antichef

Better yet in an auto with paddle manual over ride, as you dont miss a change or stall. Best fun I had was in my Porsches with Tiptronic as overtaking did not need "kickdown", you tapped a button twice and were off like a rocket! 😀

lhrsfo

This is exactly it. Assuming you have an everyday car, rather than something exotic with flappy paddles, even the most basic car can be fun to drive when you are working the gears, taking twists in the road and overtaking. This is when automatics are quite painful.

Dodge DeBoulet

Those flappy paddles are showing up in mundane cars as well; the Camry I had as a rental 2 weeks ago was equipped with them. It wasn't a particularly peppy car either, so I really couldn't see the need for them.

Badenoch

I'm a recent convert due to international work where driving a stick is a very helpful skill to have. Along the way I discovered I enjoy driving them.

Otherwise it's like mechanical watches and muzzle loading firearms. There are better options but not everything has to be technology dependent.

emma69

I have one of those 'somewhere in between' types - an automatic, but that does what a manual does (or that is how it was explained to me!) I have the option to drive it as an automatic (put it in D and go) or I have the option to shift up and down, but just using the lever, no clutch pedal.

I learnt to drive in a stick shift, and I have zero problem driving one when I need to. But oh my goodness I love my* car - it is just so easy to drive, especially in traffic. I don't have to balance on the clutch on a hill, I don't have to be constantly 'doing' things with my hands and left leg. It is just so much simpler driving an automatic! I am not, nor ever will be a boy racer, and I guess I got my fill of European driving in a stick years ago, now I am just happy that driving is more simple

*my car you'd struggle to notice it was an automatic by performance but heck I have driven some awful automatics, especially in the UK, where you put your foot down (e.g. to merge on to the motorway) and nothing happens for a second or two! Hate the 'ordinary' automatics!

365RoadWarrior

Neither my late wife nor I has ever owned anything other than a manual transmission (despite living in places where stop-and-go traffic is the norm). Like MissJ, I want to DRIVE, to be in control, to put that tachometer to use. For people with autos, CVTs and the like, you're a third of the way resigned to the self-driving world. Give up the steering and the brake and you're there.

emma69

Bring it on! I can't wait for the day the car will take me to work, and I don't have to worry about idiot drivers! Me, a cup of tea and a book, and not having to actually drive, yes please!

WorldLux

It's much more fun IMO and it's somewhat more predictable. I can see where I'm going and shift in anticipation, whereas an automatic gearbox doesn't, hence the automatic gearbox is sometimes in the "wrong" gear (e.g. when slowing down for a roundabout, some are a gear too high to just accelerate and merge into the roundabout). Shifting pedals can somewhat work around that problem.

CPRich

Be aware that there's a huge difference between a paddle that just moves the location of control over a traditional torque converter/slushbox and a paddle that controls a true twin-clutch automatic or other type of automated-clutch manual.

Appreciating the art of driving, and the controls that a manual affords, is quite different than defrosting a refrigerator. But, like religion, if you're not a believer, no discussion is going to convince you. I have many/most of the latest electronics and modern conveniences, but a finely tuned automatic watch, preferably with a see-through back, and a manual transmission, are still very attractive to me. Maybe it's my MechE background.

Dadaluma83

I will never own a CVT for one big reason. It is belt driven which would require semi-regular maintenance. Its one thing if its easy do it yourself maintenance or cheap maintenance at a mechanic as there isnt much involved like your drive belt or radiator hoses. Its another if the routine maintenance has to do with opening up the engine or transmission.

Last year when I was in the market for a new car and was a tie between Toyota Corolla and Honda Civic I used timing chain vs timing belt as the deciding factor.

I didnt want to spend several hundred dollars every so often to change the timing belt. I would imagine changing a belt in a CVT is even worse as transmission jobs usually run in the thousands of dollars.

I will only ever own a regular automatic transmission where you just change the fluid every so often, or a manual where even though you have to replace the clutch eventually, it will be a big repair that is few and far between as long as you dont abuse it.

Just say no to CVTs, at least right now until the reliability improves.

MissJ

I was just about to post something similar. The paddles on a Camry are useless. But paddles on a Ferrari or Porsche are actually shifting and the car will not shift until you tell it.

emma69

I am such a girl - such things don't even enter my mind! Something doesn't work, I had over my car keys and sit drinking tea until it does (I also have a lease that matches the warranty so I don't get nasty surprises!)

antichef

You are fully trained for a high end car Emma! Nothing new to learn, trust me 😉

antichef

... other than keeping a calm composure when you get a high end bill 😉

bibbju

I feel exactly the same. Admittedly I'm English so manual transmission was the norm for me learning to drive but I like to feel like I'm actually DRIVING. I get a kick out of being sensitive to the car's performance and adjusting my driving behaviour accordingly. I live in central London so driving here is stop-start with gear changes maybe every 10 metres on some days (so often that frequently I have one hand resting on the gear stick for the majority of the journey). I would never change my car for an automatic. They just seem like cars for lazy people to me (sorry guys!!).