jamie wrote:i cant workout why anybody would want a manual car

Because they are cheaper to buy, use less fuel and can be push/gravity started if the battery goes flat.

Either that or they are not restricted to an automatic car and just want to show off the great skills they can perform by using a clutch pedal and a gearstick at the same time as turning a steering wheel.

I now have both an auto scooter and auto car. Both are very good too. Traded in my manual estate car due to that serious knee injury of a couple of years ago which prohibited me from using the clutch for over a year. I had intended to go back to a manual car once recovery was complete. However, I like the auto tranny in the car so much that I wondered why I never considered an auto even before my knee injury (which by the way is fully recovered now). I'm firmly entrenched in the auto box catagory now and will likely remain so for the future. Incidentally, most modern auto cars with the dsg type of auto box are very fuel efficient. No real loss of performance or fuel economy. In fact, in the VW range to include Skoda, Audi and Seat, most of the autos offer slightly better fuel economy due to the 6 and 7 speed boxes always having the right gear for the job and no slippage of a torque converter. They are very smooth too. My own Skoda Estate has a 6 speed tiptronic auto box which is so so smooth. In sports mode it has a very macho performance and in drive you can glide along all day in limo mode. In manual mode it's a joy to drive too with racing car type changes. Whatever license you go for you can't go wrong. It's just what YOU want to do.

use less fuel

Not now the case with the latest cars that have auto double clutches etc
The Toyota Yaris for instance quote better fuel economy for the auto version

Andy

Bluebottle wrote:Maybe I'm weired, I prefer use manual cars, but auto bikes

I'm with you, although I just claim to be merely weird.

One thing that will upset the auto-manual applecart in the long term is the inevitable rise of electric as the main powertrain. Once they are in the majority we could well see the end of manual gearboxes altogether. Only diehards and those wanting to drive a classic 2014 Astra VXR ( ) will need to know how to use a clutch.

Obviously if electric fades away, please disregard most of this post.

a spare e
E's are good, E's are good

Normsthename wrote:

use less fuel

Not now the case with the latest cars that have auto double clutches etc
The Toyota Yaris for instance quote better fuel economy for the auto version

Andy

Is that in reality? or a feature of the official figures, which don't seem to mean very much these days

Normsthename wrote:The Toyota Yaris for instance quote better fuel economy for the auto version

Andy

Might be a wee bit better on fuel but the cost of getting an automatic version is massive.
But I see cars as simply transport and nothing more, imo the best small car on the market right now is the Dacia Sandero.

Bluebottle wrote:Maybe I'm weired, I prefer use manual cars, but auto bikes

Well, if you are weird, so am I! To an extent I've found most Car auto boxes pretty crap - or at least the traditional torque converter ones. I had a Fiesta Auto as a loan car and the box on that was appalling, crap changes, and really daft decisions. My dad had a Renault Modus which was detirmined to change into top gear ASAP and wouldn't change down when overtaking. I much preferred a scoot CVT! However, I haven't tried a modern twin clutch system though - on either car or bike.

Try a 6 cylinder Audi with a cvt gearbox like I have it's as smooth as silk and great mpg.