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View Full Version : what do you drive? manual or automatic?



blur
07-26-2007, 03:25 AM
im curious to try a manual

Robbed
07-26-2007, 05:11 AM
Both of my cars are manual. And I have never actually owned an automatic car. Personally, I'm not the biggest fan of automatic transmissions. They are rather dull and unengaging to drive. Fuel economy is lower. And power losses are greater, meaning that an automatic car will ALWAYS be slower than a manual car with the same engine and weight. Small cars and sporty/sports cars ten to benefit the MOST from a manual transmission. And, unless you are doing heavy towing or hauling, trucks benefit the least. On the other hand, few large trucks/SUVs are available with manual transmissions to begin with.

I personally would go for a manual car if you have never had one. Driving one is a MUCH more engaging experience and feels quite different from driving an automatic car. At first, it might seem like quite a bit more work. But it quickly becomes subconscious. And driving an automatic car after driving a manual for a while will actually feel somewhat odd.

One word of advice. It is probably best to actually learn to drive a manual transmission before buying the car. Not only would it be kind of awkward to try to test drive a manual car without knowing how to drive one. But you won't really get a good enough taste for the car to know whether it is really something you want or not. So if you don't already know how to drive a manual, ask a friend with a manual car to show you how to do so in a safe place.