What are the pros and cons of the manual and the automatic transmition?

[dapriceiswrongb]

What are the pros and cons of the manual and the automatic transmition?

[rrdstarr]

TRY SEARCH!
this has been discussed dozens of times!

[Schludwiller]

Manual: More gear control, better compression braking. Weak clutch. Pain in the ass when in stop and go driving. Restarting on hills can be a bit trickier.

Auto: Great for lazy drivers. Higher tow rating. No weak clutch. Braking and gas technique offroad can be an advantage. A must if you're going to offroad in a 2003 since Nissan screwed the Xterra by putting in a floor e-brake. Worse compression braking, worse gear selection. Costs an extra grand.

And yes, there is lots of info on this if you search.

[Toy Man]

Great for lazy drivers.

I vote for lazy driving...

To paraphase Syncho - "the auto wins at everything but downhill".

Toy Man

[OffroadX]

Originally posted by Toy Man

To paraphase Syncho - "the auto wins at everything but downhill".

Here here! For this I'm actually glad my wife doesn't know how to drive a stick. Now, when it comes time to buy a WRX, SHE WILL LEARN!

Brent

[dapriceiswrongb]

so is automatic the way to go if you want to go 4 weelin? r they reliable?

[Schludwiller]

Yes, Auto's are reliable but everyone has a different driving style.

One thing I've wondered (and this is a general statement so don't everyone get upset), is that people who buy standard transmissions "tend" to be more experienced drivers, or people who want more control of their vehicle (sports car drivers for example). Automatic drivers can "tend" to be people who have not driven as much, or don't like to have to "think" about their vehicles when driving.

I've seen good drivers do things with their automatics offroad that I wish I could do with my standard. But I've seen people with automatics do things that make me wonder if the auto is worse for offroading or if it is the skill of the driver who likes automatics instead.

If you're going to do a lot of rock crawling, definitely get the auto. If you're going to do a lot of mountain offroading (decent/acent), then maybe a standard is better for you. Just my opinion, take it for what it's worth.

[dapriceiswrongb]

well that really helped thank you all! i'm starting to really like the xterra! it could be in my garage soon!

[merkossie]

Hi everyone,
Newbe here. Just got new 03 Xterra 4X4 with manual trans. We have been looking for one since last November and finally made the plunge.
Some observations from a non-auto trans person (my wife included). We drove them all , from SC auto to XE manual to XE/SC manual. Thought at our age that maybe we would be ready for an auto. Well, not yet I guess. We enjoyed the manual so much and hated the auto so much that we settled for "Atomic Orange" because there wasn't a white manual 4X4 in the whole region(AZ.) I thought the lazy shifts in the auto were awfull and the slow kick-down on the on-ramps was terrible, full throttle up-shifts sucked too. Maybe I'm just too old and set in my ways but, I am so happy with what we got ,I can't give the Xterra more praise.We even love the color now! Another observation after driving them all, the SC isn't worth the money. The SC manual I drove to compare with the non-SC didn't impress me enough. I think the extra 10 HP of the 03 really helped. Besides, with an intake and exhaust, I'll nudge the same HP. We really love this thing.
Just my 2cts,
John.

[Schludwiller]

Besides what you've already noticed, there aren't any other pro's and con's unless you plan on going offroad.