[s-cars] "The Aluminum Crowd"/Tip vs. Manual Musings

[Taka Mizutani]

Paul-
Remember, I have a V70R with a 5-speed tiptronic and I've had 3 yrs. and 22k
to drive it.

I DO NOT like automatics, even tiptronics and semiauto manuals- I've driven
the A8 (D2 and D3), A6 (C4, C5, C6), A4 (B5, B6, B7), the S and RS versions
of most of these, the TT in all forms, everything VW made in recent years
except the Phaeton and the Passat W8, a bunch of BMWs, MBZs, Infiniti,
Nissan, Toyota, Honda, Subaru, Mazda and probably some others I've
forgotten.

I know what you mean about being able to control what gear you're in, but it
doesn't work for me. Something about not having the three pedals and not
having proper engine braking messes it all up for me.

The best of these systems is DSG, IMO. At least the shifts are lightning
fast and smoooooooth. Also, the interface is nice- you can manually override
the DSG just by hitting the paddles and it stays in manual mode for a while.
That's perfect for me. Problem is, they don't offer DSG in something like
the S8. Until they offer it in the bigger cars, I'm sticking with manual.

BTW, BMW and MBZ automatics work faster than stock Audi slushboxes IME.

Just my opinion- feel free to disagree. I think with the more sporting cars
(like your S8), it's more of a shame to lack the manual. Currently, only BMW
feels that it is reasonable to offer a mid-size car with a manual
transmission (E60 5 series). I'd rather drive a fugly manual car than a
nicer looking slushbox if performance is comparable. Unfortunately I don't
think finding a used 530xiT is going to be possible without a huge amount of
luck, thus the reasoning for a E500 wagon.

Taka