I learned on a stick shift. i bought an auto for my first car. will not do so ever again without a gun to my head. my tC is a 5spd. i like to have complete control of my car and having the car make up my mind for me drives me nuts. i know... my next session is in a week.

i believe you asked about what would happen if you upgraded though. well, if you're going to upgrade your engine you will at least need a heavier torque converter. you may need a heavier tranny all around. a 5 speed would just need a clutch, pressure plate and maybe a throwout bearing upgrade. no new gearbox neccesary(unless you've already stripped all the gears).

one other reason i like having a standard is that you have to pay attention to your driving. none of this talking on the cell phone while drinking a soda and feeling up your signifigant other. if you want to drive, drive. if you want to be distracted go to an amusement park. i say get the manual. it takes a few minutes to learn and mastering it is more fun than six flags.

 

 

Stick is a blast to drive... but LA traffic can prove to be heavy at times and not just reserved for the freeways. We don't have a lot of hills, but even if we did, once you get used to the clutch and your car, you will be able to stop at a stop sign in the middle of a hill and not have to even touch the break... All the guys are right, coming from a girl, we like to have our hands held and a stick is not so great for that. My suggestion to you, first have someone teach you how to drive a stick, then test drive both.

Best of luck with your decision...

 

I find it weird how people always say that they won't drive stick unless it's a performance car. I think the opposite: all underpowered cars should be manual simply because they are underpowered. The abilitly to downshift to pass and what not is needed more in a underpowered car than a high performance car. That's just the way I look at things....

 

but then getting a performance car takes out the fun of being the underdog and winning. if somebody gets a stick for performance reasons, they are obviously going to upgrade their hp in order to make it actually pretty quick. its not like theyre going to leave it stock if they have the performance mindset.
also, i get bored driving auto. its also easier to get distracted driving an auto because theres less effort put into it, making it more dangerous, imo. i dont mind driving stick in traffic, its not like its that hard or anything. its just that people today are very lazy.
just my $0.02.

 

i choose autos because i think they look more luxurious.

 

I wanted a auto. But I also wanted the ground effects kit. So to keep the price down, I got a stick with the kit. At least I won't look silly when I start modding my car!

 

I had the same reservations when deciding what to get for my tC. I read up on the forums for a while and finally decided to get the manual. I had never driven stick before, so it was definitely a learning experience. After 2-3 days I felt pretty comfortable with it, and could even get going on steep hills. Now after having the car for 3 months, I couldn't be happier. Every once in a while I take out my old car (now my sister's) and I'm really glad I got the manual. Driving is so much more engaging, & I really love the added control. I live on Long Island and regularly drive on the long island expressway, aka the world's longest parking lot..., and I really don't mind shifting at all.

Also it may seem sort of stupid but... you get that extra awe factor from driving a manual. No matter what, I always get compliments on the tC, but for some reason, ppl like it even more when they see it's a manual, esp. girls ;)

 

First off if you get an auto doesnt really mean your gonna be slower than a stick ive seen plenty of autos in my time running 9s,10s,11s as a matter of fact my friends wrx is an auto and hes hitting high 12s. Now granted you will have to spend more money to get power to the wheels but they autos can out perform a stick just gonna cost you a bit more but me in houston traffic i went with an auto

 

TC auto gets better gas milage because of the ...LONGER GEARS!! The auto rev's lower then the TC.
However, if a MT is crusing we can go up a gear and get our RPM's lower then a AT if we want. An AT can't do that.

If you want to learn a MT, keep the Auto tC. Buy an old RX7 MT, and learn. Well, it doesn't have to be an RX7 but I think that would kick but.

Its all drivers choice, I started on an auto, and now I have two MT cars because I like the feel of MT. I feel as though I am more connected with the car and the road then I ever was with my auto.
No matter who says it, Manuals are only a downer to me in stop and go traffic. As long as you are moving and not stoppig manuals are no worse then auto. Besides, with an MT you can hop into Nuetral easier and rest both feet withough having to worry about neutral dropping your auto when you foget that your in N.

 

This is true to some degree, as most cars that had auto trannys were luxury vehicles, but that was a long time ago. I don't think it applies anymore.

All you whipped guys out there need to know that a girl will be more impressed by you being able to control a car with the manual rather than having their hand held while you are driving. Get your priorities straight! And let's face it, it just looks silly to mod an auto for performance, and everyone knows it. Even if they don't admit it, they know it's true, because grandma can drive an auto too. And for everyone complaining about traffic with a manual tC - our clutches are some of the easiest to work of any car out there, so I don't know what all the griping is about if you were really into driving a stick in the first place.

What it comes down to is this: you pick whatever you want, but stick drivers will almost always be held in higher esteem in the performance category. there's not much you can do about that. Learn how to drive a stick because it's a useful skill, then decide what you want.

 

o__O....seen the 7 series lately? eh, guess not

bah, control my a...Look at most airplanes today, all the pilot really does is takeoff, then autopilot takes over, then come time to land, he pushes a few buttons to tall autopilot to land, and bam, flight done. As long as auto knows whats its doing, fine. I'll take it, and if a girl is interested in me for my stick, then forget her.

 

Uhh, not quite with the flying scenario. Landings are not controlled by autopilot in most cases. Neither are takeoffs. I have done some design work on 757 SF aircraft, during which time I had to learn a ton about autopilot systems as well as the other systems used for flying the aircraft. And the minute anything happens out of the ordinary during flight the autopilot is dis-engaged by the pilot who then takes over control of the aircraft. So that is not a very good comparison. There are systems that have been tested for performing the landings, but standard practice is to allow a human do it. This was backed by the pilots I worked with.

And as everyone said, it is a matter of opinion. Stock for stock, if you want performance, the manual is the better deal. There isnt much to argue there. But some people care more about ease of driving, or just dont like the stick. But if you are serious about drag racing it auto, then look around for a good stall kit, although I dont know of anyone making them for a tC. But, I wouldnt know because I drive a manual.

 

^^ To clarify a little more on the above, the aircraft are equipped with the devices to land autonomously. However, the pilots are asked to do it once in a while in good weather as training. They do not rely totally on the system. Also, you cannot compare avionics systems to automotive systems for another reason. There are multiple redundant systems on aircraft for each function. Your automatic tranny is not looking at the road ahead, feeling the g-forces or anticipating whether you are simply going through a normal turn or attempting to push the turn to its max to get out and to the next one quickly.

 

'Cause I'm lazy and I live in The City w/ constant stop and go traffic going uphill and downhill.

 

www.levelten.com ive contacted them waiting for a response about a good stall kit, torque converter, and bullet proof transmission :D

 

Ehh I'd watch out for level 10... Myself, as well as a few other ppl in the car club I belonged to had level ten build up our transmissions. Not good. We had a group buy of 30 "bulletproof" transmissions & 2800stall torque converters. Out of the 30 involved in the buy, 16 of them had somewhat major problems. In my case, the differential pin snapped and blew right through the bellhousing. Several other ppl have ground through their planetary gears, and the others continuously bled tranny fluid. I got myself a tranny w/ low mileage out of a junked car. But damn I would stay away from level 10 like the plague.

 

 

I actually like controlling the car. I don't want the car changing gears when it feels like it. All I need is another computer telling me what it wants to do. It's bad enough my computer at work wants to take its time processing, calculating, and all other sh*t it likes to do. When I want something, it means right now. And that goes for gear shifting too.