Auto vs. Manual Transmission

  • Thread starter Thread starter FishHunters
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I think you really need to use MT to get the most from any half decent racing/driving game. I only used AT very early on in my racing game career with GT1 and 2. I think by GT3 I tried gears, found it difficult to use, especially for braking, but with some perseverance you soon pick it up and then you NEED to use MT because you need to have control of what gear you are in certain corners especially to hold the right line, with AT you get what you're given :p

I'm guessing it's largely Americans who are far more used to having AT cars in real life opposed to here in the UK and I think most elsewhere in the world where people learn and drive MT, AT is pretty rare. I can understand if people who don't change gears IRL may not like doing it in game, but if you're racing it's crucial.
 
Ecchi-BANZAII!!
Kinda useless since driving auto in the first place is boring.

Thread name: Noob vs. Pro Transmission.
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Still, driving auto is an handicap but it's even more of an handicap withthe fail auto trans that every game except Enthusia uses.
Enthusia was full of details that enthusiasts (hence the title of the game) could enjoy such as the red zone sound on rx7's and 8 or fading lights...
 
I use Manual and use it in all my racing games except nfs games. they dont need manual :D

TDU, forza and GT series all manual I think there was a brief period when I played GT1 where I used auto, but it felt wrong had to use manual. its loads more fun :D and I use the DS3 for it too. circle change up square change down x is handbrake and triangle reverse :D easy peasy :)


oh I do have the xbox wheel but nothing to clamp it too so its lost its edge when it keeps wobbling round on my lap :P hahaha
 
RobGT81
You dont need a wheel to use manual, X and Square are ideal for changing gears
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I use ds3 & always used auto until about 3 months ago. It was a bit of a struggle at first but once I got used to it it's much better. I feel much more in control. I started a race recently In auto by mistake & found it dead boring.
 
KopparbergDave
I'm guessing it's largely Americans who are far more used to having AT cars in real life opposed to here in the UK and I think most elsewhere in the world where people learn and drive MT, AT is pretty rare. I can understand if people who don't change gears IRL may not like doing it in game, but if you're racing it's crucial.
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Kinda take that as an "insult" sir. As an American my FIRST 3 cars were manual transmission. So I know how to drive one. However, not many still have them unless you're getting into the sporty models. SUV's and Pick-ups are almost all auto!



Ecchi-BANZAII!!
Kinda useless since driving auto in the first place is boring.

Thread name: Noob vs. Pro Transmission.
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No. Racing is ALWAYS exciting. Manual just adds another dimension to it.
 
SUV's and Pick-ups are almost all auto!

Is this so you dont have to put the burger down.....(bad joke couldent resist)

And i use AT as i dont want to put my burger down...:)
 
manual for the win :D can't have too many people driving through shop fronts with autos ;)

auto isn't bad but a lot of tech in cars now is taking the responsibilty away from the driver, which is wrong.
 
Warren4649
I always thought auto was for 6years old kid that can't synchronize properly...
Even with a controller if you can't handle manual you should just switch to Mario kart.
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Wow... that used to be me 2 months ago. And I have never been a bad driver because of auto, but it can be difficult to say to yourself: "OK, today I want to do it the way I haven't done it the last 13 years: Manual transmission."
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I started using manual transmission because I started taking my driver's license in real life, that way I thought I would just get used to shifting in both the game and in real life at the same time. Admitted, it was very easy to get used to (2 hours), but I hate when you get the sound glitch in the game where you can't hear you own car... that's the only place where I would like auto :p
 
didleslie
SUV's and Pick-ups are almost all auto!

Is this so you dont have to put the burger down.....(bad joke couldent resist)

And i use AT as i dont want to put my burger down...:)
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You guessed it! Burger in one hand, coke in the other, steering wheel between the knees! :sly:

Bobalob
manual for the win :D can't have too many people driving through shop fronts with autos ;)

auto isn't bad but a lot of tech in cars now is taking the responsibilty away from the driver, which is wrong.
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You talking about TV, satnav and the like? Or TCS and things like that?
 
I use paddle shifters.

The reason why on some cars changing gears manually is faster, is because of the differing power bands. For example, on a Supercharged V8, like a Corvette, it would be better to shift earlier since the torque is mostly in the middle.
 
