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Auto vs. Manual


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Auto. After 27 years of driving a stick I decided I wanted give my left leg a rest and get away from the 1-2-3-Repeat routine when driving through town. Figured the SportShift would be OK. The auto's pretty decent but still could be greatly improved. Ahh if we could just get someone to hack into the TCM the way Cobb has done with the engine management. Now that would be sweet.
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I got an Auto for two resons, the first was the clutch shudder I had with my last legacy, and te second is a longercommute in heavy traffic. Grated the manual is faster and probably more fun if the trans and clutch are better than the 04 models
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I don't get it. Manual transmissions are more efficient. The time from O'Hare to the Loop on 90/94 was 45 minutes today. The distance is about 17 miles I believe but the congestion does usually lighten up after the junction. My mpg went up in the stop and go traffic. You can "power coast" the lil' turbo boxer pulling very low rpms in high gears. The NAV/Info system gives you graphic displays of throttle position and instananeous mpg. 20 mph in 3rd gear turns less the 2000 rpm and mpg that tops 30 regularly. 40 mph in 5th? Yep. Well over 30 mpg. However, there is a caveat and its a big one. You can't be chasing the bumper in front of you.

 

You have to look 5, 10 or 15 cars in front of you and watch their brake lights. If you see they are coming to a stop, there is no reason to waste liquid fun to hurry up and stop. Pace yourself so that, ideally, you don't have to touch the brake pedal at all. Actually since the price of gas has gone way up in the last year, I see the cabbies doing this all the time in their big Crown Vics. Not only will this technique save fuel, if enough people get hip to it, it will speed traffic because when there are 100s of cars in a line in rush hour reaction times of ~.5 second adds up quickly to many minutes when multiplied by dozens of momentum (gas, brake, stop, let distance open between the car in front (wasted time), gas, coast for a second to catch up with the car in front that has its brakes on and then brake again, stop, repeat, repeat, repeat) changes.

 

 

Yes !!!!......I couldn't have explained driving a manual in traffic any better. I drive my LGT in DC, around DC, and yes in NYC. There are good excuses for not buying the manual but traffic isn't one. Before the LGT, I drive a 90-91 Honda accord 5speed for 333k miles in DC traffic and the best that 495 could through at me. For those of you that don't know 495...it's the Beltway that wraps around DC.

:cool:

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Auto, better gas mileage & I've been having to drive in traffic a lot in the last few years. Besides, the manual in my '03 SE Wagon was awful.....

 

Where did you get this info?

Manual has no torque converter and it has clutch to disengage engine completely. Do not forget the brain behind the wheel that can select high performance or low fuel consumption ;-)

 

Krzys

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Auto, mostly because that's all the dealer had left on the 06 models, but with all the traffic I end up in I think I'll enjoy the change (last 3 cars were manuals). Besides, I don't plan on mods or auto-x or anything that would really make me wish I had a manual.
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Manual '05 LGT LTD wagon. I wanted a stick so bad that I drove a 120mi to El cajon to get what the subaru site said was the last manual wagon in CA. I set-up the deal while I was at work. Then rushed home , striped all the stuff I added to my '04 WRX wagon and drove for 2hrs. And I have been smiling ever since. Plus the manual is faster then the auto and more fun.
Racer X FMIC for '05-'09 LGTs, '08+ WRX and '10+ LGT,'14+ FXT, and '15+ WRX TMIC Racerxengineering.com
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5EAT because im lazy. Had a 04 5spd WRX. Shifting = teh gay. Nothing like just sitting back and doing nothing :p.

 

BTW i don't race very often, if EVER. (track only) so i figured i would get an auto.

 

Lazy bastards FTW!

 

Get a kia if you just want to sit back and do nothing.

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5EAT because the 6MT wasn't and still isn't available in a wagon.

 

I wasn't thrilled with the 5MT in my Forester (clutch chatter, bent forks, notchy action) and despite the "strengthening", it's pretty much the same old tranny Subaru's used for decades. I didn't want to take the chance with the 2.5T. Also the 5EAT is pretty good for it's class and VTD was a nice bonus too.

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Manual :wub:

 

1) Slightly better MPG

2) Performance car... Auto tranny in a performance car :confused:

3) My buddy at work bought the OBXT with Auto and hated it. The transmission had odd shift points.

 

Downside

 

Pee-U. Oh, the clutch stink. I've gotten a whiff about 4 times in 4,000 miles. Eeek. Smells like a cat on fire.

 

Be well

-Zin

06 LGT LTD GRP 5MT

07 FXT LTD OBP 4EAT

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^^^ This exactly the vicious circle. Subaru complains manual don't sell, so they don't make them easily available, so they don't sell...
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Manual :wub:

 

1) Slightly better MPG

2) Performance car... Auto tranny in a performance car :confused:

3) My buddy at work bought the OBXT with Auto and hated it. The transmission had odd shift points.

 

Downside

 

Pee-U. Oh, the clutch stink. I've gotten a whiff about 4 times in 4,000 miles. Eeek. Smells like a cat on fire.

 

Be well

 

70 % highway 30% city averaging 27mpg (NAV indicated). Plenty of Subaru racing heritage WOTs :) (but primarily only when useful as in when I can exploit the velocity change to cover more ground or sometimes when I encounter a Mustang on lower Wacker, etc.)

 

I used the gated AT shifter in my old 95 J30t constantly.

 

Only had the clutch stench once in 3500 miles and that from a 3500rpm slip launch in 1st gear.

 

IMHO if you're smelling the clutch, there is probably something wrong somewhere. Time for a poll?:icon_wink

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Biased, but I consider automatics boring.

 

I've only ever bought/owned manual transmission cars ('76 AMC Gremlin :lol:, '66 Volvo S122, '78 VW Quantum wagon, '87 BMW 325i, '94 Miata, '93 LGT turbo wagon, '02 WRX, '05 LGT wagon) and enjoy the control the MT allows. I have also driven automatic vehicles extensively, BTW.

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