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I made the switch to automatic a year ago, mainly so my wife could use my car--and I still suffer from Phantom Clutch Syndrome. I am tempted to switch back by the time my kids are old enough to drive so I can teach them, that is if humans are still driving cars then.
I find this a bit difficult to believe.
The automatic option has a reputation for being pretty good, but the manual is excellent. It was certainly never even a matter of choice for me, and for the growing number of (BRZ/(GT)86/FR-S) enthusiasts I know.
Yes, I'm in a niche, but so is the car.
I made the switch to automatic a year ago, mainly so my wife could use my car--and I still suffer from Phantom Clutch Syndrome. I am tempted to switch back by the time my kids are old enough to drive so I can teach them, that is if humans are still driving cars then.
Based on personal experience, it takes about three years to get over that. YMMV.
Switching to a manual finally killed my habit of "quickly replying" to a text or e-mail. Sad it took that, but I'll accept my longer lifespan now.
> habit of "quickly replying" to a text or e-mail. Once you are on the highway and driving at 80 km/h or above, in most manual cars you are already shifted to the highest gear. In my Hyundai Matrix I am already shifted to the highest gear at 55 km/h. Oh, and regardless which car you have, please, do not touch your mobile phone.
Biggest reason I miss Stick shift is that, it just felt that I had a stronger connection with the car and the acceleration was more predictable. With automatic you might not be in the right gear and the car might upshift too soon or too late.
A potential side effect of the stronger connection is that more involvement leads to more spirited driving and potentially traffic tickets.
Then I got a Tesla. Beauty of Tesla is that it has just has one gear, so you are always in the right gear. So this avoids the biggest issue with Automatic. OTOH, because I am not manually changing gear, this avoids the spirited driving issue. It is now an appliance and just works.
I like manuals because they feel better to me. This is totally anecdotal but to me it seems like the stick keeps me more engaged with what's happening with the car so I find I tend to be less distracted. It also occupies a hand so it definitely prevents a lot of phone usage. If this could actually be proved I'd definitely welcome a return to manual transmissions as sometimes I feel like the only person not on their p…
From the UK, where stick shift is very much the norm, it doesn't.
Automatic gears are much better for parking, etc. in particular when you have to park in a gradient. I've always longed for an automatic, bought the first when I could, and convinced the rest of the family to do the same with "test drives".
I learned to drive stick at 34 just for fun. Now own a Mazda 3 and MX-5. Worth it. It's not about out performing an automatic transmission it's about engagement. For some people that's not going to have any value. For others there is no going back to numb econoboxes with automatic transmissions. It's a shame more people don't get over the hump and get to see what driving can be vs. what it is for most.
City traffic commutes and long highway cruises seem to be what most people think of when they think about driving, but it can be so much more than that.
Few things are as fun as a balanced car on twisty mountain roads, and in that recipe the manual transmission is a key ingredient.
I bought the new JL Wrangler. For a vehicle that is about fun and adventure I was between the automatic and manual. When it came time to order and saw the automatic was a $2k option, it was an easy choice. I could have gone either way.
Low speed/rock crawling/grades I feel would suck with a clutch, though. On fairly basic rough stuff like cutting through woods over logs and what not to get to my camping destination I often need 2 hands on the wheel to gently fight mud/etc pulling them in the wrong direction. The easier control of your torque w/ manual is probably nice, though. When you're doing this stuff you're typically locked to under 15mph because of the sway bar disconnect (it pops back on if you hit 17mph) & lockers, so you're not even changing gears out of 1st so maybe it's not even a problem.
Anyway hope you're able to get some adventuring in it, I moved to the big city and haven't put many miles on mine since I bought it in May. Just a few offroad trips. Hopefully a caravan to Overland expo next year.