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Manual transmission in heavy traffic...

S

Sukhoi

Elite Member
I will be buying a new car in a few months, and I can't decide if I should go auto or manual. It seems silly to get an auto when manuals are cheaper and usually give better gas mileage. However I live in the Bay Area and I have this feeling with all the traffic here I would be hating myself for the next 10 years if I get a manual. Anyone else here drive a manual in heavy traffic, and how is it?
 
Do you live in SF?

If so, driving a manual there sucks with all the hills. You will burn out your clutch much faster as you have to "slip" it on the hills when youo get stuck at a light. I'd go autoamtic in the city.

I've been driving a manual for the past 9yrs in the south-bay and commute to clients all over the pennisula, N. Bay, East Bay and its fine.




 
I've had my manual for a week.

It's not too bad in traffic. It's a light car and a very light clutch, so there's not much that I have to do force wise. It's just the constant lifting and dropping of your left leg that you're going to want to get accustomed to.
 
In my 89 5.0l mustang with its cable actuated aftermarket honking monster clutch it was a PITA and my knee and leg would get tired pretty quick. In my 94 miata with its pussy hydraulic clutch its no problem.
 
Not a big deal.

And if the traffic is really stop-and-go, just wait until there is five or six car lengths ahead of you before inching forward again.
 
Originally posted by: Fmr12B
Do you live in SF?

If so, driving a manual there sucks with all the hills. You will burn out your clutch much faster as you have to "slip" it on the hills when youo get stuck at a light. I'd go autoamtic in the city.

I've been driving a manual for the past 9yrs in the south-bay and commute to clients all over the pennisula, N. Bay, East Bay and its fine.
Click to expand...

Many manual cars come with Hill Start Assist these days so that isn't an issue.
 
Originally posted by: Jumpem
Originally posted by: Fmr12B
Do you live in SF?

If so, driving a manual there sucks with all the hills. You will burn out your clutch much faster as you have to "slip" it on the hills when youo get stuck at a light. I'd go autoamtic in the city.

I've been driving a manual for the past 9yrs in the south-bay and commute to clients all over the pennisula, N. Bay, East Bay and its fine.
Click to expand...

Many manual cars come with Hill Start Assist these days so that isn't an issue.
Click to expand...

How well does that actual work? That is the one thing I hate about manuals.
 
Originally posted by: Zorba
How well does that actual work? That is the one thing I hate about manuals.
Click to expand...

From Subaru's website:

Incline Start Assist is designed for when a vehicle starts off on a hill, the brake remains on for approximately one second after the driver removes his or her foot from the brake to prevent the vehicle from rolling backward. This is designed to assist drivers who are not well versed in hill starts to start up smoother and with confidence. This feature is only on models with manual transmissions.
 
Originally posted by: Jumpem
Not a big deal.

And if the traffic is really stop-and-go, just wait until there is five or six car lengths ahead of you before inching forward again.
Click to expand...

That's what I do. I don't care if I get a honk, I just leave a couple car lengths and go.
 
Originally posted by: Jumpem
Not a big deal.

And if the traffic is really stop-and-go, just wait until there is five or six car lengths ahead of you before inching forward again.
Click to expand...

This is what I do. Let a gap grow, ease the clutch out and let the car move itself at about 4-5mph and if you're lucky you won't need to do much clutching or braking.
 
PITA in my mazda 3... the gearing for 1st and 2nd are terrible for traffic. DC metro area, take the beltway daily. oh, and it's doubly fun when your knee is injured, heh.

with that said, I wouldn't really give it up, I love driving manual.
 
Originally posted by: Fmr12B
Do you live in SF?

If so, driving a manual there sucks with all the hills. You will burn out your clutch much faster as you have to "slip" it on the hills when youo get stuck at a light. I'd go autoamtic in the city.

I've been driving a manual for the past 9yrs in the south-bay and commute to clients all over the pennisula, N. Bay, East Bay and its fine.
Click to expand...

I'm down in San Jose, so not really too many hills to worry about. It is a good point that these cars would have light clutches, so physically it wouldn't be that much of a workout. I would just be moving my foot a lot.

