It doesn't really matter whether they are right or not. I only mess when i say miss a gear. Its all really down to personal preference. This is my first S-tronic and I love it, its so much fun. Some people have more fun in a manual.
S tronic Vs Manual
- Thread starter rizzoface
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It doesn't really matter whether they are right or not. I only mess when i say miss a gear. Its all really down to personal preference. This is my first S-tronic and I love it, its so much fun. Some people have more fun in a manual.
More control with a manual of course, but when you're sitting in traffic, what would you give for an auto then?
Battlekrapz
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The clutch on the S3 is quite light so I can't say I suffer in traffic jams. I used to own a manual 370z⦠now that had a very heavy clutch and was a pain in traffic.
From my point of view, this is the only think I will miss in my new manual A3.
The other "down sides", like manouvring the clutch and the stick is rather is what you a man should be able to do, I dont want to lose that ability and expertised
Nobody likes traffic jams. And yes your are right s-tronic is better when you are sitting in traffic jam. S-tronic is better than DSG (Polo GTi/DSG). We dont have so much traffic jams (we are the lucky ones) .. even I live up to our capital city there is not so much traffic jams. We have a lot of winding roads here, so it is fun to use manual gearbox. If I lived in Scotland, I would choose manual gearbox but not if I lived in London I choose s-tronic.
Scotland isn't roads, fields and sheep though. I live in Aberdeen, oil capital of Europe, so traffic here is something else. But when I take the car out to the country a bit, I have immense fun with the S-tronic, especially with the exhaust blips. Like I say, all down to preference really.
0B1001001
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Ah the empty roads of Finland - love driving there, especially in the winter!
Back on topic though, I will miss having ACC down to zero with S-Tronic too but I can live without that.
Winter is nice here and that S3 quattro, so great to drive. Last weekend I try hard and harder to drive S3 SP in the snow and I can say it was so sweeeeeet and awesome ... it was like I was rallyking !!
Personally I think an s-tronic can be just as much fun to drive anywhere as a manual. Especially on winding country roads as you can set it into 'manual' mode and change gear just the same as you would in a manual, using the centre stick or the paddles but without having to keep using a clutch pedal. Driving through country roads, keeping both hands on the steering wheel and changing up and down as you want to using the paddles is very satisfying. The changes are always quick and you can change up without taking your foot of the power and the s-tronic will blip the throttle when you change down. An s-tronic only becomes a little boring if you drive it like an automatic in D or S mode. I always think of my s-tronic as a 'normal' gearbox with an automatic clutch and power operated gear-changing which is basically what it is in design.
dzankizakon
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There's a lot of "professionals" who swear by high powered rear wheel drive only cars because "they are more fun to drive". Totally impractical as a day-to-day drive, but they are more "fun" to drive so the must be better. Think about that
I must admit I would be interested to hear what those who like a manual gearbox and clutch think it can do that a s-troinic cannot do. I quite accept that some people prefer a manual but I would like to know why, apart of course from the extra cost of the s-tronic.
The only thing I can think off of the top of my head is slip the clutch which I was always told was bad driving.
The only thing I can think off of the top of my head is slip the clutch which I was always told was bad driving.
Battlekrapz
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I can rev the crap out of the engine at a standstill whilst the stronic cannot as it's limited.
VRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOM !!!!
VRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOM !!!!
NotquiteWelsh
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This:
My preference is manual with a petrol and auto with an oil burner. Hence we have a manual S3 and an auto Jaggg.
I have driven many with paddles but I prefer the manual to the paddles as they are just sequential, I lose track of which gear I'm in; when pushing on it's not always convenient to look down to find out on the instrument panel. With a manual I know which gear I just selected without needing to look.
My preference is manual with a petrol and auto with an oil burner. Hence we have a manual S3 and an auto Jaggg.
I have driven many with paddles but I prefer the manual to the paddles as they are just sequential, I lose track of which gear I'm in; when pushing on it's not always convenient to look down to find out on the instrument panel. With a manual I know which gear I just selected without needing to look.
In manual mode it's only limited by the maximum revs for the particular engine to stop people over-revving and damaging it. Why would you want to damage your engine by over-revving it?
At a standstill with the s-tronic in Park or Neutral the only limit is the engine limiter if one is fitted.. Fallacy No1.
Battlekrapz
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Battlekrapz
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Nah don't worry, but my other car is an auto if it can reassure you.. It's better for an Aston Martin DB9...
I'm not saying one is right and one is wrong, it's up to the individual. I know I much prefer the s-tronic but I am interested to hear why other prefer the manual. Personally and I know I'm driving a diesel, but I mostly know what gear I'm in, but numbers don't matter that much providing I'm in the correct gear for the situation. If I'm not sure the DIS will tell me. Does DIS in the 8V tell you the current gear in a manual or do you have to check the gear lever position to be sure. If I stop I know it will always engage 1st.
Talking about 'exotic' cars I see in today's Auto Express the next revision of the R8 will be s-tronic only. No manual version is going to be offered.
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I don't think it's a case of do or don't do, it's a case of personal preference. Some people who go the route of extensive modifications tend to go the manual route as it means they can upgrade the clutch to organic plate, and it means the gearboxes are easier to rebuild when they fail.
What I say now, I do so with an S Tronic car imminently about to land on my driveway to replace a manual.
