Only purists and specialty car owners prefer manuals. What with modern transmissions, the old idea that a stick shift gets better mileage is just wrong.
You want to take your sports car through the twisties? An automatic with paddle shifters adds quicker and faster turns.
And for 99% of daily driving.... a standard transmission is a handicap.
There’s too much of a lag with most paddle shifters. They are kind of fun but not really.
One day I was running through some mountains in Pennsylvania with my two sons. We were cruising down a steep hill. I could see a very tight turn at the bottom that had some banking too it. It was marked 15 mph.
I hit it at about 60, jammed the brake, pounded the clutch and dropped into second gear. popped the clutch and floored it. As I shifted into third and accelerated, I looked at my boys and said “And that gentlemen, is why you drive a manual.”
Nonsense!
I've always owned only manuals. I taught my wife to drive so she had to learn to drive a stick.
Some years ago when we were looking for a new car, she test drove a car with an automatic transmission. She decided right away that it was not for her. The only time you can be sure an automatic is in the right gear is when you are pulling away from a red light, or when you are driving at the speed limit on an interstate. Now she has a six-speed Honda Accord, 2015 I think. I'm still driving my 2005 five-speed Camry.
ML/NJ
Yep - automatics have evolved so much that they offer the same mileage (that’s what locking converters give you) and quicker times from 0-whatever...learning how to use the paddles effectively is what many don’t get to...especially when wanting to maintain RPMs in a hard curve where they would usually shift...and a side bonus is that the computers won’t let you over-rev if you forget to shift or try to downshift when it would cause an over-rev.
Especially when you're on a steep road at a red light and the guy behind you is an inch away.
I’ll 2nd your post. Modern eight speed automatics have changed the fuel economy ratio, at least that is my understanding.
I do enjoy a manual. Braking hard into a corner, doing a heel-toe on the brake & throttle while shifting from 4th to 2nd gives me a level of control that is just fun.
That said, for all other purposes give me an automatic. The paddle shift double clutch transmissions are excellent.
LOVE SHIFTING GEARS! and my ‘76 Porsche 914 gives me plenty of time to do that.
BUT, my car is an ‘11 Porsche Cayman S with PDK & Sport Chrono - best auto-tranny made w/dual clutch (one always engaged in shifts), and it is 10x smarter and quicker shifting than I’ll ever be - and I am really good at shifting.
AND the PDK gets me 38mph on all-interstate drives......
BUT I hope there will always be stick for us....
Bull feathers