You guys are converting me back to manual I think. 🙂
 
Originally posted by: Zorba
Originally posted by: Jumpem
Originally posted by: Fmr12B
Do you live in SF?

If so, driving a manual there sucks with all the hills. You will burn out your clutch much faster as you have to "slip" it on the hills when youo get stuck at a light. I'd go autoamtic in the city.

I've been driving a manual for the past 9yrs in the south-bay and commute to clients all over the pennisula, N. Bay, East Bay and its fine.
Click to expand...

Many manual cars come with Hill Start Assist these days so that isn't an issue.
Click to expand...

How well does that actual work? That is the one thing I hate about manuals.
Click to expand...

On my car, when I let out the clutch, the car won't slide backwards for a couple of seconds, so it gives me time to apply some gas and start moving forward without having to ride the clutch.
 
I'm going to add another vote to manual. I live in the area and it isn't bad. Even in South Bay traffic, it doesn't bother me too much and I have an extremely heavy clutch.

I never knew about the hill assist thing in newer cars. Kinda interesting.
 
Originally posted by: Kadarin
Originally posted by: Zorba
Originally posted by: Jumpem
Originally posted by: Fmr12B
Do you live in SF?

If so, driving a manual there sucks with all the hills. You will burn out your clutch much faster as you have to "slip" it on the hills when youo get stuck at a light. I'd go autoamtic in the city.

I've been driving a manual for the past 9yrs in the south-bay and commute to clients all over the pennisula, N. Bay, East Bay and its fine.
Click to expand...

Many manual cars come with Hill Start Assist these days so that isn't an issue.
Click to expand...

How well does that actual work? That is the one thing I hate about manuals.
Click to expand...

On my car, when I let out the clutch, the car won't slide backwards for a couple of seconds, so it gives me time to apply some gas and start moving forward without having to ride the clutch.
Click to expand...

Not many of us can afford an M3 though 😉
 
Originally posted by: Kadarin
Originally posted by: Zorba
Originally posted by: Jumpem
Originally posted by: Fmr12B
Do you live in SF?

If so, driving a manual there sucks with all the hills. You will burn out your clutch much faster as you have to "slip" it on the hills when youo get stuck at a light. I'd go autoamtic in the city.

I've been driving a manual for the past 9yrs in the south-bay and commute to clients all over the pennisula, N. Bay, East Bay and its fine.
Click to expand...

Many manual cars come with Hill Start Assist these days so that isn't an issue.
Click to expand...

How well does that actual work? That is the one thing I hate about manuals.
Click to expand...

On my car, when I let out the clutch, the car won't slide backwards for a couple of seconds, so it gives me time to apply some gas and start moving forward without having to ride the clutch.
Click to expand...

You can do the ebrake thing too I guess...I always found it was more trouble then it was worth after my initial learning period with manual though.

Its pretty hilly in Vermont, but its not like SF. The manual is actually nice here on country roads since you can downshift at the bottom of a hill instead of waiting for the automatic to react.

Honestly though, manual is total balls in traffic...its no fun at all. And during particularly bad snow storms I started to get horrible cramping in my left leg a few times while crawling along in stop and go traffic.
 
Its sucks. I had a Saab 900SE Turbo with a 5 speed and in NC it was fun to drive and even in what we called bad traffic was not to bad.

Now when I moved to North VA I hated my Saab. It just took all the fun out of it and kept making me think I would have to change my clutch every 10k from using it so much.
And to the peron who said let there build up seveal car openings in front of your before you move, yea try that in N.VA. You would not get anywhere as people would fill those slots before it got to 2-3.


So depending on your area the pleasure may out weigh the neg, but if there is a chance that the neg will outway the good then don't do it.
 
I've been stuck in traffic for 2 hours during a snow storm in my old GTO and it was horrible. Never felt like you could give your legs and arm a rest. If I had to deal with that everyday, I would go automatic. If it was just a rare occasion, a manual is still a good choice.
 
It isn't so bad from my experience. If you have plenty of torque just drop it in second and leave it there, using just the clutch to inch yourself forward in heavy stop and go.
 
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