One of the most common dilemmas among motorists is the type of transmission. Especially when buying a sports model or certain benefits. A sports car with a manual transmission or a sports car with an automatic transmission? You should think hard about your decision, because the realization that you were wrong after your purchase is not pleasant at all.
My advice: it’s best to really follow what our feelings tell us. Especially if it’s a very passionate car. But you have to think about all the circumstances and uses that will be given to the vehicle. On the other hand, it is equally true that more and more sports cars and supercars are sold only with automatic transmissions.
Let’s take a look below at the advantages an automatic transmission offers over a manual transmission in high-performance vehicles:
Efficiency and speed at a high level
One of the great advantages that an automatic transmission offers over a manual transmission in a high-performance car is its speed. A few years ago, an experienced driver could change gears in a car with a manual transmission even faster than in a car of the time with an automatic transmission. But over the years, automatic transmissions have improved and gained momentum.
This higher gear shift speed results in greater efficiency, always with sporty driving in mind. Note that nowadays, you can hear a jump between gears in the engine sound due to the shift in revs, but there is virtually no tempo change or jerk inside.
Reduces driver stress, prevents accumulation of work
And since we’re talking about quite sporty driving and driving on some other track day, we have to talk about driver stress. If we are driving on a track with a very fast car, or if the sports car is not as powerful, but the track is very twisty, the driver is putting himself under a lot of stress if he wants to go very fast.
Full acceleration as soon as possible, correcting oversteer, reaching the braking reference point, staying out of the corner, grabbing the apex, doing fast and safe overtaking, controlling coolant and oil temperature, being careful not to interfere with another driver , keep in line… That’s a lot of stuff, isn’t it?
Comfort at a regular pace.
On the other hand, we’re talking about sports and high-performance cars, and cars that will be driven frequently on the streets. Much more time and miles than on the highways and winding mountain sections. In all those moments of driving from point A to point B, don’t you find it preferable to get comfortable and forget about the clutch pedal?
How to Drive an Automatic Transmission
Virtually all pure sports cars before 2000 were uncomfortable cars at all times. Very heavy steering wheel with little turning, stiff clutch and brake pedals, engines jerking at low revs and revs, stiff transmissions… Not to mention the suspension. Few cars were minimally comfortable if you had to make a routine trip around town one day.
The Porsche 911 may have been the best in that sense, but the truth is that this car is more of a GT than a pure sports car.
It’s all been polished up in recent years. Now you can take any aggressive sports car anywhere with a comfortable driving mode. Sounds like you’re in a sedan. I don’t want to imagine that I have to spend 15 minutes in a Lamborghini Countach, a car made in the mid-70s.Today, 45 years later, you can go shopping fine with an Audi R8 or a Mercedes-AMG GT. It is just necessary to be careful with the bottom in parking lots and curbs.
Since you have such a comfortable car when you want it, the last thing you want with the aforementioned R8 or AMG GT is to play with the clutch in a supermarket parking lot or in traffic, right? If I’m talking about a BMW M4 instead of an AMG GT, the answer will probably be the same. In those situations, give me all the comforts in the world.
And it’s the same when there’s a freeway ride to be had. It’s worth noting that in these situations, the transmission isn’t used as much, because if sixth and practically we only shift gears when passing the board, in case we find a hold or when we stop to take a break. But, either way, it’s not always that smooth, and we may encounter a big delay or have to cross towns or take slower roads on our route.