Comments on: Manual vs. Automatic

By: Yong Kooch

Yong Kooch — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 23:39:33 +0000

Nice one! If I could write like this I would be well chuffed. The more I read articles of such quality as this (which is rare), the more I think there could be a future for the Web. Keep it up, as it were.

By: cata

cata — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 21:36:26 +0000

Simple: BMW!
I am not their advocate, I drive a manual Subaru WRX but you have to recognize value when you find it!

By: Keithius

Keithius — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 14:09:42 +0000

I don’t think anyone’s mentioned anything bad about VW’s quality, but yes, I have heard of the Phaeton, and yes, I did know it’s relationship to the Bently. And yes, I think we can all agree it was a bit of a failure – everything else aside, it just wasn’t the right “kind” of car for VW’s image. It didn’t “fit.” And that just made everything else about it stand out even more (for the worse).

By: Scott Park

Scott Park — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 12:37:41 +0000

Hey nice post.
About VW bad quality, have you heard of the Volkswagen Phaeton? Did you know it’s basically a chopped up Bentley Continental GT? Sad, but true.
The VW Phaeton was a massive failure in my opinion, the worst thing VW ever made!

Its Official: VW Phaeton is a failure!

By: Keithius

Keithius — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 13:34:11 +0000

VERY well said, sir! Thank you!

By: G-Man

G-Man — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 09:56:36 +0000

Something nobody has mentioned in this debate is reliability and durability. Jack, who hauls cattle and horses, knows what I am talking about.

When you work an automatic, stirring that torque converter, it gets HOT. Heat kills automatics. Seals harden up, clutch facings glaze or delaminate, and the fluid oxidizes. When (not if) it fails, it will often do so with no warning. The manual, OTOH, with it’s clutch firmly locked between the pressure plate and flywheel, will run much cooler. Pulling that trailer out of the steep canyon? Put it in 1st or 2nd, leave it there, and let the engine do it’s thing.

There’s a lot to go wrong in an auto, especially newer electronic ones. They are full of valves, clutches, bands, sprags, seals, solenoids, planetary gear sets, pumps and hydraulic fluid. The fact that they are as reliable as they are is a testament to modern engineering and metallurgy. In a modern fully computer controlled vehicle the PCM logic will essentially not allow a driver to abuse the transmission in any way, which really helps durability for a typical passenger car or light truck. But what about heavy duty use? The Achilles heel is still that torque converter making heat, and clutches being forced to shift under high load demands. Work it hard enough (not abuse, but work) and even the best modern auto won’t live anywhere near as long as the clutch in a manual. And like I said, when it does fail, where will you be?

How about out in the middle of nowhere? I live in the Southwest US, and out here, as with many other places in the world, you can reach some very, VERY remote places with an expedition-type 4WD rig. Here, a severe mechanical failure is much more than an inconvenience. Which would you rather have? The slushbox loaded with dozens of possible failure points, or the simple, reliable manual gearbox?

What if you are in the middle of nowhere and your starter dies? If a battery dies, you get out the jumper cables and jump start your rig off of one of your buddy’s rigs. Not so with a starter – you are dead in the water. With a stick, a simple tug from a friends vehicle and a pop of the clutch, and you are back in business. THAT is what I call reliable. Maybe even State of the Art

I will admit, the above scenarios don’t mean much to 99% of the city dwellers here who are more worried about commuting in gridlock. I would never choose to live or work where I had to do so, but if I did you can bet I would have an automatic (or maybe one of those cool electric rides, if the commute is short enough to make it practical ) However, to say that automatics are superior and manuals no longer have a place in the automotive world is shortsighted and foolish.

By: Adam

Adam — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 15:01:37 +0000

You guys need to come to South Africa. I’d say there are nine manual cars for every one automatic on the road. Anybody doing there drivers in an auto here is considered basically incapable of driving! The debate can go on for hours over which is better, but let’s face it: if you can’t drive stick, you can’t drive!

By: INITIAL P

INITIAL P — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 10:01:52 +0000

Toyota has been making the best Transmissions since like 95. They throw the car into the next gear. rediculously fast and rediculously reliable.

By: Jack

Jack — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 05:26:44 +0000

Take it from experience, when living on a ranch and hauling trailers packed full of cattle and horses, the transmission of choice is a no-brainer. MANUAL!!! I have a ‘97 Chevy 2500 5 speed, and an ‘03 Chevy 2500 HD Auto. Although the ‘03 does alright, the ‘97 beats it everytime. It’s really something you don’t understand until you’ve been put in that situation. When climbing out of a hill, I feel so much more comfortable being able to control my gear positions, and not have to worry that a crappy automatic transmission is going to send me and my trailer rolling backwards jackknifed at the bottom of a hill. Billy, just because you don’t have the skill to handle a manual transmission, doesn’t mean you should put the stick down. Maybe one day when you’ve had to drag 5 tons up out of a canyon you’ll understand why a manual is vastly superior to an automatic. Even when not hauling a load, a manual is so much more fun and reassuring to drive. I can see how some might find an automatic better, but as stated above, it’s just simple laziness. When one gets out into the real world of driving, and out of their luxury world of never having to set their coke down to shift, they’ll understand the value of a clutch and gear shift. Besides, it takes three seconds to shift a gear, I guess if it’s such a hassle to make that next sip of coke wait three seconds, then a manual probably isn’t for you. Pay attention to the road Einstein, and not on your beverage!!!

By: Joe

Joe — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 04:30:17 +0000

Yes, in U.S. auto is king, but ‘everywhere else’ it’s manual. Also, in U.S. the wages are extremely high compared to ‘everywhere else’. So maybe there’s a relationship there?