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Stick Shift or Automatic?

Do you prefer Stick Shifts or Automatic Transmission Vehicles?

  • Stick Shifts

    Votes: 91 80.5%

  • Automatics

    Votes: 14 12.4%

  • Automatic Carrot Sticks

    Votes: 8 7.1%
  • Total voters
    113
#41
hbarcat said:
You only want an automatic transmission if you:

1) Spend all of your driving time in stop and go traffic.

2) Have a drag race car. (in which case you have a high stall speed torque converter and manual valve body)


For all other applications a manual transmission is the only alternative.
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fixxed

For us solo1,2, and DE' junkies I think the old fashioned stick and stomp(clutch) seems be working quite well. :)


I love manual trannies, they make even the lamest of vehicles somewhat entertaining. Winding through the gears and revmatching on down at lights/traffic. I've had more fun driving old 80's 5spd civic's then my friends auto vette for that very reason. Keep in mind that I say this because the public road is NOT the place be using a vette for what it's worth tempting may be sometimes.
 
#46
Meh, I kinda agree with that, it would solve a lot of stupid driver (reading the paper, putting on make up, eating etc etc) but at the same time, for responsible drivers ESPECIALLY if you have hours of driving on a stop and go freeway like I do... Manuals get to be a real pain, not to mention I used to drive 8, 10 and 12 speed trucks... So im a little more worn out then the average driver.


IMHO, my nice lowered truck rims sound system blah blah, Manual. Love it... At the same time, id REALLY like to have a "Daily driver" Automatic, id use my truck for cruising.
 
#47
Rakie said:
Meh, I kinda agree with that, it would solve a lot of stupid driver (reading the paper, putting on make up, eating etc etc) but at the same time, for responsible drivers ESPECIALLY if you have hours of driving on a stop and go freeway like I do... Manuals get to be a real pain, not to mention I used to drive 8, 10 and 12 speed trucks... So im a little more worn out then the average driver.


IMHO, my nice lowered truck rims sound system blah blah, Manual. Love it... At the same time, id REALLY like to have a "Daily driver" Automatic, id use my truck for cruising.
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Ok I would compromise that in order to obtain a license for an automatic you have to first prove you are competent in a manual and have driven one for at least 12 months.
 
#48
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5-speed manual

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I've only owned one car that had an automatic transmission, a 2001 Camry V6. It was OK, but not nearly as much fun to drive as the Mustang. ;)
 
#49
BellBottomBlues said:
I use two engines, made into one giant engine. The original engine compartment was made for a 360 inch engine. Unfortunately, the engine was terrible. So, like any decent american, I decided to be a douche and buy two aftermarket 360's and combined them. Unfortunately my car's compression ratio is ridiculously high and I live in fear of blowing myself up.

Last quarter mile drag I did was on my birthday and was completed in 11.2
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I'm calling BS here.
 
#51
I've been driving for a long time. My first 10 cars were all with manual transmission, not because of cost but because that's how I learned to drive, and I simply enjoyed shifting and getting it right. After that, traffic became a real hassle, so I switched to automatics.

My current car (Audi A6) has CWT transmission - smoothest you can imagine in auto mode, but it also has paddles and I just love it. When traffic hits, I keep it in auto, and when I can, I switch over to manual mode and have my fun.

By the way, my experience with fuel consumption is that in auto mode it tends to be lower simply because I use manual mode only if I want to squeeze the last HP out of the engine.
 
#53
MoD_Scotty said:
Manual.

For drag racing, an automatic is better if you're running a turbocharged car and you have a high rpm stall converter. You can mash the brakes and the gas, and you will be building boost before you even leave the line. Granted, I'm talking about full-on drag cars, with a gigantic turbo (or two), not a slightly modified street car.

For all other racing, a manual is better. SEQUENTIAL transmissions are included as manuals. Those are what are used in F1, WRC, etc.
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I consider the paddle shifter or sequential shifter a semi-automatic because the driver isn't actually pushing a clutch pedal and moving the gears in the transmission himself. Sure they're telling the car what gear to go into, but there's no "manual" action required besides bumping a paddle.

That said, having the ability to shift on command, yet still be an "automatic" is the perfect transmission. No one can manually shift faster than an auto transmission. They can be programed to shift at a specific rpm. They're extremely consistant. For any type of racing, these are very valuable points for a transmission. As long as you can command the gear to get into when you need to if that is required, of course.

For anyone saying manual transmission are faster for drag racing, do a search for cars running under a 10 second 1/4 mile time and count the manual transmissions you find. I'd guess it's maybe a 1 to 10 ratio. A properly built auto transmission will be faster than a manual 99% of the time, no matter what power level. The thing is, most stock vehicles have REALLY slow shifting automatic transmissions, NOTHING like an auto racing transmission. It would be stupid driving around on the street with a racing auto transmission and you'd get even worse gas mileage.

All that praise to the automatics and I have two cars with manual trannys. :D
 
#56
Currently 61-9 in favor of sticks. THAT is surprising!!!

I'm starting to wonder of bass players have some special personality trait that skews them toward favoring manual trannies. This is definitely different from the general population.

I've been driving sticks since the 1960's and prefer them. I have some race driving background and I like to be in control of the gears, not turn that task over to a mechanical gremlin.
 
#59
Stick/Manual for me, but I'm not in heavy traffic (as in Chicago) that often. If I was I'd have an automatic.

Here in USA it's almost like a theft control device because so many people don't know how to drive them. I've heard more than a few stories of people breaking into cars and then leaving them behind and they just all happened to be manual. Stereo and all other contents left behind too - makes me think...
 

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