A general question....not cl related...
Wat would u rather have?
And wat r the Pros and Cons Of both trannies?

PH

 

auto-less work
stick-more control, fun

 

Manual. Once you truly learn how to drive it, not saying that i have but i'm getting there, there is nothing like the satisfaction of rowing through the gears.

PROS: total control

CONS: total control

 

Auto is more consitent on the strip. Well driven it is fast a nice. There is 15% more power to the ground with the stick, you can't get the same dyno numbers with all-bolt-ons. However, there is 1 extra shift before the 1/4 mile end.

 

stick-fast ass shifts, complete control over the car, you pick gear/speed
auto-better in traffic and when tired.
I pick stick all the way just cuz i love slamming through gears

 

If your question were CL related, I'd mention that you also get better cornering with the MT due to the HLSD, lower weight and better weight ratio. The Auto gives you VDC to keep you from losing control, they didn't see fit to throw that onto the 6-speed.

In general, I agree that it is more of a control thing. Just me personally, I wouldn't be as interested in a straight line race if we both had auto cars, once you get the launch it's mostly just flooring the gas and seeing which car is faster. If both people are driving stick, suddenly there's more skill involved. I'm sure the auto drag racers on this board will have some responses about the subtleties of racing in an auto, but that's my take.

 

Auto makes for a good commuter car (in traffic).

Stick makes for a good fun car (sunday drives).

Life is full of compromises

 

the fact that a manual is able to make the motor put more power to the ground is very cool, however, i have no interest in ever owning a manual car. that sort of thing never gave me a boner, i just dont see the draw. i dont see it as fun trying to sit in traffic or parallel park or sit in a drive-thru with a manual tranny. if i live my whole life and never drive another manual tranny car, it wouldnt bother me one bit. not to mention, with the advent of SMG, we are moving closer and closer to a car whose auto tranny is faster, more consistant, and more efficient than any human could ever be with a manual.

 

ive seen S2k's run 15s at the track, ive seen C5 manual vettes run high 14s at the track, ive seen integra type R run 16-17 second 1/4 miles. manuals are not consistant at the track or anywhere for that matter. even a marginally good stick driver will be hard pressed to do anything consistantly in one. to me, id just rather have a car that i know will be consistant and easy to launch, not to mention, easy to drive home when im a bit tipsy or tired, easy to paralell park, easy to sit in a traffic jam. that type of thing is more important to me than some "satisfaction" some people feel when shifting a manual.

 

your missing out jimcol...PH...how about that M3???

 

i would take an SMG M3 anyday over a manual M3, and id be willing to bet that i could beat the great majority of any driver here in a race with me in a stock SMG M3 and you in a stock 6 speed M3. id love to see such a race. an SMG M3 vs. a 6 speed identical M3. it will take more than just a "marginally good" manual driver to win that race.

 

How on Earth is driving a stick through a drive-thru any harder than an auto?

 

because you got to sit there with your foot all the way on the clutch while youre lookin around for the correct change or you gotta put the car in neutral, then shift in into first anytime you move a few inches, its just a pain in the ass. in an auto, you just chill. no shifting, no worrying about stalling it while trying to roll forward without giving it tOO much gas, etc

 

Jim...well duh...I think the SMG's have been proven to shift faster than the best driver in the world can shift a standard gear box, that's why they were made...SMG is great, it would be a hard choice for me between SMG and standard..

 

You just put it in neutral and use the e brake

 

Auto pros: good in traffic, dont have to learn anything, smooth

Auto cons: tends to get boring

Manual Pros: nothing feels better then pushing a clutch in and shifting gears, have a choice between gears, keeps you active in your car(which is great while driving late at night and you are tired)

Manual Cons: can destroy your car if used wrong, sucks ass in traffic


i'll take a manual over an auto anyday

 

I just put it in neutral when I'm stopped. Every drive-through I've been through does NOT inch foward a little bit at a time. I just sti there until the lead car takes off, then everyone moves forward one car length. Then you sit in neutral till the next car takes off. You obviously haven't spent enough time driving a stick to get comfortable with it. Once you are, parallel parking and drive throughs won't even cross your mind as being in any way difficult.

 

once you drive a manual, it's second nature to shift and definitely is not a chore even in heavy traffic. for the first time in my life, my cars with auto actually outnumber the manuals and sometimes I just have that need to shift so i know i will never be without a manual. There are other days where i really enjoy the "shiftless power" of the CL though but for some reason I ALWAYS drive with my hand on the shifter even though i hardly ever use ss because it seems like a waste without a clutch to work.

 

SMG's fastest shift time is 80 milliseconds which is pretty fuckin fast but not faster than any human possible, people seem to misunderstand that. Give me a week in a stickshift M3 and i can put money on it that i'll beat an SMG

 

seriously, if you can't handle a manual in a drive through then you should have gotten an auto. like i said though it suck basically only in really HEAVY traffic, like the Woodward Dream Cruise, where you go a mile in 4 hours(any people who have been there will agree). anyway, like said above, it becomes second nature.

