Why did you buy an automatic? (and why I ordered a 6spd)

[Gnade]

I have this logic. If I drive car everyday then I take Automatic, but if I drive car rarely (weekends etc) then I prefer manual.

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[Zrussian13]

Auto guys who complain about using a clutch in traffic be looking like...

"My leg gets too tired"

 

[FUN2RIDEFAST]

Same here, couldn't stand the cheap look of the stock shifter. That was the first mod I did on my Mach 1. the WM cue ball is a solid piece!

My 2017 gt PP is my first Mustang and it's a stick. I owned a Superformance Cobra a while back and it had a Tremec in it. After a few pulls with the Mustang I hated the transmission so I installed a Barton Short Throw Shifter and changed the transmission fluid to Ravenol. The difference is significant and I highly recommend the Barton setup.

 

[13GetThere]

I have this logic. If I drive car everyday then I take Automatic, but if I drive car rarely (weekends etc) then I prefer manual.

I see it the other way around. If you drive a manual everyday, then you get used to it, and are more prepared for those "OH SCHIT" incidents where response with the transmission is instinctive, and not thought about. Then when you drive your automatic, it doesn't matter if your left foot goes for a clutch that isn't there.

 

[Silver Bullitt]

Hey, this guy does ok with a manual in traffic. And, I’m not sure the A10 is any faster than him shifting. Enjoy the ride.

 

[kirk533]

I just like shifting gears. My first car was a manual, I was an OTR truck driver in my early days as well. Shift has always been a part of driving for me.

 

[Arthonon]

A thread with a question like this could make sense if someone was considering which transmission to buy, and wanted input on the factors that people considered when making their decision, but the "Mine's better!" "No MINE'S better!" exchanges that this devolves into is pointless. I don't understand how what one person buys could matter to anyone else in the least.

 

[LSchicago]

Hey, this guy does ok with a manual in traffic. And, I’m not sure the A10 is any faster than him shifting. Enjoy the ride.

He's not as fast as Grumpy Jenkins was, and Grumpy Jenkins couldn't out shift the A10.

 

[Silver Bullitt]

He's not as fast as Grumpy Jenkins was, and Grumpy Jenkins couldn't out shift the A10.

I love that pass by Grumpy. I can watch that over and over and over again.

 

[traxiii]

When they announced that the Mach 1 was available with the HP AND and Automatic, I started making plans to buy one.
When they announced that said Mach 1 was going to be available in Dark Green, I put down a deposit and ordered one!
I would have bought an Automatic Bullitt a couple years ago, if they would have made such a thing, BUT...
My Knees are Shot!
My Wife wants to drive it.
I Want my Wife to be Able to drive it.
I've done the Manual thing for 40+ years and I'm over it.
Oh, and the Automatic is Faster.

 

[NGOT8R]

I like both, but unfortunately I could only choose one, so I went with a manual. I do have mad respect for an auto car that’s set up right.

 

[13GetThere]

Hey, this guy does ok with a manual in traffic. And, I’m not sure the A10 is any faster than him shifting. Enjoy the ride.

Holy schidt! That was a wild ride.
I will have to say, watching his legs, I don't think I saw him move his leg to push a clutch. So either that car doesn't have a clutch, or it is one tricked out short throw clutch that he can use just his foot at the ankle to hit it.
He also rarely hit the brakes and down shifted to control his speed for curves.
Very good driver, and not his first time around that track.

 

[Dabitz]

With today's technology, manual transmissions are obsolete. The same reasons our ICE cars will be in 5 - 10 years unfortunately.

 

[ice445]

A thread with a question like this could make sense if someone was considering which transmission to buy, and wanted input on the factors that people considered when making their decision, but the "Mine's better!" "No MINE'S better!" exchanges that this devolves into is pointless. I don't understand how what one person buys could matter to anyone else in the least.

Because we are simple creatures and long for tribal belonging, and to feel like we made the "right" choice.

For me, I just pick what's more fun for me. I have an automatic daily so I had no reason to double up on automatics.

 

[ZeroTX]

Because we are simple creatures and long for tribal belonging, and to feel like we made the "right" choice.

For me, I just pick what's more fun for me. I have an automatic daily so I had no reason to double up on automatics.

As the OP, I'm going to chime in here. Certainly we want to know what others are doing, because yes, we want to feel "right" or at the very least get confirmation that we didn't make a bad choice. However, my point of starting this thread was to explain my motivations for choosing a 6spd manual, while also wanting to hear from those who chose autos as to why they did.....

Pretty much all of the auto responses were the typical ones I expected. No big surprises. Orthopedic issues, age, driving in heavy traffic daily, and "wife doesn't know how to drive stick." Happy to report my orthopedic issues are mild ("knock on wood"), I'm 46 -- so borderline old, but not old yet IMO, I drive 1.6 miles to work and the Mustang will only rarely be taken there (not parking my nice car in a high school parking lot -- because that's where I work), and my wife PREFERS the manual after I taught her how to drive one!!

I realize it's a skill whose importance is becoming less and less, but no one who calls themself a car enthusiast can NOT know how to drive a manual. My wife has become a car enthusiast by way of my influence, and I told her as such. You can't be a 'car nut' and not know how to drive a stick (and do it well). If that statement causes some butthurt, I'm not sorry, haha. Car enthusiasts know how to drive stick. Unless there's a physical handicap that prevents it (and I don't just mean 'sore knees' or 'tired legs').

It doesn't mean you cannot OWN an automatic and still be a car enthusiast.... but if you own it because you just don't know how to drive a manual, you gotta turn in your enthusiast card. Sorry. DNQ.

As for my feelings thus far, I'm not convinced by the A10 fans who insist it's somehow just as good as a dual clutch trans. It's still a torque converter slushbox. It's just a very good, modern one. I'd be more likely to choose an "auto" if it were a dual clutch, which is essentially a manual trans w/o a clutch and with an automatic computer-shifted mode.

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