Benefits of Manual and Automatic

What are the benefits of Manual? I have always drove automatic, but manual is more 'sporty' is there something about manual that is better for racing on the track? Please inform me, I havent been driving for long, but I have taken great interest in cars, and after market parts in the last 2 years.

Thanks,

jml

Well, manuals are ESSENTIALLY superior to an automatic in every way (at least on your average street car). You get much more torque to the wheels in a manual usually because they are alot more effective at keeping your engine in its power band. You also get better gas milage, especially on highways. The 5th gear (or 6th if you have one) usually has a very low gear ratio compared to the highest gear on an automatic and therefor requires fewer rpm's to achieve an equal or higher top speed. Another advantage is you can 'engine brake'. Basicly, slowing the vehicle by taking your foot off the gas. Manuals are also MUCH MUCH cheaper to replace when the go...about 1/4 - 1/3 the price of an auto. The only REAL disadvantage is easy of driving. In an automatic, all you do is put on the gas and you go, and it does all the shifting for you, which is very nice in stop and go traffic. It is also quite easy stall a manual if you aren't careful. Like say if you are stopping for a red light and you were in 4th. You had better shift down to 1st or even 2nd works before you get going again, or you will stall the engine.

Blood the was probably the most ignorant bunch of statements I have ever heard. First of all manuals are not cheaper to rebuild in fact they are usually far more expencive particularly when you are dealing with the old 3 speed auto's.Second of all gas milage is not really much better if any with modern automatics the difference is very minimal and with an manual you can easy acheave worse fuel economy depending on your driving style. As for the engine braking comment well many of the new automatics do down shift for engine breaking. As for the over drive ratio most auto's and manuals have a simiar over all o/d gear ratio. Now as for the disadvantages of manual, first of all not matter how well you drive it you will go through several clutches in the life of the car which especially in front wheel drives are fairly expencive. second with a manual you get no torque multiplication as you have no torque converter. The torque converter is the best part of automatics when you start off from it a stop it multiplys engine torque by up to 2.5% untill in couples.

First of all, I never said that manuals are HUGELY better. You are right, the differences are usually minimal (1 -2 MPG) and OF COURSE it depends on the driver. The same can be said for an automatic. Secondly, 2.5%? I don't think that really makes up for the much lower gear ratio of a manual transmission in first compared to an automatic in first (this is in general...of course you could have an automatic with lower gear ratios, but this isn't usually how it is because they have less gears to work with). Personally, I much preffer a manual over an automatic, but its all about personal preference and driving style.

The 5th gear (or 6th if you have one) usually has a very low gear ratio compared to the highest gear on an automatic and therefor requires fewer rpm's to achieve an equal or higher top speed.

From what I've seen, this frequently isn't the case. At least with cars w/ 5 speeds anyway. The 5th gear in many manual transmission cars is a 1:1 drive ratio, whereas the overdrive gear of an automatic might be something like .75:1. Some 5 speeds will actually be overdrive, some will not, but just about every automatic has it. So I think the auto has the advantage over 5 speeds in most cases as far as rpm's at high speed are concerned.

I like manual transmission cars better... The connection with the car and control just isn't there with an automatic, and it keeps my commute as entertaining as possible. Unfortunately my Integra suffers along with others from that shorter fifth gear, and I don't like having to run 4000 rpm just to keep up with traffic on LA freeways. I had almost sworn off automatics, but my next car might just have one. Or I'll just have to buck up and get something with a six speed. :naughty: