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Which do you drive - manual or automatic? and Why?

Ill start, I drove a manual for many years, but i recently switched to automatic. I find it so much nicer to drive:

-Theres no clutch to keep pressing in/out

-no finding the biting point

- no rolling back on hills when handbrake not applied

-Gears are changed automatically but can still hold it in certin gears when i feel nessecary.

-impossible to stall(not that i did much in manual anyway)

-much more relaxed/nicer to drive

After driving auto, id never go back to manual unless i had to. In stop start traffic its much nicer in an auto hands down. all you have to do is brake, then gas then brake then gas.....

In a manual its clutch in/out and changing gears everyfew seconds then stopping, just gets annoying after a while.

The way i see it, theres no point having 3 pedals when you only need 2.

Manual, except for rare occasions when I had to have a rental car

without it!



Better all the way 'round. Just call me ShiftControl.



I understand it's different now, but used to be you got better gas

mileage with the manuals.



I hate waiting for the automatic to shift. Just think, Indy 500 cars aren't

automatics!! :driving:



I learned to drive on a stick... at 8 years old! Dad was a stern taskmaster,

he'd ride with me and say "Oh look at the cute little baby colt" and if

I looked... WHAM. "How many times I gotta tell ya keep yer eyes on the

road"? Or, WHAM... how many times I gotta tell ya to let that clutch

out SLOW?



As a result, as Rain Man would say: "I'm an excellent driver"!



:driving: :driving:

er, uh, who are you? please do an intro thread. ... my son is a lefty, he could never drive a stick, anyone else have that problem? i can drive anything, except when i get to england i will never learn how to drive on the wrong side of the road with the steering in the wrong place!!

SnoozeControl wrote: I'd be dead meat if I tried driving over there.me too, one roundabout and i've had it! good thing Bothwell has a horse!

SnoozeControl wrote: I like being in control. I hate when you press on the gas to pass someone with an automatic, and it jerks when it goes into a lower gear.



Besides, I like the knob.


-

Manual. I have more control over the car.

lady cop wrote: er, uh, who are you? please do an intro thread. ... my son is a lefty, he could never drive a stick, anyone else have that problem? i can drive anything, except when i get to england i will never learn how to drive on the wrong side of the road with the steering in the wrong place!!


Not true. I dont know about driving in the wrong lane but when I was with the post office the wheel was on the right, no biggy at all, you hardly notice the difference.



I drive a stick. For a smaller car I prefer it but if I were driving a Cadillac... well I want to relax. Really depends on the car.

the past six years an automatic and I ain't ever going back.......unless it's a Porsche or something like that.....but then that wouldn't be my main car...... -must think about it more

SnoozeControl wrote: I'd rather be covered in cockroach poo than drive a Cadillac, but that's just me.


What's wrong with Caddie's.

I drive an automatic. It's easier to drive when you have small kids in the car.

I like driving manuals though, they are fun. My first car was a manual, it was always stolen though. My friends thought it was fun to push start it and move it somewhere else when I left it parked on main street. :rolleyes:

Always prefer a manual. You can always drop the clutch and slip into "Sh*t-off-a-shovel" mode to escape danger.

I prefer automatics when driving in Europe or America as it's one less thing to worry about on the wrong side of the road.

Having said that, it's amazing how quickly you adapt (even though I drove round a roundabout clockwise in Lanzarote..oops). The thing I find odd is that for me, the transition back to the left-hand side back in England is harder

ArnoldLayne wrote: Thats Chipped Beef isnt it


without toast........:wah:

SnoozeControl wrote: I like being in control. I hate when you press on the gas to pass someone with an automatic, and it jerks when it goes into a lower gear.



Besides, I like the knob.


Then theres that, hard for sneezer to manage with a column shift.





(although not impossible)

Depends on how strong the impulse is.

SnoozeControl wrote: I remember the gas crunch of the late 70s... they called those big cars "tuna boats." AND too many old guys that can barely see over the steering wheel drive those. I've always liked small cars, for some reason.


