Go on guys, post your preference.

As a Brit, I can't stand anything that isn't a manual. I just don't understand why anyone would want to give up control to a torque manager which messes with your revs and is completely unresponsive. For cornering, braking and general comfort, I find a well driven manual much better.

What are your views?

I thought of this thread due to my horrible bus journey where the driver simply couldn't drive a manual and fried the clutch today. :(

I own an auto. Well.... it's tiptronic but I hardly ever use the manual feature. I guess I'm lazy. Manuals are good if the person can drive them properly, you can also save quite a bit of fuel driving one if you know how to do it right.

Go on guys, post your preference.

As a Brit, I can't stand anything that isn't a manual. I just don't understand why anyone would want to give up control to a torque manager which messes with your revs and is completely unresponsive. For cornering, braking and general comfort, I find a well driven manual much better.

What are your views?

I thought of this thread due to my horrible bus journey where the driver simply couldn't drive a manual and fried the clutch today. :(

Complete disagree :lol:

We've been converted to automatics because they are so responsive and just make driving so much safer. Driving a manual is like the right brothers flying with wood and string for levers :lol:

I love it at the lights when a young hood is all reved up at the lights to drag you of, especially on a hill - light turns green, by the time hes released his handbrake - as so many people are taught to do here, your off and hes jerking his way through the gears :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Stuck on the M25 - traffic is crawling for the next 5 -10 miles, you are only 10 minutes from home and know that it is going to be an hour and a half till you get there - forget a manual - your clutch leg just gives out.

Sorry - "old persons or ladies" car for me.......:lol: :lol: :banana:

We own 2 cars, 1 auto and 1 manual - I'm currently driving the auto, but occasionally take the manual for a spin!

We've just gone down to one car - sold both automatic and manual - and have bought an automatic :banana:

Parking and insurance over here is just a nightmare and we feel we've got to make some sort of sacrifice with the environment - 2 cars was a luxury - so we have been martyrs:nuts:

Complete disagree :lol:

We've been converted to automatics because they are so responsive and just make driving so much safer. Driving a manual is like the right brothers flying with wood and string for levers :lol:

I love it at the lights when a young hood is all reved up at the lights to drag you of, especially on a hill - light turns green, by the time hes released his handbrake - as so many people are taught to do here, your off and hes jerking his way through the gears :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Stuck on the M25 - traffic is crawling for the next 5 -10 miles, you are only 10 minutes from home and know that it is going to be an hour and a half till you get there - forget a manual - your clutch leg just gives out.

Sorry - "old persons or ladies" car for me.......:lol: :lol: :banana:


All engineering literature says otherwise. Manuals have faster acceleration and a higher top speed with most cars, it's just most people seem to struggle with driving them for some reason. There are some exceptions as car engine size increases.

Automatics when you're trying to pick up speed jerk around with your revs horribly, I just can't deal with them! As for fuel economy - we owned a VW Bora upon first landing in NZ and it ate $30 of petrol doing a round trip from Howick to Browns bay. Now with a Holden Vectra Manual it does the round trip in $10 despite higher fuel prices.

For cornering - automatics can't change down through the gears to slow you and don't have the responsiveness to engage halfway around a corner to accelerate you out of it in the same way. In this instance manuals are far better - think engine braking.

True in traffic they're not always as fun, but I think the benefits far outweigh the cost. I simply avoid driving in heavy traffic and take public transport. :)

As for driving safety, I find that automatic drivers tend to be far more erratic than their manual counterparts. It's far easier to change lane when standing still in an automatic without thinking - the amount of people who do this at traffic lights here in Auckland is frightening!

I own an auto. Well.... it's tiptronic but I hardly ever use the manual feature. I guess I'm lazy. Manuals are good if the person can drive them properly, you can also save quite a bit of fuel driving one if you know how to do it right.

Yep 5th gear at 60kph does the trick for cruising around town.

^^ Yep. I learned to drive in a manual, and I used to see how far I could get up Onewa Road before having to change down gears. On the odd occasion when you timed the lights well (during off-peak of course) I could get all the way up to Highbury in 5th gear quite easily!

