Manual v Auto

Nazbit

Nazbit

Nazbit

Soldato
Joined
11 Dec 2004
Posts
3,871
Hi all,

I've been saving for a while and Im starting to think about the requirements for my next car. My commute is a 60 mile round trip and parts involve long queues and slow moving traffic.

I enjoy driving and have always driven manuals up until now but there are times when Im driving home from work at the end of the day in stop start traffic and an automatic starts to seem like a good idea.

I guess Im looking for a more comfortable relaxing drive home but the ability to still have fun when I want to.

I know that lots of autos have a tiptronic mode that allows you to use them as a manual, how effective are these? Is the.experience still the same in manual mode?

Would you go manual or auto and why?

Thanks
 
A proper dual clutch automatic/DSG/DCTSTST or whatever the abbreviations for them these days are win. A traditional torque converting automatic with manual intervention via paddles is still an automatic and nothing like driving a manual at all.
 
very much depends on the car. I'd have no problem at all getting an e9x BMW with the sports auto gearbox, i found it excellent in all situations, or indeed a DCT or DSG box. I would not however get an e46 BMW with a torque converter auto, did not like it at all!

Give us more of a clue :)

Tom.
 
Depending on what car you want to get, more modern auto boxes are very clever smooth almost seamless units. Some even offer quicker 0-60times than their manual counterparts and most can be run in manul/tip/steptronic mode, and the higher tax bands thing and fuel consumption is a thing of the past now.

I went for an auto purely because I used to spend most of my time on the motorway in traffic, even slow moving, and got annoyed at the "1st, 2nd, back to 1st, oh no, 2nd" routine.

I have a manual mode in my car which I have it in permanently. It still gives me the fun of changing down a gear when I want to but without the clutch. If super fed up, bang it in auto and drift a long with the traffic.
 
What about the previous shape bmw z4 auto with the paddle shift? Which category does that fall in to?
 
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Same as the E60 with Autobox. Traditional Auto with Torque Converter.

Only the latest Z4 has just started to ship with a DCT box as an option. It's not even DCT on the £65k 6 series or new F10 5 series yet (and they are both 8 speed autos). The first F10 with DCT will be the new M5 when released.
 
As soon as their isn't a fuel economy sacrifice in a car that I am considering then I will swap to auto. Shame that the UK is so attached to its manual boxes as autos are thin on the ground in the second hand market.
 
I don't see why anyone in the South East buys anything other than an auto, I spend all my driving day / weekend following someone @ 30 (usually in NSL's) or on the motorway @ 80, I might be lucky to wind it up a bit on some dual carriageways.

It's only when I go out of the SE, West or into France that I'd miss a manual but then that's a handful of times a year if that.
 
lordrobs said:
Shame that the UK is so attached to its manual boxes as autos are thin on the ground in the second hand market.
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Don't agree with that.

A manual 330i or 335i was so rare that 2 BMW dealers both told me they would not be able to source me one to test drive as everyone got them with the auto apparently.

maccapacca said:
I don't see why anyone in the South East buys anything other than an auto, I spend all my driving day / weekend following someone @ 30 (usually in NSL's) or on the motorway @ 80, I might be lucky to wind it up a bit on some dual carriageways.

It's only when I go out of the SE, West or into France that I'd miss a manual but then that's a handful of times a year if that.
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I live in the SE. My drive to work is 3 mines of back roads, and I love it with a manual.

Certain cars I'd have a manual in and certain cars an automatic.
 
Something to consider, first ever car was an auto, cortina, manual took some getting used too after that, so if you're going to be driving any other cars... tho' maybe it was just because I was a novice driver at the time.
 
I think anything with a dual clutch is going to be out of my price range. Can anyone comment on the z4 in particular then? Is it a good or bad example?
 
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