Automatic or Standard Transmission
- Thread starter KYG
- Start date
standard if it's like z3, z8, miata, etc those kind of cars. others, automatic.
but remember, any car can go with standard.
if you do automatic on z3, z8, miatia, etc those kind of cars, then it's a waste!
but remember, any car can go with standard.
if you do automatic on z3, z8, miatia, etc those kind of cars, then it's a waste!
+1
What is the car you are considering?
I just had this conversation this AM. Considering a Mini Cooper S
Small I know, but I don't need to commute and just want to save a few $ instead of filling up an SUV 2X per week.I have a Tiptronic transmission. When you put it in Tiptronic mode you can change gears when you want, but like an automatic it will change gears before any damage is caused to the engine. Either that or you just leave it in automatic mode. I generally leave it in auto driving around the city, unless someone pulls up next to me and looks like they want to go =)
I have the luxury of owning both an auto and a standard car. Driving auto is nice after a hard days work especially if you walk around all day. Driving standard is nice as well, but it sucks for stop and go traffic, and I find the gap between my front end, and the ass of of the person in front of me bigger. They both have their ups and downs, I prefer auto cause you just set it and forget it, theres also the lack of a clutch to replace which is a bonus
Standards are old school, Mostly seen now on sporty racing type vehicles. Automatics are the win. I drove a standard for years with my cj7 jeep and firebird but since my teens i've drove automatics. They free up a hand and are just easier to drive especially in stop and go traffic and with all the new computer control and gizmos they are more efficient to drive too.
I have a similar semi-automatic transmission in my car. I mainly drive in automatic, but I slap it into manual for driving steep downhill slopes. I totally suck at driving standard - it's mainly my co-ordination with the clutch pedal and shifting. As others have said, it's a pain in urban settings.
Standard.
In the real world (outside of government testing) they are still more efficient no matter what the window sticker says. A stick shift is also MUCH more reliable in the long run and even when it does break chances are still good you can still make do with the parts left that do work and get to where you need to go (unless it's the throw bearing).
If I was going to be stuck in rush hour a lot I might consider an automatic, but I've always found good tunes and comfy seats more important in rush hour than whether or not I have to worry about a clutch. I noticed a while ago that when I get stuck in traffic I get just as angry driving an automatic as I do a stick. The stick shift forces me to concentrate on my own driving and less on swearing at other people/getting angry.
Of course: stick shifts and safety belts, bucket seats have all got to go.....
Sometimes a nice roomy bench seat and a column shifter are nice things to have.
In the real world (outside of government testing) they are still more efficient no matter what the window sticker says. A stick shift is also MUCH more reliable in the long run and even when it does break chances are still good you can still make do with the parts left that do work and get to where you need to go (unless it's the throw bearing).
If I was going to be stuck in rush hour a lot I might consider an automatic, but I've always found good tunes and comfy seats more important in rush hour than whether or not I have to worry about a clutch. I noticed a while ago that when I get stuck in traffic I get just as angry driving an automatic as I do a stick. The stick shift forces me to concentrate on my own driving and less on swearing at other people/getting angry.
Of course: stick shifts and safety belts, bucket seats have all got to go.....
Sometimes a nice roomy bench seat and a column shifter are nice things to have.
^yup...driving a manual does force you to "pay attention" while driving. I can remember in my younger days, driving home a little tipsy, driving manual forced me to stay awake and alert for the drive home. If I drove an auto, I'm sure I would have dozed off and crashed into a ditch or worse!
Only one of the last five cars I've owned was an automatic. The rest were stick shift.
Stick is a pain in the butt when you're in bumper-to-bumper traffic. But under any other condition, I prefer it.
Stick is a pain in the butt when you're in bumper-to-bumper traffic. But under any other condition, I prefer it.
Standard is the way to go.....I cant even remember the last automatic I had.....way more control and you can also get the potential out of today's modern high revving 4 cylinder engines.....also repairs are lest costly...yeah you might have to replace a clutch but the actual gearbox is bulletproof unless you are a total idiot....with an automatic the rebuild of the transmission as the clutch discs wear and eventually must be replaced and a torque converter replacement is not cheap either and this is what you will run into first.
SR
SR
BS. Torque convertor replacement is very rare. I used to drag race, and have gone through a couple of transmissions this way. Stock convertors are very durable and are rarely replaced. Their construction is very simple.
