I think I prefer automatic transmission

Kudos to you for deciding what is right for you, more so kudos for taking the time to actually learn to drive a manual. Almost anyone can be taught to get around a parking lot in a manual in a short time, to really learn it you have to drive one everyday.

Traffic driving with a manual is much more tolerable IF your car has 1) a light smooth clutch that engages close to floor, AND 2) an engine with a torque curve that is broad, flat, and fat. The first allows you to be quicker and smoother, and the second can totally eliminate half the gear changes you need with varying speed compared to a car with weak a peaky torque curve (cough Honda cough cough). That being said, I have always been a manual guy regardless of engine. I don't like the lack of precise control over the power delivery in automatics. My wife doesn't do manuals, but with every automatic we have owned (her cars) I have modified the line pressure, downshift response, shift speed, and shift points for better control of the power delivery. Easy low-throttle cruising combined with zippy response and gear holding when moving the throttle rapidly. And WAYYY less band and clutch wear and reduced fluid temperature. Her current 2.0 Duratec Focus will now chirp second when shifting at WOT

Owned a lot of manuals, mostly in my younger days even for commuting. Knee surgery scared me into owning another manual while I still could. While I love the 5-speed S197 it just ain't the commuter car I thought it would be. Stop n go, construction and I can't drive it worth a E36 M3 w/ work boots on. Kinda sucked the fun outta it. It's a toy now and it gets exercised after my midnight shift. Rowing through the gears is still good therapy.

My new love is a '09 335xi, Steptronic w/ paddle shifters. Great driving car, still don't use Sport mode that much but it's there when I want it. Dang, I must be gettin' old.

It's like we don't even know you anymore!!!

I really like DCTs. Even the ones in the Focus and Smart. There I said it.

In reply to Coldsnap: Since Formula 1 basically moved to automatics the case for manual has lost credibility. I grew up driving a 1953 MGTD with a 4 speed manual (which I still have) and until the 1980's mostly drove manuals.. Traffic density and cross country driving on endless freeways caused me to switch along with something like 98% of the population..

That's right! Less than 2% of new cars have manual transmissions.. In a lot of cases Manual transmission cars get worse fuel mileage than their automatic counterparts..

I'm proud that I taught my daughter to drive a manual transmission and the same car she learned to drive on has over 200,000 miles on the original clutch.. However replacing the clutch when it finally goes will be what puts that car in the junkyard.

Rust free body (It's a Saturn), flawless engine etc.. but the cost of a clutch replacement will doom it to the junkyard.. Automatics however if the fluid is replaced every 65,000 miles will out last a clutch by a significant amount..

I prefer stick in small engine cars. But I daily this and I love it with the Sport automatic:

I enjoy driving a manual but I tend to break a lot more of those. I've come to find I love the automatic in anything but a fwd econobox. My preference is my preference though so I don't judge others.

Automatic did slow my former 2.3t car almost a full second of et in the quarter mile but was much more consistent and lasted more then 3 weeks.

Enjoy the c30 and find an ms3 rear sway bar ASAP and put it on there.

I actually liked that car better in an auto as I felt the clutch sucked on it.

I started driving in 1959 with a 53 Plymouth with "3 on the tree". All my vehicles were manuals until 2010 when I got my first automatic in a Transit Connect for my DD. I still have my last manual transmission car (2001 Focus) but now I drive a Subaru Outback with a CVT for a DD and I love it.

I went without a manual DD for about 4 years and missed it more than I thought I would. I ended up buying a cheap manual daily even though we didn't really need a 4th car. When I replaced it, Mrs. Duke already had a nice daily so I bought mine in a manual. My next DD car will be too, most likely.

That being said, I've never been one of those "the only REAL cars have 3 pedals and a stick" guys. Driving my wife's car, or the Concert Coach, troubles me not one little bit.

I have 4 cars........all manuals. I had an auto SUV for a couple of years but literally never drove it. It just wasn't engaging and felt......well.....boring. I like to participate when getting around. The same reason I prefer sail boats over power boats. I can certainly understand having/wanting an automatic though. I can't even get interested in the flappy paddle things. To each his own.