Dropping it into neutral down a few big hills on the motorway (around Oteha Valley Rd) probably saves a little as well!

Morning rush hour down Onewa Rd, you probably wouldn't have to take out neutral all the way from Highbury to the onramp. :lol:

Personally I hate using a manual in rush hour traffic. Automatic every time please.

But then If I need to do a job in the city, most times I'll use the Bus way, anyway!

You'd have to be crazy to drive down Onewa Rd during morning rush hour. Once a fortnight I need to drive down it at about 9.40am in the morning and sometimes it still takes me 15-20 min to get from Northcote College to the motorway.

It's the 2 sets of lights @ Lake Rd and Queen St that mess everything up there. Not much that can be done though, as taking out the dog-leg would be a pretty massive task.

You'd have to be crazy to drive down Onewa Rd during morning rush hour. Once a fortnight I need to drive down it at about 9.40am in the morning and sometimes it still takes me 15-20 min to get from Northcote College to the motorway.

It's the 2 sets of lights @ Lake Rd and Queen St that mess everything up there. Not much that can be done though, as taking out the dog-leg would be a pretty massive task.

You'd have to be crazy to drive in peak hour in my opinion! I just get so angry and frustrated behind the wheel at that time that it's simply not worth my while driving - one reason for taking buses et al.

I drive to and from work, but that's OK as I live in Sandringham and work in Avondale. Twice a week I need to drive from Avondale to Beach Haven, which is a bit of a mission, but I've got a decent route that doesn't get too wasted by traffic.

So in general I manage to escape the worst of it.

I drive to and from work, but that's OK as I live in Sandringham and work in Avondale. Twice a week I need to drive from Avondale to Beach Haven, which is a bit of a mission, but I've got a decent route that doesn't get too wasted by traffic.

So in general I manage to escape the worst of it.

I guess that's not too bad then. I'm mostly loathed to drive anywhere no matter the time really. I only got my drivers licence upon moving to New Zealand! I'd never touched a car in Britain and I was quite thankful for it. I love being driven somewhere by someone else.

One thing that just occured to me is this progression:

Poor people (or environmentally minded people)
Get driven by someone else (public transport)

Middle income earners
Drive themselves

Rich people
Get driven by someone else

Funny how the rich revert and yet they'd not dream of stepping foot on public transport. Though, saying this the mayor of London takes the tube daily to work. Good on him! I can't imagine Dick Hubbard or Sir Barry doing something like that!

I currently drive a manual, but autos have their place.

One of the worst autos I've had was a '96 Ford Mondeo. Always in the wrong gear, painfully slow response when accelerating, plus the transmission itself needed rebuilding twice during our ownership.

The main frustration for me is when the auto is combined with an underpowered, wheezy engine. The torque converter just exacerbates the problem. And it's doubly frustrating when the auto takes ages to engage 'Drive' from 'Reverse' and vice versa.

Having said that, I would prefer to own an auto in Auckland's traffic.

The one annoying thing about my auto is when I'm "rolling" it down hills (like going down Curran Street for example) it thinks that you want to slow down, and jams it down to second gear, causing an annoying lurch and the revs to go crazy.

I generally just flick it over to manual system then to stop that, and now I've had my car for over a year I'm pretty good at noticing when it's about to do that.

The one annoying thing about my auto is when I'm "rolling" it down hills (like going down Curran Street for example) it thinks that you want to slow down, and jams it down to second gear, causing an annoying lurch and the revs to go crazy.

I generally just flick it over to manual system then to stop that, and now I've had my car for over a year I'm pretty good at noticing when it's about to do that.

That is one thing that would frighten me about owning an auto. They can unwittingly kill themselves by driving themselves badly! If an automatic transmission breaks down, your car is almost a complete a writeoff as they cost so much to replace. If a manual breaks down, yes a new clutch is expensive, however, it is generally worth replacing.

