Poll: To all car drivers - Automatic or Manual

[oktalist]

Accidentally voted automatic when I drive manual. D'oh!

Oh well, voting never affected anything anyway

 

[CopperBoom]

Automatic. I play Bioware games on easy, I am not going to bother learning how to drive.

 

[WakeTheDead1]

Manual, im from UK, wouldnt change it, have more control over speed and can accelerate faster
although *driving stick* seems lazy to me some people just cant

 

[RangerSERE]

I live and work around a bustling suburban/city area. So naturally, automatic is the way to go. If i lived in a more open spaced area, i would undoubtably pick manual, its the only way to get a real feel for the car. Of course, i have both option sitting in the garage. One is more of a weekend car.

 

[vivadelkitty]

I drive an automatic transmission for as long as I have been driving...which is like...a year. Just got my official license yesterday, actually ^^*

 

[MelasZepheos_v1legacy]

Manual, but I'm not sure what I'd do if I had to move and get a car where everything was on the wrong side.

I'd probably relearn just with the other hand, but it would be a pain.

I don't want an automatic though, for some reason it feels like cheating.

 

[elvor0]

Manual! I like the whole graggh manly racing feel you get from doing the gears in an over graggh manly racing kind of way.

 

[The Heik]

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.

It depends entirely on the driver's level of skill and the vehicle that they're driving. If you're an experienced manual driver, then you're far more likely to get better mileage out of your car, but if you're inexperienced, then you will use far more fuel until you get the hang of it. Also, the year of the car has a lot to do with it. If you're driving an old automatic, then you would be spending a lot more gas than if you drove a manual. But with today's level of vehicular technology, automatics are far better at shifting then they used to be, in some cases better than their driver.

Also, automatics present fewer things to think about when driving on road. Having to manually shift between gears for turns/onramps/etc. means that you focus some of your attention from the road, which can present a danger, no matter the experience of the driver. Especially if one is new to driving so they'll have to LOOK AWAY FROM THE ROAD to change gears, a cardinal's sin of driving if I ever knew one.

Manual.

Keeps you alert on the road, practically.

And no it doesn't. See my previous paragraph if you have any arguments

 

[Zeetchmen]

Automatic, just because its easier

 

[Capt. Crankypants]

Manual. Driven both, and it may be me just being accustomed to my manuals, but I don't like something shifting without my permission. Stupid suprise inertia attacks.

That said, when I DO drive an auto, I find it fun to fuck with the gears by accelerating and decelerating right at the point where the RPM and pressure on the acceleration pedal makes the car deem it necessary for shifting

 

[yoyo13rom]

As my uncle always said: manual is for manly men, it's more pro, you feel the car, be become one with it + it tales skill to tame it.

 

[firedfns13]

In the US, I'd say 95% of cars are automatic.
I'd love to learn stick shift, but the automatics are way better because 98% of people lack the brain capacity to drive already, making it more complex would cause 1230812803 more accidents.

 

[mayney93]

i don't drive yet but i plan on learning in the summer, and well a manual is the only real choice a automatic costs like twice and considering there's a performance decrease it makes no sense at all

 

[Sollipsistic]

MANual. The clue's in the name.

 

[Marmooset]

Automatic. Because I come from a line of folks who stopped riding carriages when automobiles came along.

Now that the two types cost pretty much the same, it strikes me that anyone going for manual is simply opting for image over practicality.

Also, I call shenanigans on the 60%/30% manual over auto ratio of the poll, unless by manual the voters mean bicycles.

 

[Marter]

I like automatic a lot more. Less to think about while on the road.

 

[elvor0]

Also, automatics present fewer things to think about when driving on road. Having to manually shift between gears for turns/onramps/etc. means that you focus some of your attention from the road, which can present a danger, no matter the experience of the driver. Especially if one is new to driving so they'll have to LOOK AWAY FROM THE ROAD to change gears, a cardinal's sin of driving if I ever knew one.

Why/how do you turn attention away form the road to shift gears?
You don't need to look anywhere except the road.

I believe he means drives who don't know where the gears on their stick are, but you'd have to be a New learner driver not to know that, in which case you'll have an instructor with dual controls in the car anyuway

 

[Marmooset]

MANual. The clue's in the name.

If one has to have it in the vehicle, it must not be in the individual.