Many auto transmissions will last the life of the entire car if properly designed and new transmissions, despite the additional gears have less moving parts than some of the older transmissions because they have more electronic parts inside. The enemies of the automatic transmission are still heat, which is what usually destroys the clutches, and lack of maintenance. Many people never change the fluid or filter.
Get whatever transmission you want. It's your car.
Totally agree. (I never thought I'd say this lol)
I think personal preference may depend on which kind you learned to drive with?
My first real car was standard (ok my actual first car was automatic but it was a $50 beater; a k-car with the long front seat and the gears right behind the wheel, remember? haha so that doesn't really count!) and i didn't have much experience at all driving standard. I picked it up on a Friday afternoon way, way, way at the other end of town and had to drive back in rush hour traffic; I wanted to cry it was so awful. Stop and go traffic and I'm stalling every single time I try to move. It was a REALLY long 1+hr. I kept asking myself what the hell I had been thinking buying a stupid standard car. It was not an easy one to learn on either. Sigh.
Anyway, obviously I did learn and I never bought an automatic car after that. I much prefer standard and find it boring whenever I drive someone else's automatic. BO-RING.
I just bought a automatic car a few months ago. I drove a stick shift car for 8 to 9 years and it was time for a change. It was fun at times but not all the time, all that shifting in traffic and all day driving gave me a sore back so that car had to go. I dont miss standard at all, I can take it so easy anytime now.
if you don't know how to control the car by using only the clutch, then you don't know how to drive standard defensively. DON'T DRIVE STANDARD IF THIS IS THE CASE!
Only owned 1 auto in my life. Find it boring to drive.
But have always drived sportscars.
If its simply a car to get you to work, and your not a guy into cars. Then an auto, easier to resell for sure if its on a car like a Honda or Toyota, cause the 5-speed will scare away like 95% of female buyers and probably 80% of males.
But have always drived sportscars.
If its simply a car to get you to work, and your not a guy into cars. Then an auto, easier to resell for sure if its on a car like a Honda or Toyota, cause the 5-speed will scare away like 95% of female buyers and probably 80% of males.
Funny enough many years ago the guy I shared an apartment with lent me his truck to go pick up a mutual friend to taxi him over to said apartment....the mutual friend was completely dumbfounded that the other guy lent me his truck as well as a bit jealous.....during the ride back I drove that Chevy S10 which had an inline 4 a 5 on the floor the way it was supposed to be driven....by running it up and down through the gears and downshifting and using the engine compession to slow it instead of just slamming my foot on the brakes with the clutch pushed in....well the mutual friend who had no fucking clue how to drive a 5 speed told the other guy I was ratbagging his truck and beating the shit out of the transmission...the other guy took him at his word ans never let me drive his truck again....flash forward 8 months later and the mutual friend has his rusted out shitbox 1978 camaro on the road and it had a 5 speed.....we go on a trip to Vancouver from the Fraser Valley and all this retard did everytime he had to slow down or come to a complete stop was to put in the clutch and slam on the brakes...I ask him why he does not downshift....and the retard replies "that wrecks the transmission"......total dumbass that had no clue how to drive a standard.
Fun fact.....you can shift gears with a standard transmission withount engaging the clutch provided the transmission has all syncromesshed gears....it is a combination of road speed and RPM's and also requires very good timing.
SR
BS you say.....the plain truth I say...dependant on wear and usage......I have seen a co-workers vehicle being towed to the repair shop twice and both times it was the torque converter....he has also had to have his transmission replaced.....in that same time frame I got 256,000 KM's out of a stock clutch before it had to be replaced....and it was the throw out bearing that went.....the clutch disk still had 30% left because I know how to properly drive a standard...as in when I am leaving an underground parkade that has a 45 degree angle exit ramp....I wait at the bottom until the exit is clear and then run up to the top.....this pisses off the people driving an automatic as they have to wait behind me....far better than balancing the clutch on that ramp and giving my clutch un-needed wear just so some impatient dirtbag can hug my rear bumper.
SR
My first car was a 76 Ford Capri 4-speed.
That car was a piece of cake to shift without the clutch.
From 3-4 you could do it at anywhere from 2000rpm to about 4000rpm.
I remember how many people I amazed doing that.
Never tried it on any of my more expensive cars.
Now I want to.
That car was a piece of cake to shift without the clutch.
From 3-4 you could do it at anywhere from 2000rpm to about 4000rpm.
I remember how many people I amazed doing that.
Never tried it on any of my more expensive cars.
Now I want to.
