Quote:
Originally Posted by shawnhayes
Back in the day, I could make this argument as well. Manuals were cheaper, had better gas mileage, and in general were faster.
When I found that I could shift my GT-R at full throttle in the middle of "hogpen" at VIR without upsetting the balance or handling of the car, all that faded away.
Since then, especially the BMW automatics from ZF, the automatics are just as reliable, get great gas mileage, and shift better and faster than manuals. Don't get me wrong...manuals are more "fun". But modern auto's are so good, it's hard to take a manual over an automatic for a daily driver or purposed car.
Shawn
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I'm not making any argument about price, fuel consumption, or shift speed regarding manual vs. automatic transmissions. I've driven at least 6 or 7 very good automatics with some level of manual shift mode; those cars being several BMW loaner cars, a few Cadillac ATS, and a few trucks/SUVs. No automatic when in automatic mode shifts with the driver control that a manual provides. There is no arguing that fact. Automatics in auto-shifting mode can't read traffic and decide when to shift based on traffic conditions and driver intent of where he wants to place his car in traffic.
Moving into manual shift mode in an automatic that has the feature to manually control the transmission gear shifts is a synthetic interpretation of the true foot-clutch action. While I've not had the benefit of operating a true dual-clutch automatic, which I have read are close to a true manual, and do shift faster and more consistently than a human, they still can't anticipate when to shift in automatic mode based on how the driver wants to place his car in traffic. So while they shift fantastically fast with little throttle closure, they still don't shift when the driver wants. If the driver wants to use the manual mode of most of these manually-shifting automatics in traffic to properly place his car where he wants, there is always shift lag in the process (outside of a dual clutch auto). Is it really that tiring to use one's left leg in traffic? A true manual trans purist does not find operating a clutch as a chore.
If the idea for a daily driver is to have a transmission that shifts for itself in heavy traffic, and can offer some level of manual control when back-roading with no traffic, the point is lost on those of us drivers who prefer the true action of a foot-clutch. Shift speed is not the priority for us, but rather, shift
timing is the priority.