LFMS
Active Member
I’m European (moved to the US at the end of 2019) and have always driven manual (except for a semi-auto Smart Fortwo). I may be biased but I prefer by far manual transmissions, not only you have a better overall control, but you get to know your vehicle better.
Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against automatics and they’re pretty handy in traffic, highway, etc
My main problem is that I feel drivers get easily distracted, particularly with their phones. In my area (New England), the amount of people driving and texting is insane.
In your case, especially with a 16yo who I assume must be glued to their phone at all times, a manual transmission will help him keeping a hand on the steering wheel and the other on the shifter!
That said, my jeep is a 2.0 so I was limited to the auto and that 8-speed is pretty good!
Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against automatics and they’re pretty handy in traffic, highway, etc
My main problem is that I feel drivers get easily distracted, particularly with their phones. In my area (New England), the amount of people driving and texting is insane.
In your case, especially with a 16yo who I assume must be glued to their phone at all times, a manual transmission will help him keeping a hand on the steering wheel and the other on the shifter!
That said, my jeep is a 2.0 so I was limited to the auto and that 8-speed is pretty good!
In my mind, Automatics are putting North American drivers at a disadvantage versus their European and Asian counterparts (where manuals still dominate by a long margin). In almost all of EU and Asia you get a restricted license if you take your road test in an Automatic.
Even in my house, the wife bullies me into Automatics. I want to go back to a manual! They are dying in North America but are still thriving significantly in EU and most of Asia.
Thanks everyone for the thoughts. Let me ask the full-time 4WD question differently. Is the full-time 4WD safer because it redirects power and brakes to four wheels instead of two? I’m thinking along the line of Audi’s Quattro that really holds the road.
Since you guys touched on it, my wife and I are on the fence whether or not to buy a manual. Two weeks ago, it was a given that having him drive a manual was safer. He and I test drove a new manual Civic, and after an hour, he got the hang of it. It was fun to see him learn. I really enjoyed the test drive too .
I think that driving a manual will force him to pay more attention, and thus be a safer. Both my wife and I grew up driving manuals, and she says she would like to have one again, too.
So why the question about full time FWD? It’s because I started looking at getting a 4xe, and full-time 4WD is standard on it. When I started digging into it, I began to think that if it helps the Jeep hold the road better, then it may be safer to get an automatic with it, than buying a manual.
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