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Are Jeep manuals better than they were 25+ years ago?

Simulacra

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Okay, so I drove a manual Charger throughout HS and GF's Dad Jeep alot. I have opted for autos since that time. I've had several jeepers in JK's tell me recently that their manuals sort of act like an auto now, basically not what I was used to.

Do the JK manuals and general manuals of today not roll back when on a hill at a light or etc?

Do they really have tech in them that makes a manual "nearly" stall-proof? I didn't ever have much of a issue with stalling but the feel of the "sweet spot" would fade for me at times with older Jeep. Please chime in if you have/had a JK manual. Thank you.
No competent MT driver should ever roll back on a hill start. That's what the handbrake is for.
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That One Guy

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To answer the thread title question of "Are Jeep manuals better than they were 25+ years ago?"

Any mechanical device is better than the AX-5 transmission. Any.
I liked the AX-15 in the straight six wranglers, personally
 

DanW

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I don't know how the manual would act like an auto. It acts like manuals always have. You have to clutch and shift. They are not stall proof. Ask Motor Trend. :giggle: They don't know how to drive them, so yeah, you can stall them if you don't know what you are doing. This manual simply has hill assist, which holds the brakes briefly until you engage the clutch. It is a very nice feature, especially off road on very steep hills. It does automatically what European drivers are trained to do with the hand brake. It makes it easier, but not stall proof.

I agree with @Simulacra that a competent driver doesn't roll back. However, off-road, on the steepest of hills, even an experienced driver can burn the clutch pretty good. That's why previous Wranglers had no clutch start in low range. This one does not, due to hill assist, which works great off-road. Also, the quick engagement of this clutch helps. My JK doesn't engage until the pedal is nearly all the way out. You get used to it, but this one is better and quicker. This one is the best clutch/shifter I've felt on ANY Jeep of any model year, by far.
 
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sost1sg

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So to help answer the other part of your question, the manual in the JL is light years ahead of the outgoing JK. It feels tighter, much better built and shifts smoothly thruout the gear mapping. The clutch feels like slicing thru butter and makes it easy to find the sweet spot. It’s amazing and I love it.

Gone from the JK is the long, vibrating shifter, extra play in the gear mapping, rattling marble noise in low gear/rpm and gritty feeling clutch. Dare I say the new manual actually feels civilized?!! The old JK manual has been compared to driving a dump truck and this new JL manual tranny is much more car like.

After trading in my ‘12 JKU manual with 103k miles, I was thinking about moving to auto as My round trip commute is 100 miles a day. Sooooooo glad I did not! Absolutely loving the drive experience in my manual JLUR.
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