Standard versus automatic transmissions...

[jaykellogg]

The car I am driving now (Infiniti G37S coupe with auto) I bought last December. Just before I bought it I test drove a 2006 Pontiac GTO with a manual. Man was that clutch stiff, it was just like trying to crush a cinder block! I couldn't get the dealer to make me an offer, he just wanted me to name a figure. I left with the intention of probably coming back, but I bought the Infiniti a few hours later.

 

[Arik]

I hate stick. It's a pain in traffic, it's a pain on late night Fridays and Saturdays. If I give it gas and the car is moving that's what I want

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

 

[NYlakesider]

I will walk before I own a CVT...worst automatics ever, IMHO, from an enthusiast's point of view.

The whole standard-vs.-automatic debate, at least for me, is not about fuel economy or comfort in heavy traffic or technological advantage; it's about whether the driver is controlling the car, and how involved he is with the art of driving.

...

Great minds think alike!

There are people that drive cars and then there are car people (AKA gearheads) . Like others here I started driving early 60s on a 3 on the tree NON syncro<Spl> first gear . You learned how to double clutch and rev match real fast back then. I did serious drag racing with 4spds in the muscle car era both street and strip. I also had a CDL and up to a couple years ago I drove all sorts of multi gear tranys, some with those little buttons /levers on the side of the stick so traffic/ hills no big deal.

The kids of today do not have a clue and are too busy yakking/texting on their cell phones and way too cheap to buy a clue.

Beemerguy I also had a few bikes, but now the only thing I ride is an ATV and horror of horror it's a SEMI auto box.

 

[snubbyfan]

Do you stick shift jockeys like cranky windows and no A/C. Evolution allowed us to walk upright and cars have evolved from crank start and wooden wheels to the beautiful machines we have today. The current CVT transmissions blow every other trans away on the street.

I've always owned manual transmission equipped vehicles with cranky windows and I've never used any A/C other than 2-90 air, 2 windows down, 90 miles an hour.
One of my favorite cars was a '75 Toyota Corolla SR5. Manual transmission, carburetor, dual point distributor and manual steering. The only thing electronic in that car was the stereo. I never used the A/C so I just removed it's drive belt to reduce engine drag.
I'm not anti-technology (I think) I just like to keep things simple.
Now I'm driving an '09 Toyota Tacoma base model 4wd access cab truck with a 5 speed manual transmission. It has cranky windows and the doors lock and unlock with keys. The only thing I'm not too fond of is that the transfer case is controlled by a little dial on the dash instead of a transfer case shift lever and the hubs are electronically actuated. I've never used the A/C and I don't even know if it works.
I'm thinkin' that my next car's gonna be one of these.

Or maybe even one of these.

My wife has the fancy car. A front wheel drive '08 Toyota Yaris with an automatic transmission. When I'm driving her car I'm always lookin' for the clutch pedal. The surprising thing about her car is that it has an excellent compression brake and downshifting really makes a diference. I know her A/C works, she's made me use it.
I like driving manual transmissions but everyone has their own preference. If my degenerative peripheral neuropathy makes it too difficult to drive a manual then I'll get an automatic but until that time as long as I still have some movement in my hands and feet, I'm going to enjoy being a stick jockey.
Some people wet themselves over the latest and greatest that technology has to offer. I'm perfectly content with being old and obsolete.

 

[PA Guns & Ammo]

I prefer stick for my fun cars an automatics for my daily use. My off road trucks were stick and my Mustang is a stick but my cars I drive everyday, I do not want to keep shifting.

 

[ChuckS1]

My Miata would be no fun if it had an AT. I wouldn't have bought it if it didn't have a MT. Getting rid of manual transmissions is just another example of catering to the lowest common denominator, IMHO.

 

[CBus660R]

Beemerguy, just out of curiosity, how you feel about slipper clutches on the bike?

Slipper clutches are a nice advancement for sport bikes ridden on a track. Even in the dirt, some guys run them on 4-strokes when racing. For the street, you never even notice it's in there unless you goof up your down shift. Also, unless Beemerguy is riding a 1000RR, he doesn't have 1 in his BMW cycle.

 

[Lost Lake]

The joy of a stick shift was having a pretty girl by your side in a short mini-skirt and you shift into fourth gear and rest your hand on her thigh.....

My straight six Dodge truck has an auto... Not my preference, but the warden expected to drive it now and then and she demanded it. I tweaked the engine to 425HP and 875 on torque, and the first trans didn't last too long. I had one built by Goerend for nearly 6K.... He says it will hold. I pulled 26K gross a few days ago for hundreds of miles, trans gauge stayed under 160 degrees....

My lawn tractor is an auto (hydrostatic), my Harley is a stick. I like sticks just fine, wish I had more....

.

 

[mkk41]

How many people would still ride motorcycles if there was no electric start?

How many would still ride motorcycles if they were still foot clutch and hand shift?

 

[Bat Guano]

I'm one of those who, when they get into a strange vehicle, stomps my left foot down hard, expecting to depress a nonexistent clutch pedal.

Growing up on the northern prairies and having to routinely get through snow in a 2WD vehicle made you want all the road feel you could get. Driving an AT in snow, to me, is like typing with mittens on. No thanks.

The junior curmudgeon is a commercial pilot; he bemoans the fact that most newer pilots (you know, the ones now flying your airliners) don't really have stick and rudder skills. Everything is automated to the point they're just along for the ride, just like you in the back are. Not many guys can put it down in the Hudson anymore...

(Full disclosure--the Honda ATV has an electric shift.)

 

[therevjay]

For a classic sports car like a M.G. , Triumph, Jag, Morgan, etc. Or even a modern sports car like a Mazda Miata, I'd want a stick. They're just more fun on a twisty road.

