Which is offset by the fact that you pay an additional $1k for the automatic in the first place. Just sayin'

 

In all honesty, I don't know that automatic transmissions make people worse drivers -- I just think most people are too stupid to be allowed to drive. Can we implement IQ tests before we issue driver's licenses? Please?

If the dealership had or had been able to get a PW stick when I bought mine, I would've gotten it. But they weren't without special ordering it, and I'm impatient. Hopefully the next time around I'll be able to, but I'm not gonna lose any sleep over it.

 

Not for me, my dealer was having a promotion when I bought my MINI, there was no charge for the automatic transmission.

Dave

 

Yeah well I saved that amount when I purchased my MINI. One off promotions aside, generally speaking you are paying for the privilege of driving an automatic, which needed to be brought up.

 

There's no slush in my automatic transmission, and I don'tconsider it tragic either.

I respect those who choose to drive a manual, and I don't look down at them or make snide remarks about their manhood or anything else - it's a choice. Personally I'm glad to have it, as my knees would not let me drive a MINI if I didn't have the automatic.

But for those who insist that they have better control, or that it makes their car faster or any number of other predjudicial remarks, come meet me at Heartland Park roadcourse and you'll have ample opportunity to show me, each time as I lap you.

But you can stop with the nasty remarks.....please.

 

Hahaha! You can put me in a Viper, and strap yourself into a Yugo, and you'll still lap me. I'm just that skilled!!

 

I agree, no need for bashing (and I wish the title of this thread could be changed to automatics instead of slush boxes), but there is room for relevant discourse. There are some opinions stated as fact in this thread and they should most definitely be argued down, but in a civil way.

 

harder to steal! Harder to steal! harder to steal!

well. This is my hope anyway.

I have always driven stick, and yes, for some reason, it makes me happy. ( I am not from here, rather a nation where really no-one I knew had an automatic. When you take your driver's test, it specifies auto/ stick and you are only licensed for that kind of vehicle.)

So, as a result, I am a HORRIBLE automatic driver. I constantly forget where I am and try to downshift. Stomped on the brake in the spouses Volvo, thinking it was the clutch and slammed the shifter into God knows what. I have blocked it out. I also always forget that the car needs to be in Park to get the key out, and spend minutes wrestling with the damn thing before I remember.

 

I would be terrified driving an automatic in bad road conditions...snow, ice, gravel, mud. If the car is starting to slide or fishtail I want full control. Ditto if there is a sudden change in road conditions or traffic. Also... a redline a day keeps the carbon away.

 

That is about the silliest thing I've heard on these forums.

An automatic transmission in no way lessens the control you have over your car!

Dave

 

Automatics are faster (DCT), more efficient (CVT), and easier to drive. Those are pretty much facts that can't be argued anymore. The only thing we have left is cost, driver engagement, and our inexplicable false sense of superiority. Seeing as there's so little left to cling to, you have to expect some hostility. We have our backs to the wall and don't want to go extinct. Probably like those people that still use typewriters.

 

Some folks are only able to drive using automatics.

 

It's an art form... I had to teach myself when one of my first jobs was a parking lot attendant, and we had to park the vehicles... and a few years of driving the hills of San Francisco... and driving my Harley for the last which is a little different, but non the less it has a clutch.

 

Can't exactly say you avoid petty flame wars after throwing out insults...

There are automatic transmissions available that are as good or better than a manual in any measurable way. The automatic in the MINI is not one of those.

Hopefully someday in the not-too-distant future MINI will move from a "slushbox" (torque-converter-based automatic, so called because of the hydraulic link between the engine and transmission) to a modern dual clutch automatic. There's really little excuse for them not doing / having done so being that they price themselves at the high end of their market segment and market themselves as a "premium" brand.

Were they to offer a good DCT I'd probably consider an auto in my next MINI (which is likely to be - *gasp* - a Countryman). Until then I'll keep my manual.

 

However, the current crop of MINI automatics is neither DCT nor CVT. And the CVT that the MINIs did have is generally not exactly spoken of in glowing terms.

