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New Jeeper

Which do you choose?


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    101

igarrett1

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Did you choose Manual or Automatic and why? I’ve seen that manual is much better for off-roading and gas mileage and it has a harder case on the bottom of the vehicle which is built stronger than the automatic.
Thanks

-IG
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Remorseless

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Automatic. Autos do have a vulnerable trans oil pan, but my experience has been that it's simply easier to focus on what you're doing if you're not having to juggle the clutch as well and throttle management is way easier when you're not worrying about stalling. You can always put skids on to protect the trans pan. And auto mileage has pretty much surpassed 6 speed manual mileage at this point. IMO, it comes down to whether or not you enjoy rowing your own or not.
 

supermike

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I had the 2018 manual. Recall after recall, was in the shop for over 4 month getting clutch replaced. That thing had horrible Rev-hang in 1st-2nd-3rd gear, especially for rubicon, 1st gear won’t take you too fast and you need to shift fast just to keep up with traffic, so either you wait for a long while for the rpm to drop or you ride that clutch….now I got a 392 with no manual option so get the auto, the ZF 8 speed is really good.
If you really want a manual, wrangler is probably not the best vehicle to have an manual.
 
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JeepGeezer

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Automatic. Wife does not drive a stick and there were no manuals on the dealer's lot anyway. We did not order this but bought it off of the lot.
 

Reinen

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It's not a simple answer. Both have advantages offroad. There is no hands down winner (but it does lean towards automatic). It's really a matter of what is most important to you.

Here is a detailed breakdown comparison of manual vs automatic offroad.
 

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JLanesey

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My old TJ was fun to drive with the five speed, these new 8 and 10 spd trannies make life too easy though.
 

Trailrated

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Went with the auto only because the manual leaves me no room to stretch my long leg out, especially on long drives. Clutch pedal right smack in the way and my foot can't slide past it without getting caught on it coming back out.
 

txj2go

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I chose auto. My other car is a 6-speed and through my life I've driven mostly manuals, but for offroad use I thought automatic would work better. On the side of a mountain I would prefer 2 pedals to deal with rather than 3.
 

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Cajun21

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Old days were great with the manual, but the JL has taken the auto to a new level and with the Offroad+ it's friggin amazing. But the real choice will be yours. Keep the Jeep wave going.
 

MrTimberwolf

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For me I got a brand new Rubicon at 5 grand off sticker...Dealership had it marked down. Was sitting on lot for 5 weeks and they couldn't sell because it was 2 door Yellow and manual. Sales guy told me any one of those would have been fine but all 3 and nobody was interested in it. Even got them to throw in the up graded floor mats and 4 oil changes on top of the Jeep wave oil changes. Would have gotten the auto but for the price of a 4 door bone stock sport, I got a Rubicon. The sport we looked at was a 1,000 more. No brainer
 

JL MADDOG

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I drove both an auto and a manual. I am not a fan of hydraulic clutches. They just feel too mushy to me. I'm used to a more positive pedal feel and takeup found in return spring clutches.

Also, the shifter was vague.

In contrast there is no mushy pedal feel or slow return to deal with. The 8-spd with the manual shift option is very positive, it shifts well in full automatic and is perfectly mated to the 2.0T IMHO.
 

dragoneggs

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I love manuals. But I'm a newbie Jeeper so I opted with auto because I want to get on the rocks and not worry about the learning curve as much. Yeah I'm old at 60.

If I was reeling it back to my 20s I would do manual (I think) for the fun of it. Offroading with auto is fun enough for me these days.
 
 



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