Automatic vs. Manual

I think in REAL life, the automatics are actually getting *better* mileage. I've had these discussions with people on this newsgroup before, and I'm constantly amazed by the mileage other people in their automatic Outbacks get in comparison to me. Usually they are getting about 2-5 mpg better than me. I've sometimes even seen H6 Outbacks getting better mileage than mine.

Yousuf Khan

That's what I'm talking about.

Barry

Agreed!

I always drive a stick, unless I am borrowing or renting, and I HATE when climbing a hill in an auto and the thing shifts down when it is not needed.

With a stick you can go full throttle in 5th gear and pull the hill without having to shift down. In an auto, full throttle probably puts the car in 2nd.

Drives me nuts.

nate

02 OBW MT5

uglymoney wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

Interesting article on the steady decline of the manual transmission:

Yep. It is absolutely ashamed. Note though that even now in Europe the auto is far rarer than the stick. Mostly due to expensive fuel. They use small motors and small cars that really feel the bog of an auto.

All this talk about clutching in traffic is true. I lived in a big city and clutching in stop and go for three hours gets really old. My solution was to move to a smaller city with no congestion.

Other than starting out, I don't need to depress the clutch ever anyway on my OBW, and most often I don't. Its just a habit carried over from driving 10 speed unsynchroed trucks with 11 liter engines.

nate

Yeah, I gotta say that I'm tending more towards automatics these days myself. I have a feeling that this Outback will be my last manual transmission.

Yousuf Khan

Isn't there a lockout for shifting the transmission when not depressing the clutch?

Yousuf Khan

Fall asleep at the wheel much? No way I could drive like that unles a computer was doing the shifting for me and even then I would be cursing it all day long :)

AUSTRALIA

My previous 1991 RS Turbo Liberty (Aussie Legacy) would do 40km/hr per

1000 revolutions in 5th gear..... so 5000 rpm in top gear was 200km/hr !!!

And I regularly spun it to 5500 or more in top..... FANTASTIC car that.. .wish I never sold it.

BTW: I'm looking to buy another RS Turbo, or the later model (imported only for Australia) GT, if anyone is selling ???

Cheers Sp> My 2.2 Impreza 5 speed turns 3k plus in 5th on the highway

>

The WHOLE idea of gears is to negate the need to go "full throttle" to ascend a hill......

You are putting excessive strain on your engine, gearbox, differentials and CV joints by putting that much load due to not using the CORRECT gear for the job... that of climbing a hill

How hard is it to drop it back a gear, or two if necessary...... the auto is doing exactly what it is supposed to....

despite the fact that people dont like them because they dont foresee the correct gear, as we do..... the fact is, the auto chooses the correct gear according to it's programming. Auto companies spend MILLIONS of dollars on testing and development, choosing the correct programming for gear changes, etc... and you complain when your auto selects a gear to climb a hill

sorry mate, but youre a wanker.... if you don't like autos, dont buy them

Sp> uglymoney wrote in

My thoughts exactly... why the hell would anyone intentionally drive up a hill in 5th gear? John

Some do, but Subaru ones don't, at least in my experience. My Legacy

250T will climb most of the steepest highway hills in NZ happily locked up in 4th with 1/3 - 1/2 throttle. Only if I press the gas a long way or if the speed drops below about 80 km/h (2000 rpm) will it change down.

I think you're all wrong!

Just joking, I thought I'd stir you all up...

I have a 2004 Liberty GT 5sp Auto.(only came in auto at the time). Despite being a manual guy until the last 2 family cars, I have found this Subaru auto to be pretty good. It doesn't hunt. It does slurrr into gears when pushed a bit. BUT good most of the time, particularly with sport mode and shift buttons on the wheel. Would be even better with paddles!!!

About the drive splitting. and here's why I say you're all wrong. My understanding is that the auto can only vary the front to rear split up to

40:60 (hence, rear drive bias). The Manual is better and can vary the split up to 90% front, OR rear.

So, let it rip. I'm ready for the replies ;)

Tuan

Exactly Bruce...... your auto is doing precisely what it is supposed to do :)

Personally, I'm a fan of manuals, in a performance vehicle. But auto's have their place - especially in choked city traffic.

I'm yet to test drive a vehicle with semi-auto, tiptronic, steptronic, or whatever name they choose to give it to make it "unique" !!!

Sp> In article

Don't know about you, but I'm the damned DRIVER of MY car. That's who the hell I am! As part of my responsibility to my fellow users of the road, I'm supposed to maintain control of my vehicle at all times. That's a WHOLE lot easier to do if one knows WHAT the vehicle's gonna do, and WHEN!

Rick

You are not correct about the splits... check out the SOA websites. I also have the technical manuals for the VDC/VTD/Manual transmissions. John

YES.... i agree, in concept, but in practice, it's not that easy.

If you want to be in TOTAL control of your car, buy one that does NOT include the following:

Automatic transmission Electric Mirrors Electric Windows Electric Seats Seat belts Air bags Vacuum Power assisted brakes Remote Locking Alarm Central Locking Remote Boot Release Remote Fuel Filler Release Cruise Control Air Conditioning Power Steering Radio / Casette / CD (be in control of your OWN entertainment) ..... anything that assists the driver in ANY way......

in fact... go buy a T-Model Ford......guaranteed TOTAL control of your vehicle then..... despite it being a Ford

Spinifex

Rick Courtright wrote:

No belief involved in my case, just personal experience. I'm glad yours doesn't behave strangely.

The only auto I've ever owned (and it only came into the stable thru an odd set of circumstances, else I still wouldn't own an auto) is behind a V-6 on a Toyota Camry. It's got nearly as many buttons to push, along with the shift lever, as the radio on my Subie. And it's about as predictable as the weather six months from now.

OTOH, the g/f's Honda has an auto behind a 4 cyl (usually a bad combo, IMO, but YMMV) that has no buttons. You put it in D4 and off you go. You CAN, but don't have to, drop it to D3 if you don't want it to shift to overdrive. But it's smart enough to know NOT to shift into OD at 35 mph. Under ANY circumstances. It shifts at approximately the same speeds all the time, and downshifts in a predictable fashion. The Toyota trans will upshift any time it doesn't sense some throttle being applied, so it might hit OD as low as 35 mph, and leaves the engine barely off idle, about 1250 rpm. Try to accelerate from there with a stick, and you'll quickly realize what a tach is telling you and why there's a range you drive in for best overall performance. But will it downshift to accommodate the situation? Well... depends on how it feels that day and how it's been driven the week before.

I drive a variety of vehicles besides these two, and find the autos are as different as night and day from one make/model to another. Some I'd trust my life with, others I'm sure will get me killed, so I don't think the criticisms of autos in general are unwarranted. But that's just my opinion!

Rick

If driving an auto trans makes you that scared, I suggest you park every car you own permanently.

If you can't understand what a simple automatic transmissi>"John A." wrote: