Do you have or will get one with....

 

6 speed here!

 

I have a 6 speed TSX, but Automatic is better for city driving/ traffic, which is what I do a lot. Now, I kinda wish I had bought the Auto TSX instead of the 6MT.

 

I would get 6MT if I am the only driver of the car.

 

I am planning to get 6MT in future.

 

Manuals are for wusses and people with bad credit. If you have a well paying job that demeans you by forcing you to drive in traffic like the rest of us corporate slaves, you better be doing it with an Auto. Lot of good your sexy 6 speed manual will do you there.

And don't start any crap about autocrossing either, that's what the friggin' SportShift is for. Or maybe you just need to learn how to drive....I kid...I kid...

 

6MT. My last car was an auto, an it's going to be a while before I go back there.

 

6MT...umm yeah coron, maybe you just need to learn how to drive "manual"

 

6mt. the reason is quite simple, CONTROL!

 

5at. the reason is quite simple, TRAFFIC!

 

Always MT!!!

 

The highly refined light-touch clutch of the TSX isn't an issue whatsoever in traffic. I drive the doggie-crawlin' traffic in the San Francisco Bay Area.

If I were driving a heavy clunky clutch that some domestic brands of cars have, then I could see an advantage of AT in traffic.

 

5AT here.

I'd say that in the last 30 years, I'm about 50/50 on AT vs. MT. I like MT, and when I'm driving one, I really don't notice the shifting too much. But this is my first relatively expensive car, and my consideration was more for luxury than always getting peak performance. I figure I'm going to average 20K miles per year for the foreseeable future, and the AT makes that much easier to deal with.

 

See below. I find 6MT is more fun to drive, and I can handle the occasional times when I am in traffic.

TEIGER

 

For me, manual transmissions have three inherent advantages:

1. Initial cost.

2. Fuel savings.

3. Fun to drive (x-factor).

In the TSX, the initial costs were the same. Scratch one.
The auto gets better fuel mileage. Scratch two.

Fun to drive? This factor can usually overwhelm any other considerations. In the TSX I drove both and thought about it pretty hard. I just didn't like the emissions controls messing up the revs when I was trying to shift. I'm sure once I got used to it it might be okay, but the BMW I traded in for my TSX had a weird clutch that wasn't consistent in the least and I didn't want to take that chance (I'm a stickler for consistency in the performance of my cars).

Also, I think the average speed of traffic in Vancouver must have dropped by 10 mph in the last 5 years to maybe 2 mph. Stop and go, stop and go everywhere in the metropolitan area.

And the TSX has a pretty nice auto too.

P.S. This is my own calculation for my own choice. Sometimes when the road opens (like 3 in the morning or in rural areas) I wish I could take full advantage of the 2.4 with a manual box. But this is real life and some of us have to make painful decisions.

 

the manual gets worst gas mileage in this car. manual here.

 

Every time I'm stuck in city traffic I wish I got the auto. Ever time I'm zipping down country roads I'm glad I got the manual. Overall I'm glad I got the manual.

 

why you'd want to drive a 4-cyl midsize sedan with a manual transmission... I do not know.

 

Ummm yeah...I guess the past two years of Auto-X with a 6SP 9-3 Viggen drive make dumb me.

Don't get me wrong, I was a manual-aholic. I swore auto's off forever. But manual's now? Traffic sucks. The Honda tranny's are like smooth wet glass. The SportShift is slicky-slick. My left foot gets to tap along with Morbid Angel and Deicide and Cannibal Corpse .
If I wasn't such a lazy ass I probably would have got the 6MT too...

 

Not a lazy ass here, and autocrossing with a 6MT. :P

SportShift for autocross? Have you tried it? I'm curious to know how well other tsx can do.

 

As soon as the snow be gone in the Pirate land of Denver, I'll jump in and do it...pictures, times, blah, blah, etc...

I'll run it in STS with the Saab's, Audi's and RSX's...If I've got the dough by then, I might bring some good stickies and run it STR.

Good question though...Anybody got times for AT or 6MT?

 

I have times for my 6MT TSX at the track, never took it to AutoX so I dunno. I ought to try AutoX next spring.

My best at the track was a 16.7@87mph....my worse was an 18.5@69mph. Yeah, my TSX is slow and heavy, not much I can do until wait till the spring and try again.

