Forum newbie - looking for advice between MT and AT

[frost]

Originally Posted by blue660r01

Thats what they make highways for

Damn dude, sometimes you wanna whip the crank out when you're not going out of town.

[antennahead]

Originally Posted by frost

Damn dude, sometimes you wanna whip the crank out when you're not going out of town.

............ and sometimes you wanna crank the whip out when you're not going out of town

[frost]

Originally Posted by antennahead

............ and sometimes you wanna crank the whip out when you're not going out of town

If it's good enough for indiana jones, it's goo enough for me.

[antennahead]

Originally Posted by frost

When I was driving a manual, I found it incredibly hard to drive, masturbate, AND work the transmission. Likewise when a girl in the passenger seat was working my crank; it was too difficult with our arms constantly bumping into each other and crossing.

with the automatic all you have to worry about is accidently knocking it into neutral

[fullmonty]

I.b.t.l.

[j.arnaldo]

Time for honeymoon, ears!

[Push370zzz]

Glad to see we're helping this guy decide haha. Anyways, I love the manual because it is a lot more fun to drive. I don't even notice it in traffic, so I could really care less...plus I kind of get a workout.

[Rui Z]

I have a manual on my Z and an automatic w/ manual shifting on my MINI. I keep the MINI in auto mode cuz it's boring changing gears without a clutch. The 370 is my first manual car and I'm glad I chose manual. Loads of fun skipping gears, trying to go up hills from a stop without backing up too much or burning the clutch, and coasting to a stop in neutral. I have yet to drive through heavy stop-n-go traffic, so I haven't experienced the dark side of clutches. Plus I LOVE SynchroRev. I don't know how you manual guys ever matched revs so easily. I guess I'm just too uncoordinated. It makes driving a manual almost as easy as driving an automatic.

[ImportConvert]

Originally Posted by Rui Z

I have a manual on my Z and an automatic w/ manual shifting on my MINI. I keep the MINI in auto mode cuz it's boring changing gears without a clutch. The 370 is my first manual car and I'm glad I chose manual. Loads of fun skipping gears, trying to go up hills from a stop without backing up too much or burning the clutch, and coasting to a stop in neutral. I have yet to drive through heavy stop-n-go traffic, so I haven't experienced the dark side of clutches. Plus I LOVE SynchroRev. I don't know how you manual guys ever matched revs so easily. I guess I'm just too uncoordinated. It makes driving a manual almost as easy as driving an automatic.

That is hard on syncros.
Just use the E-brake. You could park a Ferrari an inch off my back bumper on a 30* hill and I wouldn't worry a bit. E-brake. Made for that sort of thing.
Just bump the auto into Neutral. Same effect.

Matching revs takes time to learn. It took me about 3 years to get decent at matching revs on demand regardless of the situation in my GT and then WS6. I never tried toe-heel shifting, though, so I was kinda slow at it. Not very pro at all there. Still, it was much fun. Glad you can turn that feature off if I do decide to get a Z.

[snapping]

This is my first car and im so glad i choose manual. It's so much fun to drive and when you get use to it, it's just second nature and you dont really think about shifting you just do it.

[ImportConvert]

Originally Posted by snapping

This is my first car and im so glad i choose manual. It's so much fun to drive and when you get use to it, it's just second nature and you dont really think about shifting you just do it.

Congrats and lucky you for a first car! Just be careful with it. I know 330hp isn't a lot in the grand scheme of things, and that's about how I felt about my first sports car, but damned if that car wasn't the fastest thing on the planet the night I lost it. That is what broke me of owning automatics, btw. It downshifted in a corner, snapped the rear-end around, and the rest is history. After that, I was manual only in a sports car. No more suprises.

[mitchb]

Originally Posted by ImportConvert

Congrats and lucky you for a first car! Just be careful with it. I know 330hp isn't a lot in the grand scheme of things, and that's about how I felt about my first sports car, but damned if that car wasn't the fastest thing on the planet the night I lost it. That is what broke me of owning automatics, btw. It downshifted in a corner, snapped the rear-end around, and the rest is history. After that, I was manual only in a sports car. No more suprises.

THANKS for that info ! ive never had or thought about that either .i will be sure to have my auto in manual mode from now on when getting down n around.

[JDubya]

The 370 was my first manual car as well(granted I had been riding dirt bikes for quite a while so I wasn't unfamiliar with shifting) and at first I hated it & second-guessed my purchase because I wasn't used to the transition to using my foot on a clutch as opposed to my hand & and I just get too frustrated when i'm not immediately able to do something.

But, within a few days once I was comfortable, it confirmed my gut instinct when I bought the car, that I really do love the manual transmission. I love the control and I honestly believe I pay more attention to actual driving as opposed to an AT where my mind can wander at times on the road(especially in traffic). It can be a little rough in stop-and-go traffic, but I wouldn't trade it for an AT at all.

Either way, you need to go with what you like the most, you're the one spending $30k+ on a car and it's your opinion that matters, so go with your gut instinct, because it's probably going to be right in the long run.

[mitchb]

yea i gotta deal on auto wish mine had stickS & SIX !!

[OMGiGOTaZ]

Originally Posted by EgoTrip

I don't have my Z yet, still in the decision phase. I haven't driven one yet, so don't know the "butt feel" difference between MT and AT. I wanted to get some on-line opinions from the experts before I scheduled the test drives.

Obviously the AT isn't a clutchless manual like a DSG tranny. But is there enough of a performance benefit to the MT? I couldn't find any comparo's of 0-60 times between the 2.

I'm wondering if the "Fun Factor" of the MT will wear off over a short time, and I'll find myself wishing I had the Automatic.

This will be my full time daily driver. So I'll need it to handle commutes as well as the fun drives.

I am a car guy, which is why I'd consider a Z in the first place, but I also traded in my last MT car 2 years ago and have been driving an AT since. I guess my ideal car would be a clutchless manual, but I'm wondering if I'd be missing out on the whole "sports car experience" if I got an AT?

Any and all opinions welcome. I've been reading a lot of the posts here, and there's a lot of good info.

I'll post a followup when I finally test drive the 2 models.

Thanks guys.

Looks like your getting plenty of response but i'll chime in... I've seen enough and read enough I can say I've seen Dynos that show the MT puts about 5more hp down to the wheels I have the 7AT