# Manual or Automatic



## Kevin (Jul 11, 2014)

If you were to buy a new vehicle this week, would you order it with a stick shift or an automatic transmission? Never mind if you were planning on getting a model that no longer has the manual option, just say you could get a manual if you wanted it - which would you choose?


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## JR Custom Calls (Jul 11, 2014)

That's a loaded question for me. I 'prefer' a manual... however, my wife can't figure out how to drive one. So, it's not really practical to have one. Up until we got the Tahoe and Sonata, I'd driven nothing but manuals (learned how to drive one on the farm as soon as I was big enough to push the clutch in). 

So, if I were in a position that I could buy a vehicle and never have to worry about her needing to drive it, I'd definitely get a manual. No questions asked.


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## Kevin (Jul 11, 2014)

JR Custom Calls said:


> That's a loaded question for me. I 'prefer' a manual.



It's not really loaded because the word "prefer" asks what you would get in a perfect world. Maybe I should have worded it that way. Anyway there's a reason I'm asking this I'll share it with everyone at the end of the poll.


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## Schroedc (Jul 11, 2014)

I prefer a Manual and If I had my way they'd all be manuals. I noticed you left out CV trannys though :)


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## ripjack13 (Jul 11, 2014)

I agree about loaded...i prefer a stick in a sports car and truck, and an automatic in a sedan. (Read, wifes car)


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## DKMD (Jul 11, 2014)

I haven't owned a manual transmission in quite a while, but I remember a little convertible roadster from the pre-family days every time I think of a manual transmission.


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## Mike Mills (Jul 11, 2014)

I voted automatic but...
I have a Nova 1624 lathe, I could have gone with the DVR automatic for $1000 more.
So, automatic if the price is the same. Manual if it is $5000 less.


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## ButchC (Jul 11, 2014)

I drive two automatics, but grew up on manual. I hadn't given this much thought in a long time!! I think I've come over to the dark side, and actually prefer the auto. hmm.


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## Mike1950 (Jul 11, 2014)

Drove many manual for years- Just bought a new truck- Everything is auto- There is as much stuff to learn as my damn smart phone. first car was a 62 fairlane- 170 6 cly-3 on the tree The truck has more hp when it is not running and under the hood has almost nothing recognizable!!!!


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## NYWoodturner (Jul 11, 2014)

I prefer a manual on a car, and an automatic on a truck. Sine I won't give up my truck and go back to a car I voted automatic.


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## Brink (Jul 11, 2014)

Hmmm.
There is something sweet to slipping from one gear to another on a winding mountain road. 
Then, there are many advantages to a torque converter and a machine that knows exactly what gear and how to modulate a smooth shift.
On a motorcycle, manual only, but not stick shift. It has to be that neat little foot lever. 
On EV.... Don't really need either. 
I like a stick shift on a car, on the floor. Not that column shift thing, unless it's an automatic, those can be on the column or on floor. Ever see those push button shift auto's. Now that's cool. Paddle shifters? Seem trendy. I don't like trendy stuff.
On a stick, I like the shift pattern on the knob. Not a decal on windshield. I don't want to look down for the next shift and see a big 8 looking back at me. 
I can't afford a new car next week, so I don't really think of these things.

Reactions: Agree 1 | Funny 1


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## ButchC (Jul 11, 2014)

Brink said:


> Hmmm.
> 
> On a stick, I like the shift pattern on the knob. Not a decal on windshield.



On the windshield?? That's a new one on me. Heads up display??


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## Brink (Jul 11, 2014)

ButchC said:


> On the windshield?? That's a new one on me. Heads up display??



Yup, masking tape with the shift pattern drawn on it.


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## ButchC (Jul 11, 2014)

Brink said:


> Yup, masking tape with the shift pattern drawn on it.



My handwriting is bad enough as it is. Cant imagine what my scribble would look like in tape.


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## jmurray (Jul 11, 2014)

Between smoking cigarettes, enjoying a beverage, texting, and eating a mcburger I don't have a free hand to shift . Autos only fir me when it comes to the daily driver.


