Are we becoming an A/T country?

[scarab]

...cars regardless of the tranny are getting relatively expensive and some people are willing to shell out the extra cash for convenience. hirit nga ng erpats ko sa presyo ng isang M/T na oto, "kung ganyan kamahal din lang babayaran ko mag-mamatic na lang ako".

...A/T for drag race? symepre pwede!

[nugundam93]

i wouldn't be sad if we become an a/t country, with all the traffic jams we regularly encounter. :lol:

i'm one of those usual a/t users for daily use but yearn for m/t when blasting through mountain twisties at night/wee morning hours. oh okay, semi-a/t pwede na. heheheh.

[wilcats]

well M/T is really for the younger drivers.. if matanda ka na talaga (mga tatay jan), eh mag A/t ka nga naman, mapapagod ka agad sa traffic... the advanteage naman of M/T over A/ts (except for those with manual mode A/ts) is that you can really control the RPM range, giving you the power whenever you need it...

[kyle618]

ako, A/T for the city car, M/T for the weekend toy hehehe

same here... traffic is a pain. at first i wanted an M/T car kasi masmabilis papunta sa school pero after a while i realized how fortunate na A/T un ginagamit ko. Traffic is hell in the philippines. STOP AND GO and round and round it goes.

[garyq]

when i was growing up i remember saying to myself i would never ever buy a car with a matic tranny. too boring i said. but now both of my cars have matic tranny. nagsawa ako sa traffic. though sometimes nami-miss ko minsan yung manual lalo na pag paakyat ng Baguio. hopefully soon i will have another toy na manual for weekend trips.

[Tacoma_34]

IMO, maganda ang A/T kung mataas ang displacement ng car. A/T nga pero 1.6L lang walang power.

[speedy]

I am not too sure if an A/T uses up more gas. On the contrary, I think its actually more fuel efficient. Not much Revs durring shifting, means that the engine is not turning excesively and using up more gas. Not all M/T drivers know where the proper shift points are. I would assume that gear and clutch wear is far worse on a M/T than A/T over time. The other thing is performance on sports cars. Just look at what A/T has done for F1. For gosh sakes, the damn computer even adjusts the revs to the right shift points to maximize speed and acceleration. All you have to do is step on the pedal and shift the gears on the wheel! The paddle shifters still give the driver a feel of being in control whenever they go for spirited drives. Its actually quite nice on a race track. On the track I would use it extensively but on the way home, I'll put it on A/T and cruise home.

[squala]

Comparing a MANUAL transmission vehicle with an AUTOMATIC transmission vehicle, is like comparing a TV with manual controls versus a TV with a remote control: CONVENIENCE.

Why would anyone like to stand up from the sofa, walk 2 meters to the TV set just to change the channel, when you can do the same thing with a remote control? People will give you plenty of reasons: (1) It's ok, i need some exercise anyway; (2) a TV with manual controls is cheaper so it's more affordable; (3) if a manual TV breaks down, it's easier to repair unlike a remote-controlled TV with too many complex electronics.

It's the same thing with a car. Many people can think plenty of reasons to stay away from convenience.

We also have to factor-in, the psychological barrier behind it. Like a friend of mine who insists that LP recordings of the Beatles sound much better than the CD-version. Or an old lady neighbor of ours who insists that she can type much faster using a typewriter than using a computer.

Perhaps you may have forgotten about the fun factor in your remote control analogy of gearboxes. Yes, it's no perks, all work when you have to stand up and change the channel or adjust the volume of your TV, but it's not true with manual gearboxes. You call the shots here, completely. Automatics rob you of that excitement, shifting even if you don't feel like it.

Manumatics today (INVECS, Tiptronic, etc.) do not quite bridge the gap between the two yet. They haven't been perfected, and technically, they are still automatics. The manual override somehow gives you control, but no performance gain. They sometimes also shift automatically, and annoyingly inaccurately half the time.

The best development so far is the likes of BMW's SMG (Sequential Manual Gearbox) and Ferrari's F1-Style paddle-shifting gearbox. They almost, if not equal their stickshift counterparts, while allowing the driver to cruise like an automatic if he or she pleases. It's just that the technology may still be too expensive to be implemented in cheaper, more common cars.

[mazdamazda]

Perhaps you may have forgotten about the fun factor in your remote control analogy of gearboxes. Yes, it's no perks, all work when you have to stand up and change the channel or adjust the volume of your TV, but it's not true with manual gearboxes. You call the shots here, completely. Automatics rob you of that excitement, shifting even if you don't feel like it.

The automatics that I recently drove are already a big improvement over the older ones. The computer "senses" your driving style (it'll go to the redline if needed).

