Good Purhcase Or Not?

DM · 1 Sep 2010 at 14:42

Why dont you just go and drive this auto Focus and if you like it buy it.

Morba · 1 Sep 2010 at 16:36

Janesy B said:
If you're sitting on the motorway most of the time, an auto won't be much benefit unless you really need one.

But then a manual wouldn't make an difference in terms of experience.

Like fox said, if you sit on motorway at a decent time of day then you select top gear and cruise.

Janesy B · 1 Sep 2010 at 17:09

Morba said:
But then a manual wouldn't make an difference in terms of experience.

Like fox said, if you sit on motorway at a decent time of day then you select top gear and cruise.

I'm still going to maintain that the benefits of having an auto are outweighed by the drop in economy and reliability. A manual Focus isn't a hard car to drive in traffic anyway. If the OP was suggesting a larger class of car, I'd probably go for it but I personally think a 4 speed auto isn't ideal in this case.

Joshy · 1 Sep 2010 at 18:01

I maintain that for perhaps 95% of driving having an automatic is either superior or just as good as a manual, but it is the 5% of the time where not having complete control over gear changes is utterly infuriating is the one and only reason that my next car will be a manual.

[TW]Fox · 1 Sep 2010 at 18:04

Joshy said:
I maintain that for perhaps 95% of driving having an automatic is either superior or just as good as a manual, but it is the 5% of the time where not having complete control over gear changes is utterly infuriating is the one and only reason that my next car will be a manual.

In the right car, sure, but in small cars with low capacity engine an autobox just doesn't work well. You need a decent, torquey engine to compliment the box.