Why do manuals get better mileage

The posterchild for great fuel economy is the hybrid, which employs electric motors and CVTs to get mpg far above what a traditional combustion engine and manual transmission can do alone. Where manuals still win the day, though, is in initial and repairs costs. And thanks to fewer moving parts, the manual transmission is also easier, and therefore less costly, to repair. However, in the States, few know how to drive a manual, and even fewer want to buy a new vehicle with an automatic transmission.

This translates into difficulties regarding resale. If you consider the i30 diesel the gap manual vs automatic is a little wider at 4. Then, the i30 with a turbocharged 1. And then there are those automatic transmission types that are radically more fuel efficient than their manual equivalent. Like the CVT.

First Name:. Email address:. Except I still prefer a torque auto over cvt or dsg. Why should I have to re learn how to drive to avoid nasty consequences of driving a cvt or dsg? Love the extra control of a manual but prefer the ease of driving an auto.

Yep, I get that. Manual is manual, great for trucks and race cars but useless for the vast majority of cars today, you would be better off with a torque converter auto nowadays for off roading.

I feel DSG transmissions are pretty pointless in city cars such as Golfs. They are just demonstrably worse at crawling in traffic, which is going to make up a large chunk of the driving these cars do. Sure, they will shift 50 milliseconds faster than a torque converter auto, but that is largely irrelevant for most driving.

They certainly have a place in sports cars, but I feel the disadvantages especially the expensive clutch pack replacement when they inevitably wear out after prolonged city driving outweigh the advantages. Driving a manual for economy will always beat an auto driven with the type of jack-rabbit starts most drivers use — and vice-versa.

But the transmission has to be a good one. My test-drive of a DSG last year was woeful. I took it into a parking situation, 3 point turns, tight traffic — the thing would sit there — then suddenly lurch. I felt it was so unpredictable as to be dangerous — and handed it back.

My wife would have refused to have driven it, it was so bad. This gives drivers the experience of manual shifting without putting too much pressure on them as drivers. Is this the future of driving? More articles by Tara Stein.

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