Alright everybody. I'm curious, AT or MT, and of course, the reason WHY?

 

your question is ambigious and misleading

ARE YOU Asking people IF THEY HAVE MT or AT

or are you asking people would they rather have MT or AT if they AREN'T TL OWNERS

or are you asking AT people would they prefer AT or MT and that they bought at AT because of wife etc but would prefer MT

or are you asking MT people would they prefer AT or MT and have realized they hate shifting, its getting old, live in NYC or LA etc

 

either way, i vote for AT. I have one and i like it. i found out i liked it a lot mroe after last night.

I got the AT in the first place cause when i drove the MT, i didnt like the feel of the clutch. I felt disconnected since i cant feel the pull of the clutch cause its connected to a computer and the engagement point is pretty low to the floor.

And last night, i was in an emergency situation. someone lost control of their SUV on the freeway 4 lanes to my left, almost completed a 720 degree spin my way, and i had to swerve to the shoulder and punch it to not get hit. barely missed. a fellow aziner was behind me and we both thought we were done for. if i was in a MT, there was no time to react to shift into a lower gear to get out of the way.

 

^^^^^^^^^I'm NOT with above stupid

this is a silly reason to NOT get an MT...most people will continue to swerve or get out of the way etc to avoid the accident...punching the pedal etc may have helped you in this ONE situation, but i don't think that's a valid point to go buy ONLY ATs

 

What? Um, no.
The clutch pedal is connected to hydraulics, much like many clutches over the last 20 years.

I prefer MT. I like to shift for myself. I like the fact that the car pulls harder and is faster than the AT, and is nearly 100lbs lighter.

'02 TL-S AT owner
and
'06 TL 6MT owner

(bought both new, still have both).

 

Sorry for the ambiguity of my original question. So my intended question is: Which would you prefer to drive, AT or MT, if you had a choice, and why? Please continue to vote and post. Thanks, all!

BTW, I say MT FTW!

 

MT all the way. traffic sucks but it makes driving fun

 

no point in getting MT in Cali (too much traffic)...that's just me

 

AT...IMO manual is meant for a sporty car and no offense but the TL-S isn't a "sports car" and I'll probably never buy a 4 door car in manual for that reason...if I want a stick I'll get an M3 or 335xi coupe but not really keen on the idea of a sedan in stick...unless it realllly fits the part

 

If it were totally up to me, I'd choose the MT for the added response and driving experience.

BUT, since this is my wife's daily driver ..... 5AT for us.

 

I love how the results are pretty much split down the middle haha

5AT for me

 

i own a 5AT ... wish that I had gone with the 6MT ... for the fun factor, I'm not sure of this but don't manual tranny cars tend to outlive automatic cars? so i guess that would be a benefit too

 

Manual - although if I had to struggle through East Bay traffic everyday then I probably would get an automatic. Sure manuals are fun but fucking it gets old when sitting in 1.5 hours of traffic each way everyday. Unless the TL was a weekend car...

 

I've heard that too, but not sure it really matters...my auto 94 camry has 217k miles and still runs well, same with my auto 98 ML320 has 156k so I don't think that should really be a deciding factor

 

hey douche bag, just cause you dont agree with me doesnt mean im stupid. listen dumbass, i never said that this is a reason to only get an AT and not a MT. i have no problems with MT drivers, except for you. watch what you say and watch who u say it to. your idiocracy of calling me stupid is unnecessary.

thats great that you like to shift for yourself. i do too. but i also like to feel the pull of gear on the clutch.

what reason was there for the 'what? um no' comment. jump in a 4th gen prelude (92-96) or even an accord from around that time and even newer and tell me it feels the same as the clutch on a 3rd gen TL.

coming from cars where i could feel the pull and driving from pure feeling, the first time getting to a hydraulic clutch was depressing.

 

The reason I like to drive MT is for the same reason I gave in my poll I did already in this forum:

https://acurazine.com/forums/acurazine-clubs-meets-15/meet-eat-2-cheddars-houston-tx-october-2nd-2004-sign-154982/

Stop bitin' Prince!

 

Same reason I bought my TL-S MT

 

For the record, the clutch assembly has nothing to do with the ECU and visa versa. They are wholly and completely separate entities.

The other part of your statement, "engagement point is pretty low to the floor", is true in many cases (it was with mine). But you get used to it and once you do, it's fine.

 

In my opinion, the manual transmission fits the 3G TL like a glove. It seems to have been meant for the car. The shifter and its surrounds look great and since this is a luxury performance sports sedan, the manual is a natural.

And since I have one of each, it's quite easy for me to make whatever comparisons I may wish. The manual increases the "fun factor" considerably in this car. But then again, this is only an opinion... right?

 

If you really know how to properly operate a manual transmission, it will far outlast an automatic in terms of maintenance, ownership costs, and reliability. And yes, this statement also includes the clutch assembly.

 

hey, what's the big traffic deal? do you ppl have a problem starting out in a M/T? i don't really see how traffic is a probem for M/T, except that it makes it that much better.

i've driven m/t for probably a total of 3 years now (not constantly due to my 02 auto TL-S), and idk about most m/t drivers, but you get so used to it at one point you don't ever notice it or get bothered by it at alll...i'm bothered driving an automatic since i'm always kicking my left foot on every stop...

btw, it takes an automatic to downshift some time after you floor it...about a good second or so, i have no problem downshifting an mt and punching it in that amount of time...so i don't really see how accident avoidence is a factor here.

another thing...the clutch in the tl feels very connected..how can it not actually....and a low engaging point is a very good thing, means you still got plenty of clutch left .

one last thing...it don't have to be a sports car to be a manual...i'd prefer it in almost any vehicle.

