[drift2race]

Originally Posted by heydj

Is it better to wait for AT or use car with MT for almost 5 years.

I would have loved to wait for the AT but time is running out for my diesel manual Swift . If i don't sell it by feb 2018 , I will not be given an NOC by the RTO to sell the car ever again aka its going to scrap .

[meetgds]

Originally Posted by PrideRed

I see majority voting for Autobox. However If I see the car review threads, almost all the Autoboxes have been bashed-they are bad, slow shifting,mind of their own, highly troublesome,unreliable and what not. So BHPian's are ditching fun to drive cars and moving towards convenience even though it is not entertaining to drive?

I guess it's mostly about lifestyle. One who drives to work in heavy traffic daily (like me) would prefer the auto transmission even if it comes with it's own set of niggles. If, on the other hand, somebody mostly drives on clearer roads where the trouble of shifting gears and dealing with clutch doesn't bother to a great degree, then the choice would be difficult, and probably different.

[heydj]

Originally Posted by drift2race

I would have loved to wait for the AT but time is running out for my diesel manual Swift . If i don't sell it by feb 2018 , I will not be given an NOC by the RTO to sell the car ever again aka its going to scrap .

In that case sell and use radio taxi or rental for sometime but don't compromise on 5 -7 years of comfort based on 12 weeks of waiting.

Few weeks of difficulty now is better than potential 7 year itch.

[bhaskaracs]

I was living in Alwarpet, Chennai in 2009 when I was learning car driving for a couple of months before I bought my car back then. I could barely take my car out due to sheer diffidence for a month or so.

Then i had a leap of faith; took my car out for a ride during peak hours at 6pm on RK Salai until Chetpet and returned, narrowlying missing various 'rendezvous' with other cars on the way and return. Fortunately, nothing happened to anybody, despite me having to manage various 'degrees of freedom' : clutch, brake, steering, views from ORVMs/IRVM, traffic, road rules, love for my new car and inner demons.

Things have changed eversince 2009. Particularly, traffic at any point during the day has become denser by at least 2x or 3x. It is taking significantly longer time for new drivers to experience this leap of faith. Also, I have seen a few acquaintances who learnt driving in the last couple of years never making this leap. Perhaps they never will, under the fear of getting crushed under the sheer weight of variables to manage. Traffic singularly amplifies the agony by 100x (i was fortunate to learn driving before traffic became a significant issue).

AT offers a solution to such people (amongst others), given the fewer variables to manage so that they can focus on the road and enjoy their driving.

[SJM1214]

Voted for MT.

I have driven extensively in mountains and somehow I am not able to trust an automatic car in mountains. I know this is just my mindset. Call me old school, but I"ll always go for an MT car. I used to have a bad habit of keeping my left hand on gear knob. IMO, keeping my left hand on gear knob gave me feeling that everything was under my control. Somehow, I forgot that habit but still, I prefer an MT car. I like to be in control of everything (at least in the car) when I am driving. Sometimes, gear shift indicator is also irritating for me. My car! Let me decide what to do.

[prasanna_indaje]

Always AT !
Moved from SCross 1.6 to Hexa XTA.
Also replaced 1998 M800 with Alto K10 AMT.

[King_pin09]

To me driving comprises of three elements, viz., decision making, slotting the gear stick and flooring the pedal. Replacing any of these aspects with a mechanical substitute would make driving experience incomplete.

Look ahead at the steep incline, slot the stick in first gear, build up some revvs, slowly release the clutch and floor the gas pedal. let others hear the Vroooooom.

AT is for "Readymade" loving lazy fellows . (Definitely pun intended).

Voted for MT.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by GTO

My answer: Depends on the car.

Really depends on the car. Drove 3 new cars in the recent past.

- The XUV500 MT Facelift this weekend. The game has moved on and by current standards, the ergonomics are too flawed - the steering is too high (even at its lowest position), the clutch pedal's travel range is too long and so is the manual gearshift. Give me the XUV500 AT (brilliantly mated) over the MT anyday.

- Swift - MT, simply because the AMT is too jerky for my tastes and the Petrol MT is too much fun to drive.

