You may beat the auto off the line but at the end of the 1/4 it is the auto for the win with my stang. My stang is stock and i have beat manuals off the line but most of the time you are right.

 

Probably also due to the difference in rear end gears.

 

i thought stick would be quikcer off the start since u can keep it on 1st and 2nd longer

 

A lot has to do with the driver.

 

I can 100% vouch, the auto is quicker off the line. I was gone before he got going good. Do you really think My husband would let me beat him so I could Crow about it to him the rest of the afternoon? Thats a negative, and he handles a stick like a pro- before me he never had auto cars, and he taught me to drive stick.

We have vowed a rematch on the dragstrip for bragging rights. Time and Date to be determined.

Manual may be quicker on the straight line, but auto is faster off IF you sit and Rock and the second the light turns green mash it to the floor. Believe me.

 

Gears equal, the stick will be faster. Automatics have planetary gearsets which increase the rotational mass in the transmission (which eats power.) Beyond that, the torque converter also contributes to parasetic loss compared to the simple clutch of a stick. Granted, thanks to improvements in slushbox technology, the difference is getting smaller, but a well shifted stick in a fully broken-in car that the driver can safely rev past 5500 rpm--which is never in the 6, due to its lousy valvetrain. (The motor was originally designed as a pushrod and clumsily converted to a Rube Goldberg-complicated SOHC) will win. Not to mention sticks, provide a driving experience about a million times more enjoyable, get better fuel economy, are far more simple, and lighter.

Whenever I have the misfortune of finding myself in an automatic, in addition to subconciously reaching for the non-existent clutch and stick, I find myself bored and truly unsatisfied.

 

By the way, I'm not sure "Exterior Mods" is the best place for this thread...

 

All i can say is get your stick and come on down to FL. and i will show you how the auto can run.Ihave NOT been beat by a stick yet that is stock.I can back this up, i am in 3 stang clubs and a lot of them have seen it run the 1/4.

 

Fun to drive yes but quicker on a straight line?? i have not seen it yet stock to stock.

 

Good eye, but for some reason ppl answer quicker in the exterior mods thread...so go where the people are at!

 

I have not tested that theory. I was just told that should he and I ever go over 100, he could downshift to 4th and get some more speed when I am tapped out.

 

Doubt all you want, I would give you his name and let you talk to him, but I wouldnt embarass anyone.

 

Along with the rear axle difference, there is the first gear ratios which are different. You might out run my auto stock for stock, but you wont beat me off the line.

 

Farsyte, what kind of area do you live in? If you're in a congested urban area, you might want to go with the auto. If you're in more of an open country area, I'd take the manual. I ended up getting the standard because:
-More fun to have total control over gears
-better gas milage
-can take advantage of engine braking to save the brake pads, and slow down a lot faster
-manual GT has more agressive mufflers and sounds nicer
-as other people have said, it's lighter
-Manual transmissions are often more robust and less complicated (cheaper to fix too)
-I'm more "in tune" with the vehicle, more conscious of speeds, engine loads, etc.

Some disadvanteges I've noticed:
-Clutch can be ambiguous at times, learing to smoothly shift can be difficult
-decent amount of vibration in the shifter handle itself
-Stop and go traffic can be a real female dog
-People in front of you that almost always drive autos like to hover right above or below the speed that would be your ideal shift point, either forcing your engine revs a little high or too low
-Standard transmission is a little noisy
-Engines hooked up to standard transmissions can be stalled
-Shifter linkage is a little sloppy from the factory, mechanism can bind under hard shifting (easily fixed with a shift kit)

Last thoughts: with 300 horses, getting started on hills is almost inconsequential. This is the first manual car I've had, and to tell you the truth, in spite of the fact that I'm in the DC metro area with all the traffic and moron drivers, I can't go back to an auto trans. I personally prefer being more involved with the car, and also being conscious of what gear i'm in and when I might have to shift makes me more aware of my surroundings. Now driving an auto just feels lazy.

 

Driving auto DEFINITELY makes you lazy.......
I just never knew how much till I drove his manual.

 

well i live borderline burbs/country, just down the block i actually have farms so i love driving the stang through there and letting it rip. But i work downtown, and downtown Toronto is as busy as downtown L.A.
decissions decisions. I don't even know how to drive stick yet, i think i should learn before thinking about this lol

 

Farsyte - ask yourself why you are buying a Mustang?

If it's because you enjoy driving you must get the stick. I drive in a lot of heavy traffic and I don't mind shifting gears at all. Truly my left foot isn't that heavy and my leg has more than enough strength to lift it and place it on the clutch. This is no trouble whatsoever. (If I am forced to drive an automatic I end up attempting to stomp a hole in the floor.) When my leg can no longer lift my left foot, more than likely, I will give up driving. This is just my personal preference; I don't pretend to be fair and balanced on this issue. If I'm too old to shift I'm too old to drive. If I change my mind I'll just get an old man car and stop pretending. (Nineteenth Century cavalry officers in the French army were forcibly retired when they became too old to mount a horse. And yes this was much more than a physical thing - it was a mindset as well. Something not very dashing about a cavalryman in buggy. Laughable actually I suppose.)

The automatic really changes the driving dynamic. If you want to pose in the car and let a preprogrammed machine attempt to guess your intentions and calculate your shift points based on how hard you depress the accelerator then it's ok to buy an automatic. Be careful of the control you are forfeiting. (Imagine an automatic trying to downshift at high speed.) An automatic is much easier because you are simply steering. It's like pulling the trigger on a gun that was aimed by a machine. If that's enough for you get the automatic. But then why would you buy a Mustang?

Some people simply use an automobile as an appliance to take them from place to place - what they really want is a Maytag. if this is what you want the automatic is for you. To my mind a Mustang isn't an appliance it's a love affair. (Why else would you wash it when everyone else says its not dirty?) Now in order to truly know and understand your partner in this affair, to get the best experience out of her and yourself you must shift her gears and not take the lazy way out. (Like sex - you could let a machine do it, the machine might even be more efficient, but isn't better to allow some human input?)

Ok sorry for the rant, but you did ask for opinions. Get the stick and no I don't look down on those who drive automatics - I pity them.

 

I absolutely love my stick. Not for a second have I regretted getting it. Not in heavy traffic and when the roads are wide open... there is nothing better.

 

My first was an auto simply because it was a Christmas present, and way back when the v6 manuals were on hold. I didn't regret it (much) for a minute....I love it. The Auto works for me, and it has enough power not to make me sad.

I vowed to never get another automatic mustang though. When this one popped up on the lot, I drove it, Called my husband, Started the paperwork and picked it up the next day. This one, A lot of fun to drive, a lot of work to do it.BUT Manuals are the way Mustangs are the way they were meant to be driven.

Because the manual is not mine, I won't be driving it too often. BUT the more little trips I take in it, the more I am growing to love it.

Sooooooo I have the best of both worlds I think.

 

Thanks April. That's quite a telling statement from someone who owns one of each.