We recently had an issue whereby we went over a very large pothole on Millhouse Drive and it did our flywheel in and thus the clutch got damaged. Managed to get a new clutch for free as this one was still under warranty. :)

^^ As mine's a tip-tronic I'm looking at $4000 roughly if my transmission dies. Yes, I have nightmares about it happening.

^^ As mine's a tip-tronic I'm looking at $4000 roughly if my transmission dies. Yes, I have nightmares about it happening.

Ouch! Holy hell... I've now been put of tip-tronics for sure!

Do you find that with some drivers (of autos) there is a nasty lurch on take off? I find that I get quite car sick driving with my girlfriends brother. He's a little too heavy on the accelerator and it feels quite gut wrenching.

I think I drive pretty smoothly, unless I'm in a hurry :lol: . Manuals can be more lurching in my experience, especially when you're on a hill as there's always that little roll back before you're on your way.

I think I drive pretty smoothly, unless I'm in a hurry :lol: . Manuals can be more lurching in my experience, especially when you're on a hill as there's always that little roll back before you're on your way.

Really? I can safely say that I make sure I balance on the clutch before releasing the handbrake so I never roll... Same with taking off - I take the clutch to the limit and take off fully slowly so it's a smooth take off - thus I don't lurch. Unlike autos, it depends far more who you drive with in a manual as the focus is on the driver far more than on the car.

Oh, and just a note (anticipation of comments in my general direction): balancing on the clutch is NOT the same as riding the clutch like so many people do. Balancing involves simply holding the car without applying the accelerator at all - very different to riding which many people do.

After many years, I don't roll in a manual any more. It's a balancing act. Our Auto is harder to stop roll back with out the hand break.

Though I did burn out the clutch in a truck I was riding too long! :nuts:

Learnt to drive in an auto, but later taught myself to drive a manual. Find autos easier, but there is somethign nice about driving a manual, knowing u are in full control of the car. Don't actually own a car atm, and don't plan on changing that anytime soon. It's biking or PT for me :)

Learnt to drive in an auto, but later taught myself to drive a manual. Find autos easier, but there is somethign nice about driving a manual, knowing u are in full control of the car. Don't actually own a car atm, and don't plan on changing that anytime soon. It's biking or PT for me :)

^^ Greeny :banana: :lol: :)

^^haha yep :P Im not a hardcore greeny tho. But on the transport front im pretty radical compared to most :D

^^haha yep :P Im not a hardcore greeny tho. But on the transport front im pretty radical compared to most :D

I would be if I didn't have to make cross town trips late at night. Public transport at present doesn't allow me to do this safely. :(

^^Lol tru. NiteRider?

i'm a convert ot automatics. they're so much easier to drive. but hey, i don't have a car over here, just my bike and the tube. i don't know what is worse in London a car or a bike.

Yep 5th gear at 60kph does the trick for cruising around town.

It also damagers your gearbox.

It also damagers your gearbox.

How does it do that? As far as I know as long as your car is comfortable at low revs it's all good - I mean if your engine is making dodgy sounds then obviously it's not doing any good.

Manual for open road driving. I mostly use car to get out of town at the weekends for outdoors type things (climbing, tramping, skiing, etc). I find manual gives better control, particularly on rough country roads and iced up skifield roads.

Can see how an auto would be handy for city driving in the peak (stop/start crawling along), but I avoid that (and the over-priced parking) by using public transport during the week.

In the last 15 years or so almost all my cars were manual but just replaced my last car with an automatic shopping trolley which only has 1/3 power and 2 less gears. :(

In the last 15 years or so almost all my cars were manual but just replaced my last car with an automatic shopping trolley which only has 1/3 power and 2 less gears. :(

You've bought the wrong car!!:lol:

3hours of stop start traffic on the M40 & M25 (sorry guys, these roads make even AKL roads look like driveways) - THANKS GOD for AUTOMATICS!!!:banana: :)

You've bought the wrong car!!:lol:

3hours of stop start traffic on the M40 & M25 (sorry guys, these roads make even AKL roads look like driveways) - THANKS GOD for AUTOMATICS!!!:banana: :)

Why drive on the M25?!?! Isn't there another way of you commuting?