 

Hey, I don't approve of this poll! It's BIASED!!! And not only that, it's not SCIENTIFIC!!!!! Don't y'all know that the people here are BIASED? You don't mean to tell me that you think 54.39% of all TSX's are MT? That's just so BIASED!

I demand that this poll be put on some site somewhere, where ALL AMERICANS can vote!!! No, make that where all Americans WILL BE REQUIRED to vote! Because ONLY THEN will the poll not be so biased.

At least you should put it on the TL forum too. Then, I don't know, maybe it won't be so, you know, BIASED!!!!!

Or, please, couldn't you ask a slightly different question, so it won't be so biased? Pretty please. With a cherry on top.

Just trying to put a little reality on this poll.


BTW: 5AT

 

lol

I disagree. The poll is perfect, statistically significant, and completely applicable to the general population. I'm sure at LEAST 50% of the TSXs sold are MT

I also agree with the general opinion on here that people who drive autos are lazy, stupid, and probably still have their mommies tie their shoes for them.

Does it even agree with our earlier poll?

 

So here's a new question.. everybody says the TSX is silky smooth to shift, making it relatively painless compared to the average shifter/clutch combo.

However, I've seen a few comments on other non-TSX boards where people have said they didn't like the TSX because with the 6 speed & close gear ratios, it was more of a pain to live with because you're having to shift sooo much.

So my question is, does anybody here think the smoothness of the MT is negated somewhat by the extra shifting required?

 

I won't speak for everyone on this, but personally, I LIKE shifting the gears more often and I find it is actually MORE fun. I like to look at it from the perspective that instead of HAVING to shift more often, that it is a privilege that I can enjoy more often. Sounds cheesy, but that's my perspective.

So to answer your question: No, the smoothness of the transmission accentuates the fun of shifting, rather than detracting from the experience.

TEIGER

 

Exactly. It's not that you HAVE to shift, you GET to shift.

And the beauty of the manual transmission is that you can shift to whatever gear you feel like (within reason). When I'm feeling lazy, I do 1-2-4-6 shifts (skipping 3 and 5). Problem solved. Works great.

 

ok, I see your point guys. Still, kind of hard to relate though, as I've never driven MT. While I'm always a bit intrigued by the passion of MT drivers, I'm just not sure I could change a lifelong habit (20+ years driving AT only).

I also think that an MT driver is more prone to being disappointed when driving AT because they're so used to the performance increase from MT, whereas the AT driver never knowing that performance, isn't bothered by the lack of it.

Hmm.. so in essence, it's like you have a 4 speed? What is the negative consequence of doing that? Poorer gas mileage? And if so, how much poorer? If I ever became a MT driver, I'd probably do this just out of convenience, being the soft and lazy AT driver I am. :P

 

Basically. The gas mileage will be worse, of course. I don't know by how much. I don't do it all the time. And usually only when i'm going down a hill (when I would need to row through gears extra quick anyway). In general you'll have to wait longer during a shift so you don't stress the synchros.

It's never too late to learn

 

Automatic...one, I don't know how to drive a manual (only vehicle I've driven is a Ranger) and two, the last thing I want to worry about in traffic or in general is gear shifting.

 

This is a recurrent topic, but always grist for the mill. 6 MT here, there was never a question. Had to live for the last 5 years with the Mazda 626 AT I inherited from my wife when she got her SUV. As others have said, MT allows one to DRIVE rather than just RIDE. As for the close gear ratio, it's fine with me since I enjoy the shifting experience, the choices and fine-tuned control it gives you to adapt to the road and traffic conditions in front of you. Driving is so much more FUN and interactive now!

 

6MT. Better gas mileage in the city, better acceleration, and more control over the shift points.

 

I think when you got used to MT, shifting becomes more instinctively rather than deliberately.

 

Adding a bit of humor to the mix, today's issue of the Onion (Dec. 10, 2003) features a brief news parody of a guy who obsessively touts the greatness of his 5-speed manual transmission.

"Stick Shift Bragged About"
http://www.theonion.com/

 

I agree with you for the most part, but the 5AT gets better gas mileage in the city than the 6MT TSX. Also, I think it gets like 31MPG on the highway versus 29MPG with the 6MT.

I average around 21-23MPG in my TSX, well below the 22MPG City 29MPG Hwy as said on the window sticker.

 

The Onion is awesome - funniest bit of reading on earth, IMO.

 

I deliver pizza's for Papa Johns and I've never gotten below 24mpg in my TSX...