Poll: To all car drivers - Automatic or Manual

[Plinglebob]

As I was driving to work the other day, I started thinking about how I drive and how automatic gear changing has become after 7 years behind the wheel and this got me wondering about what cars others drive? I know in the UK cars are normally manual and in the USA its automatic, but one of my friends was only able to pass her driving test in an Automatic. Also, if you moved to a country where the opposite is standard, would you change, or stick with what you have? Personally, I'd always stick with manual.

 

[DanielPowell33]

It depends on witch kind of vehicle I could get. I'd like to stick with automatic, because thats all I know, but I'd learn manual if I had to.

 

[PandyBear]

I personally drive a manual which i find to be alot easier and better on fuel/performance then an automatic. I do however have a friend that couldnt drive a manual and shes currently having lessons in an auto. Which as far as im concerned limits the kind of vehicle you can drive in the near future.

Plus, whats more exciting to do then change gears in a manual while accelerating heavily?

 

[rockingnic]

I like the automatics that you can go into a manual mode. My car is automatic but has pedal shifters. I would only use manuals if I was racing... I don't give a damn if I can get 50 MGP instead of 30, as long as it's not below 25ish.

 

[Srdjan]

Manual, are you a real manly macho driver or a women (there are also good women drivers but they are minority)

 

[razormint21]

Manual.

Easier to maintain with lots of cheap aftermarket support.
More responsive, and have more options.
Keeps you alert on the road, practically.
And for a student, it easily saves a few dollars worth of gas.

I drive a non power steering vehicle along with a very very misaligned shift stick, and it made my forearms firmer. LOL

 

[TheMatt]

Manual. I live in Canada and during winter it just plain old fricken saves the day.

I have yet to meet the snowbank I cannot rock myself out of.

Plus, when I rev the engine on my Cobalt, bitches know what's up.

 

[Znakemane]

Manual. Gives better control and, as TheMatt mentions, is excellent in hard weather or difficult ground.

 

[Cabisco]

Manual, it's how I learned and nearly every car in England is a manual anyhow, I personally never quite understood why some people find it hard. Ahhh I should really get around to booking my first test, I just haven't bothered ever since my old awesome volvo was killed by my mother...

 

[Plinglebob]

I like the automatics that you can go into a manual mode. My car is automatic but has pedal shifters. I would only use manuals if I was racing... I don't give a damn if I can get 50 MGP instead of 30, as long as it's not below 25ish.

I've never driven a car with pedal shifters, but I don't think I could drive anything that didn't have gear stick. Also, if you lived in the UK you'd care about the extra mpg as petrol is currenty £1.21/ltr (about $1.82)

 

[Eagle Est1986]

I drive a manual and I wouldn't have it any other way. I've driven my mother's automatic a fair few times but I just find a manual much more comfortable and I feel like I've got a greater degree of control.
I'd be more likely to change from a petrol engine to an electric car than change from manual to automatic.

 

[airwolfe591]

Although I'm technically not a driver yet, I'm gonna stick with Automatic for awhile (if all goes well I'll have a car that has the Manual/Standard option) and ease my way into manual when I get the chance. I know manuals are way better in practically every way compared to automatics, but again, for now til I get the chance, I'm gonna stick with automatic.

 

[Harley Duke]

I drive an automatic, but I wish it was a manual. I learned on a stick shift, and I loved how driving it was a four-limb job. Even now, when I take somewhat slow turns, my friends all laugh at me because I stomp the floor really hard looking for a clutch pedal that isn't there (I know you normally don't have to stomp a clutch pedal, but I drove a pickup truck that was a couple of years older than I was, and that thing wanted you to step on it like you MEANT it).

Plus, whats more exciting to do then change gears in a manual while accelerating heavily?

What he said.

 

[rockingnic]

I like the automatics that you can go into a manual mode. My car is automatic but has pedal shifters. I would only use manuals if I was racing... I don't give a damn if I can get 50 MGP instead of 30, as long as it's not below 25ish.

I've never driven a car with pedal shifters, but I don't think I could drive anything that didn't have gear stick. Also, if you lived in the UK you'd care about the extra mpg as petrol is currenty £1.21/ltr (about $1.82)

It's around $3 a gallon where I live. Pedal shifters are different depending on the car you bought with them but my car, all you do hit one of the shifters and you're automatically get sent into manual and then you hold down the shifters to disable it and go into automatic. It's for the people that want the manuals but can't stand using the clutch and the stick shift, I'd admit, thought, that using the stick shift makes me feel like a badass but I'm prone to lose myself in the moment and risk getting a ticket.

 

[hopeneverdies]

Automatic, but that's because:

A) They don't really make too many stick shifts in the US

and

B) All three of my family's cars are automatic and no, we are not rich if the three cars made you think that

 

[Quaxar]

Well, I actually don't drive yet, but seeing as in this country automatic is nearly as rare as a quality post on 4chan it sure will be manual.

 

[zen5887]

I've got me a Manual.

I figured, if I got a manual licence I could drive autos anyway.

 

[Roscoe_A]

On a daily basis I drive both. The automatic is in my mustang but I drive manual when I take my brothers mustang...so I'm good no matter where i go

 

[Valksy]

I live in the UK and only have a driving licence for automatic transmission cars - I was in a serious wreck a while ago (in the middle of a driving lesson) and it took away my confidence. I found automatics easier to deal with and never bothered going back for the rest of my licence.

I drive a Smart car (the little one) and it has a gearbox that can be driven in auto or manual depending on whether or not I press a button. As the car does not have a clutch I can legally drive it.

The things about automatics is this - You can completely and utterly control your gears by the way you use the throttle. If I don't want the car to change gear you just hold the power in until the revs are where you want to be, every auto I have ever driven (from Smart to Renault to Volkswagon to Rolls-Royce) has needed a slight lift to change up a gear. To change down a gear you just need to pump the pedal down a little (called a "kick down"). I can hit this every single time, drop a gear to get some more power and over take etc. The notion that you are utterly at the mercy of an automatic transmission is complete toss.

 

[7moreDead_v1legacy]

Manual - I find auto's too boring to drive.

I love driving