There is something quite satisfying about driving a technical road and being able to gauge the inputs into the car, and doing it well. One of the beauties of a mechanical stick shift is that sense that you are contributing something to that mechanical process. I'd argue it takes more skill to drive a car fast / well whilst changing your own gears, whereas S-Tronic levels the playing field somewhat. S-Tronic brings some interesting party pieces to the mix (seamless shift / blips on change / launch), but there are certain cars that wear it better than others. I always feel there is more to be learned where there are additional interfaces to input to, therefore manual boxes present me with more of a personal challenge. I'm very lucky I don't have to commute in morning traffic often, so the majority of my driving is for pleasure rather than daily necessity, otherwise I'd probably be looking forward to S Tronic more than I am.
I know there is an argument that most of the new super cars are some form of auto, but for some years now the majority of new Porsche's sold have been sold with auto boxes (probably to overweight late middle age bankers) who are buying the badge over the outright experience. Likewise when you put the average person behind the wheel of a supercar they will need all the help they can get (manufacturers won't get good press if people are mashing gated gearboxes or wrapping round trees as super cars approach 1000bhp!) therefore I understand why they are heading that way (likewise the slightly better performance figures sell more cars). That said, last Friday I drove an F430 round Silverstone International circuit that has a single clutch paddle shift transmission and it was ****** awful. It was recommended by the instructors that you shouldn't accelerate through the gear change, and it wasn't particularly smooth. I would much rather have driven it as a manual given a choice.
Fact of the matter it doesn't matter which is deemed to be 'best' or have the most selling points. It comes back to the fact we live in a diverse world where we all have different aspirations and requirements and the fact that a choice exists at all is a good thing. I genuinely couldn't care less about the cost, and I'm not interested in ticking boxes as to what it can and can't do, I'm satisfying my personal interpretation of what a driving experience makes me smile most for the 50 grand I've just spent.
Battlekrapz
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Your dad has great taste in cars.
I posted a picture of it on this thread:
http://www.audi-sport.net/vb/new-a3-s3-8v-chassis/209934-se-aluminium-accents-package.html
Not the sort of car i would have bought as manual must say.
I agree entirely with that. It's up to the individual which they have in their car and whether they are prepared to pay the extra for the s-tronic. But I also think there is a lot of mis-information out there about the s-tronic and this may give us a chance to correct some of this mis-information which is why I have asked people to say WHY they prefer the manual.
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I'd agree. I'm intrigued to see what it's like to own, I may even be swayed over time. The car will get driven in a range of disciplines (commute / track / pleasure), and I'll be intrigued to see how it performs over the ownership. I'm at a T-Junction where on this occasion I have no choice but S Tronic and I can give it a decent shot (albeit running a DSG remap). With the S5 running all the available performance options from factory and Stg1+ (480bhp-ish) it will be a real test of how the system copes under duress! My viewpoint is by no means fixed. I guess there is part of me that feels that the S Tronic community are in disbelief that people still persist with manual, whilst there are people in the manual community that view S Tronic as 'less manly'(!). I think that ultimately whatever decisions we get to there will always be a stand-off between the two parties so the debate could rage forever.
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0B1001001
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Price was irrelevant (for me). I didn't like the S-Tronic for a number of minor niggles:
1. I hate the auto-hold/forward creep behaviour of auto/S-Tronic boxes. On a slight slope, if I shove the clutch in, I want the car to roll back (yes, I know I could shove it in N).
2. And this one will *really* put me in the minority but I hated the noise the S-Tronic makes when you change gear under load. Obviously most love it but it doesn't make the car go faster and is superfluous (IMHO!).
Those two points for me were enough to sway it to manual but another factor is I like being more involved with the driving process which you get with a manual gearbox.
1. I hate the auto-hold/forward creep behaviour of auto/S-Tronic boxes. On a slight slope, if I shove the clutch in, I want the car to roll back (yes, I know I could shove it in N).
2. And this one will *really* put me in the minority but I hated the noise the S-Tronic makes when you change gear under load. Obviously most love it but it doesn't make the car go faster and is superfluous (IMHO!).
Those two points for me were enough to sway it to manual but another factor is I like being more involved with the driving process which you get with a manual gearbox.
Special needs is a term in the uk hoe folks who may have loss of function , maybe amputees, old folks etc... I was being PC .
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Why do some people believe that their choices are superior to others? The one thing I dispise about forums is that everyone thinks they're choice is best, and the need to ram it down others peoples throats just frankly gets on my tits.
People can waste all the breath they have trying to justify their opinions; but like with cost, I'll listen but make my own choices. I'm just pleased for them they are happy with their choice. Please don't feel the need to convert me as I have enough life experience to choose for myself!
People who prefer S Tronic always talk stats, people who prefer manual tend to talk about emotion/mechanical connection ; go figure. I'm sure we can make an equation!
People can waste all the breath they have trying to justify their opinions; but like with cost, I'll listen but make my own choices. I'm just pleased for them they are happy with their choice. Please don't feel the need to convert me as I have enough life experience to choose for myself!
People who prefer S Tronic always talk stats, people who prefer manual tend to talk about emotion/mechanical connection ; go figure. I'm sure we can make an equation!
0B1001001
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Umm, yes I want it to roll back (when I want it to). For me, that is convenient at times.
The noise is the exhaust "burp" between changes.
