Manual or Auto?

auto....i used to have a standard...ill admit it was fun but auto is nice also..you can hold the gf or wifes hand more hhaaahha and way easier to get road dome

 

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Over my 40 years I have had many vehicles and all but two were manual shift. It may simply be my luck however both autos were broken several times and luckily were replaced under warranty.

I was once a Mustang person and loved the 5 speeds in the ponies I had. One of the three was actually an auto and I replaced torque convertors 3 times and replaced two auto trannys in that car.....simply hated it. I believe the manuals in any vehicle today are simply more reliable than their automatic offerings. I have beaten on many manuals and have yet to destroy one to the point it left me stranded.

I will say my big pet peeve with todays auto makers in general is that most sport cars are sold with the paddle shifting levers on the autos. The claim to fame is always that the auto can be placed into sport mode and thus shifted like a manual. I say this is simply a load of crap in my opinion as no auto will ever shift like a manual.....fancy paddles or not.

Before I bought my new Taco I actually looked at the new G37 Infiniti as well as the 370Z. I was going through my speed phase again and almost gave in to the urge. I test drove an auto at the demand of the salesman who swore I would love the auto tranny that could be used just like a manual. It was nice and responsive however to a true driver it was nothing at all like an auto. You can dress it up with fancy names and paddle shifters however it is still an auto tranny regardless.

I know little of todays mechanics nor of the inner workings of the modern vehicles however in my opinion the manual will always be more reliable. This may or may not be actually true however some die hard manual lovers will never be convinced....I am one of those many people. I also believe that there is just something primal about shifting gears in a strong vehicle be it a sport car or truck......it just feels good if you know how to drive one the right way.

 

I would buy an auto, then I would go out the same day and buy a shift kit! Yep thats the only way I would buy an auto!

 

Have an Auto but I want a 6 speed now!
Toyota put a great 5-speed auto on this truck though. I find it pretty intuitive for an auto. It has a great sense of when to shift and with practice you can learn to manipulate it easily by controlling your accelerator. Not only that but the auto delivers more torque in the low range, you don't have to mash the gas to get speed, a complaint I've heard from some 6 pack drivers of this truck.

 

+1, well said!!

 

I wish this six speed and clutch were as smooth as the past Toyota five speed tranny combos but unfortunately they're not!

I'm waiting on a few 2009 Taco AC TRD Off Roads to arrive at the local dealership and would prefer the manual tranny.

I've test driven four of the six speed manual Tacos and have come to the forgone conclusion that the auto is smoother AND if you can believe, gets two mpg better on gas!

Toyota geared the six speed with more of a granny gear in first so you have to get out of it quicker than with the former five speed manual. Then they geared the sixth gear to make the engine run at a lot higher rpm at cruising. Plus the top three gears are placed very close to one another. Way too much overlap for me... and too much shifting for a four liter six.

Maybe I'm not 'getting it' even though I've driven manuals since 1971 and have a Class A CDL and have driven manual truck trannys with eighteen gears.

Unless I can be 'convinced' of the merits of the six speed manual... I'm getting the auto tranny.

 

I agree that the six speed is a bit clunky, expecially now that I've installed the TRD quickshifter and lost some leverage. It works fine, just not a smooth as butter type trans. The five speed in my '94 is far easier to operate, even considering it's showing a bit of wear at 140k miles.

That being said, I still find it a blast to drive and would have been quickly bored with an automatic. I bought this truck specifically because it was a manual and I decided it would entertain me enough that I didn't need to lease a new company car. Went for the sport truck instead of the sports coupe, with a few upgrades I'm quite happy with it. Especially now with TRD CAI and exhaust, that wonderful noise makes you want to run it up and down through the gears just to hear it.

I don't mind the low first gear, what I would have done is make sixth higher, should be the same final drive ratio as the automatic. I was disappointed to learn that fuel economy actually suffers slightly with the manual because of the lower sixth gear. Also, 5th and 6th are extremely close together, really 4th isn't that far off, definitely a close ratio trans. Perhaps in this application that's not the perfect set up but it's still a good transmission and I wouldn't trade it for an a/t in spite of its minor shortcomings.

 

I had no idea that the auto had better fuel economy than the manual however I have noticed that in 6th gear it does seem as if my truck is running higher rpm than I am used to. I find myself always looking down to check that I am actually in 6th gear as it just "feels" like there should be another gear available even when I am actually in 6th gear.

I remember years back when I went through my muscle car phase it was never questioned that between two cars with identical motors the manual was always faster.....not to mention much more desired. All of us gearheads had to have a manual as it was simply known they were better on the street.

It really does seem as if times have changed as you really dont see many of todays vehicles with manual trannys. Maybe people are growing lazy or simply the increased stop and go traffic has made the auto tranny now the most popular. Whatever the reason I had to look very hard to find my current Taco (and previous Frontier) in a 6 speed. I actually went to 3 local dealers and not a single one had any manual V6 trucks on their lot.

I asked the salesmen what their reason was for stocking only autos and without fail each quickly told me that is what sales these days. I passed up a great deal on a FJ (23k out the door reduced from 30k) simply because it was an auto tranny. Weird how times change however I will personally never have an auto tranny.....cool part is that my g/f feels the same way and lets me drive her bad ass 6spd Audi 4wd all the time.....

 

My previous 5 cars were manual:
'87 Nissan 200SX
'97 Eclipse GS-T
'88 Mazda 323GTX
'01 Impreza 2.5rs (still have this one)
'07 Acura TL Type-S

All the above are ones you would want manual in.

For the truck, I got an auto. Boston traffic being #1. Did I hear double-cabs only come with auto? If so, that's #2. The truck just seems like it should be auto, therefore it is.

I think I will always have a manual car in the garage to be able to row through the gears on at some point though.

 

I chose auto because i dont know how to drive manual, i know the learning of driving manual wouldnt be too hard but just dont want to learn haha

 

Cool, a 323GTX. Those were fast cars, Mazda's rally inspired turbo 4wd screamer. We got a few into my old Mazda dealership for service, always took extended test drives.

 

Auto here.... didn't really want it at first, wife was going to complain about a manual. She can drive manual, and actually not too bad, but she'll still complain all day. So, we have an automatic. I haven't regretted it so far. Its a little harder to get used to the shift points, but for the most part, its where I want them if I was driving a manual. Now that I have the tires, they annoy the hell outta me, and I wish i could easily go in and change the shift points.
This is the only vehicle I've ever owned as an automatic, but overall I'm very impressed with it, and I think if you put an auto next to a good shifter in a stick on a track, the auto would win.

 

DC's come in manual as well if you get the SB. DC LB ones are auto only.

 

I enjoy a stick every now and then for the acceleration and deceleration capabilities, but with cell phones, coffee and other drivers and just my pure laziness at this particular age....auto for me....and especially the wife....

 

stick, and if i have to explain, your going to want an automatic

 

manual idk it just feels better with a tacoma size pickup.

 

Auto for three main reasons:

1) Better fuel economy
2) Better for towing a 5500lb boat
3) After driving manual for 12 years I'm getting lazy

 

Auto for me. Dont get me wrong I can drive manual, but To hell with pumpin a clutch all day in traffic. Id much rather play with my stereo or my girl for that matter.

 

Manual. I like to have control, especially when mudding. However i will say if i ever had something that was devoted solely to rockcrawling then auto would have it hands down.