Quote:
Originally Posted by dan84
I've only driven an M235i automatic, but I must say it was fun as hell to drive!
I'm not really directing this at you, Solarphil, it's more a general vent... but why must people perpetuate this "manual transmission = driving, automatic transmission != driving" attitude? I just don't understand it. Is it a reactionary way of defending one's manhood? My 5'2 100lb soaking wet girlfriend mindlessly drives her 5MT Jetta 1.8T Sport while jamming out to whatever club music she fancies. She doesn't feel the urge to chest bump me when she gets out of the car, as if to celebrate being able to row her own gears.
I've driven manuals as long as I've had a drivers license. My first car was a 91 Talon TSi AWD 5MT and every car since then, excluding my Tundra pickup, has been a manual. Despite that fact [that I've only ever owned MT cars] I'm probably getting a M235i with the automatic. Why? Because IMO, it's just as fun to drive, it's no more expensive than an MT, and it's faster [see Sports Car]. A car like this can be as engaging as you want it to be. Not having a third pedal doesn't take away your ability to DRIVE it.
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No worries Dan, I don't take it personal and I don't mean it as an insult to folks who prefer the AT. Like I said, it's faster, a better numbers generator. I am just finding in the real world I have to question how much is the faster reflexes of the machine going to matter? How often outside a track can we get even close to our vehicle's limits? Just tonight coming home i booted it around a corner trying to find an edge to the adhesion -- I should add that this is in an industrial park, long after hours, should be no one around but of course there was -- and I got the stink eye for my hooliganism. My other car is a '74 Tii which I rebuilt in the old school way, skinny tires and all. At a recent driver's event one of the instructors jumped in and said my ride was the most fun he'd had all day 'cause we were actually moving around the track using all of the chassis. That to me is driving, and I can't get enough. It's the engagement, not the speed.
It's not a manhood slam or boy vs girl thing. Me, I don't like automatics but my wife, she despises them. Her only vehicle-related sin is, if it's kinda funky and you can't get parts for it, she loves it. It keeps me hopping but I love her for it. Sounds like you've got a keeper too.
Talon. That was a sweet ride.
Peace