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## DavidDobbs (Jul 11, 2014)

I have owned last time I figured it around 50 cars and trucks. 
3 have been autos ..... My 2006 3500 has a 6 speed standard in it. I don't think you can buy a new one with a standard. Going to take care of this one.


Dave


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## Sprung (Jul 11, 2014)

In a perfect world - manual. If it hadn't gotten totaled in an accident back in 2007, I'd still be driving a F150 w/ a manual. Haven't driven a manual since then and I miss it greatly. The only time I wished for an automatic when driving a manual was whenever I had to drive in or through a large city and encounter a lot of traffic. Stick shift isn't fun in 4 hours of stop and go traffic driving through Chicago... Been there, done that, multiple times... However, my wife doesn't know how to drive a manual. If the opportunity ever presented itself, I wouldn't be inclined to teach her either. She's not exactly what one might call a great driver and she'd probably destroy the transmission in a week.

For me, it's a control thing. You've got more control over your vehicle and how it operates. I wish manual transmissions were more widely available on a greater range of vehicles. It's always seeming that less and less vehicles are being offered with a manual transmission.

On a side note, when I bought my F150 right before senior year of college, I shared it with my sister so she would have a vehicle to drive. (We went to the same college.) It was an endless source of amusement for me using the fact that not only could my sister drive stick, but could drive it very well, as a source of material to poke fun at my friends who couldn't drive stick or were to afraid to learn.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Blueglass (Jul 11, 2014)

I prefer manual especially if I'm going to be towing a trailer.


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## HomeBody (Jul 12, 2014)

I drove semi trucks from '76 to '90 and shifted more 10 speed Road Rangers than you can count. I got the manual transmissions completely out of my system at this late date. You couldn't pay me to have a manual tranny in anything except my tractor. You can call me Automatic Slim. Gary


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## Johnturner (Jul 12, 2014)

One of the many reasons I married my wife was the fact that she could drive a standard (that and the fact that her Dad owned a donut store). When we were courting there was a few times she ended up driving my sorry butt home in my Fiat 128.

Reactions: Funny 2


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## ripjack13 (Jul 12, 2014)

Mike Mills said:


> I voted automatic but...
> I have a Nova 1624 lathe, I could have gone with the DVR automatic for $1000 more.
> So, automatic if the price is the same. Manual if it is $5000 less.



Hmmm.....Mike is the only one to answer this with a woodworking machine. The rest of us "automatically" thought @Kevin was talking automobile.....

I think @Mike Mills is on to something...


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## Mike1950 (Jul 12, 2014)

ripjack13 said:


> Hmmm.....Mike is the only one to answer this with a woodworking machine. The rest of us "automatically" thought @Kevin was talking automobile.....
> 
> I think @Mike Mills is on to something...



"If you were to buy a new vehicle this week" I personally do not consider my lathe a vehicle- actually it is pretty stationary!!!!


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## Blueglass (Jul 12, 2014)

According to your info, I'm not sure it would even turn over.

Reactions: Funny 4


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## Kevin (Jul 12, 2014)

ripjack13 said:


> Hmmm.....Mike is the only one to answer this with a woodworking machine. The rest of us "automatically" thought @Kevin was talking automobile.....
> 
> I think @Mike Mills is on to something...



Nothing tricky like that Marc. Here;s why I asked. In my weekly FTE email I noticed an article that interested me enough to click it and read it. Here it is . . .

http://www.ford-trucks.com/articles/manual-transmission-dead-never-coming-back-ever/

The article says that over the past decade only around 5% of new vehicle buyers have opted for a manual. The article does not cite sources and does not give any details about demographincs, but I can believe the claim quite easily. In spite of the fact that as it stands here, our own WB survey as of this post show 15 out of 23 pollers have opted for a manual. That's over 65% compared to 5%.

