Automatic or manual?

[Sir_Crashalot]

Hi SimV friends,

as you might know I'm looking for another car to replace my old Ford Sierra (see Mercedes 190 post). I've been searching several internet sites where second-hand cars are being sold and I saw some pretty interesting offers. Some of them have an automatic gearbox, some have a manual gearbox. Now I have driven a manual one for as long as I am driving and I have no experience nor do I know anyone with a car that has an automatic one.

Can someone tell me the pros and cons of an automatic vs manual gearbox?

Thanks in advance,

Crash

[eno]

With a manual gearbox you have slightly more control of the car  eg. on the approach to a corner you have a choice of what gear the car will be in and therefore wether you need to be braking or not depending on the gear choice. With an auto your only option is to brake and then allow the car to choose the gear, in wet and slippery conditions braking is not always appropriate and the gear the car chooses (unless you have a complicated electronic gearbox and other elecrtonic aids) may make things even worse. Autos are great in city if you have to stop and start a lot in the traffic, on the down side they are slightly more fuel hungry.

I've driven manuals and autos from cars to trucks.

I prefer manuals for control and fuel economy.

[expat]

With a manual gearbox you have slightly more control of the car  eg. on the approach to a corner you have a choice of what gear the car will be in and therefore wether you need to be braking or not depending on the gear choice. With an auto your only option is to brake and then allow the car to choose the gear, in wet and slippery conditions braking is not always appropriate and the gear the car chooses (unless you have a complicated electronic gearbox and other elecrtonic aids) may make things even worse. Autos are great in city if you have to stop and start a lot in the traffic, on the down side they are slightly more fuel hungry.

I've driven manuals and autos from cars to trucks.

I prefer manuals for control and fuel economy.

I presently have a 5 series (E39). It is my first automatic car and BMW number 5, all previous where manual. With this one I have the automatic with tip tronic over ride. Once on the move I can then select the gears as I wish. It works through all 5 gears. It can be very sporty in the corners, I can knock it down a couple of gears and "play" normal car. Also with a pure automatic, when you accelerate, the car will most of the time change down a gear, kick down will change down up to 3 gears, and that costs fuel and a jerky ride. Once in 5th via tip tronic the the BMW will stay in 5th even when you accelerate unless you use the kick down. It is much smoother. As for difference between auto amd manual for fuel economy, two of the people I work with have the same car, but in manual. We all have roughly the same fuel usage.

Next car manual or automatic .........................I really don't know.

Matt

[Ivan]

Merc 190 automatic jumps when switching gears...

And for that age and car type you probably save a lot of money if you go for a manual

[MWISimmer]

For what it's worth, I used to own a Land Rover Discovery 2.5 turbo diesel with an automatic gearbox. Aside from the car handling like a jelly, suffering from HUGE turbolag and drinking gallons of diesel just popping down the road, it was the easiest car to drive I've ever owned. I now own a 2.0i petrol Vauxhall Vectra with a manual gearbox and whilst it's a lot quicker than the Disco ever was it is not as easy, nor comfortable to drive, but much more fun.
Auto vs. Manual?
Manual all the way for me.

[Hagar]

Depends what you want. If you're an old fart like me that uses a car purely to get from A to B I would recommend an auto every time. I find this takes all the stress out of driving, especially with the crowded roads we have to put up with these days. Even after a trip of several hundred miles I reach my destination as fresh as a daisy instead of aching all over with a blinding headache. I've driven an auto for about 10 years & would never go back to manual from choice. Automatics were never as popular in Europe as in the US for some reason. I find there's a load of nonsense talked about them which seems to be a left-over from many years ago when they were expensive & unreliable. I've never had a single problem with mine.

Of course, this would all depend on the age of the car & what you can afford. I would have to agree with Ivan.

And for that age and car type you probably save a lot of money if you go for a manual

[Sir_Crashalot]

Thanks to all for your replies. I think I'll go for a manual gearbox then.

Crash

[beaky]

I prefer a "stick", and definitely a cheaper price on most of those, but I will say the one thing I really like about auto trannies is that accelerating from a dead stop on a hill is much easier. My old Fiat Spider, even after I got used to the clutch, was a bit challenging in that situation, mostly because I was always trying to be very gentle with it...  it had no moxie at all in 1st gear, but starting off on a hill in 2nd was asking for trouble. Fortunately, it was very light so it wouldn't roll back very quickly.
And I got pretty good at sort of pivoting my foot so as to minimize the time going from brake to gas.
But it was all worth it for the downshifting control, and occasional double-clutching... God, I miss that little beast.  :'(

I've driven some trucks that were much less fun in that situation: I used to hate it when I was driving a truck and some idiot would stop right on my bumper at a red light on a steep hill... I guess many people never notice that heavy trucks can lurch back quite a bit when starting up again on a hill...

However, there are newer manual-shift cars with a neat "hill holder" feature: I used to have a sweet little Subaru wagon that was set up so if you tapped the brake twice while stopping on a hill, it would stay put when you lifted your foot to hit the gas, and release the brake once you had torque going in 1st gear.

[MWISimmer]

However, there are newer manual-shift cars with a neat "hill holder" feature:

It's called a handbrake Rotty..

[Sir_Crashalot]

However, there are newer manual-shift cars with a neat "hill holder" feature:

It's called a handbrake Rotty..

[Chris_F]

If you love driving then only a manual will do.  The addition of the torque converter that an automatic adds just kills the fine conversation between engine and car.  No ammount of tiptronic manumatic control can bring back what's lost in a torque converter.  But if you don't love driving you'll never notice the difference.  Go with the auto as it makes it very easy to get from A to B.  Dealing with traffic and stoplights becomes a piece of cake.  For someone who doesn't love to drive the convenience of an automatic will cause you to fall in love with the simplicity of selecting D (or R) and simply pressing the gas.

I'd cloud the waters with the new fangled computer controlled manuals (like BMW's SMG) but you probably won't find any of those in your price range.  They're currently reserved for higher dollar cars (although some cheap examples are just hitting the market).

[eno]

From someone who has probably driven more miles in reverse than most peeps on this forum have driven forwards ( I averaged 200,000 miles per year for several years), it's manual all the way for me.
The only comment to the contrary is that I haven't driven any of the current crop of modern gearboxes, so I can't comment on any of the new auto/semi-automatic choices. I've used most types of gearbox from the last 25 years including some that would make the average motorist sweat.

Stick to the manual gearbox.  ;D

[beaky]

However, there are newer manual-shift cars with a neat "hill holder" feature:

It's called a handbrake Rotty..  ;D  ;)
Rob.

I can't imagine using a ratcheting handbrake in stop-and-go traffic on a hill with a manual transmission- that's more trouble than jumping from brake pedal to accelerator, if you ask me. Never done it that way and never seen it done that way.

You didn't think I was talking about parking on a hill, did you?   :-?

[Sir_Crashalot]

Pull the handbrake when you stop on a hill. When you want to drive off again, let the clutch come up until the car starts pulling, release the handbrake and apply some gas. Easiest way to drive away on a hill. No need for jumping from brake pedal to gaspedal.

Crash

[eno]

However, there are newer manual-shift cars with a neat "hill holder" feature:

It's called a handbrake Rotty..  ;D  ;)
Rob.

Nope its an electronic aid that holds the car on a hill without touching either the clutch or the brake, when you want to drive off just hit the gas and off you go.