Manual vs automatic

[SadRobot]

As a 2nd car, manual can be fun, but you can get a little sick of it on a daily driver. I’ve driven multiple manual vehicles in the past, but more autos of course. Once, I broke my leg pretty bad. Took 6 surgeries and many months to get it back to a useable condition. I drove an automatic around for months with my left foot with no problems. Not sure what I would have done if I had a manual vehicle at that time. With that, my days of choosing manual transmissions in the future officially ended.

That's a great point. I fractured my ankle a few years ago and could not drive myself anywhere for at least 3 weeks.

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[JohnnyG]

Guess I’m one of few that really enjoy driving my base sport JL with 3.45 gears. I’ve had it for 3 years now & it’s been great. I did not get the software update & did not bother with the recall replacement & don’t plan to.

That said, I’ve driven all manner of vehicles with manuals for decades, everything from 2 wheels to big trucks & sports cars, ancient & modern. Some are easier to master than others. Many are a piece of cake to learn, even for a novice. I would say the JL might be a bit challenging for a newbie. It requires a very precise approach with the throttle & clutch as opposed to rough caveman action that other vehicles will tolerate. I added an aftermarket exhaust so I can hear the revs & an aftermarket B&M shifter for better shift action.

It would really help to have someone give (proper) lessons if you’ve never driven any manuals. Many people think they know how to drive manuals but really don’t have a clue & end up requiring expensive clutch replacements & other problems.

All in all I’d recommend the automatic unless you’re patient & persistent & really want to drive a stick. If you master it you won’t want to drive anything else.

 

[gek]

Guess I’m one of few that really enjoy driving my base sport JL with 3.45 gears. I’ve had it for 3 years now & it’s been great. I did not get the software update & did not bother with the recall replacement & don’t plan to.

That said, I’ve driven all manner of vehicles with manuals for decades, everything from 2 wheels to big trucks & sports cars, ancient & modern. Some are easier to master than others. Many are a piece of cake to learn, even for a novice. I would say the JL might be a bit challenging for a newbie. It requires a very precise approach with the throttle & clutch as opposed to rough caveman action that other vehicles will tolerate. I added an aftermarket exhaust so I can hear the revs & an aftermarket B&M shifter for better shift action.

It would really help to have someone give (proper) lessons if you’ve never driven any manuals. Many people think they know how to drive manuals but really don’t have a clue & end up requiring expensive clutch replacements & other problems.

All in all I’d recommend the automatic unless you’re patient & persistent & really want to drive a stick. If you master it you won’t want to drive anything else.

Oh yea exhaust was my first mod less than a month after I bought it so I could actually hear it.

 

[jhalla920]

It's definitely weird with the JL's manual how accelerating from a stoplight (or whatever), you have to start out slow because how low 1st is, then by the time you get to 3rd, acceleration is plentiful. My old TJ is quick off the line in 1st and 2nd, but 3rd starts to dog a bit. Almost polar opposites. Though I will say highway is great in the JL, not so much in the TJ.

This is accurate!

 

[Ratbert]

90% of the Jeeps are sold with an Auto.

The last time I gathered those stats it was about 97% automatic with the number of manuals dropping over the years:

3.2% (3,041 Jeeps) for 2023.
4.1% (7,023 Jeeps) for 2022.
4.3% (15,610 Jeeps) for 2021.

 

[Vatdevil]

That's another reasons I suggested @kyrob get the auto when he said he was looking at a Sport or Willys. He said he had no plans to offroad but that's what I said when I got my Sport and now I regret not buying a Rubicon. The 6MT T-case is not fun offroad. If I put my Jeep in 1st gear 4lo it's not gonna drive up anything without hitting the gas.

Yep, for a manual you want that 100:1 ratio. It takes effort to stall it. I have 9 jeeps and for extreme rock crawling, it's always the late model JK or the JL for that reason. I'll take the autos out for city driving

 

[entropy]

We have the advantage of being able to make tight turns on switchbacks but get into trouble on steep vertical climbs where you need the long wheelbase so you don't have all 4 tires trying to climb at the same time.

Yeah it is the steep climbs where I noticed the pretty big difference. And going downhill as well.

Also choosing the right line and adapting seems more difficilt with the JLU. Maybe I am not used to the bigger jeep yet.

 

[F4Flyer]

The only manuals I enjoy driving are torquey sports cars. I also don't really like manuals offroad so the Jeep is an automatic.

 

[Das_Cheese]

The only manuals I enjoy driving are torquey sports cars. I also don't really like manuals offroad so the Jeep is an automatic.