Torque-converter automatic transmissions are neither faster nor more efficient than manual transmissions. (In general; there are exceptions that usually have more to do with the exact choice of gear ratios than with the type of transmission.)

They also introduce one more layer of indirectness betwee my control inputs and what the car actually does. The DCT also does that, but the indirectness is only in how the clutch is engaged and disengaged. The one of those I drove, I did not like. But of course, that was my own personal choice.

 

Lucky guy. I paid $1250 for my auto. I learned on automatics long ago as my parents didn't have a car with stick. So I just kept getting automatics. Now I feel no motivation to learn stick.

I do wish they would stop making the auto trans a premium option. Just another way to soak the buyer. Oh well I guess I could learn stick and save the money. But who's clutch I burn out learning?

 

Sam Eagle says its immoral to drive auto trans

...kidding

..when driving in the country I'm thinking how fun a stick would be instead of our automatic cooper...but when in city traffic...not so much.

 

Truth is I am proud to be a Manual Transmission "Snob". Automatics or "Slushboxes" (as we Snobs refer to them) are for Toyota Camrys and Honda Accords. I do admire the engineering of the M-DCT, DSG and F1 trannys though. If I were to get a BMW I would go with their M-DCT. I could not go with their traditional Automatic or old SMG tranny cause I'm too "Snobish" for that.

Oh I don't drive the MINI in city traffic anymore ("Snooty" voice) that's what the Camry is for. GP only drives on nice sunny weekends, mountain runs and occasional auto-x and track days.

 

I drove a Mitsubishi lancer ralliart today, only available with the flappy paddles. It was fantastic. I'm reconsidering my attitude towards auto.

 

It all comes down to a personal preference and the overall driving goal.

Some prefer to row through the gears, others prefer to have less complexity to the act of driving....then there are the coffee drinking, smoking, cell phone users who have no regard for their safety or the safety of everyone else on the road.

I have owned and will continue to own any car that I like to options, looks and styling. Currently, it means I am driving a MINI with an auto and a BMW with a DCT......next car could potentially be a JCW with stick, or *gasp* a 2013 JCW auto Countryman.

I really get aggravated by the *snobs* who feel that a stick is the ONLY transmission choice available in the world and that if someone has a different 'choice' they are looked down upon.....do we want to convert to a Communist state and have ONE transmission choice, ONE car brand and ONE income level?

 

That's the reason we also have the semi-manual and paddles for. That was a terrible opinion(not trying to be a jerk). You could say that all you want but the truth is that automatics are driven in the every day world and I would say 40% of people that drive in snow are terrible drivers but just because you drive an automatic doesn't mean you don't have full control. We just don't have a clutch, the rest of our cars are pretty much similar.

 

z

 

An Automatic in manual mode? You know how funny that sounds? We're talking autos and manuals in this thread aren't we? Yes I know this steptronic tranny gives people who can't/don't want to drive a manual a slight feeling like they're actually making the decision on what gear to be in but it's not the total truth. This "manual mode" is still going to upshift on you when the computer gets scared and rev matching is a joke. You still have to bang down through the gears sequentially while a manual can choose the appropriate gear at will.

 

In the spirit of keeping this thread on the newfound path of brotherhood I'm editing my rebuttals to simply say drive what you will. Oh ya, and no one's lapping me and my Manual gearbox!

I will say this though. If you think the only difference between auto and manual transmissions is a manually operated clutch you are mistaken. It's what you can and can't do with or without one that makes the difference in these setups. One day I am sure they will have it figured out at a cost that won't put you in the poor house. For now though, unless your EXTREMELY rich and have a pit crew at hand the moment you get out of the car for the day it's just not happening.

 

That's silly to say though, as a DCT isn't available in MINIs. I would LOVE a DCT in the JCWs on the performance level of Porsche's PDKs. But no such thing exists and AFAIK isn't on the horizon, so I've gone with the next-best thing - a stick. I'll be first in line if MINI ever offers a good DCT (emphasis on the word "good").