Driving a manual to work is pretty annoying with combat boots on. I'm 50-50 with them, I like both equally. While I like that my Benz is manual, I've never desired for the Fusion or the other Benz to be manuals. My 996 will be a manual though

I used to be a hardcore manual person. I was probably a bit of prick about it. My signature for a long time was, "Real men shift their own gears." (it was intended to a joke)

I have softened quite a bit in my views. I prefer one for myself. I understand why other people would not. I sincerely respect to OP for learning how to drive a stick and trying it for a while. He loses no respect from me if he chooses not to continue.

Short tangent; When my wife learned to drive, a manual car was all that was available so that's what she learned on. All of her daily drivers were stick until her current one. She used to impress a lot of colleagues and clients when the jumped her car to go somewhere.

I just wish one of the big Japanese sedans (Q45/RL/GS/LS) came with a manual.

I think automatics are preferable past 400 horsepower, manuals clearly better below 200, and either might be good between.

I've driven them for almost a decade, my brain & muscles already do everything automatically without me even thing to do them.....I also have no issues with manuals in cities for commuting.

I wish my disco had the manual.. and the turbo diesel.. I miss driving a stick

I think it has a lot to do with the engine and what it's in, bigger engines that make good power down low tend to work well with autos, trucks, american cars, etc. The exception is small turbodiesel in a big heavy vehicle, like the Ford Transit diesel, those are terrible with the 6 speed stick, hardest to drive manual I've ever come across. All 3 of us stalled it on the first try. Then you really had to lay into it and bang gears to keep it in the powerband. Like driving a 5000lb dirtbike with a grabby clutch.

I'm definitely a die hard manual guy. Always had at least one stick around since I started driving. I find the comments about jerkiness interesting - after years of doing it, my passengers really don't notice. A manual can be very smooth, and once you get good at rev matching downshifts, those are seamless as well. It helps to have a 'good' manual though, with a light, linear clutch and good throttle response. For me at least, I think I'd only really consider an auto in a truck, or in a vehicle with a ton of torque where the gear you're in doesn't really matter that much. That said, if you want to drive an auto, more power to you.

Mike wrote: Oh, how you've strayed. How you've failed to remain devout to the Trinity of gas, brake and clutch. Here is your penance:...

Oh, he has already taken care of that himself:

Coldsnap wrote: ...a Volvo C30 in black. It's a beautiful car in black...

Black... forever dirty...

In B4 the "my Volvo exhaust sounds weird" post....

frenchyd wrote: In reply to Coldsnap: Since Formula 1 basically moved to automatics the case for manual has lost credibility.

F1s don't have a "slushbox" - they have a robotized manual (same basic setup as a DSG/PDK). They do have an automatic upshift feature, but there's no torque converter or planetary gears involved. An F1 gearbox has far more in common with an everyday H-pattern manual than it does with an everyday automatic.

chaparral wrote: I just wish one of the big Japanese sedans (Q45/RL/GS/LS) came with a manual.

The VH45 readily accepts the 5 speed and bellhousing from the z32 300zx. I'm slowly beginning to think that the Q45 this is the most underappreciated car from the 90s. A bit of a tangent I suppose, but still.

In reply to Coldsnap: Since you're not a car enthusiast, I'm really surprised that you even tried a manual trans period, good for you. You have to go with your likes, it's your life, after all.

echoing what Mr_Clutch42 said …

congrats on the attempt … like I posted earlier … you now know how … you'll never totally forget … my 90 yr old Mom drove my Integra 3 or 4 yr ago.. she stalled it a couple of times, and all she'd ever driven were 3 on the tree, but she got the job done

There's absolutely nothing wrong with being comfortable in the car you drive! A lot of modern automatics are great (CVT's not included), and they aren't like the old slushboxes many of us grew up with. While I like driving manual-equipped cars, there are definitely times, like when I'm stuck in soul sucking traffic, that I pine for an automatic. Sometimes it's nice to be able to toss it in drive and go, and there's nothing wrong with that.

And good on you for giving it a shot!