There used to be a tiny car over here called the Hillman Imp, and a large car called the Austin Maxi, both of which were on the road in the 70's. When I was 17 I worked in a large Drawing Office and two of the guys had these cars. One was really small and the other tipped the scales at 25 stones (350lbs) and they used to park next to each other. The trouble was that the little guy looked through the steering wheel of the Maxi, and the big guy really struggled to get into the Imp. It used to lean over as the suspension on the drivers side was knackered

SnoozeControl wrote: I remember the gas crunch of the late 70s... they called those big cars "tuna boats." AND too many old guys that can barely see over the steering wheel drive those. I've always liked small cars, for some reason.


LOL I have theory that in Texas the older you are the bigger a car you own. However it's opposite in New Mexico. It's always old people I see driving the smaller cars.

I've driven in Morocco. I was more concerned about the other drivers staying on their side of the road. Scary. They even overtake on bends up mountains.:driving:

Well I can drive just about anything.. !! But I have an automatic no need for a shift any more to much for the California traffic...:driving: I have driven in Greece, New Zeland (right side) scarry..!! I must say the rule of the road are different where ever you go... Have driven through almost all the states except a few on the east coast, all through Canada, Hawaii, and Mexico (which is the most dangerous place on the planet to drive, and you don't drive at night period.). :driving:

I have driven sticks for so long. I think they are better on gas, the little cars. I have a Toyota Corolla.

:rolleyes: :driving:

posted by ladycop

er, uh, who are you? please do an intro thread. ... my son is a lefty, he could never drive a stick, anyone else have that problem? i can drive anything, except when i get to england i will never learn how to drive on the wrong side of the road with the steering in the wrong place!!


Why not import a right hand drive car for him? I'm right handed and find they are no problem at all. so a lefty should be OK. Mind you a left hand drive manual would feel really strange-how do you prop your right elbow on the window frame when its at the other side of the car?

Apart from that the steering wheel in a british car is in the right place and we drive on the left whereas in the US the steering wheel is in the wrong place but you drive on the right. With roundabouts if you go the right way round that's wrong. Simple.

Did you know it was allegedly due to napoleon that the continentals drive on the right? and America followed suit. Yes you all copied the french.

Automatics are dreadful to drive, they're all right on motorways or maybe in traffic but on a twisty road you don't have the level of control you need and on snow and ice they are useless, especially if they are rear wheel drive. Front wheel drive manual every time for me.

gmc wrote: posted by ladycop

Automatics are dreadful to drive, they're all right on motorways or maybe in traffic but on a twisty road you don't have the level of control you need and on snow and ice they are useless, especially if they are rear wheel drive. Front wheel drive manual every time for me.


I dont think you really get more control in a manual, autos are just as good. In automatics you can put it in drive which automatically changes gear, but they all allow you to hold it into a lower gear if you want to. This is useful for steep hills, corners etc. My car has gears 1, 2 and 3 and drive. So if i want to stay in gear 1, i can put it in gear 1 when nessecary. Also the newer automatics still have a manual mode to overide the auto gearchanges when you want. With this you can manually select any gear you like So the only differnce is the clutch. You can move off easily and control your speed in an automatic just as good as you can in a manual.

Many autos have sports modes which change gears / shift ocurs at higher RPM, which improves acceleration. As for driving in snow, some have snow modes which pull away in 2nd gear and stay in a high a gear as possible. So i think they are just as good as manuals when it comes to control and accelration.

markuk wrote: I dont think you really get more control in a manual, autos are just as good. In automatics you can put it in drive which automatically changes gear, but they all allow you to hold it into a lower gear if you want to. This is useful for steep hills, corners etc. My car has gears 1, 2 and 3 and drive. So if i want to stay in gear 1, i can put it in gear 1 when nessecary. Also the newer automatics still have a manual mode to overide the auto gearchanges when you want. With this you can manually select any gear you like So the only differnce is the clutch. You can move off easily and control your speed in an automatic just as good as you can in a manual.



