Car & Bike Manual Transmission vs Automatic Transmission

Do you prefer MT or AT?

  • Total voters
    11
whatsinaname

whatsinaname

Skilled
Good dual clutch systems and overall improvements to the behaviour of ATs are challenging the old arguments that an MT always provides higher mileage and better shift times. With that said, what do you guys prefer? I learnt to drive on a manual transmission and when I have tried to drive automatics, I didn't really like the experience. I have been test driving a few vehicles recently and, for almost all of them, I preferred the manual.

Funnily enough, I drove a Kintetic Honda for a couple of years in college. Have never driven a manual two-wheeler.

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Prefer automatic as that is only what I have driven and that too outside India.
Whenever I buy a car (read when I have money to buy a car :p), I would prefer buying an automatic.
 
I learnt to drive on a manual, and have always loved the feel of shifting cleanly through the gears. The few autos that I have driven, they just dont feel as involving as a manual box. A huge part of the entire driving experience seems to be missing.
But then again, I am an enthusiast, so my feelings are biased. I can see the advantages and ease of an auto box for most regular drivers in traffic, especially in hilly regions.
I've never driven a DSG, really want to try that. Especially with paddle shifters!
 
Nothing beats a slick shifting manual gearbox. While the entire world seems to be moving towards dual clutch autoboxes, I'm not convinced. However I might be in minority here.

I've pretty much hated every single non dual clutch box (including the automatic bimmers) I've driven till date.
 
Learnt driving on manual as most Indians do. However I hate changing gears so my own car will have to be an automatic. I see a car as a practical investment which will be used heavily and very frequently and with the bumper to bumper traffic these days, no of people selecting AT over MT is bound to rise. The only AT I have driven in life was a Jaguar XF, so my views might be a lot biased and not applicable for normal buyers including myself.
I haven't driven any automatic at the lower or middle price spectrum and I do believe the systems employed in cheaper cars would be bound to have their own kinks and troubles. For this reason as well as keeping in mind the knowledge levels of mechanics I wouldn't advise going for an automatic if you aren't buying a premium luxury car. I myself have no plans to buy an automatic unless I am spending north of 30L.
 
Chaos said:
Nothing beats a slick shifting manual gearbox. While the entire world seems to be moving towards dual clutch autoboxes, I'm not convinced. However I might be in minority here.

I've pretty much hated every single non dual clutch box (including the automatic bimmers) I've driven till date.
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By dual u mean semi automatic right? As in auto + manual.
My Verna has the same and its quiet good.But then again, we used that only in the first week of the car, 1.5yrs down and its remained in automatic.
 
Dual clutch as in two clutches. These are the most recent form of automatic gearboxes and shift without any perceptible lag. The Verna and other Hyundai models in India still use the old torque converter.
 
Does any indian car have the dual clutch? An example would help.
Also this has nothing to do with those paddle gears right?(the ones in F1 cars, mounted behind the steering).
 
Yeah nothing to do with paddle gear shifters, those are equipped even on torque converter models like the Honda City/Civic. In India, the VW group cars have the biggest share of dual clutches, eg: VW Polo GT TSI, Skoda Laura/Superb DSG, etc. BMW's new F10 M5 also has a DCT. Ford EcoSport too.
 
Learnt on manual. Drove an MT Honda City ZX for a year to college before switching to AT Honda City S (2009). I think driving an MT before you start driving AT is really important because that's when you will be able to feel (and appreciate) the gears shifting by itself when driving an AT. With practice, you will know exactly when the gear will shift depending on how much you are stepping down on the accelerator pedal.

But I guess this doesn't apply to dual clutch transmission, which as @Crazy_Eddy said, has no lag between the gear shifts. Have never driven a car with dual clutch transmission before. That there is such a thing as dual clutch transmission is known to me only after coming to this thread!
 
babhishek said:
@Chaos which dual clutch boxes have you driven? whats your feedback on the DSG?
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I've driven the current Passat 170bhp diesel and the previous 160 bhp petrol. Feels pretty good - slick shifting and good fun.

Driven a Porsche 911 a few years ago which had a first gen PDK - Fantastic driving experience but I found the box to be a bit lethargic compared to the VW dsg boxes.

Driven a Ford Focus with the ford twin clutch transmission - the less said about the box the better :p.
 
Learnt to drive on manual as most indians do in india . Now i have verna crdi SX manual , recently had a chance to drive the auto version of the verna and for me it felt a little laggy compared to my manual . The same lagginess was not seen when i drew the Cruz auto . So it depends from car to car . Better have a test drive before buying anything .
 
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