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Makes you question why you liked to shift..... Posted by Mike Lynch [Email]  (#81) [Profile/Gallery]
(more from Mike Lynch) on Sun, 9 Jun 2002 15:20:22
In Reply to: 9-3 Auto versus Manual Tranny, Mr. Science, Sat, 8 Jun 2002 21:38:09 Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup |
..so much. My personal opinion is people who say they must have a stick just haven't driven a newer automatic. You can't communicate the feel of a modern automatic with overdrive, lock-up torque converter and a sport mode. But everybody remembers when an automatic just killed any chance of fun in a car. Up through the 80's and even into the 90's alot of underpowered cars still had 3 speed automatics i.e. a VW Golf/Jetta. A stick Jetta or GTI was a fun car, an automatic was a dog. Not enough gears or low end torque to launch you and too many revs at cruising speeds, awful. We're talking a 100 horsepower car with a three speed automatic that was the most popular European car in America. No wonder old prejudices die hard. An 80's BMW 318I was another entertaining car with a stick and a dog with an auto, Saab's too except I can't tell you what year Saab finally got some horsepower and a decent 4-speed autobox.
Nowadays you've got 205hp, gobs of torque, and a modern 4-speed (5-speed auto in the 9-5) auto with a very useful sport mode. I've tried some of the manual shifting autos such as a VW Tiptronic. They're fun for a little while and then you use the feature very occasionally. I use my sport mode in my '96 900SE almost everytime I drive it. There are lots of post on how to make sport the default setting in a Saab, I've heard it can 't be done, too bad.
Sure you've got more control with the stick, but you've got to be paying attention and there's much more potential for abuse, over-revving, and drive train abuse, not to mention clutch issues. The auto never misses a shift and allows me to concentrate on a good line through corners and to pay more attention to real world traffic and road conditions and I'm all ways in the right gear to rocket away.
Not to take anything away from Saab, but a Saab is not a high-revving, close ratio, snick, snick (cool shifting noises) kind of a car. A Saab is no Miata or S2000. The shift linkage in a Saab works well, but I don't consider it a rewarding linkage and with the high-torque of the turbo's particularly suited to automatics, well......
posted by 206.251.225...
, Sun, 9 Jun 2002 15:20:22 <-- Viewing This Message, Sun, 9 Jun 2002 14:48:17
, Sun, 9 Jun 2002 22:28:12
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