Manual vs automatic

[warod]

Originally Posted by Abraxix

Paddle stick?


the two paddles behind the steering wheel there?? so it's an auto but you can play a manual??

Sort of,
The 05 Hemi Limited has the Mercedes Benz developed auto stick shift with the + and - selectors (flick left & flick right) to allow semi manual gear selection....
handy when you are fanging......

[ShaddowEdge]

This is a very good question I feel.
For the average user an auto is a better base box. Smoother for driving, better for traffic navigation, towing, hill starts and gear selecting even in sports mode (+ and - mode).

For the enthusiasts its a horses for courses thing. If I was to do a motorkhana (did I spell that right?) an auto is a horrible box. If I was to do a short course hill climb, like wise. But there are many other things that make an auto a good and a bad choice.

Personally I prefer the feel of a manual but for 90% of what I do an auto is a good choice. That is why I own more than one car and currently its a 50 50 split between auto and manual in my vehicles.

[axiom]

I'm very much for manual in fast cars but definately autos in 4WD's.

When you are ever so slightly stuck, with very little traction but 4 tyres on the ground, in an auto you can do left foot lockers from very low revs. Try doing that in a manual without a 3rd leg. Lean it up against any obstacle and you can apply power from low very steadily using brake and accelerator without wheel slip.

But manual definatly for driving up and down putty road.

[Brockie]

Originally Posted by Balkanac

...... just let out the clutch and steer. not so good for sand dunes when you need a bit of speed and momentum which you loose as soon as you step on the clutch to shift up. Annoying

Better to have the revs up and in the right gear before you enter the obstacle.

In the days of 3 speed Valiants manual was the only choice - with an auto you could smoke a ciggy while waiting for the next gear to engage. Today's auto's are a far superior product.

Heaps more convenient 98% of the time and my WH shifter allows me to hold any gear when I need to. Love my 3 litre turbo diesel.

[Balkanac]

Originally Posted by Brockie

Better to have the revs up and in the right gear before you enter the obstacle.

If you are going up a long steep dune like in Lancelin (WA people will know) and get a lot of speed coming up to it, once you start climbing the car slows down and you have to down shift or the car stalls. Im usually in 2nd or 3rd in 4WDHR and by the time I get up there I have to double clutch pretty quickly. My car is a diesel and you don't get much revs, after 3k it just makes noise and doesn't really pull that hard.

In saying that I still prefer manuals for the control that you get, no matter what car im driving.

In sport cars manual gearboxes will never be able to shift as fast as DSGs, SMGs or M-DCT gearboxes but IMO unless you are competing on the track its no fun.

Auto gearboxes with "manual" shift are just wrong (think later models commodores, falcons etc), they don't react as quick as "automated manual" like the ones I mentioned before. At the moment im driving a 2012 XR6 rental that insurance company organised for us after we had a prang on satuday and I just leave it in D and not worry about it

My 2c

[timbotrog]

I have the 5speed, (tecnichally 6 speed), auto in my 2003 WG V8.

It actually has 2 seperate 2nd gears, a different 2nd for the up change and down change.

Push the button and turn the overdrive off and it's a 3 speed auto. Put the shifter into 1st and you only get 1st, put it into 2nd and you only get 2nd, put it into Drive and you then get 1-2-3.

Beside being in Drive, 1st Low for very steep hill decents and sometimes 2nd low for steep but not too steep decents. Other than that it's in Drive with the overdrive either off or on depending on the driving surface and style.

I don't have to worry about accidentally changing gears in a creek or river and blowing a clutch, nor do Ihave to worry about an unseen/unknown fault in a clutch letting go at anytime, this did happen in an old Kingswood HT wagon back in 1992. It flipped and rolled the car in the wet and almost killed me.

The single reason I believe a manual transmission is better is if you require a push start. But then again we are smart enough never to go out bush alone so that isn't really a problem as long as you have jumper leads.

[Abraxix]

i'm going to ask!

most have mentioned i like to be in control of the car in a manual... how does having a manual transmission give you more control over the car? is it not you have more control over power of the vechicle, you still need to steer the car just as an auto driver would.

can someone explain this sence of i have more control in a manual ?
i have both and my jeep i feel i have just as much control over my suzi as i do in the manual suzi... the suzi i can kick in the guts and it's instant power in lower gears, but put the jeep in second (2) with O/D off. and i have the exact same result, i think people may be thinking auto's are useless as you drove one once and left it in (d) drive and you didn't have the instant oomph you wanted???
i use the gears in the jeep constantly and i feel very safe and in control? maybe it's just me or maybe i have a magic jeep transmission?