I've been driving an automatic since I passed nearly a decade ago. In that time whenever I tell anyone I drive auto, it's usually met with some level of derision. I think that attitude is changing, but I'm still kind of confused by it in the first place.
Why?
Brit here who used to hate driving automatics. I used to drive on my gears a lot. A mix coasting/hyper-miling and gear breaking. Every time I drove an automatic it felt really wrong as it never changed gear as I would. I felt I was less in control.
Now I drives EVs, no gears for it to get wrong. I thought not changing gear would bother me, but it never feels in wrong gear, so I don't notice. Though this is a hybrid I drive and it's so odd to hear and feel the complete disconnect with the drive and engine.
This is a debate is thing that is just going to go away with ICE cars.
I don't understand this either. I guess they used to be really bad and the attitude has stuck around?
A bad auto can be pretty terrible, but a good (or even half decent) auto is better than a manual in almost every way.
These days modern automatics allow you to select any gear in a manual fashion. Aside from the lack of clutch to control at very low speeds (on ice the wheels might just spin instead of gaining traction) it basically makes manuals obsolete.
It’s historic. If you’d ever driven a Mk1 Ford Escort with 1289cc and a 3 speed slush-box automatic you’d understand.
Of course modern automatics are completely different but the preference for manual transmission is a hangover from those times.
There's also a cost factor, traditionally automatics cost more to build, weighed more and performed slightly worse. Now, automatics are probably cheaper to build, perform better, but still cost more.
Traditionally automatics were much less efficient, giving a significant power loss and substantially worse MPG. In the UK with smaller cars with smaller engines and expensive petrol this was a much bigger disadvantage than in the USA.
However modern automatic gears have improved so it's not longer a big disadvantage.
