[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by jango

I would anyday prefer to drive around a Manual transmission car in India, for 3 simple reason...
1) Would give me more FE. FE is important to me
2) Would Fetch me better Re-Salve value if i plan to dispose it
3) Would give me more fun to rev my car hard, Spin the wheels with the release of the clutch....in short the fun factor :-)

Your (1) and (3) are almost certainly contradictory. People who enjoy that first-gear high-revs punchy start are almost certainly wasting quite a lot of fuel on it.

If you really are a wheel-spinner, then that's rubber on the road you're wasting, as well as petrol!

Do you, when driving in the city, accelerate hard from the lights, only to break hard at the next delay? If you do, then fuel efficiency is the last thing you should mention.

A good, modern auto gearbox is almost certainly at least as good as a very good driver at selecting appropriate gear and, in the long run, the most appropriate gear means the best fuel economy.

ISTR that this was tested on a British TV programme, maybe Top Gear. Comparison being made between consumption on auto and manual models of the same car. To everybody's astonishment, even using the most by-the-book, unadventurous, utterly boring driving style, the manual gearbox test could not beat the auto! Sorry... I do not remember what car it was.

Fuel Efficiency is down to how you drive, rather than what you drive. And, if you want excitement, a good auto should give you that too.

(Hey.... nothing personal here; the points you make are those made by many who don't like auto boxes, and the points I make are about how a lot of people drive...)

[msdivy]

Many (me included) go for manual tranny (MT) because, for the same specs, AT is priced higher. For instance, NHC AT costs 60K more than MT of same specs:
City ZX GXi : Rs.738000
City ZX CVT : Rs.798000
IMO, if both MT & AT are available for the same price, then even in India, AT would sell more.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Yes, it is a luxury item

[herculesksp]

Originally Posted by jango

I would anyday prefer to drive around a Manual transmission car in India, for 3 simple reason...
1) Would give me more FE. FE is important to me

Absolutely NOT. At least not in the case of CVT. Forget about the older generation ATs.

Refer these if you like.
Top 10 Fuel Efficient cars - Fuel economy - Hybrids, diesels, gas-saving, high-mileage cars - Top 10 Fuel Efficient Cars

CVT is proving to be more fuel efficient than MT.

And... as Thad said, 1 and 3 are definitely contradictory.

[carboy]

Originally Posted by msdivy

Many (me included) go for manual tranny (MT) because, for the same specs, AT is priced higher. For instance, NHC AT costs 60K more than MT of same specs:
City ZX GXi : Rs.738000
City ZX CVT : Rs.798000
IMO, if both MT & AT are available for the same price, then even in India, AT would sell more.

In the US, Automatics typically costs more than manual transmission.
In economy cars like Protege, Corolla, Civic etc, I think they cost around 1000$ more. Atleast this was the case in 1999.

In India, I would have happily paid 50000 more for a Swift with
Automatic. In my opinion, driving a manual is regressive, like writing with
an old style pen where you have to dip the pen in Ink every now & then.

[trrk]

Hi,

> Initially I had the same problem of not getting enough power to
> overtake(mentioned before in the thread), but very soon, I got adjusted to
> changing gears by depressing the accelerator differently. I could now overtake > w/o problems.

You learned to use the 'kickdown' facility.

Zen AT is a three speed one. Instead of 'kickdown' shift the gear to '2' and the car won't go into 'D' until you push it to the 'D' position. This method also is good for overtaking. Here you'll have to manually go back to 'D' whereas in kickdown, the moment you take pressure off the accelerator, it will go to the top.

Rajesh, Alleppey, Kerala

[Thad E Ginathom]

How much ha a manual gear box and clutch changed over the years? Except for adding sychromesh, the mechanical principles remain unaltered, even if the quality has improved.

An automatic is a mcuh more complex piece of machinery, and seems to be continually developing too.

I think AT is always going to be higher-price, if not luxury.

[agent4ferrari]

I own and Astra Automatic and man what a boon it is travelling in Mumbai Traffic. Because of it I never worry about taking an additional U turn on crowded bottle necked roads.

[nd81]

I have a Santro AT, its very cool to drive it in city. On long drives you may wanna to go with manual.

[musicmanaman]

I'm waiting for the day when 90% of cars on Indian roads will be auto's, I think auto's are most suited for countries like India.

However can't rule out that Manual is more fun when pushed.

[msharma_79]

well actually me and my friend who has recently returned from the US were discussing topic closer to this one. we were discussing why people go for manual in india whereas almost the whole world has warmed up to the automatic. we found few things.

in the west there is non diffential cost to pay for the automatic gears.
people are more comfortable with automatic because the speed variation is less and the roads are good. where as in india you suddenly go from 80 kmph to 15 kmph and automatic gears tend to take little bit of time to reach the same speed you were at whereas with manual you can negotiate with this situation better.

in japan when you are applying for the license the ask you specifically what kind of gear system you will be driving. looking at the long term people go for automatic cars. not too sure what do they do in the US.

And finally the need for speed can only be addressed adequatly with the manual systems.

[deepakvrao]

And finally the need for speed can only be addressed adequatly with the manual systems.

Heard of Tiptronic? Paddle shifts?

[amit]

Originally Posted by deepakvrao

Heard of Tiptronic? Paddle shifts?

Sure Tiptronic and Paddle shifts are there but the driver still doesn't get full control of the car. The system still over rides your inputs.

[deepakvrao]

Originally Posted by amit

Sure Tiptronic and Paddle shifts are there but the driver still doesn't get full control of the car. The system still over rides your inputs.

It overrides your inputs when your rpm is say way too high or when a downshift is needed and you have not done it - AFAIK.

[HSV]

Does anyone know whether the soon to be launched Hyundai PA (Santro twin) would have an auto transmission as an option??