We must be soul mates vetsvette! I couldn't have said it better! Every car I've owned for me personally (not the family van or Jeep) has been manual since my first car when I was 14 in Florida in the 60's!...55 Chevy! Loved that car! Through my Chevelle SS396, Opel GT, 7 Classic Bimmers up to my '15 JCW are all manuals! I have a bit of an issue with my left leg due to sciatic nerve compression or pulled hamstring but it doesn't hinder my shifting to make me want to drive an automatic! I'm 66 & still a gear head thru & thru! Enjoy manual shifting as long as you can & keep smiling!

John

P.S. Forgot about my first BMW....'85 318i...bought an automatic so my wife could drive it...was part of my sales pitch to my wife to let me get it! lol! I hated the automatic in that car!...traded it on a great '88 BMW M5! You really can't compare old technology automatics to the wonderful automatics made these days, but the manual will always require more driver involvement "and" control!

 

Manual all the way. None of those sissy paddles or auto tranny's. Been driving a manual all my life. I won't buy the car unless it's a manual....that's 45 years of cars and three Mini's.

 

Manual. Automatics may be quicker and get a mile per gallon better, but they make up for that by being somewhat boring. I drive, and sometimes in traffic, and it's no big deal. I'll shift out and coast. Once I hit the back roads I am so glad I have a standard shift. Side benefit: more difficult to steal.

 

Choosing the manual is a "no brainer." It's a wonderful transmission, it is easy to shift, and has excellent gear spacing. It makes the car much more fun to drive.

 

No decision... Get the manual, The next thing will be a car that drives itself ;-)

 

Had 2007 MCS manual, now 2014 JCW Coupe auto. I gotta admit the AT is pretty sweet. I also had a 1988 BMW 325is manual. That was a sweet car. I think the F56 autos want to be in too high of a gear compared to my car. I'd want the manual in the F56.

 

I suppose once you get older it makes sense to forego the excitement of the manual. Might be too much for the ol' ticker.

 

Very happy I got the manual. Here's my thoughts after 1100 miles. The manual is actually very smooth around town, and obviously great when pushing the car. The only time I wish I had the automatic though is when I am trying to drive a little quickly but not pushing it hard. Example, being in light traffic on a freeway access road. Once you get it past 3rd gear it's easy, but driving only in 1st and second gear in that mid-spirited driving area is kind of annoying. Mostly the gap in power shifting from 1st to 2nd. While driving half spiritedly, the revs don't seem to drop quickly enough to get a smooth shift, so having to wait for the revs to drop really interrupts the power delivery.

 

I think it depends on how you drive.....I've never been one to undertake hard downshifts as that is when you wear out the syncros and can cause wear. I like power shifts when accelerating though and the manual gives you more hands on control than any automatic since the auto will shift when it wants to much of the time! I've always been easy on my transmissions when downshifting (and I coast much of the time)...the first time I downshifted into 2nd and the rev match kicked in I wondered that the heck was that! LOL! I prefer a manual obviously, since it offers much more driver involvement.

 

I've stated opinion before. IMHO if you want an auto you might at well buy an electric car. Really what is the difference in "A". Also electric cars are way quicker off the line. Way more torque.
Cars with motors are almost a thing of the past. The sound of an engine and listening for the gear change are all part of that. Who knows...... but the way things are headed we won't be driving soon. So I say chose manual and enjoy it while it is still legal!

 

What exactly is the point of bringing this up yet again? Just to **** people off? Who cares? Drive your MINI (manual or auto) and enjoy it. Opinions are like *********s. Everyone has one.

 

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A F%$#@ing men. There are no major race car series ( except NASCAR ) that use a conventional manual transmission. Give it a rest.Manuals are fun for some, but they're performance is behind the times.If you like to shift a manual, so be it. But you are a dinosaur( LP's and CD's).

 

Love manuals.
Family members can't deal with it so I don't have one at the moment.
They are surely fading fast, go search dealer websites. Last one I looked at was 144 auto's to 1 manual.

New auto transmissions are incredible compared to the ones I grew up with, leaps and bounds ahead of even 15-20 years ago. My privates don't shrivel up when I drive an auto and nobody stares at me.

 

Well, except you're conveniently disregarding the $1,500 extra initial cost and possible $3,000-$5,000 repair cost that an automatic transmission or CVT imposes upon the owner.

Seriously, why would I pay extra for a "feature" that reduces my enjoyment of the car?

