auto vs. manual: is it really THAT serious?

[chefbrown12014]

So... As i read around the forums ive noticed many like auto tranny over stick. Ive read auto is faster... Allows turbo to stay spooled...

Thing is...i HATE driving auto. Its boring...unengaging, and mind numbing imo.

What are the differences performance wise stick vs. auto?

Is auto really faster?
Is this "auto is better" thing a fad?
Is stick not competitive? Tell me what im getting into by buying stick.

 

[zedicus]

the only reason autos are faster over all now is that they are common and consistent enough to eliminate the driver that they have been advanced more than manuals have.

same reason even new turd box civics show better gas mileage with an auto. technically the tranny has very little to do with it and they are basing the info on having an idiot behind the wheel in the manual.

autos are more consistent. period. and can have every bit as good ET.

autos absorb some horse power. period.

what do YOU prefer? what are YOU faster in? thats what matters.

i prefer Star Trek, for the life of me i can not under stand who would even like the Star Wars movies.

 

[knyech1]

manual.

its a little like the 2-stroke vs 4-stroke argument in motocross. some people prefer 2-stroke but are actually slower. however anyone can make a 4-stroke look good. the difference is the 1-2% of people that can actually OWN on a 2-stroke.

I don't really see how this applies. The 2 vs 4 stroke argument came about because 4 strokes of nearly twice the displacement were allowed to compete against the 2 strokes. That's why the classes went away from 125 and 250 designation. 2 stroke is always way more powerful that a 4 stroke of the same displacement.

And my vote is auto. Had manuals in my drag cars for years, went auto and had wheels up launches and faster/more consistent et's. No more fiddling with clutch adjustment crap and constantly changing out burned up clutch disks (saves $$ too).

 

[91stocker]

5spd cars are faster, period. 5spd cars ET better.......... Auto's are more consistent and easier to drive once they are setup. Pick your poison, but they're features and benifits to each setup.

I disagree. The 5 spd cars trap higher but have lower et's to comparable auto's. 5spd cars also have lower 60ft times. So basically the 5spd cars have to make more power to keep up with the autos and thats on a flawless run, which with 5spd dsm's or evo's is about 1 out of every 10 runs.

For example kiggly's fwd out 60ft sheps and red demons car in a fwd.

Another example jeff's ets 1g traps 180 on his 7.75 pass, red demon and shep trap 190 and 191.

 

[o0GuitarKid0o]

My stock f4a33 turbo auto trans (has 264,000 km) and has been mated to a mighty fine N/A 6bolt for roughly 5-6 years , it even has the factory EPROM TCU ,

I'm not going to lie my cars not fast but for a dd my cars perfect,
weather it be cruisen down the highway or rush hour downtown it's always been a nice Unstressful drive (except that one time I broke a band)

So depending on the application the auto vs manual thing really doesn't matter because your comparing apples to bananas and it all comes down to what you want for lunch.

So pretty much anything can brake even without a 400hp 4g63
(manual or auto)
the more milage you have and hp the more chances you have to brake something weather it be tommorow or 3 years from now is far greater than when these cars were new

If you put 500 hp on an auto or manual and don't atleast do a freshen up than I guarantee something's going to go which comes down to the owners fault,
And gets passed on as " bad information" when there stuck on the side of the road because they destroyed there clutch

So really we should rename this to
"what transmission do you prefer to use and why and what application?"

I would love to have a manual but my auto makes one hell of a daily driver especially in rush hour

I think we can all agree that our cars are pretty much all different from each other now adays and someone's going to have better experiences with manual or vise versa ....depending on the application

 

[91stocker]

the only reason autos are faster over all now is that they are common and consistent enough to eliminate the driver that they have been advanced more than manuals have.

Auto's also launch harder with better 60ft times because they build more boost on the converter than a hand break and anti lag could ever think about. They also can launch harder because the drivetrain is preloaded, so less shock, so they stay together longer. Plus the auto doesnt have a "creeper" first gear that causes the front end to slam into to the ground during the 1-2 shift.

 

[EvilGST]

My personal choice is a clutch car because my car is my daily and I enjoy shifting. But I can imagine a auto car being killer for the track.

 

[miliman13]

I'm going to touch on something that may have not been brought up, idk I didn't read this whole thing. Way to much traffic to quickly.

My reason for disliking auto is simply the senoloids !!!! And the seperat computer.
I had a senoloid go bad in another car, and that was all to cripple my car permanently.
Auto is dependent on fluid pressure and electronic controls. Manual is dependent on hydrolic pressure. Less likely to fail since there are no stupid senolids inside!!

Plus the throttle response and ability to manipulate is more abundant... This is an argument for all circumstances except for drag!!! Which I give {you know what} about.

 

[Archer Fabrications]

Plus the auto doesnt have a "creeper" first gear that causes the front end to slam into to the ground during the 1-2 shift.

thats why evo3 1st

 

[rhamlinii]

I disagree. The 5 spd cars trap higher but have lower et's to comparable auto's. 5spd cars also have lower 60ft times. So basically the 5spd cars have to make more power to keep up with the autos and thats on a flawless run, which with 5spd dsm's or evo's is about 1 out of every 10 runs.

For example kiggly's fwd out 60ft sheps and red demons car in a fwd.

Another example jeff's ets 1g traps 180 on his 7.75 pass, red demon and shep trap 190 and 191.

Fastest is the fastest, quickest is the quickest. Not going to speculate on what could, and or should be. I'll just say the quickest and fastest, still remain manual cars. Manual cars will always be the stronger performer however they are just far less consistent.

 

[JFPryde]

I have one of each, one a 95 the other a 96 (both are AWD). I had the MT first and it was first stick shift I drove in about a decade. When I got my auto for a sick price, I was really skeptical about it and had planned to swap the tranny to a 5 speed before ever driving the thing. I was wrong. The Auto really is a lot of damn fun to drive. Yeah, its less engaging but its still a thrill, just a slightly different kind of fun I guess. Too bad both have spun rod bearing at the moment....