automatic or manual...
#11
I was thinking manual for my truck, but factors like the rest of my family not being able to drive it and my recurring leg problems were enough for me to stick to an auto.
#12
Got the automatic w/AutoStick in my 5.7 Charger, and love it. Which is good, because that is the only transmission available in the Charger.
Drove a 6-speed Ram, didn't like it much. Knew I'd be doing some off-roading for work, and some towing, and definitely wanted the Hemi; liked the 1500 over the 2500. So, forced to get an automatic again. I like it OK, not perfect but bearable. It does hunt for gears a lot when towing.
Anybody have good experience with the Superchips Flashpaq for towing?
In a couple of years, I hope to get a Challenger, it will be a 6-speed.
Drove a 6-speed Ram, didn't like it much. Knew I'd be doing some off-roading for work, and some towing, and definitely wanted the Hemi; liked the 1500 over the 2500. So, forced to get an automatic again. I like it OK, not perfect but bearable. It does hunt for gears a lot when towing.
Anybody have good experience with the Superchips Flashpaq for towing?
In a couple of years, I hope to get a Challenger, it will be a 6-speed.
#13
I'vwe owned and driven trucks since 1990. I've had manuals and automatics and I vastly prefer driving a stick. I have complete control over when the gears change, for one thing. And if you know how to work a clutch, manuals last basically forever without doing a second's worth of maintenance to them.
Yeah, autos are easier when you're in stop-and-go traffic. So what? My only complaint is that it's difficult to get a full-sze truck, especially a 4x4, with a stick anymore.
Plus, no dead battery worries!
Yeah, autos are easier when you're in stop-and-go traffic. So what? My only complaint is that it's difficult to get a full-sze truck, especially a 4x4, with a stick anymore.
Plus, no dead battery worries!
#14
Stick
They each have their merits, but for me, definitely a stick. Driven MT all my life, wouldn't trade for anything else. You exert a greater degree of control over the vehicle when it's stick shift. Brakes go out? Down shift till you've stopped. Need a slow, jerk-free start? Start in second.
I realize this can be done on most ATs, it just seems cooler in a MT I guess.
2nd that on the no dead batteries bdhuntr.
$.02
I realize this can be done on most ATs, it just seems cooler in a MT I guess.
2nd that on the no dead batteries bdhuntr.
$.02
#15
I can understand buying an auto if you anticipate being stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic on a regular basis, but I'm seldom in that kind of traffic, and a manual is sooo much more fun to drive! Honestly, the sole reason I'm driving a Dodge truck for the first time in my life is the availability of the manual in a 4X4. Dodge has been the only option for the drive train I prefer for several years now, unless I move up to a 3/4 ton, and I have no particular need for a 3/4 ton. As far as my wife is concerned, her PT Cruiser is also a manual, her only problem with the Ram is its size, when you're use to driving something as small as a PT, then you get behind the wheel of a QC 4X4 it does take some getting use to!
#16
stick shift for the win. autotragic transmissions are a failure by concept. they are not reliable in any way unless thousands of dollars are sunk into them to make them bulletproof. where as teh stick shifts dodge uses. GETRAG by mercedes Benz baby are basically bombproof. IDK i'm fine with shifting gears once you do it all day long you just do it. i can talk hold conversations hell i can do anything. and I will never own an autotragic either. if i wanted a p.o.s. i would just take some laxative and scoop it out of the toilet. not gonna pay 30k plus for it lol.
#17
These days, the auto transmissions are usually stronger than the manual's in 1500 series trucks.
For a daily driver, I prefer the auto. It's easier on the old knee in stop and go traffic.
#18
actually not really misguided autos are terrible. there's just a terrible mentality with autos. every time you hear a weird clukn every time the truck stutters every time anything awkward happens you always have that feelign in the back of your head that .... o boy what could happen.
and how you gonna even say that a Getrag 238 six speed is not as strong as a 545RFE lol. that almost made me die of laughter. no offnese but it's common knowledge the 545rfe transmission in the half tons is junk. the getrag transmissions are used by tons of top end sports cars and are effectively bomb proof. other than the norm wear and tear of the clutch but the internals are bombproof.
Last edited by Ben D.; 09-14-2008 at 09:14 PM.
#20
Actually did a test with two identical Jeep Grand Cherokee 4x4s, one was Manual the other an Automatic. Went out 4x4ing, the difference was amazing the Automatic Hooked up in all conditions where as the manual just spun its tires, now I could say I was a better driver than the other guy. But when we switched I had the same problems, and I had only driven Manuals until that day.
Bottom Line if your 4x4ing give me an Automatic Thanks
Bottom Line if your 4x4ing give me an Automatic Thanks