Manual v Auto

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What i mean is say you approach big roundabout in 2nd like i would when thrashing my car, at about 35-45 mph, well accelerating round the round about in 2nd then you need to change to third as soon as you hit 60; But if you cant just change normally as it wont be smooth and judder might cause you to lose traction (never happened but feels like it would).

Im no driving expert either - but i do about 28k a year most of which is during whilst im delivering hot food :D and i like to be prompt with my deliverys - and there are a lot of big roundabouts etc in Cramlington (Where i work) so im really just speaking from experience in a manual box.

Obviously i haven't tryed hammering an auto round the way i drive so i can't give you any better situations.
 
Maz,

Do you know a big roundabout on which you can legaly do more than 60 on???

Obviously if you didn't have concerns such as pedestrians, traffic, speedlimits etc (on a track) then what you are talking about would be a third gear corner IMHO, and you wouldn't have the problem of changing gear mid corner.

I'm sure the guys with Autos are going to tell us this is when there box is in its element, ie "both hands on the wheel" and the MB autos are very smooth so I wouldn't envisage any traction problems, especialy with ESP turned on.

If you want to "hammer" your car, preferably in a safe environment like on a track, then I agree that a manual box is the way to go. Makes for a much more involved drive, and allows you to take the guess work out of what the auto box will do for you next.

Tiptronic boxes "learn" your driving style, so if you want to change your driving style, it takes time to adapt. If i wanna change my driving style, it simply takes some testosterone, and I don't have to wait for my car to catch up!

:D
 
Would agree with many of the sentiments in this thread!:bannana:

Would like to clarify the bit about the racing/rally cars 'auto' bit. (sorry to those who know if I'm stating the obvious);) F1, WRC, BTCC, DTM cars etc have manual gearboxes with a clutch - the selection method is sequential with all sorts of gizmos paddles etc to ease and speed the change. They have (in the majority of cases) 'straight cut' gears with dog rings not syncromesh and can change gears without using the clutch.

So the racing car argument doesn't work here.......(IMHO!)

Competition cars (in the majority of cases) require minimal drag and power loss through the transmission - hence no torque converters.

My car was bought because it was manual, I tried an auto and found it didn't suit my driving style and the 'kickdown' was not quick enough. Having said that the gearbox/change is CR"P in comparison with other manufacturers. It won't change quickly baulking from 2nd to 3rd, the ratios aren't best matched and I tend to get to a high gear then use the torque of the engine. Overtaking is instant as the downchanges are good.

So you might think I'm voting for manual...... :bannana:

The ML270 I'm looking for would ideally have an auto box.......:D

I agree with Vinny - the best one is the one you like!:bannana: :bannana: :bannana:
 
Originally posted by Richard W
Would like to clarify the bit about the racing/rally cars 'auto' bit. (sorry to those who know if I'm stating the obvious);) F1, WRC, BTCC, DTM cars etc have manual gearboxes with a clutch

The same applies to most sports/supercars.....the likes of Ferrari, Lambo, Porche, Lotus, Pagani.....
 
One does not buy a mercedes to thrash it . That is left to the lower people in the 316 and 318's



:D
 
I agree with some of both views, when I was younger and a boy racer who used to drive a BMW like a knob, I preferred a manual box as I thought it was more masculine to be in 'full' control of the car.

Now I think boll@cks to that!, I want a smooth comfortable and easy drive in a luxurious motor. My other half used to get very travel sick in all our previous cars but travels fine in the Merc, you really can't tell when it is changing gear which contributes to a smoother better ride.

For those of you who who claim that the MB auto box is crap, I think you must have driven bad or faulty cars, I have only driven about a dozen Mercs (C43AMG, E240, C240, E320CDi, S500, ML320 amongst others) all autos and they are all superb.

Lets face it MB's are not renowned for being sports cars but luxurious cruisers. In my experience from driving my fathers C43AMG Estate for two weeks, you needed the auto box!! You had enough to do to keep the thing straight and pointing in the right direction, let the box take care of the gear changes.:p

At the end of the day it is personal preference, but the majority of MB's are autos, and manuals are difficult to move on forecourts, must be a reason why?
 
Originally posted by paulrstaylor
Maz,

Do you know a big roundabout on which you can legaly do more than 60 on???

Obviously if you didn't have concerns such as pedestrians, traffic, speedlimits etc (on a track) then what you are talking about would be a third gear corner IMHO, and you wouldn't have the problem of changing gear mid corner.

Yes in Cramlington where i work on a Dual Carriageway (70 mph limit) - Where you can safely take roundabout at 60+ MPH,

And this is no small roundabout i tell you :)

People with C180's will tell you that its slow, you need to keep it revving high to make any use of the power.

