Myself, I much prefer to drive vehicles with manual transmissions. Like most that make the same selection, it is to feel more connected with the vehicle and more "in control". But, when selecting the options for my 2014 Wrangler Sport, I opted to go with an auto. Reason being, teaching my son to drive. Before I get slammed for not teaching him to drive stick, he has hemi paresis, a form of cerebral palsy that affects the motor skills on the right side of his body and therefore he is not able to shift gears with his right hand. I do know for sure that when the order is placed for my next Wrangler, it will be the 6 speed manual, I miss it, but I do have to say, the 5 speed auto in my 2014 is making a good case for itself.

 

Like this?

PHOTOS: Luxury flying car to hit market in 2017 - FOX 13 News

 

I bet that cost way too much. Also not quite the direction most people imagine when they think of flying cars. More like the fifth element comes to mind. Lol.

 

Yeah. They stuck "Luxury" in the front so you know you can't afford it...lol

 

I could wax poetic about this subject all day long, and it has nothing to do with justifying my manhood.

For those of us who appreciate and practice driving as a craft, it's a mental chore for people like me to get behind the wheel of a vehicle made for people who view driving as an inconvenience.

 

^^X2 ^^

 

It makes me wonder if throughout history people have had similar conversations. Like when people had to use paddles or oars to row boats, and then the first guy to put a sail on his boat got flamed for not being a man or connected to his boat because he wasn't rowing. And nowadays, heaven for bid if you own a motor boat and not a sailboat. Then you're not really boating haha.

 

Wouldn't be a new idea...
I saw this at Oshkosh back in the '90s.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h38UeDb7xw8

 

So, this thread caught my eye because I just got home from a business trip where my rental car had an auto trans. While the vehicle was easy to drive (and definitely better while sitting on I 95 in 5 miles of backed up traffic), I just miss driving my manual JK. I'm not an auto hater, my TJ was an auto and I enjoyed it just as much.... But I notice my driving habits are more geared (pun intended) to a manual.

Most people gravitate to what they know and are comfortable with. I find manual driving gives me a distinct comfortability, if not advantage, in certain driving scenarios; such as hard rain, ice, snow and other things like that, because I tend to use the gears more than the brake slowing my jeep down. Now I know somebody else mentioned the traction control and for me it's more of a hindrance than a help, but that's based on my driving style.

I think Mark's point is valid and it's not meant to divide people but just to help them to think about an old topic in a new way.

My two cents FWIW.

MTNGOAT

 

Great points Mark.

To the traffic point. It seems to come up all the time that traffic makes the manual a poor choice. I believe it is simply a decision one makes to enjoy it. I personally find myself much more engaged while sitting in traffic with my manual. I also do not find it any more difficult than driving my automatic in traffic. That point when brought up always baffles me. It's not a chore to drive a manual in traffic. I sit in Southern California traffic each and every day. Yes while the traffic sucks the actual act of driving my Jeep is not made any more difficult or tiring because it is a manual.