for drag racing yes autos are better, road racing no. everyday driving yes tho, esp if you live in a city where traffic is a nightmare. i do believe tho that out of the box most standards are better. you have to tear the auto apart to replace to torque converter and that may be a little further than most people are willing to go. but it should be said that dont be a rookie and just keep going with higher and higher torque converters. have one custom built to your car. the best ones are from companies that take everything about your car and make a converter for it. everything matters from cam, rear end, transmission type (3,4,5,6,7 speed), vehicle weight, intended use, tire size, wheel size. the converter is the last thing im going to get for my mercury because i need to know all those things before i can have it made. now its just got an off the shelf 2300rpm one. also it seems from my opinion that manuals are good till about low 10's, you can only row thru the gears so quickly in that short amount of time. unless its one of those high end 2 speed clutchless standards, but i lump those in with autoboxes.

 

I will openly admit that I think autos are better than manual in almost ALL respects except for one:

FUN.

 

i know this thread is kinda old but i just wanted to say that in drag racing auto is not better than manuals. i mean, unless you have like a 5 second 1/8 mile or something. sure the auto might be more consistant, not FASTER.. my automatic focus ran consistent 10.8s, my cobalt with less mods runs all sorts of times. 10.7..10.6..10.5..10.4. no matter what i did in my focus i couldnt hit that 10.4 unless i did some more mods. you can easily break your own records in a manual just by shifting just a little better each time.

 

Manuals are fun to drive no doubt BUT for consistant performance an automatic is the only way to go.

And for those who think that autos only come in 4 spds you are mistaken. GM now has a 5 and 6 spd auto due out in the next few years. Autos are slowly taking over.

But manuals are still more fun to drive!

 

OK I am just going to add my 2 cents.... then I'm dun.....
"Anybody can drive an automtic......... consistantly.... where is the skill??? "

 

For the people that used pro stock as a example that auto's are used for drag racing

 

The thing with NHRA drag racing and Nascar and most other racing sports they cut the gears extremely straight on the transmissions so to use the clutch pedal is reduced. Nascar the main purpose of the clutch is starting, keeping from stalling, and the 2 road course races. NHRA if you watch they simply throw into gear with ratcheting shifters, no use of the clutch.

Its more or less "hybrid" But now you have auto trannies you can shift manualy. So w/e

 

Autos take more power to run, weagh more, have more parts to brake, cost more to mod, are harder to work on, and use more fuel to operate. Oh and there alot less fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Autos and manuals are going out like carbs did guys.

There going to be using computer controled manuals with a form of a toruqe converter on them.
They will be no fun but will have all the benifits of both a manual and an auto.

If you look at this thread closely 80% or more of the guys in faver of the auto cant drive a manual any way.

Autos are for Lazzy people.
They pay $800-$1,500 more for the car when they buy it.
Spend $700-$1800 more in fuel when they own it. Thats for about 120K
Spend about $800 more on mantanence. (If they do it at all!)
And spend $800-$1,700 more to have it replaced when they dont do the mantanence and it dies in less then 100K.

Thats and averag of $3,100-$5,800 more depending on the car and the driver then they would with a manual.

DO NOT tell me your not a lazzy ass if your willing to spend that much money just so you dont have to shift your own gears!!!!!

Autos have alowed people that otherwise would not be able to drive to drive cars. Most of these people are the vary same ones that your pissed with in trafic becouse they CANT DRIVE!!!

Later Im out!

 

Auto - no skill required, good transprotation.

Manual - Skill required (or many clutches), good for fun

 

I've got an auto in my 06 SS 2.4. It's a much nicer auto than any other 4 cylinder that's I've driven before. It's almost always in the exact perfect RPM range for any sort of accelleration. I do wish I would've bought a manual though just because I love shifting...