Manual or Autmatic better and why

MercuryT · 12-04-2020, 04:04 PM

Ok I'm bored so thought I'd start a thread that my mates and I regularly argue over.....ha

Do you prefer manual shifting or modern quick autos with paddles etc?

To be honest. I'm unsure.

For a Sunday drive i prefer Manual. Love the connection with box and engine......full control, pure.

Then in peak hour (most of my driving) i love my 6 speed paddle DSG as chuck in auto and forget it, but when traffic opens still enjoy shifting as it holds to red line etc.

My last car had a HD clutch and damn exhausting some days, stop start and gone 100metres!!....Haha

So what's your preference?

Franco Cozzo · 12-04-2020, 04:17 PM

Autos for cars with forced induction - they're faster and there's no doubt about it.

If you've got something like an NA V8 you can't beat the manual experience.

I distinctly remember driving someone's BF XR8 with the ZF and thinking this thing really needs a manual box with the characteristics of that engine.

But if it was an XR6T - ZF all the way.

Grippy · 12-04-2020, 04:41 PM

Auto for daily use, manual for everything else.

I have a BA F6, and rowing through the gears getting back on boost with the T56 is a heap of fun in a Barra turbo.

**mad2** · 12-04-2020, 04:44 PM

currently have a BA & 4sp auto which is nice for 'normal' driving but hopefully going manual (only 5sp) before i get too old lol. driven most over the years but have a bit of a soft spot for driving a manual.

but everyones differant

falconhell74 · 12-04-2020, 05:08 PM

In this day and age auto's go quicker but manuals are always more fun to flog
So manual for me

roKWiz · 12-04-2020, 05:11 PM

Auto is nice in the van (not my choice) and may change one day but I like all my trucks having manuals, nothing like mixing the soup bowl.

MercuryT · 12-04-2020, 05:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Franco Cozzo

Autos for cars with forced induction - they're faster and there's no doubt about it.

If you've got something like an NA V8 you can't beat the manual experience.

I distinctly remember driving someone's BF XR8 with the ZF and thinking this thing really needs a manual box with the characteristics of that engine.

But if it was an XR6T - ZF all the way.

Sorry. Not a fan of ZF.

Kept overriding me in manual mode........hated it frankly as seemed useless compared to a real manual. My Dad's Audi also overrides whenever it feels like it.

No doubt quicker in Auto "leave it alone" form as such a great auto box.

DSGs are great as basically don't interrupt unless necessary. I love mine daily but miss a manual on days off.

Still yeah a manual stick if no traffic existed no doubt.

Franco Cozzo · 12-04-2020, 05:52 PM

Everyone loves DSGs until you have to replace the box

MercuryT · 12-04-2020, 05:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Franco Cozzo

Everyone loves DSGs until you have to replace the box

I'd just buy another car. Sell mine for parts.

Franco ZFs are hardly cheap either and not as good.

My friend (I tried to help) just put a new one in.

10K. Now has a cooler.

MercuryT · 12-04-2020, 05:59 PM

Back on point.

Manual or Auto.

Daily.

nitro50th · 12-04-2020, 06:37 PM

If I was living in the city I'd have an auto for the daily and manual for the weekender. I drove through Melbourne in stop/start peak hour traffic with a manual and it was a killer.

But I live in a rural area so have manual in both. I've had a few auto's and got bored with them pretty quickly. Luckily we drive the wife's auto if we go to the city now.

Manual all the way.

MercuryT · 12-04-2020, 09:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nitro50th

If I was living in the city I'd have an auto for the daily and manual for the weekender. I drove through Melbourne in stop/start peak hour traffic with a manual and it was a killer.

But I live in a rural area so have manual in both. I've had a few auto's and got bored with them pretty quickly. Luckily we drive the wife's auto if we go to the city now.

Manual all the way.

Yep great post.

Until manual testedin peak hour I loved it.......ended up hating it!! Not a ZF fan (manual shift way overridden) so moved on.

But manuals by fat most enjoyable i agree in right conditions.

Citroënbender · 12-04-2020, 09:12 PM

“Better” is a subjective, divisive term. Scrunch or fold?

I prefer an automatic with at least one overdrive and a lockup converter.

MercuryT · 12-04-2020, 10:01 PM

Best manual I ever drove was a 90s Mazda Mx5.

Damn that felt sweet.

NX74205 · 12-04-2020, 10:05 PM

Depends on the car. I like luxury cars more than performance cars, and I couldn't imagine a manual box with one of those luxury barges. It just wouldn't work.

But for most everyday cars, I don't see why it can't be a manual.

roKWiz · 13-04-2020, 06:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NX74205

But for most everyday cars, I don't see why it can't be a manual.

