Auto vs Manual

[Spitfire]

This is a good one as so many of the Thais like the auto gear shift cars/pickups. For me, I like a manual gearbox as I feel like I have more control with a stick, autos are mostly more sluggish at over-taking and drink more juice, especially with city driving.

However, it can be surprisingly hard to find a second hand manual car here and autos seem more popular with the locals and prevail on the availability factor. Maybe I'm old school but autos always give me the image of lazy old men driving around.

Also, will give a nod to the fact that autos are a lot better than they used to be and to get a manual now you often have to buy new and specifically order a manual gearbox.

Having said all that, I just love the stick shift, the true driving experience imo, can't replace that.

Edit - Typo in the poll question.....

[dtaai-maai]

I'd have agreed with you all the way a couple of years ago, Spitfire, but when Mrs D-M was learning to drive, the choice of reaching the pedals or looking out the windscreen of the manual Hi-Lander resulted in the purchase of a simple and delightful little automatic Vios. Both car and wife drive like a dream, and I am no longer a paranoid passenger!

[moja]

I too would have agreed until we moved here and found the only manual we could get was a special order and would take weeks so auto it was. Now when we hire in the uk we get an auto - spent far too much time stalled at junctions and roundabouts with a manual. It is amazing how quickly one adapts and I would hate to drive around here with gears too much stopping, starting and avoiding!

[STEVE G]

I drive a manual pick-up but I think one of the reasons that there are so many autos about is because many of the cars sold in Thailand are in the Bangkok area and driving in heavy traffic congestion with an auto is so much easier.
Incidentally, I think that may be why they're selling so many hybrids in Thailand as you can sit in the traffic with the engine stopped and just use the electric motor to creep forward.

[Spitfire]

Strangely enough, or not perhaps, my Mrs also said straight away that her preference was an automatic but I said to her that she should really learn to drive in a manual first as, if you can drive a manual, you can drive an auto or anything. If you learn to drive in an auto then that doesn't follow that you can drive a manual.

Manual seems to scare the life out of them all.

However, there are, as DM mentioned, size/height issues for many Thais and then you're into Jazz/Mazda 2/Nissan March etc territory, so fair play.

[buksida]

A car isn't a car without three pedals and a stick!

[Randy Cornhole]

Manual every time for me. Car or motorbike.

The main reason is that I like to use the engine for braking.

[lindosfan1]

Using the engine for braking is good fuel economy, I have always thought, drivers of automatics aim the car, drivers with manual gears drive the cars.

[PeteC]

Yes, manual for sure. Keeps you active and involved. You also learn useful things like when you red line a Toyota diesel in second gear, the engine has an automatic cut off safety switch. The wife here actually learned and took her test in a manual Toyota Tiger. The only thing you can't find here is a throaty sounding 5.0L with a manual. Pete

[margaretcarnes]

Okay - a very heavy but real story.
First - I love driving autos. Easy peasy. But manual does give much more sense - and reality - of vehicle control.
16 years ago on the M62 in the UK I was a passenger in a serious accident in an automatic. The driver lost consciousness at about 80 plus mph on a clear road. In a manual car I would have knocked the gear shift into neutral and cruised to a stop while maybe tweaking on the handbrake as well. But I knew that with that particular car and gearbox knocking into neutral would tip it onto its nose straight away.
Nothing to do but wait for the inevitable impact and end up upside down in a field. Which could well have been the end of the story.

[JimmyGreaves]

Auto any day!

Much more relaxing especially in heavy traffic!

[H2ODunc]

In a manual car I would have knocked the gear shift into neutral and cruised to a stop while maybe tweaking on the handbrake as well. But I knew that with that particular car and gearbox knocking into neutral would tip it onto its nose straight away.


I'm a little lost with this bit ? Putting an auto car into neutral is the exact same as putting a manual into neutral. I can't see how the car would have ended up on its nose ? I don't think it is even possible in a standard car.
My choice would be for a manual for a performance car but here where I don't rush to get anywhere then give me the ease of auto any day. I have a sport rider which has an auto box with overdrive and also a sports mode for quicker acceleration etc. suits me just fine.

[Takiap]

For me it's manual any day. My first car ever was an auto, but I was willing to accept it simply because I loved that car pickup so much - a 1976 Chev Elcomino 4.1 liter. Since then though, it's always been manual - I guess I just like have that extra bit of control. I also don't like any of the auto scooters.

[Jimbob]

Of course there are the semi automatics but its one pedal use not two.
I drive a Golf with the 6 speed DSG system. you still brake with the auto box, touch the brake pedal and it stays in that gear until you accelerate. Flick it out of auto and it allows me to select gears with a simple up and down sequential system and yet be economical on fuel. Mind you the cost for changing the special oil is a big hit.
happy with choice for the city driving.

[Nereus]

Like everything else, it is all relative. Depends on where and what you drive. If you live out of the big cities a manual will suffice, or you are lucky enough to own a high performance sports car, then there is a lot of pleasure to be had driving a manual transmission. On the other hand, if most of your driving is in traffic, then it is much better on both the car and the driver to have an automatic.

It is a completely uninformed comment to say that you just engage and point an automatic. With modern automatic transmissions a true "driver" will use the shift control in much the same way as with a manual. A modern automatic is a very efficient piece of engineering, and has no relation to the older "slush box" types that many are familiar with. The very slight loss of perceived performance is more in your head, than an actual fact.

I also have to agree with H2ODunc regarding moving the shift into neutral. In fact, the exact opposite will be the case, as with an automatic downshifting will give instant engine braking, as against trying to move a manual shift without using the clutch, and even if it did happen you would then have a vehicle completely relying on the brakes to stop.

I would also question the OP`s comment regarding how many automatics there are in Thailand. I have not bought a new car in many years, but a couple of years ago when I was looking for a pickup type car for my daughter, I could NOT find an automatic! On the other hand I agree that it is better to learn on a manual.

To each his own: "vive la difference"