 

I waited a very long time for maybe one of the first 6MT 2015 JCW's to come off the line in Oxford! While dealer lots only had the automatics! I'm glad I waited! As one poster said not so nicely above "everyone has an opinion". This is a car forum and most of us anyway love our MINIs. This discussion will never go away, since it deals with our passion about these cars! I appreciate learning about the technology of the automatics of today, and if it weren't for this forum and others I wouldn't realize how good the steptronic automatic transmission is! Those of us that prefer the manual transmission are not dinosaurs!!!!....we just prefer manuals! I prefer Getrag as I have Getrag manuals in my other cars...they make great transmissions! Maybe someday I will consider the higher tech (and more expensive) automatic but not now! They are both great transmissions! Let's see how long they last without troubles over the years....one thing for certain, if the steptronic breaks it "will cost more to repair"! The less electronics to worry about is where I am...I only have a radio in my JCW...just like the Challenge....the mechanicals, the hands on shifting with clutch, & the sound of the engine is what does it for me!

 

I owned for a bit over a year each, both a 3rd gen Mini Cooper S with the manual and a Roadster S with the paddles.
And before that I was driving a honda S2000, so manual as well.
I just ordered a JCW convertible and definitely went for the automatic.
To me it's actually more fun to go through the canyons with both hands on the wheel, than having to have one constantly shifting back between 2nd and 3rd.
It's also less likely that someone at a valet will abuse the clutch or that you yourself will, so it'll actually probably last longer.
But the main thing for me is that it was actually more fun, regardless of traffic.
I also have to say i've never once driven the Roadster S in Drive. It's always been in manual-auto. I liked the auto in the JCW definitely better than the DSG in the Golf GTI perf pack and I liked it better than the roadster as well, which was pretty slow in the end.

Of course all this stuff is highly subjective. I just grew up in Italy where everything is manual, and once I moved to the states and started seeing all these paddle shifters, I thought it was actually more involving as you could just focus on the drive, and not on the mechanical aspect of shifting gears.
I think it's also fair to go back and forth.
I can see getting bored with the paddles ultimately and getting a manual at one point.
And finally it depends on the manual in itself.

I liked the manual in the S2000 tons. And the manual in the GTI is not bad at all, but really disliked the Mini manual on the third gen. With that annoying extra "give" at the end of the shifts, instead of a solid wall. It feels whimpy to me. If you've ever tried a S2000 or a miata, that's such a more satisfying shift. So I wouldn't get a miata with the auto, but i'm definitely happy i ordered a JCW with one.

 

There is one situation in which a manual beats an auto hands down: getting un-stuck from snow. If I ever meet an automatic that can balance spin speed control and rocking to control momentum the way a manual clutch can, I will freaking kiss the engineers that designed it.

(Although come to think of it, being kissed by me may be a DISincentive…)

 

Mini engines are small and under powered unless it is a JCW. The only suitable transmission is the manual and I would have never bought one with A/T.

I drove an A/T JCW once as a courtesy car and that is enough and it my own book it is horrible because the engine is always racing between gears.

 

That is, if you keep it in Auto, which i never would. I just like a manual that you shift with paddles.
I wouldn't even mind the clutch to be there. I just dislike getting my hands constantly off the wheel.
I've had manuals all my life, and I don't think i'm going to miss it!
And if I do there's always the car after this, and then one after.... and the one after....

Besides if paddle shifts are good enough for an Alfa 4C, they are good enough for a JCW. To each his own!

 

Don't worry. Some prefer to have a stick shift and don't care about the paddles LOL.

A Mini is an econobox. As soon as you check some option packages, you are already in the $40k range. I believe you deserve the paddles.

 

I decided to try an automatic. i leased a 2015 BMW X1 with the excellent 8-speed automatic and, after three years, I have determined it is a great car with a great transmission, but it's not for me. I know that it is superior to any manual, but it just lacks involvement. I know that I can drive in manual mode, but it's an automatic and doing that becomes tedious. Sorry, but paddle shifts are a pain ... one reason I (as an Alfa owner) will not buy a 4C.

 

it's funny how personal these things are!

 

After getting back into a manual after a decade, I'm really loving it. I've been driving my auto box cars in manual mode for a decade so I'm really glad I went with the manual f56. MINI's definitely suit the manual gearbox well.

Seems in the past week, I've finally gotten used to waiting for the revs to go down while shifting into 2nd. I do love the chirp though while really getting on it!

 

My first experience with "manumatic" was with my Suzuki Burgman 650 scooter. It had an automatic clutch, but shift ratios you could manually select (or fully-automatic CVT).

I used to use manual mode at first, but it just felt completely fake and I felt stupid doing it, so I eventually stopped using it altogether and left it in manual. It felt stupid, because the auto was simply better at it. I guess there was no feedback.

I've seen the advent of this same functionality in many (most?) cars, and I still can't help but feel that it's a silly gimmick, and one that I would never use. My two MINIs were/are manuals, and I cannot fathom getting a MINI any other way. They're just better as manuals, for all the reasons cited above by others. It keeps you engaged. I never say to myself, "Oh, I sure wish I had an auto about now." We have terrible traffic jams, where I live, sometimes miles' long, and STILL, I never say/think it.

I just know, that if I had an automatic MINI, it'd stay in automatic 100% of the time.