Many autos have sports modes which change gears / shift ocurs at higher RPM, which improves acceleration. As for driving in snow, some have snow modes which pull away in 2nd gear and stay in a high a gear as possible. So i think they are just as good as manuals when it comes to control and accelration.
Mark, you don't know me yet, so let me qualify my remark by saying this is purely in good humor: I find it hysterical that a person would find fault with the reasoning a COP gives in what drives best. Cops are notoriously excellent drivers. Of course, our own beloved LC has wrecked more than one cruiser, I just found this very funny.

Oh, and welcome to FG, by the way!! :-6

CARLA wrote: Well I can drive just about anything.. !! But I have an automatic no need for a shift any more to much for the California traffic...:driving:


One day driving a stick was a drag (not as in strip)

GMC quote..."Apart from that the steering wheel in a british car is in the right place and we drive on the left whereas in the US the steering wheel is in the wrong place but you drive on the right. With roundabouts if you go the right way round that's wrong. Simple".well , aside from the screaming headache you just gave me...i shall thank BR for her wisdom. we have to go once a year for a driving refresher, the instructor always ducks when he sees me coming. we have to go 100 mph through water and around cones and not run over the poor instructor like my friend almost did. ( while i was in the backseat falling down laughing), we always park back-arse first to make a clean getaway, and we use the doors for fending off bullets. BR is correct, i have destroyed 3 cruisers. we do what's called a PIT, police intervention technique. we slam into the person we are chasing. i love that. it's like bumper cars for grownups.

Mark, you don't know me yet, so let me qualify my remark by saying this is purely in good humor: I find it hysterical that a person would find fault with the reasoning a COP gives in what drives best. Cops are notoriously excellent drivers. Of course, our own beloved LC has wrecked more than one cruiser, I just found this very funny.

Oh, and welcome to FG, by the way!!







Well there ya go.

LC. Nice to know you're just a big kid at heart.:wah: :-4

markuk wrote: I dont think you really get more control in a manual, autos are just as good. In automatics you can put it in drive which automatically changes gear, but they all allow you to hold it into a lower gear if you want to. This is useful for steep hills, corners etc. My car has gears 1, 2 and 3 and drive. So if i want to stay in gear 1, i can put it in gear 1 when nessecary. Also the newer automatics still have a manual mode to overide the auto gearchanges when you want. With this you can manually select any gear you like So the only differnce is the clutch. You can move off easily and control your speed in an automatic just as good as you can in a manual.

Many autos have sports modes which change gears / shift ocurs at higher RPM, which improves acceleration. As for driving in snow, some have snow modes which pull away in 2nd gear and stay in a high a gear as possible. So i think they are just as good as manuals when it comes to control and accelration.


Afraid you're not goin to persuade me. Used to have a volvo 66 with the old daf variomatic gearbox. That was great to drive of a little strange, especially if you are used to the engine note changing.

;posted by ladycop

well , aside from the screaming headache you just gave me...i shall thank BR for her wisdom. we have to go once a year for a driving refresher, the instructor always ducks when he sees me coming. we have to go 100 mph through water and around cones


Sounds like you'll be well at home on UK motorways, there are cones everywhere and it rains a lot. Can american cars really do 100mph? It's just in all the films they seem to think it fast if you go over 88mph-or was that back to the future.

i have to blush. all the wrecked cruisers are stored behind the jail, and i have the record! everyone goes and looks. and GMC...American cars can do 120. i have driven 125 in a police package crown vic. i had to scream through my loudspeaker for dumbasses to get out of the way, they don't seem to see the lights or hear the siren when you're at code 3.. then brake, then throw up, then hit the pedal again. it's like mach 1, you can only vomit.

Wooo weee girl you would make it as a Califronia driver.. :driving: I drive pretty much the way you describe below just to get to work..!! I missed my calling should have been a NASCAR driver..

[QUOTE]i have to blush. all the wrecked cruisers are stored behind the jail, and i have the record! everyone goes and looks. and GMC...American cars can do 120. i have driven 125 in a police package crown vic. i had to scream through my loudspeaker for dumbasses to get out of the way, they don't seem to see the lights or hear the siren when you're at code 3.. then brake, then throw up, then hit the pedal again. it's like mach 1, you can only vomit. [/QUOTE]