I dunno, some of them are pretty feminine looking :P

 

I use to like sticks in any of the muscle cars I've owned in the past. However, now a person who is in their 50's, I prefer the auto, especially in traffic and in a vehicle that I have to use as a daily driver. If I had just planned to use the car on weekends, I would have preferred the 6-speed.

Pro: Auto - less work while in a traffic jam, but still plenty of power for fun. If you feel like shifting...use the SS.

Con: None

Pro: Stick - more fun driving and more control with good power

Con: Being in a traffic jam for so long, your clutching foot cramps up. If you feel like not shifting and long for an automatic mode...you're fawked.

 

Pappy you didn't include less whp and less reliability (especially in the CL's case from what I have read) with the automatic.

How can it be a sports coupe if it has an automatic?

I agree on the whole PITA traffic jam stuff though. And if I was 50 yrs old I might feel a bit different about it. However, I have driven my Mustang which has a much heavier clutch and much notchier shifter in Detroit's worst traffic jams and it indeed sucks. However, the joy of flogging it and doing the shifting, not the car, more than makes up for the traffic inconvenience. I'm only 21 yrs old though, so I still haven't fully realized what my highschool injuries will prevent me from doing.

I am also of the opinion that it makes you a better driver. You can't read your newspaper, eat breakfast, and log onto your laptop while driving a stick. However an automatic allows much more-so for these distracting activities.

 

My only worry about driving a stick is the extra attention it requires - i think it might make me a worse driver. I've dodged more accidents than i can count simply becuase i was aware of what was going on. I might not have been so aware if i was managing a clutch and stick.

You aren't a good driver in the first place if you even consider reading a newspaper or using a laptop while in the car. I don't want someone who does that on the roads at all, regardless of whether or not it's an auto or a manual.

 

traffic isn't all that bad if you know how to ride out first gear. And the whole thing with shifting is that it just becomes second nature, you automatically do it without thinking

 

My Camaro race car has manuel shift valve body in TH-400trans. So no clutch and you have consistency that you simply don't have with clutch. For pure excitement there's nothing like a stick but would rather drive an auto at my age. With a stick you have to be to serious and focused. Hey, who of you all can be that serious all the time. You can have alot more fun with your wife,girlfriend, buds etc. in an auto. Do you catch my drift?! Again its just a persons preference! Happy Motoring!

 

JTKZ13, you're right about the distractions...I didn't think of that. But less wheel horsepower?...ahhh, not so that I would notice!!!

 

Its comming...i have june....the last month to decide and put an order to take delivery in july..so far it is an m3 smg....unless i change my mind in june

Thx for the inputs everyone

PH

 

You must be excited...wow...

I thought F1 drivers used SMG or something similar to that

 

driving automatics just seems boring to me.

 

when i first got my audi i thought i FUCKED UP BIG TIME getting stick....

but after 3 weeks, i loved it, and now im addicted.

I cant even drive other cars normally now, my hand keeps going for the shifter in auto cars, its weird.

Traffic was an issue, but now its easy, u just gotta fuck with 1st gear a little.