Automatic/Manual, Which is Faster?

  • Thread starter loz567
  • 108 comments
  • 8,160 views
invader67
No disrespect, but if you've driven a real sportscar with a manual transmission in anger this discussion is totally irrelevant. You either get it, or you don't.
Click to expand...

What discussion? The one about which is faster getting you down the road? The answer to that is, "It depends."

If the discussion is about whether a modern high-performance automatic can shift gears faster and more precisely than a human, there's absolutely no question about that. Today's top-end automatics aren't the beat up old stock GM Turbo-Hydro 350 & 400 slushboxes that I came up on in my performance cars back then.

If the discussion is about which is more enjoyable, actually the answer to this is also, "It depends." I love my manual trans cars most of the time. But when sitting in bumper to bumper Chicago traffic for hours on end, I'm extremely happy when I took the automatic instead.
 
An opposing point of view. I am using auto in this game and I have not had any issues with it. I do not use it like you would your street car auto, ie., accel, brake, accel etc. rather when coming to a corner and want to change down flick the brake pedal and it will go down , more flick, more down, provided you arn't going too fast anyway. I use the brakes as such as little as possible. The only downside to the auto is in the wet when you want to hold the car in say 4th gear when the car wants 2nd gear. Otherwise ok.
I dont know whether its faster or slower I only occasionally loose a race [ usually through an error by me] and I am not particularly interested in doing super quick lap times just for the sake of it. Still I am able to do around 6.30 on the ring in a race and the big bangers will do about 1.13 around Trial Mountain which is good enough for me.
If you are inexperienced in this game I would suggest using auto to allow you to develop your lines, breaking points and general racing skills.
 
stormbringer
Manual is the way to go. More control over your car.

A huge benefit is you can change your gears at whatever rpm u want to.
If you look at your cars stats, it will give you peak torque @ rpm
This is where one should change gears for optimal performance. (beyond that rpm your engines power is reduced)

Auto will just always change gears at the tip of the red line.
Click to expand...

You definitely do NOT want to shift at peak torque. Shifting right at peak horsepower is also not optimal, but it'll be a lot closer to "right" than shifting at the torque peak. The majority of time you want to shift at redline, if not a couple hundred RPM past, but it depends on the power curve of the car and the gearing.
 
Manual is absolutely essential for Gran Turismo. Best way to think of it has already been said one hundred times in this thread: Automatic= Steering, Throttle, Brakes. Manual = Steering, Throttle, Brakes, Gearbox. It's literally two different games. I'd highly recommend anyone using automatic to at least learn Manual.
 
I always use Manual but Last night I tried the X1 on Auto. I found that was better. I could put all my concentration into where to point the thing.

I was doing some incredible lap times (for me) on the Japanese Street circuit.
 
In real life: Manual, even though I have a disgusting bumper to bumper, hour long (one-way) commute. I still HATE automatic.

In the game: Take the time to learn manual. It's just more fun than simply mashing the gas and brake. You can downshift into corners, upshift early to reduce wheelspin, etc.
 
Manual in GT and Real life.
I think it was gt3 or 4 that has an optimized solution:
With transmission set on auto, If you push the gear up/down button the system lock the selected gear avoiding the gear to shift up/down until you release the button, so it allow you to use an auto gear like a manual one when you want.
 
GT5Junkie
You definitely do NOT want to shift at peak torque. Shifting right at peak horsepower is also not optimal, but it'll be a lot closer to "right" than shifting at the torque peak. The majority of time you want to shift at redline, if not a couple hundred RPM past, but it depends on the power curve of the car and the gearing.
Click to expand...

ya i know, check out the post a few posts after the one u quoted
 
It depends on the driver, and the car. I reckon the only time a auto shift will be faster is if the driver keeps missing down- and up-shifts. The auto shift is a lot slower in cars with funny power bands, like the Cappuchino. It has a redline around 8500 rpm but produces max power under 7000 rpm. If you use auto shift here you will acctually land above the peak power after upshift!
I know the gear ratios play some role but my Cappuchino produces around 35 horsepower @ 8500 rpm and no 'lower gear ratio' can compensate for that.
Manual gears also gives you full control over shifting in corners, while the auto shift often gears down or up right when you're pushing hard through a fast or medium fast corner. This may unsettle the car and result in understeer or even worse, a 180 spin.
 
Last edited:
I use a force feedback wheel with shift paddles so it's admittedly easier for me to shift than if I had to use a clutch and shift knob. Though both in real life and GT5 I prefer manual shifting. I sometimes use the limiter at the top end of a gear to control my speed in a corner. Not in real life, of course.
 
Autobox for offline only, don't need anything else to get past AI Bobs. I only ever use manual box when online though.
 
I've always found that with auto trans in video games, I often brake harder than I need to in order to trigger downshifts, so I'd have to say manual mode for me.

Except for the Vettel Challenge, that is, although I suspect I might have to learn if I'm going to gold them all.
 

Latest Posts

Back