 

for th record, an auto requires 2 limbs, a manual rquires all 4.....so an m/t keeps the driver more involved in driving, rather than doing something else while driving.

 

I'm with you a true MT driver never thinks about shifting it's like breathing you just do it

 

haha, M/T is winning 60/40....go M/T!!!!

makes me wonder though.......how come probably 95% of TL Sales if not more are A/T???

that sucks....and it's killin the M/T, my dealer, and many others say they don't order M/Ts from the factory cuz they just sit on the lot......and that's cuz they got it all wrong, there should always be like 5, and mainly black, cuz i noticed that whoever wants an M/T wudn't really go for much anything else, mabe silver too....

when i was buying my car, there were ONLY 2 M/T TLs on the lot, that's it....about 80+ autos but only 2 M/Ts, 1 was white, non-nav, with all season tires, the other black, with high perf tires, non-nav again....which ended up being my car....i don't think that i would of bought the white one no matter what, even though they were giving it to me for about $1000 less than my NBP becasue it has sat out in the lot for so long....

noone's gonna buy that, also mine should have been a navi too since i wanted navi, but there was no M/T with navi....so i said the hell with it, my TL was EXACTLY what i wanted minus the navi, everything else was what i wanted, so i just bought it.

 

I have driven in L.A. and the traffic is just terrible. I don't know if I would want to drive stick every single day over there, but where I live I wouldn't want anything but a manual transmission car. Honestly I would rather have an 04 TL 6MT than a brand new 08 TL-S 5AT because the manual would be much more fun to drive.

Before you call me crazy for making such a statement, I enjoyed driving my manual 95 Integra LS more-so than an 03 TL-S. Despite the fact that it didn't look as great inside and out, and had way less power than the TL-S, had a subpar stereo system, etc. it was more enjoyable to drive.

I've also become a much sharper driver since learning how to drive stick. When you drive an auto you tend to not be as focused as you would be driving a stick. And stick really is effortless once you're used to it.

MOST people who buy a TL aren't exactly the enthusiast crowd. The members of AZ are a relatively small group compared to the whole demographic. Whether you like it or not the average person does not see the TL as a true sports car or sports sedan. The TL-S, maybe but even still I'm sure there are a large number of AT buyers.

 

I feel there is more of a bond/connection with any car/truck being that is is manual.....my

 

 

You basically answered this question yourself:

Lack of choice / availability is certainly an issue. BMW dealers stock a high percentage of MTs, and have no problems selling them. I had to buy my car across the river in another state to get the color I wanted with a 6MT in my TL-S. When my daughter was trying to buy an Accord EX-L MT a while back, she had a conversation with the dealer that went something like this:

Daughter: I'm looking for an EX-L in Heather with the manual transmission.
Dealer: We don't have a manual in that color right now.
Daughter: What colors do you have?
Dealer: Well, we don't have any EX-L manuals at the moment, we generally don't order them because nobody wants the manual transmission.
Daughter: OK, if I order one, how long will it take?
Dealer: Quite a while right now, there's a waiting list for the manual models.
<Daughter goes ballistic at this point and mentions the dealer is a cretin if he can't connect those dots.>

Yes, he actually said he didn't stock them because nobody wants one, and 30 seconds later said there was a waiting list for them.

Sadly, there is some truth in what he says. The percentage of cars sold with manual transmissions has been steadily declining. I've seen numbers that said even the Mustangs have less than 15% manual transmissions. This is partly due to the great increases in the reliability and performance of automatics, and the increase in traffic density that make the automatic more desireable. My wife, who has driven nothing my manuals over the years, just bought her first automatic a year ago. She just got tired of pushing the clutch in the heavy Washington DC area traffic. My daughter and I, who both have 6MTs (my TL-S, her Accord EXL V6) tease her, but if I had my wide's commute I might have to think it over.

I love manuals. My first car was a '59 MGA, and I've had a series or sports cars, sporty ones, muscle cars and sports sedans over the years - all with manuals.

I enjoy the sensation of controlling what's going on, I enjoy the joy of smoothly shifing, up or down, matching revs as I go, and I enjoy the benefits of greater reliability, better performance and better fuel economy. So much so that when Jaguar quit building decent cars with manuals, I built my own. I bought an XJ-S V-12 convertible, which I really loved, but which came only with an automatic. So, I replaced the manual with a Tremec 5-speed. The car was transformed!! While Jaguar quit making manuals (except for the very bottom of the line), an after-market industry grew up making kits to convert cars like the XJ-S to manual. How sad is that?

If the '09 TLs are SH-AWD, it's fine with me. I'd rather see Acura build a V-8 RWD in a sports sedan, but I can live with SH-AWD. But if it's the end of the manual, my TL-S will be my last Acura.

 

On your first statement here, I agree in that traffic is a non-issue with me as well. I never even think about or consider it, nor do I look for ways to avoid it because of my transmission type.

Your second statement here, "and a low engaging point is a very good thing, means you still got plenty of clutch left" is not quite correct I'm afraid. Lower engagement points are not a direct correlation to clutch life or clutch thickness. In fact, the TL clutch pedal has a relatively short travel and an even shorter take-up, which is as it should be on a more serious machine. The distance between the initial point of engagement to that of exerting enough clamping pressure to move the vehicle is very short which tends to cause people problems at first. But once someone gets use to it, they'll find you really like it.

As for your last statement here, "one last thing...it don't have to be a sports car to be a manual...i'd prefer it in almost any vehicle", I couldn't agree more. I find the manual transmission to be a natural for the TL. I love the looks of the shifter, the position of the shifter (kind of high), the relatively short throw, and the feel. In 3 1/2 years, I have not once wished I had an automatic.. but then again, that would hold true for any personal driving machine I may own.

 

Did not know that. Lets let this thread go and we'll keep yours going...