use to be the case taht a auto was not as relaible but that has changed.
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