Manual or automatic - what do you drive/prefer?

[Pilch]

Originally Posted by Gammaboy

Power steering involves the pedal on the right, and Aircon involves the right pedal too :P
Wanna turn tighter? More right pedal.
Not enough airflow? More right pedal.

Don't forget some strategic use of the left pedal to assist in power steering and turning tighter!

Originally Posted by Gammaboy

Having spent yesterday driving a Rental BA auto with the stupid auto with tiptronic, i have to say its an extremely lame substitute for a manual... I'd actually prefer manually shifting a C4 over the tiptronic thing. The 1-2 second lag in the shift is pathetic.

Agreed....... again :hihi:

[Gammaboy]

Originally Posted by Steffo

And I clearly said, when it comes to road cars, I have no real preference. Whatever works well is what I'll buy. There's more to the driving experience (in my opinion) then pushing a pedal on the left and playing with a stick on the console....

This is based on your vast experience of flogging the econovan and Pintara up and down some great drivers roads......

If you are after a driving experience, the extra chassis attitude control that you get from a manual is the killer. There is just nothing like a rwd manual for that.

[RED_EL_XR8]

I think its time for a padlock!

Its personal preference as the topic stated. There is nome need for the name calling or the posturing. The usual suspect/s always at the end of the same innane arguements!!! yawn.

[Gammaboy]

Awwwwwwwwwwww!

[vztrt]

Originally Posted by Steffo

There's more to the driving experience (in my opinion) then pushing a pedal on the left and playing with a stick on the console....

Like? ( not having a go, just want to know cause I never have fun with an auto)

[RED_EL_XR8]

Originally Posted by Gammaboy

Awwwwwwwwwwww!

Whats the point of a battle of wits when the opposition is unarmed! It gets tiresome very quickly!!

[Gammaboy]

Originally Posted by RED_EL_XR8

Whats the point of a battle of wits when the opposition is unarmed! It gets tiresome very quickly!!

But without it the Forums would be so empty.....

[Hardtopxb]

AUTO-MATIC. SELF OPERATING. WITHOUT HUMAN INTERVENTION....If gears are changed by human intervention its not automatic.EG Sequential gearboxes, Manualised auto's, DSG's etc etc..Do the big HP Dragsters change gears by themselves? could anyone imagine racing cars driven around a race track in AUTO MODE? PEERLEASE. give me a break,auto's are for lazy city drivers(brain on hold) as I said before ANYONE can drive an automatic..

[Ryan]

Originally Posted by Hardtopxb

AUTO-MATIC. SELF OPERATING. WITHOUT HUMAN INTERVENTION....If gears are changed by human intervention its not automatic.EG Sequential gearboxes, Manualised auto's, DSG's etc etc..Do the big HP Dragsters change gears by themselves? could anyone imagine racing cars driven around a race track in AUTO MODE? PEERLEASE. give me a break,auto's are for lazy city drivers(brain on hold) as I said before ANYONE can drive an automatic..

True

Everyone can drive a Auto even if they havent driven a car before,but it takes more skill to drive a manual and alot of people dont have that skill.

[347Stroker]

Originally Posted by Steffo

What the hell does this have to do with V8 Supercars, purpose built, rule-governed race vehicles that have absolutley nothing in common with road cars except that they combust fuel, have a transmission, brakes and four-wheels? Oh, that's right, nothing!!!

I'm not picky when it comes to the trans because I don't care. Now, if I was building an application specific car (which would obviously involve big money) and it was for drag racing, for example, the car wouldn't be manual, it would most likely run a heavily modified C4/C6 or TH350/TH400. If I was building a circuit racer, I still wouldn't get a conventional manual... it would run something like a Hewland Sequential manual or Jerico 5-spd (which allows clutchless shift, but is still H-Pattern).

We're not talking about purpose built race cars, we're talking about road cars, and that's a completley different barrel of fish. If I was buying a BF, I wouldn't even look at a manual, I'd have the 6-speed auto in a heartbeat.

