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Guide me here... I'm a life-long manual transmission driver & I am considering making the change to automatic only because I want the diesel! Crazy?

Sheepjeep

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I thought transmission was just a personal preference, but automatics wheel alot better than manuals. I haven't seen too many manuals since the TJ, and guys would rig up a bicycle finger brake to the throttle on the shift stick so they could use their feet for clutch and brakes.
Manual transmissions for all NA cars have been tanking since the at least mid 90s from ~25% of sales to less than 3%, so makes sense the TJ had more manuals built relative to the JL, plus with the introduction of the 4 door turned the wrangler from a impractical fun car to a practical family car. Many of the jeeps on the trail tend to be second hand sales and you buy what you can get. And because of the trend to auto dealerships would prefer to fill their lots with autos and the only way to get a manual really is to special order it because they want to move units asap.

https://www.carmax.com/articles/stick-shift-index

That being ordered my 2018 manual has ~37k on it no issues love driving both on and off road i went with the manual because its fun to drive and cheaper, and at the time was hard to find information about the auto and how to maintain it. I have wheeled the crap out of both manual and auto jeeps, the manual i find to be more fun to drive on the trail for the same reasons they are fun to drive on the road you are doing more stuff, the autos are more boring but less thinking, but what ever my next off road build is after the jl the style transmission will not be high on the list.
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TIPOVR

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Love the diesel and the transmission, no complaints. All my previous vehicles except for one in the past 20 years have been stick, maybe I'm getting old but I don't really miss it, especially in traffic. I'm sure in the future I'd get a stick sports car to rip around on weekends, but for daily driving I like the auto. :rock:
 

Oilburner

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PS: other than having to wring the crap out of the 3.6 to get it to run w/ the manual, I did not like shifting with my wrist - would rather shift with my arm.
 

Pig-Pen

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I’ve driven manuals most of my life but only in sportier vehicles where I feel it enhances the driving experience. I test drove the only MT JL the dealer had on the lot and realized I would probably get tired of it quickly in a Wrangler.
same here. Im not a fan of manual trans in a big vehicle. Even get tired of it in my mustang, especially in traffic. Its great for track days and when driving like a nut on the freeway lol. My buddy went from a manual C6 vette to a C7 Z06. I convinced him to get the auto and he did. He daily drives it and loves the auto trans in it. Its nice to be able to just stomp on it and go!

plus, it makes driving with a 40oz in your hand a lot easier since they dont fit in the cup holder.

Love the 8spd auto in this jeep. The TJs were so low on power you needed a manual to move it.
 

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lpasq

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I relate to your internal struggle to choose between a stick and auto trans Wrangler. My reasoning for having several manual transmission autos were always centered around sports car driving pleasure. However, back when, both my XJ and then my TJ were automatics. I am not sure how much of an outlier I am that my Jeep vehicles were preferred automatics. The cars I have owned over the years have included four stick models that I rode closed course track days. When I drove the Jeeps, it was on east coast sandy beaches and midwest forest trails. I didn't tow a trailer. I tested out the manuals and they felt horrible to drive, for me. In situations where needing to surmount an obstical offroad in4Lo, I was taught to use the two pedal technique to load up and climb over tree trunk strewn muddy trails. So an auto Jeep is technical enough to feed my ego and not feel the need to row gears in the 95% of my daily driving, now in traffic heavy SoCal. With this new Jeep, and here in the western deserts and rock crawling meccas, it is built to insure that the offroad limitations will be me and not the build. I tested a 2020 stick JL and found both the shift linkage action and clutch engagement pressure not to my liking. The ZF auto impressed me more.

.As for selecting the transmissions for the non Jeeps, always been based on a combination of the vehicle's purpose, it's best driving characteristics in my opinion in conjunction with my perceived driving joy dividend. Excluding all Jeeps, I settled on 6 cars with a stick, and 6 that were automatics. Add also 6 motorcycles.

Test drive, and decide based on the little voice telling you what is best for the vehicle to be its best self.
 

Tank the Jeep

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I feel your pain. I am a manual fan but wanted the diesel. When Jeep was slow to fill the diesel orders, I almost canceled for a 2 door manual. This diesel is my first automatic Wrangler (out of four) and I love it. If I could talk my wife out of her side of the garage, I would have my diesel and a 2 door manual. I'm sure either will make you smile.
 

SecondTJ

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I have the ZF 8HP75 in a different vehicle, it’s a great automatic transmission but at the end of day it’s still an automatic.

Automatics aren’t going away in the future, while the writing is on the wall for manual transmissions.

I say enjoy the manual trans now while you still can.
 

Micky

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if you like your hand on a stick, use it. i dont enjoy auto's nearly as much. A wrangler is about enjoying your self. pick what you will enjoy using..
 

Heimkehr

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It is true the 3.6 really wants and needs to shift somewhere between 3-5K rpm minimum to feel like its really there.

The programming of the 8 speed is way to conservative IMHO. Most of the time unless I am on the gas hard, I am trolling around at about 2K or so.
The 850RE is programmed to learn the driving habits of the operator. Per p. 221 of the 2020 Owner's Manual:

"The electronically-controlled transmission adapts its shift schedule based on driver inputs, along with environmental and road conditions."

If the shift points in your Jeep are [too] modest, that's because the transmission's electronics have established a baseline based on how you've actually driven the vehicle. Recall that the AutoStick feature remains available if you need to wake things up. đź‘Ť

I'd wager that my average fuel economy of 27 mpg occurs precisely because my own driving habits, coupled with prevailing traffic conditions, allow the 8-speed's programming to do exactly what it's supposed to do.
 

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mtbjeep

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While it can be a PITA in really bad traffic, or when you're trying to drink coffee (especially hot coffee), whenever I get in someone else's car, or even look inside an interesting vehicle, when I don't see a stick my heart sinks a little. I feel like I'm seeing a lesser version of what the car could actually be. The auto transmission handle sitting there in the center console is a sign that we've given up. We've sold off another little piece of ourselves to make it easier to get little Timmy to soccer practice. It will be a real shame if the MT ever truly dies.
 

Lightsped

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As people get lazier and lazier in this society more and more of them will have no clue how to drive a manual. This fact actually gives me a slight peace of mind when the topic of Jeep theft comes up.....

There is of course THIS factor :LOL:
Jeep Wrangler JL Guide me here... I'm a life-long manual transmission driver & I am considering making the change to automatic only because I want the diesel! Crazy? antitheft
 

McCloude

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I feel your pain. As many have stated already. Been driving a manual for 20 years. I even own a 2018 JLUR manual. I'm converting. After driving the diesel.. I can make that change. I'm getting ready to put in an order for a JTRD.
 

brewski

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I feel your pain. As many have stated already. Been driving a manual for 20 years. I even own a 2018 JLUR manual. I'm converting. After driving the diesel.. I can make that change. I'm getting ready to put in an order for a JTRD.
That's what happened to me. It is amazing how well it drives.
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