But our demographics are skewed compared to the general populace. We are mostly nail-eating, fire-breathing, club-wielding troglodytes compared to the Prius-buying Berkeley English professor, or the tanks aka SUV's the soccer moms scream down the road in. I was interested to see what our take rate would be and even though I knew it would be high, I'm as floored as a clutch pedal when shifting from 3rd to 4th that it's 65%. I was guessing we'd see somewhere around 25%.

In my youth I preferred a stick shift because driving was "fun". Although I don't "hate" driving - because I try not to hate anything or anyone I just cope with things - driving is no longer fun for me, I just cope with it. Maybe if I lived in Monaco and had expendable time yes I'd definitely own a Ferrari 458 with an amazing 7 speed dual clutch wonderment. But since I don't, driving for me is getting from point A to point B only as frequently as need be and having good jams blasting through the 10-way speakers as loud as my wife can tolerate. A good stereo is far more important to me than the type of machinery the designers used to transfer the power from my engine to my drive train. Now the engine . . . that's a whole other matter. I need horses under my hood because I do pass slowpokes, but that's another poll altogether that maybe someone else wants to create.

The ape mentioned paddle wheels. My wife's ride has them and they are a trend for sure IMO. I played with them a few times but the automatic up and down shifting that the computer does for us is just fine and I don't have to worry about throwing a rod using the paddles. Paddles are for Formula 1 cars and guys who know how to use them better than a computer but I don't.

I did not include the CVT as a choice because I don't really understand them and was not aware if they are widely available. I wonder if they had been a choice how this poll would have come out.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Mike1950 (Jul 12, 2014)

Kevin said:


> Nothing tricky like that Marc. Here;s why I asked. In my weekly FTE email I noticed an article that interested me enough to click it and read it. Here it is . . .
> 
> http://www.ford-trucks.com/articles/manual-transmission-dead-never-coming-back-ever/
> 
> ...



Kathie's car has a CVT- it is fun to drive. It takes a bit getting used to just because it is different but I love it. Works different then auto-inside but essentially it is an auto from a drivers perspective.


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## RJH (Jul 12, 2014)

Automatic all and any day. Got my fill in the grain trucks for too many years. Still love to hear someone go through the gears though.


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## Johnturner (Jul 12, 2014)

Kevin
I love this paragraph - I think you hit us right on the head - prose wise!


But our demographics are skewed compared to the general populace. We are mostly nail-eating, fire-breathing, club-wielding troglodytes compared to the Prius-buying Berkeley English professor, or the tanks aka SUV's the soccer moms scream down the road in. I was interested to see what our take rate would be and even though I knew it would be high, I'm as floored as a clutch pedal when shifting from 3rd to 4th that it's 65%. I was guessing we'd see somewhere around 25%.

John

Reactions: Like 1


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## JR Custom Calls (Jul 12, 2014)

Easy on the SUVs... Didn't have a choice on mine. It was that or a minivan. No minivan for me.

Reactions: Funny 1


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## Kevin (Jul 12, 2014)

Okay I read an entire article on CVT's so now I am an expert. 

I'm glad I didn't muddy the poll by including them. They are automatics. It's kind of like comparing prop engines to jet engines. There's all kinds of internal combustion engines that drove props but they all had a prop. Same with jet engines. Low bypass vs high bypass vs turbo fan. Axial flow vs centrifugal flow, they're all jet engines. Rocket motors? Solid vs liquid they still both rocket motors. 

A CVT is an automatic no matter how it works inside IMHO. Maybe better than the "old" automatics but it is an auto because there's no 3rd pedal down there.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Brink (Jul 12, 2014)

You know, New Holland puts CVTs in farm tractors instead of hydro stats, now.


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## HomeBody (Jul 13, 2014)

Brink said:


> You know, New Holland puts CVTs in farm tractors instead of hydro stats, now.


I looked at a New Holland "Boomer" with a cab and loader the other day. Nice, but over my tractor budget. They want $40K. Gary


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## Brink (Jul 13, 2014)

HomeBody said:


> I looked at a New Holland "Boomer" with a cab and loader the other day. Nice, but over my tractor budget. They want $40K. Gary



Yes, they are pricey.


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