Also - it's still not that bad with a clutch. I've driven in heavy traffic and it's not that arduous.

My VRX 380 has Tiptronic ....and lots of Pretty Blue Lights on the Dash :lol:

Why drive on the M25?!?! Isn't there another way of you commuting?

Also - it's still not that bad with a clutch. I've driven in heavy traffic and it's not that arduous.

Sometimes the M25 and the M1 are the only way of getting from the north, notthwest into and around London. The suburban roads are to small and are just as congested. To get from Watford to the M4 and M40, the M25 is just the easiest way. Taking the A 411 for example, which is a back route, runs through congested areas such as Croxley, Rickmansworth, Mill End and Denham. When you get there, you meet traffic that is trying to take the back roads to Heathrow via Uxbridge, Hillingdon, Hayes and the traffic coming off the M40. It is riddled with speed cameras and traps, and 50% of the population that wish avoid the motorways are on the road.

This is the porblem living in a city of 7 million people crammed into an area like Auckland. Imagine all of Sydney and Aucklands population stuck in AKL greater area :ohno: :nuts:

The other problem is that London breaths 1and half million people a day from the home counties (Hertfordshire, Essex, Surrey, Kent and beyond) with people coming to work.

Blieve me, I've lived here 14 years and tried so many ways of beating the roads - and it is impossible :lol: I would vote Greater London is one of the worst places in the world to have a car :ohno:

Where in England are you from Svartmetall?

Where in England are you from Svartmetall?

Northampton - I sometimes did the commuter crush on Silverlink trains (just to visit!), however, I didn't do that on a day to day work basis. I do know though that there are some commuter rail routes that go round that stretch - have you considered one of those or do you require a car for your work?

Watford has good rail links and is on the metropolitan tube line if I remember my map correctly...

Northampton - I sometimes did the commuter crush on Silverlink trains (just to visit!), however, I didn't do that on a day to day work basis. I do know though that there are some commuter rail routes that go round that stretch - have you considered one of those or do you require a car for your work?

Watford has good rail links and is on the metropolitan tube line if I remember my map correctly...

I like Northampton...got some friends there.

I'm going into London in about an hour - Silverlinking it. Straight into Euston.

Don't get me started about the tube and the Metline - looks good on paper, but......i'll post more latter.

I am studying in Oxford...my work requires I drive:ohno:

Better go or I'll miss my train....:lol:

I like Northampton...got some friends there.

I'm going into London in about an hour - Silverlinking it. Straight into Euston.

Don't get me started about the tube and the Metline - looks good on paper, but......i'll post more latter.

I am studying in Oxford...my work requires I drive:ohno:

Better go or I'll miss my train....:lol:

Ahhh good old Euston station. Even saying the name makes me a tad homesick! I have some good memories of Euston station - especially of that pub on the second floor. :)

I never had much of a problem with the tube or the metropolitan line when I was there. I never really left zone 3 on my travels though, I avoided doing that if I could. I know it had its delays, but as far as general running goes it wasn't too bad. I very rarely had a delay of more than 10 mins.

My relatives live just outside of Banbury so you're in their local district! Give a wave in the direction of Banbury for me.

Where abouts do your friends live in Northampton? I lived in both Old Duston (boy that area has gone downhill...) and West Hunsbury when I was there. I never lived anywhere else in the UK though, Northampton is my place of birth and departure. :(

Ahhh good old Euston station. Even saying the name makes me a tad homesick! I have some good memories of Euston station - especially of that pub on the second floor. :)

I never had much of a problem with the tube or the metropolitan line when I was there. I never really left zone 3 on my travels though, I avoided doing that if I could. I know it had its delays, but as far as general running goes it wasn't too bad. I very rarely had a delay of more than 10 mins.

My relatives live just outside of Banbury so you're in their local district! Give a wave in the direction of Banbury for me.

Where abouts do your friends live in Northampton? I lived in both Old Duston (boy that area has gone downhill...) and West Hunsbury when I was there. I never lived anywhere else in the UK though, Northampton is my place of birth and departure. :(

I don't know the name of the place of hand, but it is not far from the M1 side of the city.