- S-Class - AT, as it's more in tune with the character of the car.

[ShubhamGhute]

My answer: Depends upon car.

5 years back, I would have easily opted for ‘Only MT for me’ as then, mass market cars didn’t had as many good AT options and traffic conditions weren’t as messy as they are today. Thats the reason why I bought Nissan X-trail in MT even though it had good AT.

Today, my choice mainly depends upon which car it is, which fuel option I am choosing from and mainly which segment the car belongs to and also the type of car. If its small hatchback or a sedan then its surely going to me an MT. Why? Simply because those are small cars, have small engines, have light controls (except few) and are still manageable even in city traffic. Thats the reason why I choosed Polo GT TDI over the GT TSI. Likewise, I would pick octavia MT but, I would opt for AT if its the superb.

Also, if its a SUV like a fortuner or an MPV like Innova then, I will pick AT because those cars are really difficult to manage with an MT in city traffic and they have good AT. Generally premium cars have good AT.

For me, better AT doesn’t necessarily mean a fancy DSG. I like torque converter in my Innova Crysta as much as I like DSG in my Audi Q3. For me a good AT is a gearbox which is properly mated to the engine and car (think Scorpio Automatic which was like a last minute alteration made during PDI). I would never buy cars with AMT. They are way to jerky for my liking. Even 3/4 speed torque converter AT aren’t that jerky as AMTs are. They have improved over the years but still have long way to go.

[civic-sense]

Moved from AT to MT and, two days into it, am cursing. Well I know I will get used to it, but I do not quite understand the fascination of choosing your own gear unless you have an under-powered engine. I would have probably liked it if I did not have to deal with the clutch lever.

With an AT you would be able to concentrate more on the road than operating the car.

ps: Of my two decades of driving, the first decade was with MTs, and the second with ATs.

[swami69]

Going with the popular belief and with the Crowd, i used to always say MT, drop the gear and floor the pedal, Men love their cars with three pedals etc., but, after my experience with my used 10 year old Honda Civic AT, if you have a good engine and a good AT transmission, an automatic is the best - more too, the fun element is still their with the paddle shifters.

Even it is 10 years old, once you floor the pedal, it zooms like a rocket and gains speed pretty quickly and all other times (majority), a wonderful smooth ride in traffic. In the coming years, there may be still a few who will argue for the MT - unless you have the space to really use the MT as we claim, Else, AT is the way forward..i mean a good AT and an Engine match. So, i vote for "depends"

Swami

[bigwheelz]

After driving MT for the initial 5-6 years years, now have 2 ATs at home (Amaze AT and A-Star AT) . Driving through the crazy Hinjewadi traffic everyday and it always feels good not to shift every 5-10 secs. Its a boon for everyday office routine. Feel the need for MT only for long drives where you feel the need to have more control on the car.
Will go for AT again, no doubt. Ok with the lag but not the hard labour

[itwasntme]

Floor the pedal in a DSG / ZF gearbox in S mode with or without paddle shifters and even many enthusiast types will not go back to a MT again :-)

[thehighwayman]

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com...w/64690796.cms

The above story seems to confirm that an increasing number Indian car buyers are preferring AT over MT. I guess the day is not far when the sales of AT cars surpass that of MT, at-least in the metros.

[shashanka]

I will opt for the AMT - for all cars. In line with some people (non-US citizens definitely, that mecca for automatics!) I did not think much of auto boxes till the advent of the AMT.

The TC/CVT options did not offer direct mechanical coupling of engine to wheel & were inefficient to my mind - OK, the T/C lock-up provision did offer a means of bypassing the hydraulic slushbox, but this was an afterthought & most people did not give it a passing thought. The CVT's rubber-band operation again went against the mechanic in me. Too much elasticity between wheel & engine.

The AMT to my mind offers the best compromise. Granted there's some jerkiness in some of the models (the Alto, as GTO has pointed out) But that is more of a fine-tuning-the-clutch-engagement issue than any inherent flaw in the mechanism. The AMT offers most purists that escape route to clutch-less driving and at the same allows them to keep self-respect intact!