So keep your accusations of "dribbling crap" well and truley to yourself. Just because I don't share your preference of manual transmission in ROAD cars does not mean anything. Don't force your opinion on others.

And I clearly said, when it comes to road cars, I have no real preference. Whatever works well is what I'll buy. There's more to the driving experience (in my opinion) then pushing a pedal on the left and playing with a stick on the console....

Ok, lets rule out supercars, becuse you think its not a fair comparison.

Lets start with Targa Tasmania, wonder how many competitive cars run autos.......ZERO

Lets look at club cars.....auto's.....nil

What about high performance sports cars, dont know of an auto option on an Ariel Atom, Fazza F50 or Lambo.
Fact is, in all form of spirited driving, and I mean all, a manual is the prefered option in every case. You just cannot control an auto car like a manual, with the ability to load the chassis up upon entering and exiting the corner like you can with a manual.
I have no problems with autos, in fact I own 2 cars with autos and 2 with manuals, so its each way with me, but when it comes to sheer exhilleration on a drivers road, a manual has it hands down.

I urge you to get the keys to a V8 rear driven manual, and put it up a mountain pass, there really is no compromise....

[4.9 EF Futura]

Forced induction adds a whole new dimension. Take the foot off the accelerator to change gears... bugger, all that hard work pressurising the intake and manifold just to let it all rush out the BOV??

Im happy to let the hyrdaulics do their thing with the gear box whilst i keep the gas mashed firmly to the firewall and the air in my manifold compressed.

Upshift into peak hp? Check

Downshift when i need it? Check

Gear changes at full boost? Check

Stronger than the equivalent manual gearbox? Check (EF t5 take 600nm? Puh-lease)

No - it's not ideal. But rest assured it's just as exciting.

[gozza]

anyone who says an auto is better should be asked first and foremost...have you ever driven a manual?
hell yeah autos have there advantages...traffic...if your tired etc etc..some people don't have a choice...like me lol...i can't afford a conversion and the car i got had everything i was after but the the manual....
regardless... my first car was a 5spd...my partner has a 5spd rx7 and its awesome to drive around corners...double clutchin etc etc..its so much fun
go the manual...so many pros....the only thing it hasn't got going for it is the only an auto has going for it

[Steffo]

Originally Posted by 347stroker

Ok, lets rule out supercars, becuse you think its not a fair comparison.

Lets start with Targa Tasmania, wonder how many competitive cars run autos.......ZERO

Lets look at club cars.....auto's.....nil

What about high performance sports cars, dont know of an auto option on an Ariel Atom, Fazza F50 or Lambo.
Fact is, in all form of spirited driving, and I mean all, a manual is the prefered option in every case. You just cannot control an auto car like a manual, with the ability to load the chassis up upon entering and exiting the corner like you can with a manual.
I have no problems with autos, in fact I own 2 cars with autos and 2 with manuals, so its each way with me, but when it comes to sheer exhilleration on a drivers road, a manual has it hands down.

I urge you to get the keys to a V8 rear driven manual, and put it up a mountain pass, there really is no compromise....

Again, cars for Targa are built to race Targa. But since you want to compare supercars, lets do that that...

Ferrari Enzo - 6-speed sequential clutchless gearbox, automatic or paddle shift modes.

Bugatti EB 16/4 Veyron - 7-speed dual-clutch DSG (Direct Shift Gearbox), either paddle shift, console shift (+/- like BA' SSS) or auto mode

Mercedes-McLaren SLR - 5-speed Automatic

BMW M5 - 7-speed SMG (Sequential Manual Gearbox) with either console shift (+/- mode), paddle shift or auto mode.

Mercedes-Benz CLK-DTM AMG - 5-speed Automatic

Ferrari F430 F1 - 6-speed sequential clutchless gearbox, automatic or paddle shift modes.

