Most liked posts in thread: Stick vs Manual: the debate goes on

When the Zombie Apocalypse comes, and you're running away from a ravenous horde, do you want you last words after jumping into the first available car to be "Crap, it's a stick."

Case closed. Learn to drive a stick or be Zombie food.

 

This is a stupid argument.

People have different wants and needs. Having the choice between a manual or auto transmission makes great business sense for MINI. There are many reason why people may want an auto, that doesn't make them any less of enthusiast.

We have been seeing less and less choice in this matter as efficiency, being green and costs are all taken into consideration. We manual drivers should feel lucky MINI even offers us the ability to row our own gears.

10 Years ago I would have considered an Auto Transmission as sacrilegious on a sporty car. Now more come with the auto than with a manual. Auto transmission technology has increased in leaps and bounds from the old Vista Cruiser slushboxes.

If a manual is your thing, enjoy it now, I'd venture to say that within 10 years they will be pretty much gone for the most part.

 

My way of looking at it is...... If it has a torque converter, it's and automatic. If it doesn't, it's a manual..... I'll stick my neck out and say a DGS is a hybrid manual..... :idea:

 

I think that most automatic drivers should at least make an effort to learn to drive an automatic...yeah, an automatic!

It's either gas pedal or brake pedal, P or D and sometimes R, but there are a few gears there that can be utilized for downhill driving or just slowing down. I can't stand following a car down a mountain riding it's brakes, or the constant shine of brake lights on a busy (not stopped, just busy) interstate highway.

My father told me you should never have to use your brakes on an interstate unless traffic slows rapidly or stops completely and I've followed that advice for 40 years...I really wish others had been taught that.

Oh and my wife, our son, nor I have ever owned an automatic and never will. We like holding onto a knob. :ihih:

Edit: my wife actually chose a manual over the DSG in her Audi. She tried both and liked the manual better.

 

My take is that if it doesn't have a clutch pedal, it's an automatic.

Dave

 

I agree. If it doesn't have a clutch pedal, I won't buy it. Even if the top line DSG (or whatever the proper terminology) outperforms a real manual, I'm still not interested.

There are two factors at play for me:

1. The true manual is simply more enjoyable for me. This is purely subjective and YMMV.

B. in my experience, a true manual has significantly less maintenance cost. In my family, we have fried two automatic transmissions. One in a 1986 Cutlass. In 1995, it cost about $600 for a rebuild. The car had 35K miles. The other was in a 1994 Impala SS. This one died at 108,000 miles. I replaced it outright with a brand new unit from the dealer. I did the work myself, and it set me back about $2,000. Neither of these transmissions were maintained "by the book". The book calls for long service intervals, but I changed the fluid and filters every 20K miles. I have replaced one clutch. It was in a 1989 Camaro, and it had 197K miles. I overpaid for genuine GM parts to the tune of $305 because they had a proven track record for long life and did the work myself.

As long as God grants me good enough health to do my own gear changing, I'm gonna do it!

 

Nooooooooo.... Jim, what are you doing...... Say it ain't so.....
Errrrrr.... showing yur feminine side?

 

That has NEVER stopped us before. :lol:

 

You got that right..... :crazy:

 

It's always a moot debate but it can be fun to drop in your own two cents.

I enjoy driving my manual MINI. I had manuals in my 2005 Mustang GT and 2006 Nissan 350Z. Great fun.

I've driven my Dad's MCSa multiple times along with many other Automatics that have a "manual" mode and I come to decide they generally suck when it comes to hard shifting environments (i.e. Road Racing/Track Events/Some AutoX). By automatics I mean the traditional automatic with a torque converter and valve-body. Now for hard-core drag racing the auto is the ONLY way to go. Eventually when they can get CVTs to take hard-core drag-racing torque they will surpass autos.

I had 2006 VW GTI with a DSG (dual wet clutch trans). While it shifts automatically the mechanics in how it shifts are drastically different. On the VW forums there are ALWAYS debates on which is "better". There are pluses and minuses to both. I will say this: if they had a DSG (or whatever MINI/BMW wants to call it) version of the MINI it would be a VERY tempting option so long as I could still have the LSD with it.

My $0.02 and I'm sure I over-charged.

 

^ Since you are new I'll give you a tip. Keep that red needle on the noise meter far to the right.

Welcome to M/A

 

I still have a problem with calling DSG-type transmissions as automatics. We need a new word to describe them or start calling the old slush-boxes something else.

You really can't call a DSG box and a manual different trannies, they are basically the same thing. One can simply be controled by a computer and the other can't.

 

My wife doesn't drive stick shift and we needed a car that she could drive when her primary car was down for repairs, so we were in the market for a MINI with an automatic transmission.

I gotta say, the automatic is really good, I can put it in manual mode and shift it just as fast as I can shift a manual. I love the paddle shifters and even use them in automatic mode. I've read many posts in which people say that they have more control with a manual, I think those people have never driven a MINI with an automatic. I'm really glad I got it!

If I start jones'n for a stick, I'll just drive one of my other cars.

Dave

 

Tesla Roadster



Urp..... Maybe time for a re-set.....

"That kind of motor response eliminates the need for a complicated transmission, so the Roadster has just three gears -- two forward gears and one reverse gear. Shifting is manual, but there's no clutch. That also means there's no stalling or "jerk" when you shift between gears"

No clutch.... No clutch pedal, yet it's a manual....

Tesla Motors - FAQs

 

Nah, Automatic!:biggrin5:

Dave

 

It comes down to whether or not a torque converter is used. The DSG (and others) are simply a manual tranny that uses a computer controlled clutch (either a single or the double-clutch kind). There are still conventional "gears" being used. And yes they are sequential by design, but you can go up and down very quickly.

Nice BMW video.......
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3168HrHGeLw]how does BMW M3 DCT(double clutch transmission) works - YouTube[/ame]