Manual vs. automatic transmission MPG showdown: Nissan Micra 1.6L

[Xist]

Could you order a top spec Micra with a manual transmission on-line?

[hydrive]

I don't know about online, but most dealers will special order a car for you. As long as they make money on the deal, they don't care.

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by Xist

Could you order a top spec Micra with a manual transmission on-line?

I don't think so - the combo is no longer shown on the website or brochures. It was up to last year.

[Xist]

Rich guy: I want a manual transmission swapped into my 2018 Micra.
Customizer: How about 20s (Ha!), a custom paint job, a turbo, and gull wing doors?
Rich guy: Shut up and take my money!

[Then he never drives it]

[litesong]

Originally Posted by litesong

Have.....2013 auto Elantra & now a.....2016 manual Elantra.... the 2013 auto....highs of 43mpg.... the 2016 manual.... 46mpg.
Had a 2007 Dodge Caliber.... I adored the CVT tranny.....averaged 31(calculated) with highs of 37mpg....

Hum.... saw this manual/auto thread & thot I'd never seen it. I see now, that I did post in 2015.
Still have both Elantras, now with a total of 145,000 miles, with nothing ever failing with either.The manual is geared 6% lower than the auto. It gives better acceleration, & handles the mountains wonderfully. It pours out good MPG, more than the auto Elantra in most cases, altho the auto has good MPG, too. My wife continues to love only the manual, while I love both.
Eventually when worn out, the standard sized tires on the manual will be replaced with larger diameter (wider,too) used tires & larger wheels, to help lower the highway rpms. Performance in the mountains will still be acceptable to me. I want to find some small mudflaps, like the auto Elantra has, to deal with the extra width tires.

P.S. For the first time in 2020, Elantras CANNOT be had in both auto & manual transmissions. Hyundai brags how great the MPG on the auto 2020 is, but I bet if they did have a manual tranny, it would still beat the auto.

[litesong]

Originally Posted by user removed

Crawling on the Interstate coming west to my house, reminded me of why I don't mind the auto...

My Dodge Caliber w/CVT was the very best for stop&go&stop conditions. I'm sure Prius's & other CVT's are tremendous, too. Unlike an auto tho, the CVT is superb on mountain slopes too, always finding the perfect gear ratios for varying slopes, accelerations, & dodging rocks (thus, my Dodge Caliber ).

[edwin]

My first new car was purchased in 1973. I'm em-bare-assed to say what it was.
But it had a manual transmission. Every car after that , up to 2008 , was a manual. Then , I bought a 2008 Civic LX , and for a number of reasons ( one being higher EPA highway rating ) I chose the 5AT. The 5AT worked well , and did about 50-51 MPG at 55-60 MPH ( summer , minimal A/C use ). But I recently got the itch to drive a manual again. So I bought a 2014 Civic LX with 80K miles. I still have my 2015 Prius which does most of my commuting , and I drive the Civic to work two out of six days and a bit on the weekend. I believe both types of transmissions have certain advantages ( so I have two cars ). As far as maintenance and repair , I have NEVER had to replace a clutch ( 229K miles and 14 years in Civic Si , eight years 64K miles of city driving in Mazda GLC. ). I'm not a huge fan of hydraulically actuated clutches , they usually need a bit of work on the master or slave cylinder now and then. But I recognize that's all they have for the last 20 years or so. I'm still re-learning to drive a manual , but my first full tank in the Civic was about 50 MPG ( summer , mixed highway and suburban driving ). Needless to say , my Prius does considerably better , but 60% of the Prius' miles are on suburban streets which are conducive to hypermiling.
Yes, I used the "H" word. I have huge respect and admiration for the DIYer's here who can and do modify their cars , but I'm not one of them. There is a LOT of good info on thsi site and I think I'm going to spend a lot of time here. Edwin

[Xist]

I drive my automatic more when I have a girlfriend.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by edwin

My first new car was purchased in 1973. I'm em-bare-assed to say what it was.

No reason for embarassment, plus I'm sure I'm not the only one curious about what was your first car and why would you be embarassed.

I believe both types of transmissions have certain advantages ( so I have two cars ). As far as maintenance and repair , I have NEVER had to replace a clutch ( 229K miles and 14 years in Civic Si , eight years 64K miles of city driving in Mazda GLC. ).

Nowadays I prefer automatics for comfort, but a few days ago talking with a friend who moved to the UK he told me about a Passat with the dry-clutch DSG that he bought dirt cheap because of some electronic problem and sold it with a 20% loss because it was a PITA. Even though manuals became quite troublesome for me due to a problem with my knees, I'd rather resort to one of those adaptations catering to disabled drivers than spending a lot more for an automatic transmission overhaul. When it comes to clutch wear, it's quite troublesome with heavy inner-city traffic and gets even more noticeable with underpowered econoboxes while driving through hilly areas.

I'm not a huge fan of hydraulically actuated clutches , they usually need a bit of work on the master or slave cylinder now and then. But I recognize that's all they have for the last 20 years or so.

I'm also not a fan of hydraulically actuated clutches. Once my father experienced a failure of the clutch actuator on a 2nd-generation S10 Blazer, and it's much more of a PITA than a broken clutch cable which at least can be replaced with some random piece of wire at least on a temporary basis instead of keeping stranded on a roadside.

[Tahoe_Hybrid]

Originally Posted by Xist

While most people insist that low-quality robotic butlers are more efficient than "DIY" (I am not sure everyone will understand that. You made the gearbox yourself?), one friend said they do that so people pay extra for the automatic, thinking that it would pay off at some point.

pays in traffic who the hell wants to keep shifting every 5 seconds in stop and go traffic