auto or manual

[sss]

otherwise you will keep winding down the window when you change gear

[Bluebottle]

[AussieV8]

Here in Oz I'm not 100 percent on the figures but Auto's outsell manuals.

When my wife and I visited my fathers family in Prestons in 1992 I noticed that all the cars were manual and small 4cyl.1.3-2.0

[medler]

Originally posted by Tristan
I didn't know you could get auto bikes. Shows how much I know!!

I think you could buy an automatic Honda 400 Dream, but that was made over 20years ago. The only people that seemed to go for it was amputies that still wanted to ride bikes.

[dretceterini]

I've owned more than 100 cars, and most of them have been manual. Here in Los Angeles, it isn't fun driving a manual all the time, as many days you are stuck in bumper to bumper traffic for hours...

[bella]

left hand drive manual cars are great fun. my first car was lhd and after a few initial gearchanges with the doorhandle it's better changing gear with your right hand PLUS you can see and park better.

[Tristan]

"you can see... better"??!!

How are you meant to overtake/pick up a parking ticket/pay at a toll booth/order at a drive "thru"?? (A: reversing) Plus which, the notion of steering with my left fills me with mistrust.

[bella]

amateur. not very adaptable are we?

you can see better. round corners etc and at t junctions you're positioned better. well i preferred it anyway.

as for tickets and drive throughs, you lean over, silly. it's worth it, especially if the car's on foreign plates and you can't get done for speeding.

[TimD]

Not necessarily, Bella. The clobberers have the power to detain you in the cells for a speeding offence while they contact your car's national registration bureau to confirm who owns it...

I saw this happen to a Spaniard in a Merc once!

I like driving left-hook cars too. To be honest, after a couple of miles, everything falls to hand naturally anyway. And I did once have a German-imported Toyota Corolla Liftback which was gloriously balanced for loose surfaces. One of the most chuckable little things I ever drove - just tail-happy enough to be entertaining.

[bella]

that's about as far as they get though. there's a loophole in the law which means it's against european regulations to prosecute. if you get caught by a policeman though you're in trouble either way, feigning a french accent's not very easy...

[TimD]

Mais oui bien.

[EERO]

Originally posted by Bluebottle
Good point Kaybee, I've never driven a left-hand-drive manual car, maybe we'll ask for a stick-shift next time we're Stateside just to see how we get on with it

Actually, I don't think you can rent a manual in the States, I've never been able to.

And how do you lot shift with your left hands??? It seems impossible to me!

[Tristan]

Easy!! How does everyone else shift with their rights?? I mean, it's just WRONG!! How do you steel the car, left handed??

[Bluebottle]

Thats the best typo yet, Tristan!!

[Lee Janotta]

I steel heem with a coat hanger!

I've wondered how the hell you Brits, Aussies, etc. can shift with your left hand. I mean, it's got to be easier to shift with your dominant hand!

[Dave Brand]

Originally posted by medler
I think you could buy an automatic Honda 400 Dream, but that was made over 20years ago.

Honda made both 400 & 750 automatics, & Moto Guzzi made a 1000cc automatic, the 'Convert'. I think they were answering a question nobody was asking!

[Dave Brand]

I've just come across a current production automatic bike; it's a Harley clone which uses a CVT.

See:

www.ridleymotorcycle.com

for more information.

[zefarelly]

same as Kaybee, only in America ( a buick century) . . .which was ok because everything trundles round in fat land . . . .I hate the lack of engine braking in autos . . . .worries me having had brake failure in the past.

I can see the attraction for some people, but it takes all the pleasure out of driving for me, its just a lazy option.

[the man]

It is way easier to do burn outs in a manual

[Airhead]

It really depends doesn't it.

Manual for into it mode. Regardless of what side of the car your on. My dominant hand is the right one (so to speak) and I am used to changing gear with my left hand. That is, right hand drive.

I have been in the States, and driven a manual convertable. I had no problem sitting on the far left and changing gears with my right hand. I mean my usual changer - the left hand was resting on the wheel, sort of limmits the options with the door there and all.

[gfm]

IMHO The latest Automatics are so good, they're a must for the road, just as manuals are the only thing to have on the circuit. When the paddle shifts get to be quicker, they maybe better for the circuit too, though too many electrics tween driver and box are not a good thing. Sequential's good for circuits.

[mandretti39]

I have only driven or ridden in automatic cars. The car I drive is so old, that when the transmission shifts, you can feel the car jerk as with a manual.

[kmchow]

I think manuals are more important for cars with less than 2L displacement. But in Europe, almost every car is 2L or less. (okay, okay, I'm exaggerating a little!)

The newer automatics are very good at shifting, some more than others, but overall they're very good. I hear that Toyotas, MB and GM are the smoothest?

[Bluebottle]

Originally posted by mandretti39
you can feel the car jerk as with a manual.

I felt a jerk the first time I drove an auto, tried to change gear- stamped on the brake pedal with my left foot

[Tedebear]

Manual Manual Manual - no question for me...If I ever felt the need to buy an automatic I should just give up and catch the train frankly....