[ant_vas]

Recently bought Dzire ZXi + AMT and boy my daily office commute has been real stress free. My left leg and left hand are virtually of no use in this car! I love the manual mode though.

Also, yesterday evening exchanged my dzire with brother-i-laws' duster manual. I had driven this duster before and loved the way it drives but yesterday it was a different story, stalled the car thrice before i could get a move on. stalled few more time on the way while taking a slow turn on a incline!

So with the maddening traffic in cities and Automatic/AMT cars getting smoother with every iteration, my vote foes to automatics! No more manual for me.

[clevermax]

How I would have responded to this poll at different times during my (driving) life -

More than 20 Years ago when I was learning to drive - Only MT! AT is for dummies!
5 years ago - May be AT is better in cities, I am tired of using the clutch.
1 year ago - Badly in need of an AT car! I am done with the clutch.
Today - Driving an AT, AT is the next best thing!

[Mik]

Very surprised by the results of the poll!
Been a Manual guy for ages now and will hold on-to it for dear life till they trash it.
Have an AMT car in the family and its a joy in the traffic of Bangalore. However, there is something so organic (Vin Diesel-ish) and precise about shifting gears, wouldn't want to ever miss out.

[clevermax]

Originally Posted by Mik

Very surprised by the results of the poll!
Been a Manual guy for ages now and will hold on-to it for dear life till they trash it.
Have an AMT car in the family and its a joy in the traffic of Bangalore. However, there is something so organic (Vin Diesel-ish) and precise about shifting gears, wouldn't want to ever miss out.

I had the same sentiments for MT. Never wanted to miss out on that feel. Until one day when I drove a DSG. That was something which is on its own league. AMT, on the other hand, shouldn't even qualify as a true AT in my opinion.

[roby_dk]

Recently upgraded from Safari to Endeavour and I have rarely touched Safari after that. AT wins hands down to any MT car specially for those who spend more time on road.
It is so easy to drive and you will feel the difference on the fatigue levels in those peak hours. Almost all of my family members who dare to drive earlier are now happy to play with AT.

AT for me, anytime.

[clevermax]

Originally Posted by roby_dk

Recently upgraded from Safari to Endeavour and I have rarely touched Safari after that. AT wins hands down to any MT car specially for those who spend more time on road.
It is so easy to drive and you will feel the difference on the fatigue levels in those peak hours. Almost all of my family members who dare to drive earlier are now happy to play with AT.

AT for me, anytime.

Exactly. AT wins when you have to spend time on the road. The frustration levels when you drive through traffic dense roads - especially on a road trip - greatly reduce when you have a good AT to drive.

I used to dread even the thought of going to my hometown (about 80Kms from where I live) through the crowded NH66 in Kerala when I was driving an MT. Now with AT, I just don't care about the timing. Press the pedal, overtake them slow riders in batches, and move ahead.

[GTO]

So we're driving the Passat last night. The Worli Seaface is empty, hence we're redlining her a bit. My brother is driving on the way back. Now, he owns a Jetta 6-speed MT (beautiful car).

After driving the Passat, he looks at me and says "Automatics have really improved no? I think my next car will be an AT" . Ladies & gentlemen, we have a convert!

Of course, it helps that the Passat's DSG is very aggressively tuned. It allows downshifts in manual mode like crazy!

[indusboy]

My stint abroad in the late nineties converted me to being an AT driver. So when we came back it has been AT only. All our cars in Bangalore are AT. A-Star, Ecosport & Endeavour. The Endy I bought in 2011 over the Fortuner was simply because it was an AT. Toyota at that time would not even offer a AT Fortuner.

Initially friends/colleagues would look at us with weird looks about buying an AT. Some of them have now started buying/considering ATs. With the traffic the way it is in Bangalore, we love our ATs.

With the Ford Ecosport Automatic that I have, I get best of both the worlds. I use the normal drive mode in the Bangalore city traffic, and out on the highway, especially smooth curvy roads (or whenever I feel like overtaking a specially fast vehicle) I use the S mode with the "paddle" shifters (it is really not a paddle, more like a broad electric switch with +/-), I love the response, in essence it is best of both the worlds - manual changing of gears without the hassle of pressing a clutch. And the feeling is almost like playing a video game. Love it! No prizes for guessing how I voted

If you primarily do city driving in India, an AT should be your first choice.