The problem with the met line outside zone 3 is that it becomes a slow trip. Once you get to Watford, the tube stops a mile from the town centre. The line and stations to the town centre and Watford Junction station is no longer used - it's a joke. There is a campagin to try and open it again, but I don't know if London Underground will listen.

This will make you home sick....

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g226/DavidEugene/London308.2007004.jpg?t=1188516152

Good old filthy dirty Silverlink train at 11:30 this morning :lol: :)

:puke: :puke: :puke: This is so NOT gay friendly ;)

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g226/DavidEugene/London308.2007004.jpg?t=1188516152

The bit that makes me sick is you can see where the seats are wearing away because SO MANY people use the trains (mind you - thats a good thing) and where the back of peoples heads touch the seats, it's all greasy and matted :puke:

Silverlink trains are introducing new stock at the moment, and they are very nice - just few and far between.

My Rob has to catch one of these every day to his work in central London - I make him change and shower as soon as he gets home :lol: :okay:

^^ There is no air conditioning in these trains. Can you imagine some of the smells...

The new ones have it though.

I never minded the Silverlink trains! They're not so bad. Considering the age of them, I think they're holding up rather well! The new 2004-2005 rolling stock look quite nice (painted in central trains colours though):

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/8d/350120_kingsthorpe_220407_d.adkins.jpg


It's easy to replace rolling stock on a small network, but people do seem to forget the size of the English railway network. Silverlink run a large network (67 trains each comprised of various numbers of carriages 4 to 10 if I remember correctly, though 4 car are quite rare). This when compared to Aucklands 9 ADK/ADB class two-car DMUs, 10 ADL/ADC class two-car DMUs 12 sets of SX (2-4 carriages) throws it into a different light.

Besides - we should probably look closer to home for bad trains... Ours are not shining examples here. At least that rolling stock is electric, fast (160kph/100mph) and (I found) generally on time, and QUIET unlike our Auckland rolling stock! They run a very frequent half hourly service from Northampton to London. You can't complain about that for an interurban route with the journey taking 1.5 hours for all stops and 55 mins for express from Northampton to London. Sometimes functionality replaces looks in my book. I can cope with it looking bad as long as it works - perhaps I'm a typical guy in this regard! :)

You're right about one thing certainly David - I'm very homesick now and am in desparate need of a trip home. I've not been back in the 2.5 years I've lived here and I really really REALLY miss the UK. My family has been back but due to tax laws here I couldn't fund myself back in England. :( If it were not for the position of the family and the fact that my girlfriend refuses to consider living in England, I'd move back in a shot! Oh well, if things don't work out with her, perhaps I will! Also, it's interesting to note how adverse England is to Air Conditioning in general. We're rather uptight and odd about it. It's taken FOREVER to get it installed in places where the rest of the world has had it for yonks.

Also David - do the Virgin express trains that go via Northampton during peak time also stop at Watford or do they continue on through? Virgin trains are lookers and are SO comfortable.

EDIT: How do you resize your images?! This one is HUGE!

^^ I've been on one of them - they are nice.

Virgin Trains stop at Watford Junciton. My partner Rob travels the country for business and Virgin is his first choice for rail and air (hes flying premium economy to NYC in October and it looks really impressive).

The Virgin trains are really nice, fast and frequent.:banana:

You're right about one thing certainly David - I'm very homesick now and am in desparate need of a trip home. I've not been back in the 2.5 years I've lived here and I really really REALLY miss the UK. My family has been back but due to tax laws here I couldn't fund myself back in England. :( If it were not for the position of the family and the fact that my girlfriend refuses to consider living in England, I'd move back in a shot! Oh well, if things don't work out with her, perhaps I will!

Hey, I know what homesickness is like:( After 20 years of living outside NZ, I still get bad bouts of it. All you can do is ride :horse: your way through it.

It's funny, cause when you do get home, you realise how much you have changed and you and the place have grown apart. But HOME will always by HOME, no matter where you come from.:banana:

Hope you feel better soon :pet: :)