Second Thoughts on Manual Transmission

[lowmpg]

Aside from preference and wanting to do as little as possible while driving, I don’t know why anyone would ‘want’ an auto in 2020.

All it is and ever has been is preference and driving style.

No they were functionally faster than automatics at selecting the right gear, they aren't now.

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[cursed_hemi]

Have you driven the 10-speed? It is very tuneable to what you are doing. Yes, it keeps revs low for MPG but it also puts shift points in nice spots for the motor. Not to mention the engine braking it does. I’m continually amazed by the engine braking mine does coming down mountain passes while towing.

I've driven a Ranger with the 10 speed. It's not a bad transmission by any means, it's just oriented towards MPG. In the Ranger atleast. Tuning dictates that too though.
Compared to the ZF 8-speed in my Charger, it felt a bit sloppy and clumsy. Now if that 8-speed was in the Bronco, I'd seriously consider the auto with 2.7

 

[Goocci gang]

The only auto trans I'd drive is a pdk.

 

[Cookieck]

No they were functionally faster than automatics at selecting the right gear, they aren't now.

Which is a preference. Not everybody cares about being faster thru gears. Otherwise original autos would never have sold to anyone. They sold because people preferred to not have to deal with a clutch over preferring to be faster. And now manuals still sell because some people prefer to have a clutch and don’t care about being slightly faster.

 

[iamchewby]

If a clutch defeat is enabled, you can start the engine in crawler gear low range with the transmission engaged. Great if you had to restart in the rocks. At worst, you can use the electric starter to crawl

Some vehicles required a clutch defeat, but my old land rover came that way from the factory

I'm genuinely curious about this on the new Bronco (manual). If I get on top of an obstacle and I need to sit and ponder my next move, can I kill the engine and restart while in gear like the old days? Never done it in my own vehicle but that's how a buddy of mine crawled in his old Willy's, dude never touched the clutch or brakes, just shut it down and let it sit until he was ready to move along.

 

[lowmpg]

Which is a preference. Not everybody cares about being faster thru gears. Otherwise original autos would never have sold to anyone. They sold because people preferred to not have to deal with a clutch over preferring to be faster. And now manuals still sell because some people prefer to have a clutch and don’t care about being slightly faster.

Yes I guess you could say something being better than its counter part is a preference.

 

[Cookieck]

Yes I guess you could say something being better than its counter part is a preference.

If that’s what you prefer it to be better at. A kale salad is better at keeping me healthy, but I’ll still always take a steak if given the option. Nobody’s going to say the steak is better for healthy eating, but that’s not the reason I want it. The auto is better at things I don’t really care about because it’s not so significantly better that it outweighs other preferences. A fraction of a second faster per shift makes little to no difference in normal driving, so it doesn’t matter one bit to me that the auto is faster.

 

[mC.242]

I'm getting the MT for sure. Why? Because I've never met an AT that shifted when I wanted it to. I still find myself putting my Mazda 6 into sport shift mode when climbing or in traffic because it, like every other AT I've ever driven, shifts for efficiency and fuel economy - not for fun. But everything has a cost and a benefit. If I had to drive in rush-hour traffic every day again I would definitely just get the AT since a MT is a huge PITA in those conditions. The rest of the time, it's not really that much extra work and the payoff is great. Will it get a MPG or so less fuel economy? Probably. Be a few 1/10's of a second slower to 60mph? Yeah, that too. But having it shift when I want is worth the extra work. This is my "fun" vehicle to satisfy my desire to be open and connected again (reformed motorcycle rider here). Besides, have you seen the vids in MOAB where the Bronco with a MT churns over steep rocky hills with almost no wheelspin? Yeah, I want that...

 

[Hkak45]

But by your own admission manual owners are already paying for it by driving in traffic. Plus isn it convenience you pay more for on anything so that’d be what you autos are really paying for. Though I would pay more for a manual in most vehicles if I had to.

For me, weekend or traffic same animal, I’ll take the manual. And I drive 80mile round trip to work in Atlanta, so not just an arbitrary comment about traffic.

I got stressed out just thinking about ATL traffic.... this guy knows traffic and I have much respect for your choice with sticking manual?

 

[Broncocito]

I have the A10 in my F150 3.5 Roush Level 2 and it runs great 0-60 low 5s and the tranny shifts perfectly.

 

[kodiakisland]

I'm genuinely curious about this on the new Bronco (manual). If I get on top of an obstacle and I need to sit and ponder my next move, can I kill the engine and restart while in gear like the old days? Never done it in my own vehicle but that's how a buddy of mine crawled in his old Willy's, dude never touched the clutch or brakes, just shut it down and let it sit until he was ready to move along.

My Tacoma has a clutch start cancel switch. I hope the Bronco does too. Sometimes it is very useful.

A buddy was driving my truck ('79 Chevy, 3 on the tree) through some deep water and I told him to not let off the gas once he got going. He got scared and let off and of course got water up the tailpipe, killing the motor and unable to restart. It was around 11PM at night in a remote area. I had him just leave it in gear and use the starter to crawl the truck out. Once we were clear of the water, it started up and we went on our way. Was hard on the starter and battery, but was certainly better than being stranded.

 

[tlowell01]

There is no right answer. If you want a manual, get the manual
I had a ‘97 Mustang GT with a 5 speed MT. Had to have the bearing replaced at ~10k (warranty covered) and the clutch at 95k. It’s just something you’ll have to do eventually.

 

[Lakelife36]

My Tacoma has a clutch start cancel switch. I hope the Bronco does too. Sometimes it is very useful.

A buddy was driving my truck ('79 Chevy, 3 on the tree) through some deep water and I told him to not let off the gas once he got going. He got scared and let off and of course got water up the tailpipe, killing the motor and unable to restart. It was around 11PM at night in a remote area. I had him just leave it in gear and use the starter to crawl the truck out. Once we were clear of the water, it started up and we went on our way. Was hard on the starter and battery, but was certainly better than being stranded.

I'm hoping that you can start in C without clutching.

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