You talking about TV, satnav and the like? Or TCS and things like that?
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What springs to mind for me are things like automatic breaking if you get to close to the car in front and warnings if the car thinks thinks you're dozing off or if you stray out of lane...
 
I've got a G25 wheel and shift gears with the paddles. In some rare cases I use the sequential gear shift, but I prefer having both hands on the wheel. :) Gran Turismo 3 is what fully turned me in to using manual gear shifting. I nowadays hate automatic shifting in games (unless it's like 1nsane or FlatOut, then it doesn't really matter).


If the H gearbox worked better. The first few gears tend to "miss" every now and then.. Which I don't get if it's a "feature" or whatnot.. All I know is that I think it SUCK. It's one thing if performance is affected depending on where you hit the clutch (sorry about the grammars).. RPM, clutch and gear shift timing should affect performance but not make you completely miss gears. :/
 
I use manual most of the time, but switch to auto if that's what the real-life car had. For instance, the Ford Taurus SHO and Buick Regal GNX both came with an automatic tranny only, so I drive them this way in the game. Oh, and I'm still a dualshock user. :(
 
FishHunters
You guessed it! Burger in one hand, coke in the other, steering wheel between the knees! :sly:

You talking about TV, satnav and the like? Or TCS and things like that?
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The last time I used AT was in GT1.
I also used it in Enthusia but because even if using "mt" on cars that only come in AT from factory you'd have a semi auto (and as the game emulates a real auto trans it was fun to drift an Aristo in auto).
Even in arcade games such as outrun I use MT (a shift lock initiate a drift which avoid braking).
 
Always used manual, since the start. Now I just aquired a wheel, use my gearbox on that too...
 
Manual makes the game so much more exciting...and skillful. I remember back to ps2 when I had V8 Supercars which also had a "clutch". Breaking and shifting on the ds2 was crazy fun.
 
Manual all the time, unless I'm grinding out cash with the sound off and concurrently watching tv or something - then I just zone out with an over-powered car and switch it over to automatic :dopey:
 
I think the last time i used auto was in GT3 when i was 10 years old. I switched to manual when playing Forza and haven't gone back since. I don't plan on ever owning an automatic in real life either, it just feels like driving a big go-kart, no driver involvement at all.

As an American I would have to agree that pretty much everyone here drives automatics and I honestly find it a little sad that maybe 2% of the driving population can even operate a manual. Personally I think everyone should be required to learn and drive manual, maybe there would be less accidents that way lol
 
I play Manual only, I use DS3 and it gives it a lot more depth to the game, you get more involved with the racing and have to figure out how different cars actually drive - you need to learn their gearbox and how it suits to different tracks.
You get to learn tracks much better, because you pay more attention to when to break and when to make the right up- and downshifts.
And when you race without the HUD, it's simply the best experience going to the Nürburgring with a stock car, manual gear and drive it near perfect :)
 
Once you go manual, there is no going back. My bro uses the auto and if I grab his car and run some laps after him, I have to jump out and switch it quick. If I leave it on it bores the Hell out of me. It's more involved and demanding using Manual. While a normal auto IRL would generally be slower, the GT5 is more "manual assist" where it's a manual gear box shifting like a manual but automatically done.

I've seen a driver who is rather quick with the auto, driving line, and uses every run off, short cut that he's able to without getting "Red Flagged" by the GT5's system. Is it just me but these fast laps don't impress me, I don't know, maybe I just think the driver is a pompous ass who thinks way too highly of themselves when using every "cheese" move possible.

Am I CrAzY?!?!?
 
Never used manual to complete the vettel challenges, or any license tests....and usually my lap times are only a tenth or hundreths faster than automatic. I like auto, because i can concentrate on my steering, getting corners perfect, etc.
 
nismo33
How can you get the corners perfect if you're in a gear that the game has selected for you?
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The game selects them quite well, not sure of GT5 but GT4 you could also hold a gear to prevent a up or downshift. Don't get me wrong, I don't use or like the auto. I think of it like a "Driving Assist". There are just some rather quick auto Drivers. Read my last comment, "am I crazy?"
 

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