Look, the pentastar is in both the charger and the challenger. I'd say that means the JL counts as a sports car

 

[AVGeek99]

Up until a couple month's ago, in my 35 years of car ownership, I owned one vehicle with an AT. I have always loved how much more connected with the vehicle and the road you feel when driving a MT. That being said, get the 8spd Auto.

I ordered a 2021 JLUR with the 6MT and initially I mostly really liked it. I absolutely love driving it off road. I've never had an issue stalling it off road, even on very steep climbs. Of course I have stalled it, but only a few times mainly from not paying attention. With the 4:1 transfer case in the Rubi it is very easy to drive off road. The 2.72:1 transfer case in the Willys will make offroading a little more challenging. The 4.10 diffs help on road, but for off road you really need the 4:1 transfer case with a 6MT.

For someone who has primarily driven only MTs, the clutch in the 6spd MT in the JL does take some getting used to. The pedal is VERY light. But once you get used to it, the MT is pretty fun to drive. For someone that doesn't have a lot of experience with MTs you may not notice how different it is.

Right at about a year (20k miles) I had to replace the clutch, because as many have said, the OEM clutch is a piece of crap. The after market clutch was good for 25-30k miles, and then the shifting issues started. Look up @SadRobot 's compilation thread on aftermarket clutch issues. Regardless of brand, many aftermarket clutch owners start having the same issues difficulty shifting in lower gears and reverse.

I said "up until a couple months ago" I had only owned one automatic, that's becuase in June I bought a 2025 JLUR, this time with the 8spd AT, and 2.0l. I could not be happier. The 8spd really is a phenomenal transmission. It shifts when it needs to, and you rarely feel it. On the MT, even with 4.10 diffs (or the 4.88s I regeared to later on) becuase the transmission is geared so high, you will be shifting the MT A LOT in hilly terrain.

For the last 10 months or so my MT was getting worse and worse, still fully driveable, but a PITA and it was slowly getting worse. I jumped on a deal when Jeep was running the super big discounts on dealer stock earlier this summer. I didn't trade my 2021 because I needed to get all the aftermarket parts off of it. I've now swapped all the parts and will now be selling my 2021.

Before selling it I decided to have the 19A clutch recall completed, figuring I could get more for it if it didn't have shifting issues. Getting the recall completed was a bit of a journey because I had regeared to 4.88s and had 35s on it. Had the dealer listened to me when I dropped it off, the recall would have gone a lot smoother and quicker, but that's a much longer story.

The short of the long is this... Regardless of how good the 6MT is, and it really isn't, I would avoid the MT simply becuase there aren't very many good mechanics that know how to work on an MT.

Especially if you don't have a lot of experience with a MT, the MT in the JL is not a good enough MT to bother with gaining more experience. The 8spd AT isn't just a good transmission as compared to the 6spd MT in the JL, it is a very good transmission on it's own.

 

[SadRobot]

On the MT, even with 4.10 diffs (or the 4.88s I regeared to later on) becuase the transmission is geared so high, you will be shifting the MT A LOT in hilly terrain.

That's another great point about shifting all the time. Eventually I just give up and keep it in 1st gear because I know as soon as I go into 2nd and I hit any elevation at all I'm going to have to downshift anyway which in 4LO means basically stopping so you don't end up grinding the gears.

If you are wheeling for hours it's just not worth it to shift up to go 10 feet a little bit faster and then shift right back down again so you don't fly off the trail.

 

[wibornz]

In stop and go traffic, the manual loses its appeal. In situations requiring frequent gear changes, same.

Stick shift is fun until it isn’t.

I’d go with the automatic and manually shift it if changing gears is your thing….

There is no joy in trying to drink a fresh cup of coffee while driving a manual.

 

[wibornz]

The last time I gathered those stats it was about 97% automatic with the number of manuals dropping over the years:

3.2% (3,041 Jeeps) for 2023.
4.1% (7,023 Jeeps) for 2022.
4.3% (15,610 Jeeps) for 2021.

Meaning Jeep has made even more than 3 billion by offering a sub par MT and encouraging people to UPGRADE to the AT. Very well played Jeep.

 

[whitechocolate]

There is no joy in trying to drink a fresh cup of coffee while driving a manual.

that is for fuckin sure Ted, the auto in this is fantastic and agree the manual settings work well

 

[Valpo Jeep]

I had the Automatic ZF trans (8HP55) in my old Audi A7. It was at 234,000 miles when we traded it in. ZERO work to the trans in its life. Original fluid. The Wrangler uses the 8HP50 so almost the same trans.

Not saying that is a good thing to not change but Audi's view was fluid for life. Well I guess it was.

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