WavetheWheat

I was having a debate last evening with a past jeep owner. His stance was you can't do ANY decent off-roading with an Automatic.

What are your thoughts on Auto versus Manual transmission in regards to wheeling?

totdoc

Wow...I never thought I would hear myself say this, but the search button is your friend here. Just try searching "auto manual" for title of threads, and there are a TON to read.

There are a lot of people in each camp. Some people like the extra control of manual tranny, but many appreciate the fact that with an auto, they can spend more time paying attention to driving and less time paying attention to shifting. Some will even argue that extreme wheeling almost REQUIRES an auto. In 4 lo, the auto trans is VERY reliable for crawling. Manual requires quite a bit more attention to prevent stalls and such.

Some threads to get you started - the first is one of my favs, as it has some really good advice from WayOfLife on how to handle the manual well:
https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/show...ighlight=speed
https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/show...ht=auto+manual
https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/show...ht=auto+manual
https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/show...ht=auto+manual

Mark Doiron

Is that possible? I've been driving manuals all of my life and I've resigned myself to the fact that, when wheeling, stall happens.

JEEP THRILLS

I'd take an auto anyday if it had the six gears i do with my manual.

Steve's 95YJ

Having owned an '06 TJ Rubi with the Automatic, and now an '09 JK Rubi with the 6 speed, I can tell you that my preference for off-roading was definitely the Automatic transmission.

With the auto I found I was able to simply concentrate on picking the best line instead of having to worry about things like...........was I in the right gear or not?, was my speed OK for that water crossing?, why don't I have a third foot?

The only minor drawback I found with the automatic was on a long descent in 4Hi, I could not always get enough compression braking even with the trans dropped into the lowest gear..............4Lo in the same situation was not a problem though.

robin

my thoughts exactly , I have a manual toyota but I would much rather drive my auto jeep.

GoodysGotaCuda

I love the added challenge of the manual trans. I think anyone can let go of the brake and hit the gas. I just feel likes its more of "you and the jeep" when out there rock crawling with a manual, little more difficult on some spots..but i enjoy it and would not buy an automatic unless it was for a wife-mobile JK. Period.

robin

my guess is your friend has never being to a competition, a lot of the crawlers are automatic.

ladyJK

I didn't like the idea of driving a manual off road until after I tried it. I like how I have control of which gear it is in. It is also easier to go slow going down a steep hill. Yeah, it is more of a challenge with a manual, but that is what makes it fun and exhilarating

spinlock

I fully agree with Planman's preferences depending on terrain, but there is one more factor to consider: driver skill.

I you are driving off road on very technical terrain it takes some skill and experience to control the clutch without detracting focus from the terrain, the steering wheel and the gas pedal.

Stalling the engine can put you a tricky position in some situations. All this becomes a moot point with an auto.

IMO, the manual is a lot more fun and efficient, it's just a bit inconvenient in some situations.