Automatic or Manual?

[Chimpzy_v1legacy]

Manual. It's pretty much the default around here and most cars I've driven were manuals, with a few automatics sprinkled throughout.

.From what I remember, driving manual is still actually kind of simple and mundane; just need to pay a little more attention.

After a while, not even that little more attention is needed. Shifting manually becomes an automatic action you don't notice doing anymore, except when you first drive a car where the stick is positioned differently, or has the gears in a different layout. But you adapt quickly if you have some driving experience.

 

[krystalphoenix]

Manual, it was the default in the UK when I learned to drive. Driving automatic makes me cringe as I can hear the engine struggling because the computer hasn't decided to change gear yet and it drives me insane. That and I find that I don't know what to do with my hand now that it's not needed to change gears. Fiddling with the radio and getting distracted then happens.

Thankfully I have no need to drive right now and so don't own a car. Whenever I go home I'm happy to drive a manual.

Not that I refuse to drive an automatic, but I'd rather not.

 

[Wintermute_v1legacy]

Manual. Automatic transmission is luxury item here.

 

[Laughing Man]

Manual until last week, my new car has a semi auto dsg gearbox, so I really get the best of both worlds... saying that it is still a bit weird going for a clutch to find nothing there.

 

[Fiz_The_Toaster]

Automatic, baby.

I've tried learning how to drive stick, and I am garbage at it. I could never get the timing right and at some point the car would just jerk and stall.

I'd rather just set it and not worry about it until I have to park or whatever.

 

[Recusant]

Ultimately, there are three universal reasons to prefer manual: 1. it's (usually) cheaper, 2. it's more fuel-efficient, and 3. it's easier to fix if it breaks. There are other reasons, like "no one living around you knows how to drive it, so they'll never ask to borrow it", but they're not universal.

On the other hand, there's really only one universal reason to prefer automatic: it's one less thing you have to focus on. Distracted driving is a serious problem, and as someone who's been a professional driver, I can tell you that the last thing you need when you're maneuvering 80,000 pounds down the road and some jackass who thinks your vehicle handles like a Schwinn cuts you off is for them to be paying even less attention.

 

[Scarim Coral]

Manual only cos that what most people drive with in the UK. My dad on the other hand is auto. Also if he were to have it his way, I would have to learned auto in the future much to my dismay ?? . Also no this isn't a hindsight thing as I loathe driving (only took the lesson cos I was forced by my parent).

 

[Recusant]

On the other hand, there's really only one universal reason to prefer automatic: it's one less thing you have to focus on. Distracted driving is a serious problem, and as someone who's been a professional driver, I can tell you that the last thing you need when you're maneuvering 80,000 pounds down the road and some jackass who thinks your vehicle handles like a Schwinn cuts you off is for them to be paying even less attention.

Not really, after few years you do a gear change automatic (AH!) without even thinking about it, or even looking at the current speed. I prefer Manual because it adds a little change to driving rather than just pressing the paddle.

Also because I love the song:

Oh, believe me, I know- the reflex seems completely ingrained (almost... automatic, really). The thing is that it isn't. No matter how much like it seems that it is. And car-to-car accidents are a notably different affair from car-to-truck ones (at least here in the US; I think most of the world uses smaller trucks than we do)- in the former, both of you need to screw up.

 

[Souplex]

I'm a real American, I don't drive. I walk, bike, (or I used to, and will again when I get my hands on the thieves) or take the subway.

 

[Nickolai77]

Manual- in the UK most cars are manual by default and I'm personally fine with that. It's nice to have a bit more control over the car.

I drove an automatic once on a race track once. It was a Mercedes AMG, didn't realise it was automatic until I put it into gear and suddenly the car started moving forward by itself. Fun car to drive though!

 

[Bureacreative]

Manual. I drove an automatic for the first year I had my license and when I switched to a car with a stick & clutch I felt my driving improved massively. Made me pay MUCH more attention to the act of driving. Now it's too fun for me to give up. Also the brake feel in automatics gives me an aneurysm. AND I can never talk to the transmission just right to get a downshift when I want to pull out and pass someone. Much faster for me if I can just do it myself.

Oh wait I thought of some more things! In the snow I'm much more comfortable in a manual since I have those two levels of control over the power getting to the wheels. In an auto you can give more power or give less. In a manual you can do that, but also control how much of that power gets to the wheels by slipping the clutch. I really like that fine control when I'm trying to rock myself out of a snowbank.

And the ladies love a good rev match. Possibly. I'll ask one.

 

[jklinders]

I'm a city dweller right now so automatic. If I lived in a remote area with shitty roads I would totally have a stick though. Living where I do, the need for extra control never comes up.

 

[sanquin]

I've only ever driven manual, which is fairly standard here in the Netherlands. I prefer that feeling of manually shifting, even if it means acceleration goes less smoothly. Though for jobs like taxi driving I'd probably prefer manual. As by that point it would just become tedious.

 

[Programmed_For_Damage]

Manual for sure. Because my wife can't drive a manual I've been stuck with an automatic for four years, since I smashed my last manual car. It's so boring! Driving a manual just seems more like actual driving. Plus I like having control over the revs and gear changes. Apparently newer automatic cars have better gear changes, but all my cars are old and they suck.

 

[Cycloptomese]

It depends on the car. I drive a comfort oriented sedan and prefer an automatic. My wife bought a sports car and I could kick her in the ass for not getting a manual. Manual transmission is far more fun if you're purchasing an automobile that's built to have fun while driving. Also, it's worth mentioning that you tend to get slightly better gas mileage with a manual transmission... or so I've heard.

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

I can drive both (learned to drive stick in a crappy truck with a flat tire while I worked at a car dealership) but I prefer automatic, primarily because I live in an urban area with lots (and I mean LOTS) of stop-and-go driving. (Seriously, the main streets around here are parking lots during rush hour.)

 

[Tiger King]

I drive manual. everyone drives manual back home in the uk pretty much and when I moved to the usa I continued to do so. this is because I enjoy having more control over the car, whenever I am on a downhill slope it's nice to just knock it down a gear and let the engine slow you down instead of using (and wearing) the brakes.

secondly most Americans can't drive 'stick' there has been a few reports on manual cars being stolen and then abandoned because the thieves couldn't drive it.

I think semi auto is the way forward though.

 

[Gordon_4_v1legacy]

If all you want is a shuttle in a suburban or metro area, autos probably the least stressful to get. Country areas or areas with less than fantastic roads, manual will probably always be king as it is with the enthusiast driving sector except in cars where a manual transmission would be impossible for a person to operate.

 

[Rattja]

Been driving manual for about 10 years, but after a longer drive with a car with automatic that I borrowed, I realized how much more comfortable it is.
Just got a new car and went for automatic this time, and fairly happy with that.
Between not having to think when starting/stopping in steep hills (which we have tons of) and cruise control on the highway, it's just flat out better I feel.

That being said, there are things about it that I don't like. The fact that I don't always know when it will change gears still catches me off guard, and that I can't really play with it like I would with a manual one. Although while I can change over so I can manually gear it, it's just not the same.

I also fear that I will get sorta lazy because of it after a while, and going back to manual will be weird.
All in all, automatic is more comfortable, but manual is more fun.