[suren181]

This is for my Brother. It goes like this... We have always been using cars with manual transmission and it's me who has been urging my bro to go in for an AT owing to the fact that he could do with the driving comfort. He does quite a bit of driving in a day in the city and will be traveling outside the city at least a couple of times in a month.

The only factor that nags me about the AT is the doubt of the engine braking efficiency. As is the normal practice for MT drivers to rely on the engine braking during near panic situations how would one get this assist out of an AT car.

The Civic AT has paddle shift, but I guess that would be activated only in the 'S' mode and not on the drive mode. Is it that one preferably has to drive in this mode on highway and downshift for assist in engine braking and use the AT in 'D' mode in the city speeds?

Would like a clarification from the owners of the civic, the gurus and the users of AT's on this.

Would also like to know the pros and cons on the AT vs MT at the same time.

Fuel efficiency drop of 2kms per ltr is what we have been told and that seems acceptable to sacrifice for the sake of driving comfort. Any other valuable points will be highly appreciated.

[csentil]

Here goes some thread on AT vs MT generally

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...nt-future.html

Here's the longest thread on Civics

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/new-indian-car-test-drives/15611-new-owners-report-honda-civic-mt-28.html

Breaking is as effective in an AT as in an MT. Please read the first thread for further details.

You can use the paddle shift on highways. It is recommended you use it in the highways if its not a twisting turning one.

Grade logic on the Civic is excellent and really helps in driving the car.

If you live in a city with a lot of traffic congestion, AT's are a Godsend.

Also with the AT, you have the best of two world's. You drive Automatic and then can shift to manual if needed.

Can this thread be merged with some other Civic thread please. We seem to be having too many Civic threads floating around.

[alankarm@sancha]

What he would like to know is can you use the engine and gears as a brake if the brakes fail in the Civic AT??

[csentil]

Hmm. I would be surprised if the brakes fail just like that without any warnings.

Well you can for one, change to S mode, and use the paddle shift for engine braking. I use the paddle shift like I use a stick shift while driving on highways.

Well what happens in any normal AT then (other than Civic)? You simply use the Hand Brake. :-) Usually you have a low range marked 1 or 2. Change to that. That should slow down the car.

If all else fails and your life is at risk, throw your car into Reverse. This would most definitely damage transmission, but what the heck you can buy as many cars as you want provide you are alive !!! However I think new cars have a technology that prevents exactly that.

Here's a link you can read up

How to Stop a Car with No Brakes - wikiHow

[cheap_deal]

Real men drive cars with 3 pedals . i'd get the MT even if the car was used only in the city in traffic.

[BUSA]

Originally Posted by cheap_deal

Real men drive cars with 3 pedals . i'd get the MT even if the car was used only in the city in traffic.

Couldnot have put it better my friend

[speedy]

i would agree with cheap deal too but all my cars over the years have shifted from MT to AT. driveing in the city is a pain with the heavy traffic and congested roads thats when AT comes to the rescue. when driveing on the highway you do miss the MT but the AT gives you a relaxed feeling. you do have the 1 and 2 where you can slow down the car and i also think it comes with ABS.
i would suggest the automatic transmission. more driveing pleasure suren.

[csentil]

Hmm. Once upon a time, real men used to ride horses ;-) Anyways we are deviating from the topic. Civic AT does not have 1 & 2 shifts. They've done away with it as they feel that the Grade Logic in the Civic will take care of it.

[androdev]

i prefer MT to AT - even though I drive 40KM of peak Bangalore traffic daily. In my 'personal' experience, it is my right foot that pains from shifting between brake pedal and accelerator pedal repetitively and not the left foot (clutch up/down) so I don't see how AT can give me SIGNIFICANTLY more driving comfort. But if the clutch is hard or you have a weak left foot, then I guess AT will definitely be more comfortable to drive. I see lot of people buying AT these days, so I guess my reasoning is not that sound.

OTH, MT is more involving to drive, a lot more fun on highways and easy to let others drive as everyone knows how to drive MT.

[gaurav_diavolo]

[quote=csentil;543342]Hmm. Once upon a time, real men used to ride horses ;-) quote]

Give me a horse.....but a modern horse in red called the F430! Well, the Civic is already an extremely silent and refined car (way more than a city!).....you should go for an MT.....higher economy, nearly same comfort levels plus you get that driving punch when required and ofcourse you save a lot of moolah too. Paddle shifts are inconvinient in twists and turns and traffic if you are in a mood of trying out your Civic Sense.....and ya rightly said and IMO an MT is more advisable for a young chap like you!

[iraghava]

Oh I love driving MT simply for the control that it gives you over the car. But recently after a long day's work I TD'ed an AT CR-V and at that time when I was tired & my feet were hurting after standing around for the whole day the AT was a blessing in city traffic.

My take is if you're driving only in the city mainly, go for the AT, it takes away a lot of stress of driving & relaxes you when you're caught in heavy traffic. But, if you're an entusiast who has to have full control at all times & can tolerate the problem of driving a 3-pedal car in traffic, the MT is the only option!

[Tech]

Originally Posted by csentil

Hmm. Once upon a time, real men used to ride horses ;-)

Ahem !!! Civic is equivalent to more than 100 horses. Today's men ride 100+ horses .

With a budget of so much, I would be tempted to go in for an AT and give priority to comfort and latest technology without minding the lesser FE and if bought on EMIs then the difference in EMIs will also not be more than Rs. 2000.

[csentil]

I suggest you take a test drive of both. Drive through heavy traffic and then on some open roads, see which feels comfortable or which you feel the most passionate about.

[Wheeliej]

What I am hearing here is that the rest of the world which uses more AT cars than MT has no 'real' men. Is that right?

I shifted last year from a MT car to an AT car and I can feel a real difference to the quality of my life. What's the point in driving a 2 geared car in Bangalore's mad traffic? All you can ever do is go from 1st gear to the 2nd, back to 1st and then 2nd, and so on and so forth. Be sensible and understand that Bangalore (or any other Indian city, for that matter) traffic will NEVER get better to allow you to effectively use the rest of the 3 gears. Go for an AT and make your life easier.

So far as FE is concerned, an AT car will any day give you better mileage than a MT car driven solely on 1st and 2nd gears.

So far as control is concerned, use that control for better things in life, like on the brake so that your car doesn't nudge other cars at traffic signals.

So far as Highway driving is concerned, I found no difference in driving an AT car as compared to a MT during the Bangalore - Yelagiri drive. Sure I wasn't in the 1st 10 cars to reach there (or back), but neither was I in the last 10.

I have also found that all valets today know how to drive an AT car, no problems there.