Wouldnt a manual transmission be better in city traffic?

Driving the 5 speed In Dallas Rush hour is what caused my brother to park his 14,500 mi 98 Mustang in the Garage, instead turning to commuting in his automatic Ram1500.
when the cost of gas went too high in '06, then he bought a series of commuter vehicles, all automatic. (Neon, 2 mustangs, 2 challengers, Volt, Escape, and currently a Bolt....but through it all, that 98 Mustang still sits in the Garage.)
 
I drove a stick on the DC beltway, Baltimore beltway when I was in college (on the same commute). Traffic could be bad enough it would feel like the clutch would glaze and it would take a couple good rips and a couple hard downshifts to make it happy again. However, the original clutch was still in use at 200k+ miles.

Even though I was in my early 20s, my leg still didn't like it.
 
I commuted through Philly on I676 and the Schuylkill expressway for 2 years in my manual 5-speed Sonoma back in the day. I was young then. I wouldn't want to do it now!
 
I have driven standard since 1991 ( one of my cars has a CVT ).

I am so used to driven standard , I don’t even think about it ( while drinking coffee ).

Now, would I buy ( hard today anyways ) a standard if I was doing mainly city driving, no.

Over 300,000 miles on the same clutch.

I only bought another car with a CVT because my wife cannot drive standard but I have to admit it’s sure nice to let the car do all the “ shifting “ for me in the city.

I like manual stuff, same in the aircraft, auto thrust off at top of descent most times ( everything off on final….raw data ).
 
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In my experience, driving a car with a standard transmission allows you to exceed the EPA mileage estimates by a significant margin. The lack of a transmission fluid pump and torque converter also means that less power is wasted by the time it reaches the wheels. With practice, the act of driving a manual car becomes “automatic” (ironically enough).

A transmission control module is more likely to shift faster and with greater consistency than a person ever will at the expense of increased complexity and potential long-term reliability issues.
 
A 5MT on the DC beltway broke the practicality of a manual for me. Left leg got sick of it. And then my frustration would boil when someone cut me off, and I was tired, exacerbated by more required body mechanics. Automatic saves some of the wariness.

Heat build up in 1st and 2nd in an automatic is very small. The torque is multiplied and nothing has to work v hard.
 
The problem with manual transmissions, is todays engines and power expectations.

The more power an engine has, the stronger the clutch is, and the heavier or longer throw the clutch pedal becomes. And gear shifts take longer in heavier duty transmissions. On big stuff the clutch can be power assisted.

DCT would be the way to go if you want a powerful engine and manual like operation.
 
The only time In annoyed with my stick is when I'm exiting the car wash and have to creep forward under the dryers...constant give and take on the clutch. My commute is 15 minutes of mostly 55mph county highway so it's perfect for the driving that I do. Errands around town are no issue with traffic although it's never gridlock.
 
I'm a manual transmission fan. And I've driven manuals in stop and go traffic. It's hard on the knee. A manual is at its best in wide open spaces.

For stop and go traffic, an automatic is easier on the driver. My Tesla, with it's one pedal driving, works really well - easy to drive, energy efficient (meaning cheap to drive).
 
The only time In annoyed with my stick is when I'm exiting the car wash and have to creep forward under the dryers...constant give and take on the clutch. My commute is 15 minutes of mostly 55mph county highway so it's perfect for the driving that I do. Errands around town are no issue with traffic although it's never gridlock.

Those car washes all have chains that pull the car forwards, you just leave them in neutral here. Well I say that but it's been 20 years since I've actually been through one.
 
Manual transmission in traffic. Wow, my main work car in the day was a manual transmission. I hated it for traffic, and so did everyone that was behind me on the freeway. To save the clutch and linkage or rather the cable, I usually left a lot of following distance to the cars in front, so I could creep slowly when they all stopped, goofs behind me thought I was slowing them up. Manual transmissions and traffic or stop lights are a bad mix. Oh and some of them don't last any longer than some of the automatics, especially the ones on the older smaller cars. I'm not saying what brand of car, but the manual transmissions are like they are made of glass, very trouble some if not treated right. Syncro's wear out easy if shifted wrong, meaning don't let them do syncro things, they need speeds matched.
 
Hydraulic clutch linkage has made it better than the old manual linkage days.
I still remember the days of performance clutch pedal pressure of the '70's.
 
Manual transmission in traffic. Wow, my main work car in the day was a manual transmission. I hated it for traffic, and so did everyone that was behind me on the freeway. To save the clutch and linkage or rather the cable, I usually left a lot of following distance to the cars in front, so I could creep slowly when they all stopped, goofs behind me thought I was slowing them up. Manual transmissions and traffic or stop lights are a bad mix. Oh and some of them don't last any longer than some of the automatics, especially the ones on the older smaller cars. I'm not saying what brand of car, but the manual transmissions are like they are made of glass, very trouble some if not treated right. Syncro's wear out easy if shifted wrong, meaning don't let them do syncro things, they need speeds matched.

The old 5 speed WRX is known as having a glass transmission.
 
It'd be interesting to know the data on NYC cab transmission longevity.

Regarding driving a stick, I bought a new 2024 VW Jetta GLI with one. I prefer a stick only because I'm an aggressive driver. If I was a sedate driver I'd prefer an automatic but that's not me. My wife has a 2015 Audi A4 quattro with a stick she bought new. She no longer wants to buy a new car with a stick for herself. She grew up in Brooklyn and her first car was a Toyota Starlet with a stick.
 
Manual trans all the way. Always had, always will although getting harder to find here in the US. If I had to drive in the city/heavy traffic auto trans would definitely be preferable, but I don't :). Not sure if the trend in stop/start will survive city/heavy traffic. Time will tell.
 
Well, it depends on the car. My previous ride was a 2011 Cruze Eco 1.4 turbo with a 6-speed stick. Stupidly bought the car after test-driving a 1.8 non-turbo 6-speed Cruze that had a delightful transmission and assumed the turbo car that they had to order for me would be the same, but it wasn't. First gear was way too short. Second gear was too tall, making it nearly impossible to do 1-2 shift without a bit of a lurch. Hydraulic clutch was more like an on-off switch and couldn't be finessed. The car was difficult to start in second gear on icy roads. The trans started to whine at about 80K and failed at 119K due to the factory not putting enough oil into it during assembly. Replaced under the extended warranty I had purchased, but the replacement trans and new clutch didn't drive any better than the original. Traded the car in for my Kia Soul Plus a week later.

Previous stick-equipped cars were two Festivas and an Escort. Those cars were a delight to drive with the manual transmission, even in heavy traffic. All of them had an easy-to-modulate clutch and smooth driving was easy. None ever needed a replacement clutch, even with as many was 239K miles.
 
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