originaljohn

Hi,

I've been driving automatic cars for over 10 years. I'm now interested in an A4 and the possibility of a manual transmission.

For those of you who were drivers of automatics and recently converted to sticks (there seem to be at least a few of you here), are you happy with the switch?

I do a lot of in town driving, and drive the occasional steep slope in San Francisco. I'm concerned that after the novelty factor of owning my first manual wears off, that I will be stuck with an annoyance.

I wish I could borrow someone's car with a manual and drive it around for a month, but thats hard to do.

What do you think? No religious wars, please :-)

Thanks!
John

P.S. Great board!

DCS

My wife has had stick her entire life and swears that for her next car she's ONLY considering an auto.

Up until my A4 I've had all autos but I don't see myself ever going back.

I live in central NJ and there's a lot of traffic but it doesn't bother me. Whether in gridlock or in Manhatten stick is OK w/me. I don't suspect the "novelty" to wear off for quite some time.

A4 Dolphin

As a recent Manual to Auto transplant, I can tell you that the former is much more fun to drive for so many reasons, but mainly because you have so much more control over the car.

That said, a stick is a royal PITA when on steep hills and takes some practice if you are coming to a full stop and start on an incline. Also parallel parking on a hill with a stick can be VERY difficult.

I do a lot of city driving and found that the stick is actually a lot of fun around town. However, it is NOT fun in bumper-to-bumper.

At least with the auto, I can eat breakfast in my car (but I don't cuz I don't want to get it dirty!).

Alf Arkin

Just try it and decide . . . Manual is not a "novelty"

lewjake

me how to drive it on a demo and let me come by and practice a couple of times before they found my car. I took delivery having driven a stick for about 40 minutes in total. I assumed the lack of acceleration and power from a standstill was due to my inexperience which I'm sure it was, in part. But I realized after I started to drive it pretty well that for the most part, it was the car. I enjoy driving my 5-spd. but I am dissapointed in the lack of power and acceleration. I don't want to chip it and deal with warranty issues. I am seriously coinsidering selling it soon for a 3.0 6-speed, although I haven't test driven it yet. If you aren't going to chip, go with the 6-spd.

Turning Japanese

Get a manual!

Tim in Vancouver

Get used to manual tranny driving first before you venture back into SF particularly *** Hill, Twin Peaks and Potrero Hill areas. Otherwise, you may end up burning your clutch, ruining your transmission or, worse, losing control of the vehicle altogether. In other words, be careful driving around SF if you've just learned how to drive stick.

Lots of in-town driving? I recommend the Multitronic CVT. Like mine! (Although I used to drive an Integra stick). ;-)

lexo

Phone around a bit and see if any rental places have any cars that have a manual transmission. Grab a friend who knows how to drive manual and get them to try to teach you first. I would suggest not learning to drive a manual in a 30K+ vehicle. If you like it for the few days you drive around in the rental, then manual is for you. After having driven 5-speed for a few years now, a manual transmission is the only transmission I will get. At least this way, for a hundred dollars or so you can wreck somebody elses car and learn at the same time.

r00t

i was in same place as you when i got my a4 -- been driving auto for 10 years but wanted to switch to manual with new a4. i called around typical car renting places (enterprise, etc) but they don't have any manual cars. i just decided to learn it with new a4. i put 14k on it and i'm not tired of it yet. it's so much more fun than auto -- you feel more connected to the machine... i tried to avoid SF area though. whenever i go to SF, i take my girlfriend's car. those stiff hills are scary to even look at. i had to take my car to SF a couple of times (to those hill area) and i managed.

imho, i think manual is much better choice.

Odin

Got a manual as well, after fourteen years of automatics. Main reason was for the concern of lack of power with the automatic, having test driven several automatics. Enjoy the manual in all gears but first, and thats just because of the city driving and the slight embarrassment fear of stalling or over reving. That may be just me being conservative, expecting A4 engine to stall like old pre 80s manual volvos and golfs i had driven in the past on hills and ice in Norway. I'm giving it a a few weeks and problem resolved. One thing i've noticed is that my larger size 13 shoes create some heel / toe problems due to lack of space. Prefer driving with smaller / lighter shoes because of this.
However i love the instant power available in third gear around town!!!!