 

oh man, dude, you need to go learn a thing or two before trying to act like an authority.

1- Why would you put the clutch in while looking for loose change?????

 

LMAO! that's what i was asking myself when he said that

 

For some reason, some people are taught that pushing the clutch in is as good as putting it in neutral.

The father of a girl i know was teaching her how to drive a stick while i was in the car. He was an ok driver i guess, but he told her to just push the clutch in when standing still. You could smell the clutch burning whenever we were at a stop sign or light.

After he got out of the car to let us drive around, the first thing i did was teach her how to drive it the right way.

 

The next car i get will definately be a stick. I think that if i had to go to the city daily and was always in heavy traffic i would prefer an auto, but ONLY if i had a nice weekend car that was a manual.

 

Auto: Easy and great for a commuter car. Get to still play with the shitty shift. Bad since you lose so much power to the wheels.

Manual: You get more power and more control. Bad: You end up with one leg bigger than the other if you commute rt93 into Boston every day.

For weekends, I wish that I had a manual even though I don't drive it very well (lack of practice). I haven't suffered too badly with my CL-S auto but I wish that my last car (Prelude) was manual.

 

Unless she was sitting on the friction point, sitting at a light with the clutch down doesn't wear the clutch plate. It will eventually wear out the throw-out bearings though. Not sure what was smelling, but it wasn't the clutch plate unless there was something seriously wrong.

 

 

very few cars perform the same stick -vs- auto the cl-s is one that can be pretty even...but in any 4 cylinder car its a night and day difference. When dealing with v8 the torque alone makes up for a lot but make no mistake about it a manual will always perform better than any auto...driving a stick you know how hard you want to drive your car and do so accordingly with auto they try to make adaptive computer sensors to make the trannies shift either sport or cruise...doesn't work well.

I choose manual unless a M3 sMG or any of the 55s MBs with over 500 HP

Lou

 

The biggest gripe I have against autos is the torque converter. I hate the feeling that the engine and the wheels are connected by spinning liquid. What is this, a boat? I like a solid mechanical coupling. So much more efficient and predictable. I'll give up my stick when SMG's replace slushboxes on more than just a few supercars.

 

Auto for me. Maybe one day i'll learn how to drive w/ a stick but until then.

BTW in my Gym parking lot on Wednesday night there was a brand new Silver E55. No need to learn when driving that car!

 

Had sticks. Got tired of it in daily commute traffic. Hard to eat and talk on cell phone and use pda with stick.

Stick is great fun for mountain twisties. If that's what I did most of the time I'd have a stick.

 

i still want to learn to drive a stick, but when i get 1 it will just be for a weekend cruiser, not as an everyday car

 

Manual is useful if your battery dies and you need to start the car by pushing it... try that in an auto!!

 

Hahaha... i have fond memories of push-starting my father's 1992 Taurus SHO after it took a shit on him. Damn was i glad i had been going to the gym for a while when that happened. He sold it to a coworker for $6k or something and bought the CL-S that same week.

Come to think of it, that Taurus was a fucking BITCH to drive. It was the most unforgiving stick i've ever driven - and the one i learned on. I don't think i could hop in and get it to go without stalling it a few times now.

Last i heard the guy he sold it to gave it to his son, who wrecked the car within a couple weeks. Dumb kids.

 

LOL : owned :

 

Here's my feelings

Automatic= for women
Manual = for men.



I like most people can appreciate the ease of driving a automatic transmission. It's kinda nice going from my Mustang to my Taurus and not having to worry about shifting. However, after a couple days in a row it gets boring. There is no excitement at all. If I want it to downshift I want it to downshift NOW, not when the computer decides that's what I want it to do.

And yes SMG trannies are very cool, but I would still take the full manual over it. You'll never feel as connected with the car when it shifts for you. I love going to the drag strip with my manual transmission car. I am very consistent and rarely miss a gear. Why is it so hard to be consistent in a manual transmission car? As long as you don't spin and don't miss a gear you should be within a tenth every time down. I know I am anyway.

 

WOW….. There is so much MIS-INFORMATION in this thread I’m not even going to BEGIN to correct anyone or even argue.

And Jim, your “knowledge” of all things mechanical with 4-wheels CONTINUES to astound me daily.

Thanks for the laugh all.

Shawn S

 

Actually, if you don't mind, would you mind clearing up that misinformation? I'm curious as to what's right/wrong. Well, the stuff that relates to driving a stick, anyways.

 

I guess F1 drivers are chicks

 

what about that new Pontiac GTP? Anyone see the commercial with the wannabe paddle shifting? I guess its better than double clutchin'