Fed Up with Driving a Manual Transmission?

Manual transmissions in the VW Jetta and golf were so smooth I didn't mind driving them in traffic. Toyota's were much more notchy and rought.
My manual Jetta wasn't bad at all.
 
For a daily driver that is normal I don’t see the point in manual personally. Automatic and CVT(Subaru) in my experience are great with recent engines.

Sports or fun car I would consider a manual. I drove a Golf R in both manual and DSG and so hard if I had to pick.
 
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Just did a mountain run a few days ago to the Back of the Dragon (Rt 16) in Tazewell (SW VA). Love the DSG and always use manual mode for this kind of driving - just bam bam bam with the paddles and never have to take your hands off the wheel. Lightning fast shifts.
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It not too bad until I get in bumper to bumper traffic with slowly advancing traffic. Then it puts me into a bad mood.

The problem is, at least here, the hours you expect to be in bumper to bumper traffic have been increasing. 20 years ago bumper to bumper traffic at 7:30PM was uncommon. These days it's normal. Maybe we will get to the 24/7 gridlock once predicted for the DC area. And for that reason it no longer works to go into work late and leave work late to avoid the traffic. Unless you want to leave work at 9pm.
 
I miss driving a manual. My left leg isn't 100% functional (military injuries) so working a clutch repeatedly with it gets old pretty quickly if I'm in traffic. That's part of why I got away from it. I've now settled back in the rural countryside. My Nissan pickup project is a manual. I can't wait to get it back on the road.
 
Just did a mountain run a few days ago to the Back of the Dragon (Rt 16) in Tazewell (SW VA). Love the DSG and always use manual mode for this kind of driving - just bam bam bam with the paddles and never have to take your hands off the wheel. Lightning fast shifts.
for suburban/urban rds & the daily commute - there is no race (I call'em 'hot heads'). I find it more abt 'blending' and the typical Ungulate behavior of the herd. Those who race create danger. I do not like it when one screeeems around me & slams on the breaks right in front (as is inevitable due to pace of movement, speed, reality of red lights, etc). Auto transmissions wrk well here, have caught up/surpassed mannys for MPGs. As a typical merican I multi-task behind the wheel & auto is good @ this (arms, not feet. I care not w/below the waist). More women drive mannys in this country than men.

For the truck I like manny, weather on rd or off rd, trailering, haulin, gradients or flat. MT might B OK in the sedan @ rural, 2 lane blk top, I could up/dwn shift between coffee sips~
aahahahaa
 
My Focus had a built MTX75 with 4.06 gear and a beefy Exedy clutch. I drove in DC/Baltimore traffic every day for 4 years. My wife used to poke fun at the fact that my left calf muscle was substantially bigger than my right.
 
Just did a mountain run a few days ago to the Back of the Dragon (Rt 16) in Tazewell (SW VA). Love the DSG and always use manual mode for this kind of driving - just bam bam bam with the paddles and never have to take your hands off the whracingel. Lightning fast shifts.
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I also have the DSG and use the paddle shifter manual mode when I want to have fun and more complete control. When I autocross I put the DSG in Sport mode and let the computer decide on which gear while I try to miss the cones.🏁
 
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I also have the DSG and use the paddle shifter manual mode when I want to have fun and more complete control. When I autocross I put the DSG in Sport mode and let the computer decide on which gear while I try to miss the cones.🏁
At the track, I rarely touch the paddles...one more thing to think about....sport mode and send it.
 
Unless I am driving a Porsche through the Alps I see no reason to have a manual. Automatic is easy to drive and the automatic transmission of today is a far cry from the two speed automatic my parents had in their 1966 Pontiac Tempest (from memory, so I will say I think).
 
i gotta say the vw dsgs are pretty nice and smooth, unless you go straight from braking to accelerating. i haven't driven a manual very much, but they're more fun than an automatic
 
I do like the DSG and it works beautifully. I just find that there's certain things you can do that upset the feel of it. Most of the time it is excellent. I keep thinking though if I get a MK8 GTI eventually I'll likely go manual. If I went Golf R the DSG is a must for launch control and the power is slightly limited with the manual. Launch control on the GTI is a gimmick because the only thing I see it do is limit a hint of the wheelspin and then just blow the tires off a second later. I have a lot of fun with the DSG in manual mode, but I think I'd have even more fun with the manual.
 
I do like the DSG and it works beautifully. I just find that there's certain things you can do that upset the feel of it. Most of the time it is excellent. I keep thinking though if I get a MK8 GTI eventually I'll likely go manual. If I went Golf R the DSG is a must for launch control and the power is slightly limited with the manual. Launch control on the GTI is a gimmick because the only thing I see it do is limit a hint of the wheelspin and then just blow the tires off a second later. I have a lot of fun with the DSG in manual mode, but I think I'd have even more fun with the manual.
Yes, love the DSG in my awd wagon which for all intents is an R wagon...so yes, with launch control it's great and I agree that with the GTI I'd probably do the stick vs. the R. The whole issue with the DSG is just psending the time to learn the logic and driving it to that logic. The common issue is when it's got the wrong gear pre-loaded based on the inputs it's recieving i.e. you are accelerating...it's in third....fourth is loaded....you stomp it and it hesitates/freaks out b/c you need second but it had fourth. Knowing that, you can usually handle this by preemptive manual shifts. Also, the DSG is so simple to add power to...flash tune and send it vs. a replacement clutch and having to daily drive a car with a HD clutch.
 
Yes, love the DSG in my awd wagon which for all intents is an R wagon...so yes, with launch control it's great and I agree that with the GTI I'd probably do the stick vs. the R. The whole issue with the DSG is just psending the time to learn the logic and driving it to that logic. The common issue is when it's got the wrong gear pre-loaded based on the inputs it's recieving i.e. you are accelerating...it's in third....fourth is loaded....you stomp it and it hesitates/freaks out b/c you need second but it had fourth. Knowing that, you can usually handle this by preemptive manual shifts. Also, the DSG is so simple to add power to...flash tune and send it vs. a replacement clutch and having to daily drive a car with a HD clutch.

You hit the nail on the head. Drive it normally and it does its thing. It's rare that it happens to me where it hiccups these days. I have 45k miles and it's fresh off its first service. Never had problems before the service either. Where I find it the smoothest is using the resume cruise function. It knows exactly what it needs to get up to speed and it's so smooth. What I never tire of is the way it cuts spark and dumps fuel in the exhaust on a full throttle shift. That bark or DSG fart as it is known is just fun.
 
You hit the nail on the head. Drive it normally and it does its thing. It's rare that it happens to me where it hiccups these days. I have 45k miles and it's fresh off its first service. Never had problems before the service either. Where I find it the smoothest is using the resume cruise function. It knows exactly what it needs to get up to speed and it's so smooth. What I never tire of is the way it cuts spark and dumps fuel in the exhaust on a full throttle shift. That bark or DSG fart as it is known is just fun.
At the track, I leave it in Sport mode and drive. Mine is tuned however the TCU logic has been modified with performance in mind. There is one turn at VIR that I don't like what it does and it's the case I mentioned above; it needs a manual downshift to prevent an auto downshift when the 4th is preloaded and I'm in third...that's really the only time. At about the 1:00 mark here through the "Oak Tree" turn...I downshift it manually to second rather than have it hang in third then when I mash it to leave it pukes b/c it has 4th loaded and it downshifts to second. You can see how great that auto rev-match is! You can see my swat it back into Sport by pulling the shifter back to disegnage manual mode.

 
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