[QUOTE=IGOFSHN;178940]Most people forget this. The 1st gear in the jk autos isn't a bad ratio either. Tie that in with a 4.1 diff ratio and its looking pretty good.

I can't figure out the ration in the 6-speed manual. Its almost a granny but not quite which means 2nd is almost low enough to use as a normal first but not quite. To me a 6-speed jeep manual tranny should have a granny and an overdrive. Otherwise an old Willys with a Warn overdrive unit could kick its ass off-road.

 

Auto all the way! Easy to pull my bass boat plus riding trails is a lot more fun with out shifting gear!

 

No one has said THAT in this thread yet...we just find the auto easier. There is also the fact that several people have reported problems with their manuals after going through deep mud or water. The autos have not had that problem to date.

 

Auto has a crawl ratio of 49 and the stick has a crawl ratio of 73. That's nearly a 50% improvement. Yes, the auto has good control and is easier, but with practice, one has better controll with a stick.

 

The reason why people were having trouble with the clutches is because they were disengaging the clutch while in deep deep watery mud, this allows mud and water to flow into the clutch assembly and in between the clutch plates, and messes everything up. im 23 years old and i know that is a no no, since day 1

 

Too hard for me to drive while talking on my cell phone and eating a big mac if I have to shift at the same time. So I went with auto. Besides, I want my wife to be able to drive it.

 

You didn't account for the torque converter or the fact that the 2007 auto equipped jks came with a 4.1 diff ratio. Therefore, your math is wrong.

The crawl ratio on my X is 63.34 which isn't bad for a non-rubi. The manual X I looked at had a ratio of 38.94. If it had a tow package it would have boosted it to 49.74. Manual rubi with 4.1 would be 73.14. Therefore I'm happy with my auto X's crawl ratio. Of course a Rubi auto would be 93.15. Thats assuming 2x for the tc but it could actually be a little more.

 

Ahhh - after reading the various replies I do see a disadvantage of the stick over an auto. I'd forgotten that my wife hasn't driven a stick in over 30 some odd years. If I had an auto she could take over if I got hurt. With the stick it would be very iffy.

Long drives we always would take her car (Acura MDX). Now with the decent comfort of the JK we tend to take the Rubi. Since she doesn't drive a stick I don't have a relief driver on long drives.

I think I see lessons coming up real soon

 

you forget the torque converter. It will double the crawl ratio on the auto.
the auto is also a lot easier on your equipment because you don't slam into the rocks as much.

 

Here in Europe, especially Italy we are not really into auto.
A lot of people think that auto is for old people or for who has phisical problems.

They think that a sport car or off road has to have stick (think Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati etc...).

lately they are converted to auto cause of the huge traffic we have in aur city (even in the small one) and they found out that auto is great!

Personally it is 22 years that I willing to have auto, and after a stick Land Cruiser finalli I got my auto Jeep!

Great, absolutely great!

Franco-Italy