Lamborghini Gallardo E-Gear - 6-speed sequential clutchless gearbox, automatic or paddle shift modes.

Mercedes-Benz CLK-GTR SuperSport - 6-speed sequential clutchless gearbox, automatid or paddle shift modes.

Porsche Dauer 962 LeMans - 5-speed sequential manual (clutch used only to shift into first or reverse, take off from standing start, shift action is like BA SSS, pull down to upshift, push up to downshift)

Porsche 911 GT1 Strassenversion - 6-speed sequential manual (same thing as on the 962 LeMans, but has an extra gear)

And I could keep going... are you seriously going to tell me none of these cars are exhilerating to drive because they don't use conventional manuals? Puh-lease.

I hear they wanna put 6 speed sequential manuals in v8 supercars? anyone heard any thing about it? i read it from motor mag.

[Steffo]

Originally Posted by drphil

I hear they wanna put 6 speed sequential manuals in v8 supercars? anyone heard any thing about it? i read it from motor mag.

Apparantley they were considering it for 2006 or 2007. Don't know much more about it then that though, it was in with a bunch of other rule changes they were considering, like de-creased downforce and some such.

[347Stroker]

All of the sequential manual gearboxes you speak of are still a manual gearbox, sequential is a reference to the shifter, and seeing you know so much steffo, you will also know that you can have a "clutchless" shift on even a top loader and bugger me, what about all the semi trailers that dont use a clutch other than taking off...you really are a master.

Steffo, I dont really care for what you say, you are just a baby boy, with baby ideas, and i will not be coming back to this thread, or read anything you post from here on.

Goodbye

If you look at the sales figures for Holden Barinas, you will see the majority of them are autos, so from this I deduct that only girls drive autos...

[SSBUB]

Originally Posted by Duke of Windsor

If you look at the sales figures for Holden Barinas, you will see the majority of them are autos, so from this I deduct that only girls drive autos...

In his first post i think the resident goose finder, found a goose

[Steffo]

Originally Posted by 347stroker

All of the sequential manual gearboxes you speak of are still a manual gearbox, sequential is a reference to the shifter, and seeing you know so much steffo, you will also know that you can have a "clutchless" shift on even a top loader and bugger me, what about all the semi trailers that dont use a clutch other than taking off...you really are a master.

Steffo, I dont really care for what you say, you are just a baby boy, with baby ideas, and i will not be coming back to this thread, or read anything you post from here on.

Goodbye

All of those boxes? Do you have any idea how DSG works? It has two clutches and two planetary gearsets, it can select two gears simultaneously. It has two adajacent shafts, each with its own clutch, say its the 6spd version, gears 1, 3, 5 on one, and 2, 4, 6 on the other. During operation, two adjacent gears (say 2 and 3) are meshed and turning, but only one is transmitting power to the final drive, as each gearset has its own clutch. Basically, second gear is driving the car while third is preselected, whether in auto or manual mode, one clutch is instantly disengaged and the other takes the drive with the intervention of elctro-hydraulic control. That's the basics of it...

In my opinion, DSG > all those other trans those cars have, but the Ferrari/Maserati is impressive in the way it rev-matches downshifts on road-courses for optimum performance during cornering etc. The Porsche's are obviously hard-core race type cars with no automatic function, and they still have a clutch pedal.

You can say I have "baby ideas" all you want, but what you're saying, the way you're asserting conventional manual transmissions as the be-all-end-all in motor vehicles is nonsense.

PS - Two of those supercars use traditional conventional automatics, yet they're some of the fastest road cars ever produced. Gee, looks like Mercedes/McLaren didn't know they chose the wrong trans when they made the SLR, and AMG had no idea when they made the CLK-DTM (a car built to handle) :

[RED_EL_XR8]

the topic was what do you drive/prefer?

I dont remember seeing anything requesting passionate and dubious oratory for transmissions various.

When you've done this one to death you can all argue that big cars are better than small cars! or which purple is the purplest.

