rickg523

Stuck on the M4 in a 7km tailback? Give me a self driver.
Driving across Kansas - where a tree is a landmark that can be seen for miles - I'll let the car drive while I chill.
Just like there are drives that scream "Shift Me!" there are drives that whisper "Relax, I'll take this."

Loren Pechtel

Having lived in basically flat areas and not needing to drive in stop-and-go traffic I almost never found it annoying.

Now, had I lived in a place like San Francisco I probably would have a very different opinion.

Also, in the plus column I'll add one more feature: If you need to stomp on the gas to get out of the way a manual is better than an auto. The auto will rev up the engine, decide it should be in the lower gear, slow the engine, shift and rev it again. The manual will simply let the engine rev. If you stomp on the pedal while driving you don't care about fuel economy at the moment!

Having evaded accidents twice due to this I was very reluctant to go to an auto, but my latest car is a CVT--it doesn't exhibit this behavior. While the transmission does seem to do something it gets out of the way at least as well as I could.

Loren Pechtel

I have a Corolla--no CVT maintenance in the schedule.

Dodge DeBoulet

Ditto with Mme DeBoulet's 2010 Nissan Murano. Close to 100K miles and no major service issues.

heraclitus

I once heard that manuals predominate in Europe because when driving really caught on on a mass scale after WWII, the cost of automatic transmissions was prohibitive... the cars sold there were generally simpler and less expensive compared to what was popular in North America. In time, people got used to it and it became the norm.

I'm not sure how accurate that theory is, but to me a standard car is like a car without power steering, no air, etc. In the right conditions it can enhance your enjoyment (fun to put the windows down on a warm summer day! etc.) but for the most part it seems like a compromise.

emma69

Only bad automatics are not responsive - my last 3 cars have been automatics, and all three would shift if you pressed the gas. Only lower end automatics seem to be problematic (aka the ones rental car places tend to give me!)

emma69

I'm pretty much fully trained for everything high end

Except yachts. I get terribly sea sick (didn't stop me spending a summer learning to sail one mind you, great diet!)

CPRich

I only drive autos when I have to (rentals), but stomping on the gas of a 6-speed in top gear isn't going to get you much. MrsCPs auto 328 will get out of the way faster then my M5. Even with me downshifting, she'll be further out of danger for the critical first 2-3 seconds as I'm shifting. The days of 1-2 seconds shifts are in the past, IMHO. Maybe cheapo cars are worse, but even my rentals kick down faster than I'd shift (and I spent 5 year racing competitively).

I've come to the conclusion that there's not really an objective/measurable argument anymore for a manual. It's an emotional need for those who enjoy driving.

WorldLux

Yes. After WWII, both Europe and Japan were bombed out and resources were sparse, which is why they built Fiat 500s, BMW Isettas and Kei cars whereas US manufactures were building road cruisers.

Another argument why big cars never really caught on in Europe until quite recently is that everything is much more compact. I've had small hatchback rentals that barely fitted into the parkings spots of older car parks. Italy, France, Spain and Portugal have lots of narrow streets, where a US SUV would fail miserably.

I've had good automatics that weren't responsive. The classic situation where most automatics are failing me is, when I approach roundabouts. In a manual car, I put the car into second gear, check every I can enter the roundabout and accelerate into the roundabout.

With autos - and especially dual clutch boxes, I approach the gearbox thinks "oh he's slowing down. He's probably going to stop". When I want to accelerate, the gearbox takes much more time to put the gearbox and give me the gear I want. Once it reacts, it somewhat overreacts by keeping revs high for some time, whereas I only needed a little burst of power.

And obviously on roads I know and bends I can drive in my sleep, a properly set up manual transmission is IMO still king.

Sounds more like a problem of a too long transmission ratio. There are lots of cars that have very poor (when it comes to acceleration) transmission ratio in final gear to keep fuel consumption low. Some car manufactures take it so far, that their cars can reach Vmax in 5th but not in 6th gear.

And yes. Obviously the days of the >2 second shifts are gone. There are a few cars out there, that still have horrible automatic transmission. The VW Up! has the dreaded automated gearbox: It's essentially a 4 gear manual transformed into an automatic. It has the shifting times of a very slow, old driver.

Overall I would say that neither system can claim a definitive win. The manual gearbox is definitely fun and - contrary to common believe - is in 90% of the cases just as easy to drive. An automatic can handle most situation just fine. The disadvantage of it is clearly cost: It usually costs more to get an automatic and if the gearbox fails, these fancy double clutch gearboxes can get quite expensive.

Oh. And regarding additional security, neither wins. Theoretically the automatic gearbox wins as you keep (in theory) both hands at the wheel. In practice, I tend to say that I see more drivers in America being distracted with smoking, drinking, eating, etc... behind the wheel than in Europe.

WorldLux

BTW (and I'm surprised this hasn't been brought up):

Hey UK, how about you stop driving on the wrong side and start driving on the right side of the road? There's a reason why it's called the right side.

antichef

We have been doing it so long now it just seems natural. I gather the US only recently changed to driving on the "wrong side", changeover date being 4 July 1776, I think?

Mwenenzi

USA cars were right hand drive until about 1910~1915. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right-...t-hand_traffic
The opposite of right is wrong. RHD is correct

Yahillwe

I can't imagine driving anything but a stick, and a real 4 wheel drive stick.

Automatic bores me. No challenge. Even when stuck in traffic.

rickg523

RHD is correct...when driving on the left.
When driving on the right, LHD is correct.
You don't really want to be steering your vehicle from the side not adjacent to oncoming traffic, unless you like shunting body panels. I mean, you can get used to it, like brushing your teeth with your non-dominant hand, but it's not worth the effort.

WorldLux

And the UK made left hand driving mandatory in 1835.