2006 Civic 38 mpg manual 40 mpg automatic?

Modern autos can shift smoothly and seriously fast. Especially on the
highway, this lets them shift into overdrive long before I'd do it
with a stick, since the auto can also shift back out so quickly and
smoothly. Better living through chemistry.

Even my funky Accord auto is very, very good at such things, it's only
when you want a downshift and try to get it through the gas pedal that
it sticks and stumbles.

J.

 

2005 Civic manual transmission, for one, still beats the automatic version
in city driving:
Manual VTEC 32/37
Auto VTEC 31/38

The 2005Toyota Echo's manual still trumps the auto version in both city and
highway driving:
Manual 35/42
Auto 33/39

Source: www.fueleconomy.gov

There are of course explanations for this. The point is, it's not yet time
to generalize and say all automatic trannies trump all manual trannies, as
far as fuel mileage is concerned. They do not.

 

Well, for the most part they do, even if it's not universal (yet).

 

I mean automatics shift gears all by themselves. I hate that. That's all I
meant.

I like having complete control over the shifting, even if it means having
to wrestle with a clutch in heavy traffic.

 

That's the modern perversion of grammar caused by political correctness.
It's now /evil/ to say "him". Sexist and exclusionary, don't you know.

 

That's the modern perversion of grammar caused by political correctness.
It's now /evil/ to say "him". Sexist and exclusionary, don't you know.[/QUOTE]

yes. Interesting that they didn't demand we switch to "her".

 

yes. Interesting that they didn't demand we switch to "her".
[/QUOTE]


I've seen authors use "she/her" where traditionally "he/him" would have
been the generic third-party singular term. It looks odd and is against
custom, but I guess that's better than using "they/them/their" in the
singular.

 

if that's happening, there's something wrong.

 

More like not having 'total control' than losing control.

I used to enjoy driving manual transmission equipped cars too. The key
phrase is 'used to', as I grow older the knees don't work as well as they
once did and an automatic transmission is similar to taking Aspirin (it
relieves the pain).

Brian

 

I'm only 43, so my Aspirin days are a few years ahead.

 

LOL! You're lucky. My knees started giving me problems when I was in my late
teens. Thank goodness that all shifting doesn't require the use of a clutch.
{;^)

Brian

 

Damn straight, but I suspect it's wrong with most of the cars out
there, Honda just don't grok automatics. On my Acura, change of fluid
cleared up the identical problem ... and it was back in 60 days.

I'll probably whine to the dealer, I'm about due for the 30k. Besides
the little matter of the tranny, rubber gasket on the sunroof is
slipping off, and I think the right front speaker is blown, too.
We'll see what gets fixed.

J.

 

eh? name a single planetary gear automatic that will routinely give you
300k+ miles! or with the same mechanical efficiency...

 

It doesn't work right pretty much from day one, somehow if it lasts
that way for fifteen years I'm not so thrilled.

Not to mention the Acura and Honda 6-cyl autos that leave people
stranded under 30k.

J.

 

The AW-71 transmissions Volvo used in their legendary 240 and 740 series in
the '80s were truly lifetime transmissions. If any of them have failed I
haven't seen it on the alt.autos.volvo group, and ours is going strong at
somewhere around 230K miles, even connected to the turbo engine. But even
the lockup version AW-71L isn't as efficient as a manual gearbox.

Mike

 

Nothing is wrong. The new automatics have extra tall over-drives for
greater highway fuel economy. This more than makes up for the energy lost
in the torque converter. Your typical 5-speed auto today is a 3rd gear at
~1:1 then 4th is over-drive and 5th is an even taller gear. This does not
apply to 5s sports car transmissions.

I think we can thank the Koreans for these well designed, fuel efficient
Japanese transmissions (relative to previously mass produced ones). In
fact, I thank the Koreans for all the great value that Japanese
manufacturers are giving us. Kudos to the Koreans!