Stickshift or Automatic?

Manuals in the long run are better for gas mileage and maintenance *replacing a auto transmission is not fun*.

I just bought a 2007 Nissan Sentra, with the CVT. You wanna talk about boring? You don't even feel the shifting at all, at least with normal automatics you can at least feel the gear shifts, and thus generally have a bit of feel to the car and speed. CVT... it feels so slow since there is no shifting, but then you look down at the speedometer to see that you are actually over the speed limit. It is NOT something i would recommend to those whom are used to manual *even some used to auto*.

I was originally aiming for manual *the new sentra's come standard with 6 speed*, but ended up getting the CVT simply because i do a lot of city driving, and accidents/congestion is very common on the 417 hwy that i travel on every day. Stop and go traffic, I get sick of manuals fairly quick. Second being that Nissan actually claims that the CVT gets better gas mileage than manual, which i'm not too sure entirely, but I have gotten 940km to the tank *mostly highway*. Fourth being that I will probably only keep this for about 5 years, and automatics tend to have a slightly higher resale value.

Still, the biggest advantage is being able to drive and sip water from a bottle without worry, especially as i pretty much refuse to use the A/C unless there is dire need.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

One thing about CVT's Koifox is that they greatly depend on the company and how they implement them. An example would be my 2007 Sentra and my father's 2007 Caliber. Both have CVT , and Dodge is even licensing that technology from Nissan. You would figure that because of that they would be fairly similar, but far from it.

The Caliber has a "elastic band" feel to it, in that when accelerating from a stopped position, the engine will rev, but the car won't go anywhere right away. It will also rev all the way to redline if you floor it, and stay there until you reach the speed you want, and then the rpm will lower to the optimal level for that speed.

The Sentra on the other hand, does not have that elastic band feel to it, and when floored, will rev to about 4000rpm until the speed catches up, and then gradually increase or decrease depending on your speed.

CVT's are very odd to drive though, as many people feel like they are accelerating slowly, when in actual fact they gain speed at a descent rate. While you can of course get more acceleration and control out of a manual, in constant stop and go traffic, it becomes a hassle. But then again, I just drove a 92 sundance 3 speed automatic for 5 years, so everything seems better to me =/.

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Oh, so your allowed to take your own car then? That's pretty cool. As far as I'm aware we just have to take the test in the instructors car, which could be anything.

Some drivers education companies will give the instructors vehicle to take the test with, but not all of them do, and not everyone takes drivers ed. When i took mine though, I know that it was an extra $200 if you wanted to do the in car hours with a manual.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

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Automatic is for old people and idiots. It's inefficient, expensive to repair and boring as hell. Plus, controlling your speed is much easier with a manual, because of EBE and clutch/accelerator footplay.

Automatics are also something that most people will be driving in the future, whether it is by choice or not. Hybrid, Electric , Hydrogen etc.., pretty much do away with the traditional powertrain.

As a side note, people are allowed to have their preferences, and that does not make them idiots for wanting to make their lives that bit more easier or just not wanting/able to put the time in to learn. While I agree that currently manuals are overall better, automatics have been slowly catching up in terms of efficiency. That, and i've seen far too many people unable to properly drive even with an automatic, so would hate to see them try and with a manual =/.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.