Serious off-roading: auto vs manual

I know, right? How satisfying would it be to have all those sweet control levers for multiple transfer cases?

 

I have been thinking about doing something like this for my Kawi Nomad. Something to run the throttle body with my right foot. I have arthritis in both thumbs and both upper joints of them. A way to rest my hands on longer rides . Thanks for the reply .

 

I got an auto and I think it's more than capable for the average guy. Auto with crawl control is like easy mode. It gives you quick and easy results over obstacles.

The skill involved with working a manual makes it more fun if you enjoy the journey of off roading as much as where it takes you.

As I off road more I sometimes wish I had gotten a manual because I'm going to hit a ceiling as to how much skill I can apply to the auto. but it is only a weekender for me, so the auto was a compromise and great for daily driving.

 

Manual all the way. Moab was cake in 4-lo (I'm never not in 4-lo)

 

I mean I love manuals every sports car I've ever owned was a stick and most of my commuter cars too. For trucks, although I can totally see why people PREFER a manual, for the fun and feel, autos are objectively better for performance. Having a torque converter alone allows more precision in addition to torque multiplication.

There's a reason all the professionals use autos, from trophy trucks to rock crawlers if manuals were superior then thats what competitive pros would be using... but they all use autos because they don't care about fun or feel they want to WIN, so they use the best equipment for the highest performance and for offroading thats an auto.

I still would've preferred for my tacoma to be a manual, but when I purchased my only options for a 6spd were 4x4 access cab sports. There wasn't a single DCSB Inferno OR in a 6spd within 1,000 miles of me and none on order, DCSB was a must have and I REALLY wanted inferno so I went with auto.

If I ever get an M3 again it'll be a 6spd FOR SURE, however I know full well the auto is faster and better for performance, thats why Ferrari, McLaren and Lambo don't make a stick anymore, sticks put you at a disadvantage performance wise but they're still way more fun.

 

I was at the local Dragstrip yesterday watching the SoCal Pro Gas assoc race . A early 70's Mustang Grande with a high winding engine and a manual (Lenco 5spd) was running test n tune sessions . This car runs consistent 8.7x's and was deadly on the tree and just hearing it run down the track was sweet music to my ears

When I can watch a manual trans car beat an auto , then that's an awesome race

 

I’ve offroaded both quite a bit, and the automatic is hands down better for anything slow, as you’re not having to worry about it stalling out, and you can go slower without ruining a clutch or making the engine knock from low-rpm
(Especially since the 3.5l doesn’t fight to stay alive until it’s at 500rpm, which is far too late for it’s meek power at low rpm)

if the automatic is geared low enough, they’ll granny crawl down a hill too - as long as you don’t have a high-stall speed torque converter

especially in the taco, i feel low range isn’t low enough. I’d prefer it to redline at 5mph in first instead of 11mph

i love manuals, but they’re far better in a sports car than a truck

 

No doubt that manual guys can claim more fun/sense of achievement but, for serious off roading, and comparing stock to stock or mod for mod, the auto dominates the manual. Not even a competition.

“having an auto is almost like an extra magic button. Almost cheating!”

- greatest off-roaders of our time

 

For any of the ACTUAL driving I see (real) people doing here, it's 100% preference. Drive what you like.

 

that’s not the question bro

 

I know. I capitalized ACTUAL for that reason.

 

I thought I was going to disagree with this bloke, but he is correct and his last 60 seconds is me to a T.

 

okay, fair enough, but
there is quite a few here that do some high level off road stuff...

I’m not high level, but have done some off-roading and put myself in situations where the auto was definitely an asset. I am also a very experienced manual driver.

 

I have an AT, but would love a MT for putting around town.

Forget hardcore......6 hours on a generally easy forest service road, slowly going over boulders, small washes, ect....I do not want to be clutching all that stuff. AT for me.

 

Man THAT is cool!

 

As I mentioned before a manual transmission with overall low range gearing of 123:1 or numerically higher is awesome offroad

 

Truth.

 

Its settled.
MT then.

 

Auto wins, stock to stock and mod for mod.

 

Well, as long as we're being totally cool and balanced honest Abes...

I think I suck bad enough at off-roading that the Auto could be extremely helpful (as you suggested) in keeping me out of trouble...but my favorite part of off roading is the rush of being a little uncomfortable with the scenario. I feel like the manual provides some of that without me actually being in a truly dangerous situation.