Red walks of muttering "if brains were bombs, this lot couldn't..................................

[Falcon Coupe]

Personal insults due to someones transmission preferance shows about as much intelligance as a caveman, girls/poofs drive autos ? honestly who cares, grow up.
btw 2 of my 3 cars are manual.

[buickman]

Originally Posted by CarBroker

I started on manuals, and still prefer them, but I drive an auto just because they are more convenient in congested traffic.

I'am in there on that statement. Plus the wife can only drive autos so I have to compramise.

buickman

[FRDMSL]

Manual all the way!! autos are so boring and never seem to know what gear to be in, well the fmx in the XE anyway.. only other auto car ive driven is a ED wich was a little better. also i feel the manual keeps me much more alert. ive now swapped the fmx for a toploader, cant wait to go for a drive just waiting to get my engine back...

[loxxr6]

Drive a manual but it sucks balls in traffic.

I'd prob get an auto next time, however I'd miss changing gears.

[Polyal]

ok lets put it this way...

when looking at carsales, unique cars etc etc. how many of us sigh when the muscle car/super car of our dreams is a bloody auto?

Oh thats a nice old porsche/ferrari, but wait no, its auto; better keep on looking. All that power, sound and feel wasted on laziness; its a crime I tells ya!

[Gammaboy]

Originally Posted by Steffo

All of those boxes? Do you have any idea how DSG works? It has two clutches and two planetary gearsets, it can select two gears simultaneously. It has two adajacent shafts, each with its own clutch, say its the 6spd version, gears 1, 3, 5 on one, and 2, 4, 6 on the other. During operation, two adjacent gears (say 2 and 3) are meshed and turning, but only one is transmitting power to the final drive, as each gearset has its own clutch. Basically, second gear is driving the car while third is preselected, whether in auto or manual mode, one clutch is instantly disengaged and the other takes the drive with the intervention of elctro-hydraulic control. That's the basics of it...

In my opinion, DSG > all those other trans those cars have, but the Ferrari/Maserati is impressive in the way it rev-matches downshifts on road-courses for optimum performance during cornering etc. The Porsche's are obviously hard-core race type cars with no automatic function, and they still have a clutch pedal.

You can say I have "baby ideas" all you want, but what you're saying, the way you're asserting conventional manual transmissions as the be-all-end-all in motor vehicles is nonsense.

PS - Two of those supercars use traditional conventional automatics, yet they're some of the fastest road cars ever produced. Gee, looks like Mercedes/McLaren didn't know they chose the wrong trans when they made the SLR, and AMG had no idea when they made the CLK-DTM (a car built to handle) :

But you missed the point that these "Autos" don't use a torque converter. hence, they are not really an Auto in the sense as driven by 99% of the forum members.
Have you driven a car with DSG? Me neither. but, to borrow a page from you, I have read about them, and the seem to have managed to make it feel clunky notchy. go figure. Yay for Volkswagen-Audi group, endlessly finding ways to make complex solutions for simple problems...

[Polyal]

Hang on a minute, I cant believe no one has said this yet...

SCORE BOARD!!

Nuff said.

[XplosiveR6]

I prefure an auto just for cruising, todays city roads is no place for a manual lol.

anyone who says you can select what gear you want in an auto obviously havent driven an auto properly, just by using the accelerator pedal, you can select any gear you want in any half decent auto.

[Gammaboy]

Originally Posted by EF_Dave

I prefure an auto just for cruising, todays city roads is no place for a manual lol.

anyone who says you can select what gear you want in an auto obviously havent driven an auto properly, just by using the accelerator pedal, you can select any gear you want in any half decent auto.

Problem is they'll select that gear even if you don't want it to....
Kickdown while accelerating out of a corner on a fine balance of traction is downright nasty....

[WASP]

I love both so I haven't voted. Currents cars are both manual however and I haven't owned an auto for quite a few years now.