"car guys" driving automatics?

[mavrikno13764]

I think the real advantage to paddles shifting is being able to keep your hands on the steering wheel at all times, and not the speed of the shift. As stated before, I doubt a lot of posters in here are able to take advantage of the shift speed. Having both hands on the wheel works wonders around any track.

In my teen years 16- 21 I was absolute about driving a manual all the time. But as I age (29) and driving through LA traffic every so often, I have come to appreciate my automatic E39 540i. Traveling from SB to LA in an Auto, I find myself more refreshed and willing to do more when I drive the E39. In the E30, I am tired and more irritated which makes me want to relax for a good hour before any activity.

[Nick_S]

I much prefer a manual to anything, however if I only had one car for work and fun and had to commute in horrible traffic with it. I wouldn't have a problem driving an auto. I spent 3 months daily driving my E30 through 1.5hr each way in stop and go traffic, it was miserable.

[BobombETA]

I've never owned an auto, but my commute to work has never been more than 5 miles each way. I really don't even think about it (the clutch). It's just as natural as the brake pedal and the gas. Traffic is annoying no matter what transmission you have.

[rturbo 930]

Regarding paddle shifters and them being able to shift fast than a manual - how many of you here are such good drivers that you'll actually see a difference in lap times between manual and paddle shifters? You guys are missing the point. It's not about how fast you can shift. It's all about how much enjoyment you get out of driving the car.

Anyway, I DD a stick, always have. Only time it really becomes annoying is in heavy traffic. If I dealt with a lot of traffic I would consider getting a newer car with an auto that actually shifts decently, ideally something with a dual clutch gearbox and paddle shifters. I would never get an older car with an auto, because they're just fuckin terrible.

Though I don't care what other people drive, the reasoning "manuals are a pain in the ass in traffic" has always gone over my head. Having driven vehicles with manual transmissions my whole life, it's literally an automatic process, I don't have to try to do it or think about it. Definitely not a pain in the ass.

Not a pain in the ass. A pain in the knee/calf. Not to mention starting/stopping every 10 seconds isn't going to be good for your clutch no matter what.

[varg]

Though I don't care what other people drive, the reasoning "manuals are a pain in the ass in traffic" has always gone over my head. Having driven vehicles with manual transmissions my whole life, it's literally an automatic process, I don't have to try to do it or think about it. Definitely not a pain in the ass.

[Nesset]

It's been like this since the 80's... Hell, look at all the old American muscle cars. A bunch of them are auto's and people freak out over them. Another reason I hate american muscle... Bleh.

[FunfGan]

While I don't think I will never own a manual in anything other than an SUV or luxo-barge like an LS400 or something, I think it's kind of petty to automatically say someone isn't into cars purely because they don't want a manual.

Manuals are more fun, more involved and frankly I will never understand auto's in sports cars other than stupid fast supercars, but hey, each to their own.

[ELVA164]

many of the new automatics\paddle shifts (in performance vehicles) fully outperform someone with a clutch and shifter.

I don't hate you Burns, but I hate this argument. There is so much more to the debate than shift times, and honestly I don't know why that argument ever holds water. I mean, let's be honest: how many of us can really put the saved time to proper use?

I prefer my manual for daily driving because it gives me more to do. If it's an especially boring drive for whatever reason, I focus on maximizing mileage with gear selection and anticipating traffic patterns ;D You have more control over the car, which I like. I do definitely understand people not wanting to have to deal with shifting in daily grind-type traffic though.

The way I've always thought about learning to drive stick is this: It's an easy thing to learn and a very hard thing to master.

[AwakenNoMore]

My E30 is auto and its not all that bad really, Its my first auto car. It does make the morning traffic leaving work a bit easier. I do, however, have about 80% of my manual swap parts.

[FLYNAVY]

I daily drove my e30 in san diego from carlsbad to miramar for almost 2 years, and man, that got real old real fast. I also have a really stiff clutch so that doesn't help matters. I agree that everyone should know how to drive a manual. I guess maybe I was lucky growing up with manual cars and learning it early, but it isn't exactly a difficult skill to master.

[decay]

my new-to-me subaru legacy GT is an autobox with the sport-shift option.

bought auto because it's a commuter and i spend 2+ hours a day in it, much of it in traffic.

it's still faster than most e30s, and a damn sight more comfortable than my ITB'd go-kart. no regrets.

[shameson]

While my e30 is a manual, and I'll never drive an automatic e30, my e39 wagon is an auto. The e39 is my daily/parts hauler/friends hauler/whatever so for me it is more practical. I love giving some hell to my m42 and running up the rpms, but the wagon is stock and isn't something I'd track or anything like that. So for driving it around town to go to work or taking it through traffic it's much easier, but as Henna mentioned above, it is a little boring. Plus, manual e39 wagons are fairly uncommon or else I probably would just go ahead and get one of those lol

[HennaE30]

I personally don't mind dailying a manual. Unless I'm exhausted, I prefer to drive a manual. IMO autos are boring. There's just an x-factor appeal that 5 speeds have over automatics.. Lol flynavy, I do the same thing when I get into my truck after driving the E30 a lot.. Go to push in the clutch to pop it into drive lol. Then I'm like wtf am I doing? I guess the thing that bothers me is the number of people who don't know how to drive stick or bother to learn.. Car people and non car people.. You go to Europe and all the cars there are manual. Here, I'm surprised when I look in the window of a car and see a stick.

[FLYNAVY]

while I don't think I could enjoy never having a manual to throw around, I do enjoy the DCT in my e92 M for those really monotonous drives to work at 3:30 AM, or in traffic, or whatever else. And if I am trying to max perform it, the thing definitely does upshift/downshift faster than I can ever do in my e30 M, though I don't think there is any practical application to that difference outside of maybe a track environment (it isn't significant). Regardless, I think you can be a "car guy" that is also practical, given his/her everyday environment or routine. I don't know that the experience is really lost, but I will say that hopping back and forth between the two every 3rd or 4th day, my muscle memory is always off and I forget which car I'm driving/what my feet and hands need to be doing sometimes if I'm not thinking about it....ie I will reach for the paddles in the e30, or push my clutch foot in in the e92, obviously both with no results.....which I think might be different for a auto vs manual comparison, vs paddles/DCT vs clutch/manual. You are still involved with a DCT (or I guess any paddle shifted trans regardless of type), it's just your hands vs your feet I guess.

[Kevinl]

Sigh I have a real problem with this The e90 forum is full of these guys they also will drop 10k on mods and cant do any work on there own car and whine that it doesn't go 300k without needing anything

I also think a lot of these guys cant really drive a manual or are not any good at it my dad fits this. Sure if you are timing with special equipment shift times some automatics can shift faster than me but driving or riding in the car you are not going to be like oh man that shift was 100 mili seconds slower than my auto

I owned a Pontiac G8 GT and I hated it the transmission was so slow to downshift or upshift in manual mode and I'm sorry I'm not going to do spirited driving around corners while the tranny is in 6th gear then up shifts 2nd and takes off faster than I want or the road will allow

I see the benefit of DCT transmissions although I think some of the experience of driving is lost with just two pedals

torque converter automatics can go to hell imo