[H_Dogg72]

Originally Posted by reihem

I'm going to be the one to say it: There is a sort of unwritten law that "true petrol heads" must state their preference for MT over AT. Or at least this is what I seem to encounter when ever I profess my love for AT. I am happy to be termed a 2nd class petrol head, but I'm yet to find a reason to choose an MT over an AT.

+1
I've said this before, I would drive an AMT but not a manual. And in our cases when we have super good AT'S in our cars, it's just pure bliss to drive.
I have fully converted my parents to the DSG, it's addictive and feels stone age to drive a MT now. And just 3 years back, they were like most people against me buying a DSG as a first car.

Originally Posted by Hayek

For anyone with access to cars with decent modern automatics, the choice is very clear - automatic only. Most of the cars in my consideration set come with good or great automatics - ranging from the 6 speed torque converter in the Vento through DSGs (reliability is an issue but driving pleasure is not) to the ZF 8 speed in my X3. And manufacturers who fail to deliver good automatics (a la Honda, in the last generation City) drop out of the consideration set very quickly.

Why? 90% of my driving is urban - and not having to press a clutch or change gears makes life so much better. And for the occasional highway drives, modern automatics deliver all the possible driving pleasure one needs on public roads. And if you are driving in a manner that needs more than that, you should probably not be on public roads in any case.

+1
Had dismissed the jazz only because of the stupid CVT and bought the DSG Ameo instead.
Life truly gets so much easier with an automatic.
I'd like to add, I find higway drives to be much better with the DSG (polo/Ameo) and ZF(friends 328i) compared to a manual. In both cases. If I want to drive fast, I just have to floor the pedal, and if I am lazy, the car upshifts much quicker than I would do in a MT to the highest gear giving me more efficiency.
PS. Do try the sport transmission coding in your 2L x3.

Originally Posted by pannags

For starters, I clicked "C".

Trivia: Not sure if things have changed, but as on 2015, the RTO did not have a driving test for AT cars. We were told by Maruti Driving school that they did not have an AT car for learning and that using an AT car for the taking the driving test needed special permission, usually granted only to the differently-abled.

Gave my licence test in Delhi in Feb 2015, you have to bring your own car. So it didn't make any difference if you were driving an MT or AT car.

[Carpainter]

I voted for only MT. Yes I know the market is shifting towards the AT and yes some ATs are actually good (DSG) but I still feel MTs are more engaging to drive. MTs give that little bit more feel to it. ATs may be more comfortable to drive in bumper to bumper traffic and DSGs are good on the highway too but in MTs I feel more connected no matter what car it is. Of course I've never driven passat or anything bigger than that so my opinion is restricted to cars below 20L only apart from Fortuner which I drove for a few times. But for mainstream cars in India, I'd still go for manual until I develop some knee problem or something when ATs will become a necessity and not a choice.

[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?

[itwasntme]

Introspecting: I just returned from a ~900km trip to Hampi and thereabouts in my Octavia TSI DSG. Not once did I feel the need for a manual even though I concurrently drive a Cruze manual.

This was over 900km with a dizzying variety of GQ (BLR to Anantapur), superb serpentine A roads (NHxx to Bellary), 80km of roadworks (NH67) and driving within Hospet/Hampi area with narrow roads.

My personal take is that if you have a high powered vehicle WITH a good autobox (VAG DSG, BMW ZF, Merc 9 speed, Audi S-tronic) WITH paddle-shifters, you will NOT miss a manual. The sensory satisfaction is almost on par wth a good (maybe not superb) manual gearbox.

[heydj]

Choice is very clear, AT given the traffic nightmare.

Problem is quality of AT as except DSG all others are not that great and hence first time buyers stick to MT.

Maybe what we require is an insight on cars under 10L with best MT in terms of ranking. E.g. XYZ with AMT No1, ABC with CVT No2 etc.

[drift2race]

We wanted to buy the Baleno Zeta AT but the wait times on this model exceed 12 weeks as per Nexa RM so we changed to Zeta Manual . However the ease of driving an AT is just something which has to be experienced .

[heydj]

Originally Posted by drift2race

We wanted to buy the Baleno Zeta AT but the wait times on this model exceed 12 weeks as per Nexa RM so we changed to Zeta Manual . However the ease of driving an AT is just something which has to be experienced .

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