But as far as performance goes, I don't care how good you think you are. You can't outshift a modern automatic


P.S. My 1982 Triumph does have a electric starter. (but that don't count. Hey it's a Lucas starter, it don't actually work!)

"It's leaking? Of course it's leaking. It's British, it's supposed to leak!"

 

[jdh]

The only manual I own is the black one. The only reason it is a manual is the rules require it for now. Even the sanctioning body realizes manuals a going the way of the large reptiles who's remains we now use to power them.

The white one in the background is equipped with an Allison Automatic, yep another Allison for me to drive. There is no manual option.

 

[mkk41]

The only reason it is a manual is the rules require it for now. Even the sanctioning body realizes manuals a going the way of the large reptiles who's remains we now use to power them.

Is any of the big 3 putting out a 4 or 5 spd manual that can take serious horsepower? The Borg-Warner T5 that GM and Ford was using could only be described as barely adequate.

Gone are the days of plentiful and reasonably cheap M-21/22Muncies , Borg Warner Super T-10s and Ford Top-loaders. Richmond Gear is now making the Doug Nash 5-spd.

 

[snubbyfan]

But as far as performance goes, I don't care how good you think you are. You can't outshift a modern automatic QUOTE]
Back in the day I would have taken that challenge.
I'd put my right foot on the floor and leave it there, flick my left foot at the clutch pedal and jam it into the next gear. I surprised many people with a '75 Corolla that way. Then again, with the open exhaust, full ground effects, 3.5" of ground clearance, low profile tires, blacked out chrome and custom grill most people expected something.

 

[LVSteve]

But as far as performance goes, I don't care how good you think you are. You can't outshift a modern automatic QUOTE]
Back in the day I would have taken that challenge.
I'd put my right foot on the floor and leave it there, flick my left foot at the clutch pedal and jam it into the next gear. I surprised many people with a '75 Corolla that way. Then again, with the open exhaust, full ground effects, 3.5" of ground clearance, low profile tires, blacked out chrome and custom grill most people expected something.

See my earlier comments about stick shifts, 0-60 and mechanical sympathy.

 

[LVSteve]

P.S. My 1982 Triumph does have a electric starter. (but that don't count. Hey it's a Lucas starter, it don't actually work!)

"It's leaking? Of course it's leaking. It's British, it's supposed to leak!"

My buddy back in England says to me one day, "I've finally stopped the oil leaks on my Triumph". Years later we were talking about that old bike when he confessed, "Yeah, it never ran quite right after I stopped all the oil leaks".

 

[snubbyfan]

See my earlier comments about stick shifts, 0-60 and mechanical sympathy.

Yeah, I hammered that car but I had a lot of fun doin' it. People couldn't believe how much abuse that car would take and just keep going.
I built it up for racing around on the back roads back when Loudoun County Va. was country. I had a lot of fun with that car and wish I still had it. Ain't no way I'd want an automatic tranny in it.

 

[BigBill]

The latest Chevy Copo Camero comes with a super charged 427 big block with 750hp and a two speed power glide tranny. And she runs in the "9" seconds in the quarter mile.

I always was a standard guy.

Automatic transmissions are awesome and much stronger because the torque converter is a torque multiplier.

Fact, real test proven facts.

I built a '76 Chevy C30 with dual wheels and a 350 engine with a 400th tranny. I made it four wheel drive with locking differentials front and rear. I installed the B&M tranny rebuild kit and a 2200 stall torque converter, with the lower first and second gear. I used an air conditioner condenser for a tranny cooler. I rebuilt the 350 engine, ported the heads, deep oil pan, with the big block oil pump, 350hp corvette the. Cam with a 600cfm Holley. Headers and distributor work. She's pushing 375 to 400hp.

I drag raced a guy in the snow, he had a k30 4x4 with a plow and dander. I had one cord + of firewood in my truck. Off the traffic light I beat him.

A year later I blew the automatic tranny. It was my fault. I was going too fast and went into a slide towards someone's house. It was on greasey snow. I locked up the brakes and put it in reverse.
The truck stopped on a dime.

I installed a 265 HD four speed. I did not have the pulling power the 400th automatic tranny had. Pulling heavy weight requires torque.

With the automatic tranny I came out of the gravel pits near my house weighing 15k I had 1 1/4" stone. She pulled the load of stone like it wasn't even there. I would haul 1 1/2+ cords of firewood out of the forest. A cord of wet green wood weighs 6,000lbs. 4,500lbs+ for the half cord plus 5k for the empty truck.
I had 72 leaf springs in the truck, 20 in the front, 10 on each side.I had 16 leafs in the main and ten in the helper on each side in the rear. The frame was an 8" HD wrecker frame.

The automatic tranny is the way to go but with any hydraulic system the filters and oil must be kept clean. Or the tranny goes south when the filter is clogged and the tranny bands and clutch plates burn up with no oil.

The highest demand for oil is when it's in reverse. Not backing up or slow when engaging into reverse is the first sign the tranny needs the oil and filter changed.

It's not the automatic trannys being bad it's the lack of maintenance that causes them to go bad.

 

[Marshwheeling]

My buddy back in England says to me one day, "I've finally stopped the oil leaks on my Triumph". Years later we were talking about that old bike when he confessed, "Yeah, it never ran quite right after I stopped all the oil leaks".

That's because when a British bike stops leaking, it's out of oil.

 

[Frank46]

I've driven 3 sticks since I started driving over 40 years ago. 1946 dodge power wagon with the granny gear so low we just kept in 2nd when starting and went from there. That old girl sure had some power,next two were jeeps. Last one was a cj5 with 3 on the floor. Got stuck in traffic for about 5 hours and my right knee was the size of a mellon. Still would keep the auto though. Ain't getting any younger. Frank