These days probably cause most don't know how to drive one.

manual, city or country any day.

Ford17 · 13-04-2020, 08:05 AM

Always have had manuals, but for an auto BA turbo.

Found myself constantly fiddling with the shifter's manual mode, as if trying to give my left hand something useful to do.

1970XW351 · 13-04-2020, 09:06 AM

Having had a manual XW since I got my licence with a few slight dalliances (all manual) it is only in the last four years I have had an auto BA and I am not impressed by the thing at all. It is all too quick to jump up a gear but finnicky about kicking down.. Like you'll push your foot down a bunch and it will continue to lug along in top gear but be picking up speed, then you squeeze down just a whisker more and suddenly it's screaming it's heads off two cogs lower, somehow going slower until it sorts itself out again..

Whereas in a manual you are in the right gear at all times, compression braking to slow down and all the perks when it comes to taking off vigorously. As for stop go traffic, I used to get stuck for up to an hour at a time in barely crawling (mostly not) "traffic" when they were upgrading the Ipswich motorway out of Brisbane years ago. It certainly didn't kill me, or make my life miserable in a manual. I think as a people, we need to toughen up a bit and not look for the easiest way all the time.

Cheers, Tony

five 7 · 13-04-2020, 09:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Citroënbender

“Better” is a subjective, divisive term. Scrunch or fold?

Definitely fold theres more control.

Ben · 13-04-2020, 10:17 AM

I can confirm manual v8 is fun out on the roads doing essential things.

stevanford · 13-04-2020, 10:58 AM

Depends on car and on use. I'd argue that most modern performance car are almost too fast to use a manual gearbox for performance use.

Sent from my SM-N960F using Tapatalk

CyberWasp · 13-04-2020, 11:43 AM

Manual all the way.
I actually like the deceleration characteristics of being able to go down through the gears for corners, roundabouts and braking ect.
Brake pads and rotors last heaps longer and you get less brake dust to clean off the wheels.

kevino · 13-04-2020, 01:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CyberWasp

Manual all the way.
I actually like the deceleration characteristics of being able to go down through the gears for corners, roundabouts and braking ect.
Brake pads and rotors last heaps longer and you get less brake dust to clean off the wheels.

Yes manual for me. There is no extra cost for say a 60000 automatic service. No risk of the power shift/dsg/dual clutch/cvt auto blowing up at 115000 say with a 4 k cost.
My brakes never need changing till 150000 as I do mainly freeway kms and use the gearbox for braking in many circumstances say exiting the freeway on a horseshoe curve. In an auto you have to use the brakes.
Ditto for a winding road. With a manual box the driver controls the car.
With an auto the car controls the driver.
But driving as as a commercial driver auto thanks. The manual box is pretty fatiguing in a 12 hour metro driving shift.
Anyone from Ford reading. Improve your sales on S A Focus base models and Acive bring in a manual.

cheap · 13-04-2020, 01:25 PM

I think you'll need to differentiate between traditional torque converter auto and dual-clutch (or solenoid activated clutch).

If it is between Manual and Traditional Auto - Manual every day.

If it is between Manual and Dual Clutch - probably a DC up until the moment the cost of repairs hits, then I'd wish for a manual

arronm · 13-04-2020, 01:45 PM

manual. Cant clutch kick to initiate a drift in an auto.

MercuryT · 13-04-2020, 03:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by arronm

manual. Cant clutch kick to initiate a drift in an auto.

I agree but it's not really that helpful in peak hour......

I guess my OP should have been if you had to run just one car which would you pick?

I suspect if had multiple cars manual would be far more popular

**X-AHH** · 13-04-2020, 03:23 PM

Manuals are better for your health!

When I was a young guy, manuals were all that I drove and I was fit and healthy. That heavy duty clutch was a beast to disengage.

During my thirties, I changed to driving autos and now I'm a fat old man.

Damned autos have a lot to answer for.

**Ross 1** · 13-04-2020, 03:45 PM

MercuryT · 13-04-2020, 04:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ford17

Always have had manuals, but for an auto BA turbo.

Found myself constantly fiddling with the shifter's manual mode, as if trying to give my left hand something useful to do.

It's a basic box the BTR 4 speeder but is better in manual mode than a ZF imo. The former ok the latter horribly annoying.

Ford17 · 13-04-2020, 04:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MercuryT

It's a basic box the BTR 4 speeder but is better in manual mode than a ZF imo. The former ok the latter horribly annoying.

Interesting to know.

The 4 speed auto looked pretty cool in the "Can't get enough of this" TV ads.