“I am never buying an automatic.”

So the teenaged Bill used to say. My parents drove automatics as did the uncool kids in high school. I needed to feel absolute control over a car, though some would say about my driving habits, there is no control.
I wanted to make the decision on when to change gears - the very idea of leaving it up to the car to decide made my blood boil. It's a conspiracy! How DARE they even invent such a contraption!!

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I think I see a DSG GTI in my future...

http://www.myspace.com/muuler

I still have a ways to go before I get tired of shifting. I am 36 yrs old and still love heel-toe downshifing on the rural roads. Loving the 6 speed on my 20th GTI

Automatic for me as long as it has some kind of Tiptronic-like feature.

2006 GLI .:. 2008 Rabbit S

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Tough choice? Only if they make the R36 w/ DSG option - I'd seriously consider DSG!

My dad drove stickshift for 29 years...from the day he got his license to 1995...and then when he had to get a new car he got an automatic because he was sick of driving stickshift. As much as I like driving stick now, I suspect I will be much the same...by the time my 40s roll around I'll be thinking an automatic will look pretty good (assuming cars will even have transmissions as we know them at that point...).

With DSG and CVT, there are two fantastic alternatives to the automatic that are 2-pedaled. At this point in my life, if I had to get a 2 pedal car I would refuse to get a standard torque converter auto or an SMG (too rough)...it would be DSG or CVT. I just hope moe manufacturers use 'em in the future.

Oh and I turned 30 few months ago

Quote, originally posted by BRM10984 »

You're officially a published author, Bill. Automatic for me as long as it has some kind of Tiptronic-like feature.

yes...i showed my wife the article & all she said was you called me hapless & uncool?!?!

i'll have to say that away from everyday driving to/from work...i love my manual transmission. especially on the mountain roads behind my house.

time to get an automatic trans car and a fun manual trans car !!

bill

of course they were manuel...they were hecho en mexico

bill

nice article

The mk4 forum ultimate chillers club...for people who chill mad hard

M-I-A-T-A.

2006 GLI .:. 2008 Rabbit S

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DSG is good, but I still like the feeling you get when you do the perfect double clutch downshift or go from 5th to 3rd and floor it

Quote, originally posted by magic_hobo »

DSG is good, but I still like the feeling you get when you do the perfect double clutch downshift or go from 5th to 3rd and floor it

sorry i'm still young @ 29 and love my manul and although atlanta traffic is bad it pays to know the backroads

oh and i'm one of those guys that can't stop rolling back and forth at the stop lights. i do realize that @ some time i will accept the automatic, right now i despise has kept me from purchasing certain cars but would love the dsg!

Modified by hi-speed dubbin at 9:41 PM 9-6-2005

I used to only drive manuals thinking they were far superior. But something interesting happened along the way. While my cars went into service bay I would be handed the keys to vehicles with automatics - everything from a Ford Taurus to a Mitsubishi Mirage. The thing is - the automatic in these cars made me WANT them. As crappy as they were - I loved just throwing the thing in 'D' and driving.

Right now I am almost 32 and while I still have the urge to drive a manual transmission - the 60 mile commute each day makes me think otherwise towards the end of it. I even took someones Mazdaspeed Miata out one day to see how I would like it as a commuter. Uh.. no! Maybe the NC w/ 6 speed auto - but I just couldn't dig it.

A good balance is probably a comfortable weekday commuter w/ auto and a weekend autocrosser w/ stick.

Of course, with two feet and only two pedals, there is now the skill of left-foot braking to master... hmm...

Modified by rhworks at 8:48 PM 9-6-2005

2004 Touareg
Offroad Gray, Anthracite, VR6, Xenon, air suspension, Sound I, little flashlight, two kids.

1999 Passat GLS - sold, 2008

That being said, I wish he would have made more of a difference between DSG/SMG and traditional automatics/Tiptronic. To me they're apples and oranges.

I probably will buy a DSG or some SMG variant in my lifetime but I will never buy a traditional automatic again, not a chance.

If I go to church on Sunday and cabaret all day Monday, nobody's business if I do.

Quote, originally posted by Liquid1.8T »

I think this is a ploy to encourage DSG sales.

Yea I think that will be a question everytime someone buys a DSG. Did Bill's article encourage you to buy this???

Bill, you are making me feel old. I just put a deposit to buy a 2006 Jetta TDI, and the idea of an automatic had first appeared acceptable. That horrible thought quickly drove me to find an available manual ASAP! I am not old yet! However, after reading your article I feel ok about buying an automatic. It is going to be the wifes car after all. What have you done to me!!! I am losing my youth!

Modified by Dr. Bob at 6:30 AM 9-7-2005

When driving becomes merely a means of conveyance, (never) then I will drive my wifes car.

Modified by ephemtuner at 2:00 PM 9-7-2005

Manumatics just don't do it for me. We have a '00 BMW 3-series in the household with a Steptronic and I've used it and it just is not the same at all. It's numb/boring. I hate driving that car (and this is a BMW 3 we're talking about!) and would never own one like it (with a auto/tip).

One car on my "what to own next" list is the Audi A3 and as much as I'd like the upcoming VR6 (I prefer a normally aspirated V6 over a turbo I-4), it will only be offered with DSG here. And yeah I know that in the 2.0T version the DSG is a little quicker than the manual version. However that extra what...0.5 seconds...is not going to stir my soul like shifting gears *entirely* on my own does. So the manual 2.0T would be the only choice for me in that car.

The only auto I had was a clean '69 VW fastback. It was bought with the intention of converting to a 4-speed. The car was just too original to modify and it was going to require grafting sections from a donor car for the shifter and running a clutch tube. (The tube I knew about, but I thought the shifters bolted in the same way ) Because of that, I traded it for my '59 beetle. Other than that, the only auto that has ever sat in my driveway is my wife's car. She used to drive a stick, but with the baby...

Quote, originally posted by patrikman »

A restoration to me is some sort of exorcism/brainwash for a car. /rant.

I do miss the manual but its no biggy and Im not tracking it, although I want to and I know thats where Ill want the manual.

Now DSG or trip Id love to have but....

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Why? Sports injuries leaving me with an okay left knee. An automatic is great as a backup car

I found myself saying "Yeaup." to myself as I read your statement about WF. I remember sitting in the middle of what, RT 18?, with traffic backed up because one part of the route was below water. Trembling left leg was definitely felt.

My mother in-law is 75 and drives a manual B5.5 Passat. Stop wining!

Just admit you are all too lazy to drive and enjoy a stick!

1982 Alfa Romeo Spider
1983 GTi
2004 W8 6MT variant

Have all the stick you want!

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