Manumatics today (INVECS, Tiptronic, etc.) do not quite bridge the gap between the two yet. They haven't been perfected, and technically, they are still automatics. The manual override somehow gives you control, but no performance gain. They sometimes also shift automatically, and annoyingly inaccurately half the time.

On the other hand, if you leave one in the manual mode, you don't need a shift light anymore. Just rev till the redline and it'll shift to the next gear automatically.

The best development so far is the likes of BMW's SMG (Sequential Manual Gearbox) and Ferrari's F1-Style paddle-shifting gearbox. They almost, if not equal their stickshift counterparts, while allowing the driver to cruise like an automatic if he or she pleases. It's just that the technology may still be too expensive to be implemented in cheaper, more common cars.

Doesn't the City & the Lancer offer CVTs?

The Honda City CVT is such a blast to drive. The computer does a really good calculation on when to shift and as I've said, it detects your driving style. And in manual mode, shifting is just a breeze!!! More faster than ANY M/T can muster.

[ssaloon]

all true, but you'll trade convenience for driving involvement with an A/T.

ako, A/T for the city car, M/T for the weekend toy hehehe

amen!!

[BlueBimmer]

all our cars are A/T even the driver's revo glx is A/T! haha we r too lazy to mess around with a clutch hehe

[caloyski5]

after experiencing traffic hell yesterday at p.ocampo, thank god i have an a/t! though pag maluwag, nakakamiss nga yung m/t..what i do is just think about the traffic and it all goes away. hehehe

[pogibear]

sorry peeps mukhang pang inosente yung quesion ko.

dapat bang nakapindot palagi yung overdrive para matipid sa gas? kala ko kasi its the other way around.

Thanks.

[mrpink]

yung kaibigan ko sa US .. gulat na marunong ako sa m/t .. sabi niya mga sports cars lang ang naka m/t .. kaya nung pumunta dito tapos nakita niya na daming kotse na m/t .. gusto niya sumubok .. pero di pinayagan ng tatay niya .. hehe .. on the other hand .. tamad ako .. worst thing for m/t .. hanging in traffic .. so a/t for me .. ..

[luckytruck]

overdirve lets you use all 4 gears of the manual tranny (4 speed). if overdrive is off, it only goes to 3rd gear, and so your cruising rpms will be higher, ergo, you will use more gas

andy

[voltscastillo]

i remember, back in 89, when the first of the newer corollas started coming out.

people took one look at and said "pangit, manipis ang bakal" (with matching katok sa bakal nung corolla), "dito pa din ako sa 1976 galant ko, mas safe kasi makapal ang bakal". guess what, mas safe yung new corolla, and rides a lot better too. 5 years later lahat ng tao naka corolla na, and those old school, rear wheel drive cars were no more.

ganito din yung sa discussion ng m/t vs. a/t e. people have difficulty letting go of old prejudices. ako i drive 3 cars (5 nun hehe), 1 of whom is an a/t civic. i love my a/t civic, and hate the others when it came to long drives and traffic jams. doesn't matter if the civic was the oldest and most beat up of the 3 (w/c are all manual).

[squala]

The automatics that I recently drove are already a big improvement over the older ones. The computer "senses" your driving style (it'll go to the redline if needed).

That's true, but automatics are still on their way to perfection.

On the other hand, if you leave one in the manual mode, you don't need a shift light anymore. Just rev till the redline and it'll shift to the next gear automatically.

Here, I'm just pointing out that they're still not under your full control.

Don't the City & the Lancer offer CVTs?

The Honda City CVT is such a blast to drive. The computer does a really good calculation on when to shift and as I've said, it detects your driving style. And in manual mode, shifting is just a breeze!!! Faster than ANY M/T can muster.

CVTs prove to be better than conventional automatics. They do not have the performance-robbing torque converters (I think). They also shift seamlessly (since there are no gears).

I've also driven a Lancer MX. The manual mode offers decent kick and fun, close but not quite a substitute for a real stickshift yet. Also, CVT hasn't found its way to bigger luxury cars.

[odell]

sa AT din ako pero masaya parin ng may MT ka sa bahay para pag nag sawa. hehehehe

[zechs]

so i guess its safe to say that halos lahat ng responses dito sa thread na ito go for the A/T tranny? hehe ako gusto ko ng matic..especially for my dad since his legs ache more frequently now (post-operation). and the leg affected is the clutch leg pa. pero takot ang dad ko mag-try ng matic..baka daw sa maling gear nya malagay..(R instead of D)..

[ghosthunter]

given the chance to get another car (even if second hand) i would get an A/T. sobrang tamad ko na magdrive..hahaha and my clutch leg acts up sometimes and im even in my 20's!

OT: i just found out (from their website) that there are no 1.3E A/T na vios..i thought meron...hahaha wala lang..

although toyota doesn't have a 1.3 a/t vios... nissan has a sentra 1.3 a/t. Drives pretty well too.