Originally Posted By: Tornado Red
I don't understand those who moving their right foot from acccelerator to brake pedal and back again, over and over, is harder than pushing in the clutch pedal occasionally.
Also, if the traffic is moving slowly, that is what 1st gear is for. And if it's not moving at all, that's what neutral is for.
It really depends on the traffic. Stop and go traffic on an incline in a torqueless Civic with a stick is, for instance more work than it would be with an auto. Different gearing or a more torque would help too, of course, but doing 10-20 hill starts in the space of a mile isn't all that fun.
Also in some areas people have the annoying habit of cutting in if you leave so much as 3 car lengths between yourself and the car ahead of you. This makes it difficult to creep (again, depending on the car's gearing of course) which increases the PITA factor.
I don't think there's a simple answer. It depends on the car and the traffic conditions but driving an MT in traffic is, in fact, "more work" than driving an AT in traffic. I think this is what most people don't like.
For the record, I've only personally owned cars with 4 and 5 speed MTs and the only way I intend to change that is by eventually getting a 6 speed
The only AT in our stable right now is in our Suburban.