Edit : Just to clarify im not a boy racer or anything - merely just a driving enthusiast.

Ive been driving over a year done over 30k never crashed dont have any points etc.
 
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Woah, easy lads....

Having driven many many mercedes manual and auto, i would say my preference now-a-days is to drive an auto, simply because mercedes makes great auto boxes, got in my sister auto mondeo the other day, and nearly started crying...how can they actually sell that car!!:crazy:

A few years back, the MB autos were a bit notchy, a bit lacking in the power delivery, but were still very very smooth, and it took a good driver with a manual to drive that smooth...

Last week i drove a 2001 CL600 (never driven one before) and i couldnt even imagine that thing with a manual box, probably very dangerous...:D The smoothness, yet the power of it was absolutely amazing, and you had a lot of control as to the gearshifts etc, the adaptive kick-down system was very effective, and after driving about 40miles in it, i really got the hang of using the accelerator to do the changing for me, something which ive never quite mastered before...(If i had the cash, this would be the only car for me...)

As most of you know, i work full time, as an MB parts salesman, having sold many gearboxes, i tend to see that we sell hardly any manual boxes from any era, only occasionaly van boxes, especially sprinter ones...We sell every electronic auto we get in, within a matter of days, we also sell most of the older auto boxes like hot-cakes. the box's dont seem to last if driven hard, whereas the manuals seem very bullet proof.

It is always a safe bet buying a manual, you kindof know what you are gettin, driving an auto, is a different world, and i believe those of you out there that have manuals, once you have driven a merc auto for say a month wil be converted...

Just red that back, dosent sound right, but you get the jist!!;)
 
I was surprised to find in my documentation that when my car was first bought, there was no manual option for its spec. It turns out that the owner had to specify it as and extra and actually paid a premium for going manual. :(

Personally, I think Auto's are great as long as you have a powerful enough engine behind it. There's nothing worse than a sluggish auto in my book as there is bugger all you can do to make speedier progress.
 
V12 is right, I had a Honda Accord auto for a week whilst waiting for my company car. What rubbish that was - a beautiful VTEC engine which revved like ..... well you know with an auto that wanted to change gear at 3500 rpm!

A mismatched auto/engine combination would be enough to put off anyone, but (correct me if I'm wrong) it seems the feeling coming out from peoples comments is that a car with power (over 200bhp) can use a good auto to it's full capabilities.

Oh yes, I know there's been a bit of Clarkson bashing recently but did you see his comments about the Vanquish gearbox?
 
One reason that Merc don't sell many manual gearboxes (apart from the age profile of the buyers, and the fact that the MB auto is accepted as one of the best slushpumps around) is they don't work properly until you've done about 15000 miles. I've got an SLK320 6-speed manual and my initial experiences with the gear change were not very encouraging. It was notchy, the first to second change was dire, the clutch was vicious and the throttle calibration was non-linear (straight lift from the auto).

The first to second change was largely sorted by correcting the oil level in the box. (Mercedes have set the drain hole too high, so you need to drain 300ml of oil out - how daft is that?). The clutch was improved by dealer adjustment. The throttle calibration I have learned to live with - you get used to it. I've changed the gear oil to fully synthetic and put a few miles on the car and now - finally - the gearbox works like it should have done from new. Most of the notchiness has gone. It's short-throw and light and a pleasure to use. But it's no surprise that motoring journalists think the manuals are rubbish.

As for what's the best box, I'd go for a sequential box with paddle shifts and an automatically operated clutch. The box that Audi are putting on their new TT320V6 looks like it might be the best of the lot.
 
I certainly enjoy a manual gearbox for spirited driving, however, now I've hit 30, I find an auto more relaxing in these days of congested roads!

In an attempt to find an alternative, I tried a BMW 330Ci with the SSG gearbox a while back (same type of thing as the new TT 'box seems to be - a manual box with paddles). Don't know about the Audi one, but the BMW SSG gearbox I thought was bl:eek: :eek: dy awful - the changes took ages, unless it was in Sport mode, and even then, there did not seem to be any indication of when it had finished changing gear, so you had to sit there, foot off the gas waiting until you thought it had changed down (at least with a manual you know when you've finished moving the gear lever!)

I've heard a few bad reports about it, and although I'm not a big fan of the car, I actually thought that the Sensotronic gearbox in the A190 I had as a courtesy car a couple of months back was quite good - a LOT better than the BM SSG one:bannana: :bannana: :bannana:
 
The Audi change is said to be virtually instantaneous, because it relies on racing car technology. The transmission has two clutches and can pre-engage your next gear. Road reports confirm that it's the fastest change yet. It's much faster than the best slushpumps and manual changing doesn't come close.
 

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