Thread: MANUAL or AUTO? which one floats your boat!

Originally Posted by Oglethorpe

I prefer it for the same reasons as everybody else -- being in control of the gears.

In Europe we are moving towards all cars having stability program, which is one step further from Anti-Lock braking. It senses conditions such as gross oversteer and automatically applies one or more brakes to correct the situation.
Virtually all vehicles have dispensed with a throttle cable ie. a direct connection between your foot and the throttle plate.
BMW have ceased to use a throttle at all to control engine speed on some models, electronic control of the inlet valves is used instead.

To be honest with traction control, stability program, throttle intervention and various other state of the art vehicle systems, control of the gears is probably the only thing left after the steering wheel.

Originally Posted by welshwizard

In Europe we are moving towards all cars having stability program, which is one step further from Anti-Lock braking. It senses conditions such as gross oversteer and automatically applies one or more brakes to correct the situation.
Virtually all vehicles have dispensed with a throttle cable ie. a direct connection between your foot and the throttle plate.
BMW have ceased to use a throttle at all to control engine speed on some models, electronic control of the inlet valves is used instead.

To be honest with traction control, stability program, throttle intervention and various other state of the art vehicle systems, control of the gears is probably the only thing left after the steering wheel.

The car you just described sounds extremely boring.

I prefer a manual. I like having the control over the RPM's and where I am in the torque and power bands. I've actually hardly driven autos, since I learned on a manual and my family and I have only owned manuals. A manual transmission is one of the elements of my ideal car, and even on the super cars that I drool over while watching Top Gear, the "flappy paddle" gearboxes are a huge turnoff.

I definitely agree with choosing the RPM range to shift. An automatic that I enjoy for that aspect is the CVT2- it doesn't shift. It gives surprisingly good power throughout the rpm range without the flat spots of the typical automatic.

Back to the thrill of manual however. In a rare instance, I drove my truck yesterday. Traffic here can be terrible, and people don't like to let other drivers in sometimes. It can be troublesome when driving my wife's little four banger, but my truck has zero issues with the interstate here (except for standstill traffic!). I run it throughout the whole RPM range and I'm hauling ass in no time. Speaking of, I beat a Cobra the other day. I suspect he didn't quite know how to use his vehicle, but it was a fun little run.

I was looking at a car this weekend with "paddle shifters". I think I could compromise with this idea.

Working for BMW, I've had a bit of experience with flappy-paddle trans'. When the Bavarians first introduced them, it was like the very first military tank. Crude, but it got the job done. Now having driving the latest M3 mated with an SMG (Sinquential Manual Gearbox), the shift is literally instantaneous. I'm pretty sure we're under 100 milli-seconds for shift time.

I've driven a few different makes/models with manual transmissions, but I really have to say that BMW is the sweetest. I can't pin it down to any one thing, either. The whole manual system just works so effortlessly and is in tune with your whole body. It becomes second nature, really.

As a car (and Top Gear) enthusiast, I have to choose a standard gearbox over the auto or paddle-shifted ones.

Since when is it "driving" when it's an automatic being used?? Did I miss something?

Originally Posted by natepaint

Having the best of both worlds in a semi-automatic is very enticing.

Unfortunately for that notion, the use of the full rpm range is already available with the use of most automatic transmissions. You know that lever you slide to select "P", "R", "N", "D3" etc? Well, if you want to rev out first and second gear, put it in "D1" for the launch, and slap it in "D2" when you're ready to shift.


The real reason that a manual will always offer more control is because of the user-operated clutch.

At any moment, the user has control over what percentage of engine torque is transmitted to the transmission. This is the key difference.


Notice I didn't write anything previously about a manual performing better in common conditions. As was said before, modern performance oriented automatic transmissions have the capability to shift far faster than a human user. Faster shifts, quicker acceleration.

There is one area in which the manual transmission shines. Ultra low-grip situations where outright speed is not the goal. Think icy roads.

I'll keep my manual for the street. But, if I had a pure race car and a large budget, a dogbox would be my choice. Faster shifts than a typical manual but with the option of clutch use.

manual !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!